K SPECIAL
Blockbusters: The Very Best of Chinn & Chapman - A 50th Anniversary Celebration [2024] (2 x CDs)
Celebrating 50 years since this fantastic album of Chinnichap smash hits was released, here is my expanded 2CD edition featuring 45 of the very best songs by this brilliant songwriting duo.
Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman are the 1974 winners of the Ivor Novello Songwriters Of The Year award presented by the Performing Rights Society. They were also runners-up for the Best Beat Song award, with the title song on this album, Blockbuster.
Since the two writers met in 1970 they have guaranteed chart security to the Sweet since 1971, Mud since 1972 and Suzi Quatro since May of 1973. The origin of the distinctive Chinnichap sound is not easy to trace without inside knowledge, but it derives mainly from a simple, catchy riff and biting lead line, filled out by sound effects designed to create a live atmosphere on the recora. "Come on boys" shouts Suzi Quatro on Devil Gate Drive, "One more time" rally Mud on The Cat Crept In and Blockbuster cries out for that siren.
By moving on to the production side, Chinnichap are able to follow these original ideas through to a finished recording. They would be the first to praise others on the production, such as engineer Pete Coleman, and the partnership too does not bow to anything below perfection. It would be easy to settle for just one bad line in what for all else is a good song, but Chinnichap do not succumb to this. It is such disregard for the second-rate that has evolved so many hits in such a short space of time. It shows also just how much contribution the song makes in pushing an artist to the top, and it is because these numbers can stand up so well on their own that this tribute to the writing and flair of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman has been made.
Martin Thorpe
Nicholas Barry Chinn (born 16 May 1945 is an English-American songwriter and record producer. Together with Mike Chapman he had a long string of hit singles in the US and UK in the 1970s and early 1980s, including several international number-one records. The duo wrote hits for the Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Mud, New World, Arrows, Racey, Smokie, Tina Turner, Huey Lewis and the News, Exile and Toni Basil.
Michael Donald Chapman OAM (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Smokie, Mud and Racey with business partner Nicky Chinn, creating a sound that became identified with the "Chinnichap" brand. He later produced breakthrough albums for Blondie and The Knack. Chapman received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2014 Australia Day Honours.
Chinn was born in London to an affluent Jewish family that owned a string of service stations and car sales distributorships. As a young man his talent for writing successful pop songs was obvious and within a month or two of his first efforts as a songwriter, Chinn co-wrote with Mike d'Abo the two main songs for the hit film, There's a Girl in My Soup (1970).
It was at this point that Chinn met Australian-born Mike Chapman, who was a waiter at a nightclub Chinn frequented, and they decided to team up. Chapman was already a professional musician and songwriter with the band Tangerine Peel, and the two quickly joined up with Mickie Most's RAK label. They began writing songs for a new glam rock band, The Sweet, and their compositions accounted for all the singles the band released in their early years.
Chinn's and Chapman's songwriting style was so successful with British and worldwide audiences that Sweet had an uninterrupted string of million-selling hits in the next few years. These included "Co-Co", "Little Willy", "Wig-Wam Bam", "Block Buster!" "The Ballroom Blitz", "Hell Raiser" and "Teenage Rampage". "The Ballroom Blitz" entered the UK Singles Chart at number two - an unusual feat at the time. "Little Willy" and "The Ballroom Blitz" both went on to be top five hits in America.
Chinn and Chapman stopped working with Sweet in 1975 but achieved equal success worldwide with Suzi Quatro, for whom they wrote many hits. These included "48 Crash" and the No.1 singles "Can the Can" and "Devil Gate Drive". Chinn and Chapman found their next big success with Mud, who had hits with a number of their compositions between 1973 and 1975, including two number ones in "Tiger Feet" and "Lonely This Christmas". Smokie became Chinn and Chapman's next project and they had a number of hit singles with them between 1975 and 1978 including the worldwide hit "Living Next Door to Alice".
In 1978, the two scored their first number one in the United States with Exile's "Kiss You All Over", and Suzi Quatro's duet with Smokie's lead singer Chris Norman, "Stumblin' In", reached number four in the same year. In 1982 "Mickey" by Toni Basil gave the two their second American number one, and in the mid 1980s they had top ten hits with Tina Turner's "Better Be Good to Me", and Huey Lewis's "Heart and Soul".
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.
Chapman exerted a tight grip on the output of the bands whose works he produced, determining the content of all albums. 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 and seeking success on their own; Chapman offered "Some Girls" to Blondie; the song was eventually given to Racey instead. Deborah Harry has referred to Chapman as a dictator, and for the photo shoot for one magazine interview he insisted on dressing up as US wartime General George S. Patton, Jr.
Chapman continued to write hits, including Exile's "Kiss You All Over" (1978) and Toni Basil's "Mickey" (1982, a reworked version of "Kitty", a song they had written for Racey in 1980).
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.
