I can’t say enough nice things about Mike Chapman. Blondie put him through a lot of craziness and his generosity and patience in the face of it was unique and complete.
We were on tour and were in Italy at a hotel (I can’t recall what town) when everyone in the band got a call to come down to the bar; Mike had arrived out of the blue.
We all gathered. He’d flown in to tell us in person that Heart of Glass had gone to number one in the states.
Chris Stein
P.S. You probably are aware that tonight is Rodney’s last show on KROQ after 40 some years
He was supporting new music not only before it was cool to do so but before there was any precedent
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Great Bob… Mike’s track record was part of my LA radio soundtrack and is what drove me to contact him to produce The Knack. Upon seeing their explosive set at Starwood he immediately said he’d love to produce them. I, being a totally green A&R man when it came to deals, asked him how much he wanted to produce. His response was ‘one million’. I wasn’t sure whether to faint or cry (maybe both), but before I hit the ground he quickly said, ‘hey kid, just kidding. I’ve had five top ten singles this year… I’ll do it for no advance… I want the group’.
From the day they entered the studio (MCA Whitney in Glendale with engineer Peter Coleman, he delivered the album in seven days.
Hi Mike!
Bruce Garfield
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The Commander!
Love it. Now there’s some goddamn HITS...
Steve Lindstrom
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Dear Boy -- every English man or woman of a certain age reason this is saying, "What?!? No Mudd track on this list?!?!"
Old people are pissed at Ed Sheeran having most of the Top Twenty tracks in England right now....but ChinniChap were there first. A lifetime ago.
- Hugo Burnham
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No "Some Girls" by Racey? For shame.
Alec Pappas.
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Don't discount Blockbuster, Little Willy, Wig Wam Bam, or their all time finest, Hell Raiser, one of the best rock n roll singles of the era.
Kenny Vaiughan
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This is a great BBC Radio Documentary on Chinnichap. I wish there was a more extensive one. I wish he'd write a book!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j-6J9S4rR8 It's astonishing how many massive hits he was involved with. I grew up in South Africa and his songs were absolutely huge there Big in South Africa, Scandinavia, Germany, UK, Holland - So many different labels, and acts - plus all the re-records and different versions of the bands. I could list dozens upon dozens of more international Top 10's.
Exile had another massive hit in SA in 1979, called "The Part Of Me That Needs You Most" - it was a no. 2 single - you could never find it on CD. No US or Euro Greatest Hits album ever included it. I wanted to license it in the late 90's for something. A friend got me a number, and i thought I'd call his manager or business affairs person, and Mike answered the phone himself. I nearly had a heart attack. "Hello I'm in Johannesburg and everyone wants this song on CD!" -
He could not have been nicer. I of course got nervous and over-excited and asked him questions about all kind of crazy songs and productions he had written or produced that i just loved. He answered every single one with complete patience and kindness. He just kept saying "Wow, you know that song? You're calling from Johannesburg? Really?" ...?
What a record making machine and incredible man.
Cheers
Dion Singer
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Device "Hanging on a Heartattack". Amazing Knight/Chapman tune. Hit #35 in 1986.
Jordan Guagliumi
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BOB ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME???Chapman produced all these songs? ( gasp ) That is truly remarkable and I am truly depressed LOL... So just when I thought I was on top of my game as a record producer LOL. Very humbling to think one guy was responsible for all those hits. Good stuff Bob.
Cheers
Johnny Vieira
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There is so much more.
If you haven't heard "The Kids of Tragedy" a Suzi Quatro tour de force that Chapman wrote and produced, you're really missing out. Or "If You Can't Give Me Love."
Or her rocking covers of "Keep A Knockin'," "I Wanna Be Your Man," and "Shakin' All Over," to name just a few.
And so many Smokie songs, as you can tell because you listed so many of them as covered by other artists ("Lay Back..," "If You Think...," "Heart & Soul,").
It was Racey's "Hey Ricky" that Toni Basil transformed.
And it was the Arrows self-penned "I Love Rock N Roll" on the b-side of a Chinn-Chapman a-side single.
And "Tiger Feet" by Mud, as well as their classic "Lonely This Christmas."
"Hanging On The Telephone" was picked by the Blondies after they heard the Nerves original version; the Nerves were Peter (Plimsouls) Case, Paul (Beat) Collins, and Jack Lee, who actually wrote the song. And my personal all-time favorite Blondie song, "Sunday Girl" from Parallel Lines.
I could go on.
Toby Mamis
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Mike Chapman is one of the greatest. He was so innovative in the studio.
Daniel Woods
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The Sweet 'Ballroom Blitz’ was actually produced by Phil Wainman. There is some really interesting facts about Phil and his work with The Sweet here...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Wainman I remember buying ‘Ballroom Blitz’ on 45 rpm when it was first released and something seemed wrong. I told my Dad that the song seemed fast, but he couldn’t hear it.
