Mike Chapman

Last updated

Mike Chapman
OAM
Birth nameMichael Donald Chapman
Born (1947-04-13) 13 April 1947 (age 76)
Nambour, Queensland, Australia
GenresPop, glam rock
Occupation(s)Songwriter, record producer
Years active1970s–present

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. [1]

Contents

Early career

Chapman was born in Queensland, Australia, [2] and was educated at the Anglican Church Grammar School. [3] He emigrated to Britain where he became a member of the Downliners Sect [ citation needed ] and then in 1968[ citation needed ] joined the group Tangerine Peel. [2] [4] They released an album in 1969 and had several near-hit singles between 1967 and 1970. In 1970 he met Nicky Chinn while working as a waiter at a London nightclub, Tramp. [5] The pair struck up a song-writing partnership, and began working with producer Mickie Most on his RAK Records label, which quickly became home to a roster of artists including Suzi Quatro, Smokie, and Mud. [2] [4]

Chinn recalled:

We decided to meet someone who was making hit records instead of going round to publishers' offices and playing our songs to people who didn't know what they were talking about. I got hold of Mickie's home number because I thought a secretary might block the call at the office. His wife, Chris, put him on and I said, 'We write hits and it would be great to meet up.' Mickie said, 'Okay, 11.30 tomorrow morning.' Mike played him some songs, all of which he didn't like, until the last one which was "Tom Tom Turnaround". He gave it to New World and it was a Top 5 record.

[ citation needed ]

Chapman and Chinn

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] Chapman has been quoted many times since, that Dreamland Records was his way of giving Chinn a job to prove himself. "I had attempted to end the business relationship since 1975 but had been stalled every time by Chinn's mental health and drinking problems, nervous breakdowns, and endless tantrums. When I moved to Beverly Hills in 1975 to put the Atlantic Ocean between us, he moved soon after and bought a house on the same street. He continued to put his name on every song I wrote, insisting that his name appear first in every case. Dreamland Records was a last gasp effort on my part to give him a real job and finally remove his presence from my hard work and success. As I anticipated, the label failed, he was entirely out of his depth and showing his real colours to everyone who encountered him. I was finally free to pursue my career in peace, without having my skills compromised and my royalties diverted. I sold Chinnchap Publishing in 1982. That was the end of the Chinnichap nightmare for me. I have been happily developing as a writer, publisher, record producer and mentor to many, since that day."

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

Blondie

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:

It was diametrically opposite from working with (former producer) Richard Gottehrer. He's very laid back and Mike is a real hot chili pepper and very energetic and enthusiastic. Mike would strive for the technically impeccable take so we would do take after take whereas Richard always went for the inspired take. [13]

Keyboardist Jimmy Destri recalled:

He was a very good producer, a very good producer. He wasn't very technical, but he was very organic and he was a very good mixer on his own too. I mean he knew the console like nobody else I've ever seen. He would say things like 'Jimmy, if you shut out the lights, I'll be able to EQ by ear' without even looking at the console! He taught me a lot about making records, that's what Mike did. And he was another member of the band at that point, and he was just like in there with us. And from Parallel Lines and onwards, Mike was integral, he was really integral as we couldn't go in the studio without him. As far as the recording process of those albums, we all learned a lot from Mike. [14]

Employing the same skills he had applied to records by Smokie and Gilder, Chapman produced a more polished guitar and keyboard sound than the band had ever achieved, topped with layered vocals. The focal point of the album and the breakthrough single, was "Heart of Glass". The source of its driving disco beat is a matter of contention: Chapman claimed he had created the sound after the band had presented it as a slower, reggae-style song; band members insist it had always been known as their disco song and that they had created the sound by combining the influences of Kraftwerk and Saturday Night Fever .

Chapman relished the praise heaped on his work on Parallel Lines, commenting soon after its release:

There's loads of hits, it's a great album, but who gives a fuck. It's easy, you see. When we go into the studio, we go in and make hit records, and it just happens. We don't think about it. If you're going to be in the music business, you gotta make hit records. If you can't make hit records, you should fuck off and go chop meat somewhere. [15]

The Knack

Within months of Parallel Lines' release, Chapman was working with another band for which he would achieve a career high-water mark: power pop outfit The Knack. The band's website [16] notes that in November 1978, 13 record companies were engaged in a fierce bidding war for the band's services, with Capitol Records finally signing the band. Producers clamoured to offer their services and even Phil Spector was anxious to participate.

The website says:

Chapman read an article in the LA Times which identified the producers the band most wanted to work with. His name wasn't on the list. Sensing a blockbuster, Chapman convinced the band to allow him to produce and signed on. With a team now firmly in place, The Knack and Chapman entered the studio, eager to capture the energy of their live performances. While artists such as The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac were spending more than a year and a million dollars to produce an album, Get The Knack was recorded in just 11 days for a miserly $17,000. The Knack performed the songs "live" with minimal overdubs. Chapman basically hit the record button and let the band play.