Singles:
1971:
New World: "Tom Tom Turnaround", "Kara, Kara"
The Sweet: "Funny Funny", "Co-Co", "Alexander Graham Bell"
1972:
Peter Noone: "Shoo Be Doo Ah"
New World: "Sister Jane", "Living Next Door to Alice",
The Sweet: "Poppa Joe", "Little Willy", "Wig-Wam Bam"
1973:
Mud: "Crazy", "Hypnosis", "Dyna-mite"
New World: "Rooftop Singing"
Suzi Quatro: "Can the Can", "48 Crash", "Daytona Demon"
The Sweet: "Block Buster!", "Hellraiser", "The Ballroom Blitz"
1974:
Arrows: "Touch Too Much", "Toughen Up"
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" (originally recorded in 1972),
Suzi Quatro: "Your Mama Won’t Like Me", "I Bit Off More Than I Could Chew"
Smokie: "Pass It Around" "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", "Wild Wild Angels", "I'll Meet You at Midnight", "Living Next Door to Alice"
1977:
Exile: "Try it On"
Smokie: "Lay Back in the Arms of Someone", "It's Your Life",
Suzi Quatro: "Tear Me Apart"
1978:
Exile: "Kiss You All Over", "You Thrill Me"
Smokie: "For a Few Dollars More", "Oh Carol"
Suzi Quatro: "If You Can't Give Me Love"
Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman: "Stumblin' In"
Racey: "Lay Your Love on Me"
1979:
Exile: "How Could This Go Wrong", "The Part of Me That Needs You Most"
Racey: "Some Girls"
Suzi Quatro: "Don't Change My Luck", "She’s in Love with You"
1981:
Exile: "Heart and Soul"
Toni Basil: "Mickey"
1983:
Huey Lewis and the News: "Heart and Soul"
1984:
Tina Turner: "Better Be Good to Me"
So, after exhaustive and extensive online research, plus my own recollections, memories and records bought at the time, here is my personal compilation of what I consider to be the 45 best and most important tracks from the Chinnichap songwriting duo.
To my knowledge, a fully comprehensive compilation set has never been officially released of their very best work.
Compiled as always using the very latest and highest quality digital remasters, with a considerable number of tracks sourced from the original master tapes for superior sound quality and enjoyment.
All tracks are the 100% CD quality original recordings. No poor-quality YouTube rips here!
K
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Track lists
CD1
01 The Sweet - Block Buster! 3:12
02 Mud - Tiger Feet 3:51
03 Suzi Quatro - Devil Gate Drive 3:47
04 Smokie - Don't Play Your Rock 'n' Roll to Me 3:19
05 The Sweet - Little Willy 3:14
06 Mud - Dyna-mite 2:58
07 Suzi Quatro - 48 Crash 3:55
08 Arrows - Touch Too Much 2:59
09 The Sweet - Wig-Wam Bam 3:01
10 Mud - Crazy 3:12
11 Smokie - Something's Been Making Me Blue 3:01
12 Suzi Quatro - If You Can't Give Me Love 3:51
13 Racey - Some Girls 3:27
14 The Sweet - Funny Funny 2:49
15 New World - Sister Jane 3:40
16 Smokie - If You Think You Know How to Love Me 3:26
17 The Sweet - Hell Raiser 3:17
18 Suzi Quatro - The Wild One 2:51
19 Smokie - Wild Wild Angles 3:57
20 Sweet - The Six Teens 4:03
21 Suzi Quatro - Tear Me Apart (Original 1977 7" Single Version) 3:42
22 Smokie - I'll Meet You at Midnight 3:16
23 Mud - Lonely This Christmas 3:34
CD2
01 The Sweet - The Ballroom Blitz 4:01
02 Mud - The Cat Crept In 4:02
03 Suzi Quatro - Can the Can 3:37
04 Smokie - Living Next Door to Alice 3:29
05 The Sweet - Teenage Rampage 3:34
06 Mud - Rocket 4:07
07 Suzi Quatro - Too Big 3:18
08 Smokie - For a Few Dollars More 3:35
09 Suzi Quatro - Daytona Demon 3:59
10 Arrows - Toughen Up 2:52
11 Mud - The Secrets That You Keep 3:10
12 Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman - Stumblin' In (Original 1978 7" Single Version) 3:29
13 The Sweet - Co-Co 3:15
14 The Sweet - Poppa Joe 3:06
15 Mud - Hypnosis 2:47
16 New World - Tom-Tom Turnaround 3:19
17 Toni Basil - Mickey (Original 1982 7" Single Version) 3:27
18 Racey - Lay Your Love on Me 3:13
19 Suzi Quatro - She's in Love with You 3:33
20 Huey Lewis and the News - Heart and Soul (Original 1983 7" Single Edit) 3:57
21 Exile - Kiss You All Over (Original 1978 7" Single Version) 3:29
22 Tina Turner - Better Be Good to Me (Original 1984 7" Single Edit) 3:42
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