Years later, after I got my first job making tea at Utopia Studios, I mentioned my speedy 'Ballroom Blitz’ single to the head of maintenance, Ian Davidson. Utopia Studios were actually owned by the producer of “Ballroom Blitz’ Phil Wainman, who aside from producing Sweet, had also produced The Bay City Rollers, Mud, and even ‘I Don’t Like Mondays' for The Boomtown Rats.
Ian asked me not to bring it up to Phil as it turned out that he (Ian) had previously been a mastering engineer and had mastered the first pressing of Ballroom Blitz..but he had inadvertently left the ‘varispeed’ in from a previous session !... So the first pressing of ‘Ballroom Blitz’ was actually too fast !
Phil was apparently still pretty mad about this and Ian didn’t want to remind him. At least I had finally found out why my 45 sounded weird !
Phil was a great boss and Utopia was a fabulous place to work and learn.
Cheers,
Tim Palmer
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I never write to you, but for this I will. That was a fascinating trip down memory lane about the great talent behind all these great songs. Thank you!
Corina Stark
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Rare and slightly gossipy interview with Mike Chapman visiting his home city Brisbane.Interviewer is Richard Vidler formerly with the Edinburgh festival favourites comedy group Doug Anthony Allstars.
Worth your time.
www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/conversations/mike-chapman/4418622 Ivar
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I love this post. Most of those songs are a huge part of my childhood and to know they were by the same team! Now that you lay it out it makes sense! What an amazing group of unheralded producers. Thanks for this.
Justin Bartek
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china and chapman ruled top of the pops when i lived in england in the 1970s, but, reggae had also taken a stronghold on the british youth.
marley was everywhere, my boy lollipop was massive, as was dave and ansel collins, desmond decker’s isrealites was as well.
not to forget…. greyhound’s black and white, johnny nash’s i can see clearly now, montego bay by the rudies.
ken bootees cover of bread’s everything i own, jimmy cliff’s cover of cat steven’s wild world.
10cc released dreadlock holiday,
even wings released C-Moon.
man, McCartney in on the reggae….in 1972. hell even oh-blah-di oh-blah-da was a reggae tune.
except this calypso version
youtu.be/nJoQbLV2sQU or this dub version…
youtu.be/GR3-_q7x5Sk magical times lad, magical.
Michael Halloran
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Thanks for this, Bob. Mike Chapman is one of my favorite producers and you've represented his oeuvre very well with this list.
Producers of his era (and Roy Thomas Baker also comes to mind) knew how to make records that grabbed you by the throat. They had to rely on their ears and their guts alone; there was no MTV.
I love the story of how "Heart of Glass" evolved. Blondie owe a huge debt of gratitude to Chapman; the record (and Blondie's crossover success) would not have happened without him. I think some of the band were resentful of his very hands-on approach in the studio. Their LES insouciance didn't always welcome outside feedback. But the initial arrangement, an anemic reggae treatment they were calling "Once I Had A Love," was going nowhere. Chapman's critiques were met with increasingly frustrated, defensive pushback. With the track now completely stalled, he finally asked Debbie what contemporary artist she admired. "Donna Summer." So he suggested they completely overhaul the song, disco style. The band was reluctant but Debbie was into it, so they capitulated.
And the rest is history — Blondie had their biggest hit (which Chapman also officially named "Heart of Glass") and, together, they made the Downtown punks like disco.
Thanks for your daily insights. You have a clear voice as a writer with a very considered point of view.
Best regards,
Jonathan Keith, Los Angeles
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I would gamble to go on record that "My Sharona" singularly killed blue-eyed soul and Disco in one fell swoop. Ballroom Blitz is just a riot and brought humor into glam rock spurring on the likes of Dee Snyder and his antics. Mike was also quite a guitar player and many of those low register guitar hook lines were played by him if I'm not mistaken. He was greatly influenced by working with Mickey Most and you can hear it on You Sexy Thing which sounds like it could be a Chinnychap production. A true hit maker genius from a bygone era.
Kenny Lee Lewis
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Amazing !
Andrew Loog Oldham
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FYI, Chris Norman (former lead singer) is still going strong and has just released a catchy new single.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr1FtkKU8GE I got to see him live recently (first time) and he's in great shape for a guy who's 67 years of age. It's hard to beat the 10,000 hours apprenticeship, isn't it!:-)
Peace
Barry McCabe
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Really enjoyed the Mike Chapman themed letter this morning - and reading it made me think you might enjoy this Nicky Chinn episode of the Secret Genius series that I make at Spotify.
Rob Fitzpatricki
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Great playlist.
'Fade Away and Radiate' was the beginning of what is now an almost forty year love affair with Fripp and his music. 'Parallel Lines' is a timeless album, it still sounds fresh.
Miranda Yardley
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Written but not produced by Chinn & Chapman — but one of my favorites. I readily admit a soft spot in my heart for top 40 radio!
