Mike Chapman facts for kids

Michael Donald Chapman (born April 13, 1947) is an Australian record producer and songwriter. He became very important in the British pop music industry during the 1970s.

He helped create many hit singles for famous artists. These included the Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Smokie, Mud, and Racey. He often worked with his business partner, Nicky Chinn. Their unique sound became known as the "Chinnichap" style. Later, he produced successful albums for Blondie and the Knack. Mike Chapman received a special award, the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), in 2014.

Mike Chapman's Early Career

Mike Chapman was born in Queensland, Australia. He went to school at the Anglican Church Grammar School. Later, he moved to Britain. There, he joined a band called the Downliners Sect. In 1968, he became part of another group called Tangerine Peel. They released an album in 1969 and had some songs that almost became hits between 1967 and 1970.

In 1970, he met Nicky Chinn while working at a nightclub in London called Tramp. They decided to work together as songwriters. They started working with producer Mickie Most at his record label, RAK Records. This label quickly became home to many artists like Suzi Quatro, Smokie, and Mud.

Working with Nicky Chinn

From 1970 to 1978, Chapman and Chinn created many hit singles. Just between 1973 and 1974, they had 19 songs in the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. Five of these songs even reached number one!

Their songs were very popular in Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. Their success continued even after glam rock music became less popular. However, their influence slowly faded as bands like Smokie and Suzi Quatro became less famous.

Chapman had a lot of control over the music the bands produced. He decided what songs would be on their albums. Some bands didn't like this much control. For example, The Sweet wanted to play heavy rock music. They didn't like the teenybopper songs Chapman gave them. They eventually decided to write their own songs and find success on their own. Chapman even offered a song called "Some Girls" to Blondie, but it was later given to Racey instead.

Chapman continued to write hit songs. These included "Kiss You All Over" for Exile in 1978. He also wrote "Mickey" for Toni Basil in 1982. This song was a new version of "Kitty," which they had written for Racey in 1980.

In 1979, Chapman and Chinn started their own record label called Dreamland. But it only lasted for two years. In 2014, Chinn and Chapman worked together again on a musical called Blockbuster. This musical used their old songs. It was the first time they had talked in 25 years!

Producing Music Alone

Nicky Chinn was not very involved in the actual music production. So, Chapman continued to produce music by himself after moving to the U.S. in 1975.

Working with Blondie

In 1978, he produced Nick Gilder's City Nights album. This album included the hit song "Hot Child in the City". In May of the same year, Chapman started working with Blondie to record their third album in New York. Chapman liked their music but thought their previous albums could sound better. He told the band he would help them make a hit record, and he was right! Their album Parallel Lines made Blondie famous all over the world. Many people think this was a highlight of Chapman's career.

The Parallel Lines recording sessions lasted three months. Singer Deborah Harry noticed how focused Chapman was when he worked.

Chapman used his skills to create a more polished sound for Blondie's guitars and keyboards. He also added layers to their vocals. The most important song on the album, and the one that became a huge hit, was "Heart of Glass". There's some debate about where its strong disco beat came from. Chapman said he created the sound after the band presented it as a slower, reggae-style song. But band members say it was always known as their disco song. They claim they created the sound by mixing ideas from Kraftwerk and the movie Saturday Night Fever.

Working with The Knack

Just a few months after Parallel Lines was released, Chapman worked with another band that brought him great success: the power pop group the Knack. In November 1978, many record companies wanted to sign the band. Capitol Records finally signed them. Many producers wanted to work with them, even Phil Spector.

The Knack's album and their song "My Sharona" became number one in the U.S. and sold millions worldwide. Their next album, ...But the Little Girls Understand, was not as successful. This led to a disagreement between the band and Chapman. Chapman felt the album hurt his reputation.

More Albums with Blondie

Chapman produced three more Blondie albums: Eat to the Beat, Autoamerican, and The Hunter. He also produced most of Def, Dumb and Blonde, a solo album for Deborah Harry. Chris Stein from Blondie was amazed by how much attention Chapman paid to details. He noted that for the song "The Tide Is High," Chapman even recorded "eight tracks of drum sticks tapping on a piano bench."

How Songs Were Written

Chinn and Chapman wrote songs very quickly. They often thought of and finished songs overnight. They said they would first think of a song title. Then, they would write the lyrics around that title.

In a 2002 interview, Chapman said that writing hit songs is an art that many people try but few do well. He explained that it's always a risk. He mentioned that after writing many hit songs for Sweet, the band decided to record their own songs. Chapman felt that after that, their success ended. He said that writing songs might seem easy, but it's very hard to do well.

However, The Sweet did have several big hits with their own songs, like "Fox on the Run" and "Love Is Like Oxygen".

Success in the 1980s and 1990s

Mike Chapman remained a popular songwriter and producer throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He wrote songs like Tina Turner's "The Best" (first recorded by Bonnie Tyler), "Better Be Good to Me", and "In Your Wildest Dreams." He also wrote Pat Benatar's "Love Is a Battlefield". All these songs were co-written with Holly Knight. He also produced albums for many artists, including 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.

Recent Projects

In 1998, Chapman helped write two songs for Ace of Base: "Always Have, Always Will" and "Whenever You're Near Me".

Between 1999 and 2001, Chapman wrote and produced an album called Babyphetamine for a teenager named Erin Evermore.

