Mike Chapman
Michael Donald Chapman
13 April 1947
Nambour, Queensland, Australia
Pop, glam rock
Songwriter, record producer
1970s–present
Chapman and Chinn [edit]
From 1970 until 1978 Chapman and Chinn scored a run of hit singles. From 1973 to 1974 alone the pair had 19 hits in the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, including five number ones. The pair's dominance of the charts in Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand outlasted the decline of glam rock, and waned in line with the fading fortunes of Smokie and Suzi Quatro.[4]
Chapman exerted a tight grip on the output of the bands whose works he produced, determining the content of all albums.[6] Some resented the level of control: The Sweet, whose interests lay in heavy rock, chafed at the teenybopper material Chapman gave them to perform, finally balking at some songs which did not fit in with their new direction[7][8] and seeking success on their own;[9] Chapman offered "Some Girls" to Blondie; the song was eventually given to Racey instead. Deborah Harry has referred to Chapman as a dictator,[10] and for the photo shoot for one magazine interview he insisted on dressing up as US wartime General George S. Patton, Jr.[10]
Chapman continued to write hits, including Exile's "Kiss You All Over" (1978)[2] and Toni Basil's "Mickey" (1982, a reworked version of "Kitty", a song they had written for Racey in 1980).[11]
Together with Chinn he formed the Dreamland record label in 1979, but it lasted only two years.[2][4] In 2014 Chinn and Chapman got together to work on the musical "Blockbuster", which was based around their songs. This was the first time they had spoken to each other in 25 years.[5]
Solo production work[edit]
Blondie[edit]
Chinn's involvement in production was always minimal and Chapman continued to produce alone after moving to the U.S. in 1975. He produced Nick Gilder's City Nights album in 1978 (which yielded the "Hot Child in the City" hit) with Peter Coleman, his long-time recording engineer and in May the same year began working with Blondie to record their third album in New York. Chapman was a fan of their music but was dissatisfied with the production of their albums.[12] He bluntly told the band that he would make them a hit record and he was right: Parallel Lines turned the band into an international success and became arguably the pinnacle of his own career.[4]
The Parallel Lines session lasted three months. Singer Deborah Harry was struck by the intensity of Chapman's working methods. She said:
Writing technique[edit]
Chinn and Chapman delivered their songs rapidly, often conceiving and completing them overnight. They claimed they created their songs by first thinking of a title, around which they then wrote the lyrics.
In a 2002 interview with The Guardian, Chapman reflected that writing hit songs was an art to which many aspired but few achieved: "It's always a gamble. We'd written something like eight top 10 hits for Sweet when we heard that they'd entered the studio to record their own songs. After that, it was over for them. The bottom line is this – writing songs might be easy to do, but it's incredibly hard to do well."[9]
Despite these claims The Sweet for example had several major hits with their own songs in "Fox on the Run" and "Love Is Like Oxygen".
Through the 1980s and into the 1990s[edit]
Chapman remained in demand through the 1980s and 1990s as a songwriter and producer. His compositions have included Tina Turner's "The Best" (originally recorded by Bonnie Tyler), "Better Be Good to Me" and "In Your Wildest Dreams" and Pat Benatar's "Love Is a Battlefield" (all co-written with Holly Knight) and Scandal's "Hands Tied", another Chapman/Knight collaboration which was No. 41 in the US, while he has produced albums for Altered Images, Australian Crawl, Agnetha Fältskog, Scandal, Divinyls, Rod Stewart, Lita Ford, Pat Benatar, Baby Animals, Tami Show, Nervus Rex, Material Issue and Bow Wow Wow.[4]
Later work[edit]
In 1998, Chapman co-wrote two songs for Ace of Base, "Always Have, Always Will"[19] and "Whenever You're Near Me".[20]
Between 1999 and 2001, Chapman wrote and produced Babyphetamine, an album by the teenager Erin Evermore for the Tigerstar label, owned by the former Chrysalis Records head, Terry Ellis.[21]
In 2006, he wrote "Back to the Drive", the title track of the Suzi Quatro Back to the Drive album.[22] In the liner notes Quatro thanked Chapman "for providing the title track and overseeing the entire project".
In 2007, Chapman began working with the Los Angeles rock band, the Automatic Music Explosion. The band's lead singer, Matt Starr, flew to Chapman's East Coast home in an attempt to meet the producer. The bold move worked, with Chapman flying to Los Angeles a month later to see the band perform live and ultimately agreeing to produce their first album.[23]
In January 2008, Chapman produced the single "Spin It" with the Neighborhood Bullys.[24] In May 2008, Chapman began mixing songs from Your Doll, for Lisa Douglass. In September 2008, Chapman met Haim, and started producing an album with the band, which is still under construction . In November 2008, Chapman also started writing with, and producing a solo album for Sarah Jeanette, singer with the Mulhollands. In November 2009, Chapman recorded the debut album for UK band, the Arcadian Kicks, but its release is still pending.[25] Between 2010 and 2012, Chapman worked in London with Twigs (FKA Twigs), David Jordan, and Nell Ryder. He is also writing with and producing tracks with the Australian singer-songwriter, Holiday Sidewinder.
In 2016 Chapman's, Mike Chapman Publishing inked a deal with Jeremy Lascelles' newly launched Blue Raincoat Songs.[26] Mike Chapman Publishing signed songwriters include writer/producer Simon Pilton, and songwriter/ singer/artist, Abisha. He is also currently writing with and co-producing Abisha.
Chapman now also has a radio show on Boogaloo Radio London with Maddy Paterson, The Mike and Maddy Show. A podcast of the show is being prepared.
Songs produced, or written and produced, by Chapman/Chinn or Chapman as sole producer which appeared on the UK Singles Chart:
Awards[edit]
Queensland Music Awards[edit]
The Queensland Music Awards (previously known as Q Song Awards) are annual awards celebrating Queensland, Australia's brightest emerging artists and established legends. They commenced in 2006.[29]