Little Willie — The Sweet.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z13a4uky600 Jim Charne
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DOWNUNDER PERSPECTIVE
Mike Chapman, still alive.
That was my first fear, another one bites the dust. And he is 70. Older than Denis Johnson RIP.
He's an Australian.
That's where it all started, with New World, in the new world. We do things different here, in the antipodes.
New World did the soft rock hit Tom Tom Turnaround, which charted here in NZ as it did in Oz, then Living Next Door to Alice, which was remade with Smokie. Chapman was good at that, recycling.
ALICE, huge first time, had a second life in the lewd remake (Who the Fuck is Alice?), but here in NZ, with the main line to the best of British as well as Kasey's American Top 40 on a Saturday arvo, we were inundated with the Chinnichap stable on our charts.
Ballroom Blitz is so good, but you missed Blockbuster (six weeks at number one), Hellraiser... if any era is underrecognised now it's British glam, with Mud, Suzi Q and the rest on RAK, all Chinn and Chapman.
Then there was SOME GIRLS, Smokie prefiguring the Stones title; worse song but another huge, immensely annoying hit.
Then PARALLEL LINES. And the rest of the Blondie smashes. That excused everything. As did Exile, Mickey etc.
As for The Best, we know it as Simply the Best, Tina's duet with the great, troubled Jimmy Barnes.
He's the guy who paired up with Michael Hutchence and INXS for the definitive version of GOOD TIMES, a lesser known composition from the great Vanda/Young team who gave us those Easybeats classics. It rocks.
And I know you like a good bio, Bob.
Jimmy's wasn't ghosted, and the story of his hideous Scots>Australia childhood makes Bruce's memoir read like the easy way to the top. Jimmy's rock'n'roll stories, through Cold Chisel to the solo success and soul duets, is still to come with Vol2. That will be great.
Part 1, Here you go:
www.amazon.com/Working-Class-Boy-Jimmy-Barnes-ebook/dp/B01FWW8SZO Ps. We need to get you down here for a ski trip before climate change kills it.
Mark Cubey
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Good one Bob I love how Chrysalis played such a big role in music way back then Blondie was gone by the time I got there in November of 1984 But I loved when their catalog was converted to CD That's when I was able to relive everyone of their hits all over again ! I really enjoyed meeting Mike Chapman while I was there
Cheers The Sutterman
Kevin F. Sutter
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thanks for this playlist, this is cool and Fade Away and Radiate...yes Fripp made magic there for sure....
I'm not one to work you on music, especially from our company but seeing "Love is a Battlefield" on here, we just released a cover of this song by Maysa, who completely reinvents the tune as a song for our time. it is a song i tell friends to listen to as i think its spectacular as a cover....so forgive me for the "hype"...but you might miss this cover and it's maybe worthy enough to share with you.
thanks for all the great writings and information you always share....
Bill Cason
Shanachie
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"Tiger Feet" by Mud
Joel Selvin
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Very cool list, Bob. Chapman had an amazing string of hits.
One production you didn't mention, which is one of my favorites of his, is Material Issue's "Freak City Soundtrack" from 1994. Check out "Goin' Through Your Purse". The song definitely gives a nod or two to Sweet. An amazing Power Pop track (and album) that got lost in the Grunge era.
Pete
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Mike Chapman is absolutely brilliant. Thanks for this post.
Craig MacNeil
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"Hanging On The Telephone" - What an opener, what a great concept, what a KILLER!
The original, by the Nerves:
open.spotify.com/track/5icEcS2TkG3y0HAt1j0M3J Hyperbolium
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Re: Mike Chapman Playlist (Better Be Good To Me)
Quick note on this one. It originally appeared on the album “Between the Lines” by the band Spider. For my money, it’s a better version than Tina’s.
Spider was a band started in New York City by a couple from South Africa, Amanda Blue (vocals) and Keith Lentin (guitar). That album also featured a song later made famous by John Waite called “Change.” It was one of his bigger hits.
Holly Knight was Spider's keyboard player.
Anton Fig, later of David Letterman’s band (for many, many years), was Spider’s drummer.
Met them all when they played a club in Charlotte, NC. Very nice bunch of folks. Was the first time I ever hung out on a tour bus. I was 21 and wide-eyed...
Bob Davis
Tour Accountant
Drake - OVO Festivals
Toronto/London 2017
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OMG!
I have just driven 3 hours to get to our cottage 70 miles out of town.
I pour myself a glass of fine Bordeaux and get stuck into my emails.
148!
So I put on this playlist and the time and email just flies!
What a genius this man is. Please don't tell me he died. I always worry when you write about someone.
I remember reading that when asked what his biggest mistake was he said"making a second album with the Knack"!
Only shame is the Sweet track didn't come up on Spotify. He made so many great singles with Sweet and Mudd. Together with Susie Q on Micky Mosts label. Takes a genius to recognise a genius!
Richard Griffiths
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