The album and the single "My Sharona" hit No. 1 in the US and sold millions around the world. Its follow-up ...But the Little Girls Understand was less successful. Featuring a producer credit as "Commander Chapman" and liner notes in which Chapman boasted, "This record is very dear to me and my bank manager", it prompted a bitter falling-out between band and producer. Chapman claimed the album cost him his reputation. In the book Off the Record, Chapman said he and the band made the second album under the heady impression that they could do no wrong. He accused singer and guitarist Doug Fieger of being deluded with notions he was Jim Morrison or Buddy Holly ... "there was nothing he could do that wouldn't work". Fieger, in a 1994 interview, [17] responded: "Mike Chapman is one of the bigger assholes that you'll ever meet on the planet. Unfortunately, Mike Chapman was not in any psychological or physical shape to produce that second album when we really needed a producer."

Blondie again

Chapman produced three more Blondie albums – Eat to the Beat , Autoamerican and The Hunter – and most of Def, Dumb and Blonde , a Deborah Harry solo album. In an article in Creem magazine Chris Stein marveled at Chapman's attention to detail, noting that the percussion for "The Tide Is High" also included "eight tracks of drum sticks tapping on a piano bench." He said:

Chapman hunches over the console into the wee hours. People are pressed flat against the back wall by his playback volume. Gallons of Jose Cuervo Gold are consumed... Finally, the basic tracks wind down, and we move a block down the Strip to Studio B. The move marks the Home Stretch; the vocals, overdubs and finally the orchestral horns and what have you. Here is Mike Chapman's little Magic Room. The control room is filled with a gigantic blue console that's hooked up to computers, satellites and atomic submarines off the coast of Maine. Here the songs get the 'chrome' put on. [18]

Writing technique

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

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 (during the recording of the band's 3rd album Sons Of Beaches apparently Chapman was solely motivated by mountains of cocaine), 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

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 [ citation needed ]. 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.

Hit singles

Songs produced, or written and produced, by Chapman/Chinn or Chapman as sole producer which appeared on the UK Singles Chart:

New World: "Tom Tom Turnaround", "Kara Kara"
The Sweet: "Funny Funny", "Co-Co", "Alexander Graham Bell"
The Sweet: "Poppa Joe", "Little Willy", "Wig-Wam Bam"
New World: "Sister Jane"
Mud: "Crazy", "Hypnosis", "Dyna-Mite"
Suzi Quatro: "Can the Can", "48 Crash", "Daytona Demon"
The Sweet: "Block Buster!", "Hellraiser", "The Ballroom Blitz"
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"
Mud: "The Secrets That You Keep", "Moonshine Sally" (originally 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"
Smokie: "Something's Been Making Me Blue", "I'll Meet You at Midnight", "Living Next Door to Alice"
Suzi Quatro: "Tear Me Apart"
Smokie: "Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone", "It's Your Life"
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"
Blondie: "Heart of Glass", "Sunday Girl", "Dreaming", "Union City Blue"
Suzi Quatro: "She's in Love with You"
Racey: "Some Girls", Kitty (Rewritten as Mickey and performed by Toni Basil in 1982)
The Knack: "My Sharona" (producer only)
Blondie: "Atomic", "The Tide Is High"
Suzi Quatro: "Mama's Boy" (producer only), "I've Never Been in Love" (producer only)
Blondie: "Rapture"
Exile "Heart and Soul" (Co-written with Nicky Chinn) – Later Covered by Huey Lewis and the News.
Toni Basil: "Mickey"
Blondie: "Island of Lost Souls", "War Child"
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)
Tina Turner: "Better Be Good to Me" (co-written with Holly Knight)
Pat Benatar: "Invincible" (sole producer)
Device: "Hanging on a Heart Attack" (sole producer and co-written with Holly Knight)
Bonnie Tyler: "The Best" (co-written with Holly Knight), covered by Tina Turner
Tina Turner: "The Best" (co-written with Holly Knight), also reissued in 1993 as B-side to "I Don't Wanna Fight"
Smokie featuring Roy 'Chubby' Brown: "Living Next Door to Alice" (spoof rendition). [27] [28]
Ace of Base: "Always Have, Always Will" (co-written with Jonas Berggren), "Whenever You're Near Me" (co-written with Jonas Berggren)

Awards

Queensland Music Awards

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]

YearNominee / workAwardResult (wins only)
2008 [30] himselfGrant McLennan Lifetime Achievement Awardawarded

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suzi Quatro</span> American rock musician (born 1950)

Susan Kay Quatro is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter and actor. In the 1970s, she scored a string of singles that found success in Europe and Australia, with both "Can the Can" (1973) and "Devil Gate Drive" (1974) reaching #1 in several countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mickie Most</span> English record producer and musician (1938–2003)

Michael Peter Hayes, known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind scores of hit singles for acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Chocolate, Arrows, Racey and the Jeff Beck Group, often issued on his own RAK Records label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Sweet</span> British glam rock band

Sweet are a British glam rock band who rose to prominence in the 1970s. Their best-known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bassist Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott and drummer Mick Tucker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smokie (band)</span> English rock band

Smokie are an English rock band from Bradford, Yorkshire. The band found success at home and abroad after teaming up with Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. They have had a number of lineup changes and were still actively touring in 2023. Their most popular hit single, "Living Next Door to Alice", peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart and, in March 1977, reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as going to No. 1 on the Australian singles chart. Other hit singles include "If You Think You Know How to Love Me", "Oh Carol", "Lay Back in the Arms of Someone", and "I'll Meet You at Midnight".