In 2006, he wrote "Back to the Drive." This was the main song for Suzi Quatro's album Back to the Drive. Suzi Quatro thanked Chapman in the album notes for writing the song and helping with the whole project.

In 2007, Chapman started working with a rock band from Los Angeles called the Automatic Music Explosion. The band's lead singer, Matt Starr, traveled to Chapman's home to try and meet him. This bold move worked! Chapman flew to Los Angeles a month later to see the band play live. He then agreed to produce their first album.

In January 2008, Chapman produced the song "Spin It" with the Neighborhood Bullys. In May 2008, he started mixing songs for Lisa Douglass's album Your Doll. In September 2008, Chapman met the band Haim and began producing an album with them. In November 2008, Chapman also started writing and producing a solo album for Sarah Jeanette, who sings with the Mulhollands. In November 2009, Chapman recorded the first album for the UK band the Arcadian Kicks, but it has not been released yet. Between 2010 and 2012, Chapman worked in London with Twigs (FKA Twigs) and David Jordan. He is also writing and producing songs with Australian singer-songwriter Holiday Sidewinder.

In 2016, Mike Chapman Publishing made a deal with Jeremy Lascelles' new company, Blue Raincoat Songs.

Famous Hit Songs

Here are some of the hit songs that Mike Chapman produced, or wrote and produced, either alone or with Nicky Chinn. These songs appeared on the UK Singles Chart:

• 1971:

• New World: "Tom Tom Turnaround", "Kara Kara"
• The Sweet: "Funny Funny", "Co-Co", "Alexander Graham Bell"

• 1972:

• The Sweet: "Poppa Joe", "Little Willy", "Wig-Wam Bam"
• New World: "Sister Jane"

• 1973:

• Mud: "Crazy", "Hypnosis", "Dyna-Mite"
• Suzi Quatro: "Can the Can", "48 Crash", "Daytona Demon"
• The Sweet: "Block Buster!", "Hellraiser", "The Ballroom Blitz"

• 1974:

• Arrows: "Touch Too Much"
• Mud: "Tiger Feet", "The Cat Crept In", "Rocket", "Lonely This Christmas"
• Suzi Quatro: "Devil Gate Drive", "Too Big", "The Wild One"
• The Sweet: "Teenage Rampage", "The Six Teens", "Turn It Down"

• 1975:

• Mud: "The Secrets That You Keep", "Moonshine Sally" (recorded in 1972), "One Night"
• Suzi Quatro: "Your Mama Won't Like Me"
• Smokie: "If You Think You Know How to Love Me", "Don't Play Your Rock 'n' Roll to Me"

• 1976:

• Smokie: "Something's Been Making Me Blue", "I'll Meet You at Midnight", "Living Next Door to Alice"

• 1977:

• Suzi Quatro: "Tear Me Apart"
• Smokie: "Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone", "It's Your Life"

• 1978:

• Suzi Quatro: "The Race is On", "If You Can't Give Me Love", "Stumblin' In" (with Chris Norman)
• Blondie: "Picture This", "Hanging on the Telephone"
• Exile: "Kiss You All Over"
• Racey: "Lay Your Love on Me"
• Smokie: "For a Few Dollars More", "Oh Carol"

• 1979:

• Blondie: "Heart of Glass", "Sunday Girl", "Dreaming", "Union City Blue"
• Suzi Quatro: "She's in Love with You"
• Racey: "Some Girls", "Kitty" (later became "Mickey" by Toni Basil in 1982)
• The Knack: "My Sharona" (producer only)

• 1980:

• Blondie: "Atomic", "The Tide Is High"
• Suzi Quatro: "Mama's Boy" (producer only), "I've Never Been in Love" (producer only)

• 1981:

• Blondie: "Rapture"
• Exile: "Heart and Soul" (Co-written with Nicky Chinn) – later covered by Huey Lewis and the News.

• 1982:

• Toni Basil: "Mickey"
• Blondie: "Island of Lost Souls", "War Child"

• 1983:

• Agnetha Fältskog: "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" (sole producer and co-written with Holly Knight)
• Altered Images: "Don't Talk To Me About Love" (sole producer only), "Love To Stay" (sole producer only)
• Bow Wow Wow: "Do Ya Wanna Hold Me" (sole producer only)
• Huey Lewis and the News: "Heart and Soul"
• Pat Benatar: "Love Is a Battlefield" (co-written with Holly Knight)

• 1984:

• Tina Turner: "Better Be Good to Me" (co-written with Holly Knight)

• 1985:

• Pat Benatar: "Invincible" (sole producer)

• 1986:

• Device: "Hanging on a Heart Attack" (sole producer and co-written with Holly Knight)

• 1988:

• Bonnie Tyler: "The Best" (co-written with Holly Knight), later covered by Tina Turner

• 1989:

• Tina Turner: "The Best" (co-written with Holly Knight), also reissued in 1993

• 1995:

• Smokie featuring Roy 'Chubby' Brown: "Living Next Door to Alice" (a funny version).

• 1998:

• Ace of Base: "Always Have, Always Will" (co-written with Jonas Berggren), "Whenever You're Near Me" (co-written with Jonas Berggren)

Awards and Recognition

Queensland Music Awards

The Queensland Music Awards are yearly awards that celebrate talented artists from Queensland, Australia. They started in 2006.

See also

In Spanish: Mike Chapman para niños