<i>If You Knew Suzi...</i> 1978 studio album by Suzi Quatro

If You Knew Suzi... is the fifth studio album by Suzi Quatro, released at the end of 1978, but with a 1979 copyright date. By August 2012 this was still Quatro's highest-charting album in the United States. The album also yielded Quatro's biggest US single hit, a duet with Chris Norman named "Stumblin' In" (which reached number 4 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts. It also had an advertising billboard on Sunset Boulevard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicky Chinn</span> Musical artist

Nicholas Barry Chinn 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Racey</span> British pop group

Racey are a British pop group, formed in 1976 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England, by Clive Wilson and Phil Fursdon. They achieved success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with hits such as "Lay Your Love on Me" and "Some Girls". Their 1979 song "Kitty" was an international hit in 1981 for Toni Basil when she reworked it into "Mickey".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Norman</span> English soft rock singer

Christopher Ward Norman is an English soft rock singer. Norman was the original lead singer of the English rock band Smokie, (1964–1986), who found success in Europe in the 1970s. "Stumblin' In", a 1978 duet with Suzi Quatro, was a big US hit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Can the Can</span> 1973 single by Suzi Quatro

"Can the Can" is the second solo single by American singer-songwriter Suzi Quatro and her first to reach number one in the UK, spending a single week at the top of the chart in June 1973. It also reached number one on the European and Australian charts in whose market Quatro achieved her most consistent success throughout her career as a recording artist. The single belatedly became a hit in the US peaking at number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. It was re-released as a single in the UK, with "Devil Gate Drive" as the B-side, in 1984, but failed to chart. The single made the charts again in 1987 in the UK at number 87, it also appeared on her 1995 album What Goes Around.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devil Gate Drive</span> 1974 single by Suzi Quatro

"Devil Gate Drive" is a song by American singer Suzi Quatro. It was Quatro's second solo number one single in the UK, spending two weeks at the top of the chart in February 1974. According to ukcharts.20m.com, she only reached number one again, in the UK, 13 years and 26 days later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">48 Crash</span> 1973 single by Suzi Quatro

"48 Crash" is Suzi Quatro's third solo single and was released after "Can the Can". It was included on her debut album Suzi Quatro. It later appeared as a track on her 1995 album What Goes Around. The single peaked at number three in the UK in July 1973, and number one in Australia for one week. It also hit number two in Germany, and charted well in other European countries.

<i>Suzi Quatro</i> (album) 1973 studio album by Suzi Quatro

Suzi Quatro is the debut solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter and bass guitarist of the same name. The LP was originally released in October 1973, by the record label Rak in most territories. The album was released under Bell Records in the United States and Canada, EMI Records in Japan, and Columbia Records in some European countries. It was titled Can the Can in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stumblin' In</span> 1978 single by Chris Norman and Suzi Quatro

"Stumblin' In" is a song written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, performed by Chris Norman and Suzi Quatro. Originally released as a standalone single, it was later added to some editions of the Quatro album If You Knew Suzi... It was Norman's first single as a solo artist.

"Lay Back in the Arms of Someone" is a song co-written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, performed by the English band Smokie.

<i>Back to the Drive</i> 2006 studio album by Suzi Quatro

Back to the Drive is the eleventh studio album by Suzi Quatro. Released in March 2006, it was her comeback album, and her first since 1990's Oh Suzi Q.. Produced by Sweet guitarist Andy Scott and Steve Grant with input from Quatro's classic era producer Mike Chapman, this release features backing vocals by Shirlie Roden, ex-husband Len Tuckey on guitar, and includes her daughter, Laura Quatro, duetting with her on the download-only single "I'll Walk Through the Fire With You".

<i>In the Spotlight</i> 2011 studio album by Suzi Quatro

In the Spotlight is the fifteenth studio album by the American singer-songwriter and bass guitar player Suzi Quatro.

<i>Greatest Hits</i> (Smokie album) 1977 compilation album by Smokie

Greatest Hits is a compilation album by British rock band Smokie, released in April 1977. It contains all eight of the band's singles up to that date. All but one of the tracks were written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman.

<i>Aggro-Phobia</i> 1977 studio album by Suzi Quatro

Aggro-Phobia is the fourth studio album by Suzi Quatro, recorded in the Autumn of 1976. It is the only one of her albums to be co-produced by Mickie Most.

<i>Suzi ... and Other Four Letter Words</i> 1979 studio album by Suzi Quatro

Suzi ... and Other Four Letter Words, released in 1979, is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter, bass guitar player, and actress Suzi Quatro. By August 2012 this was still Quatro's highest-charting album in Norway and her second-highest-charting album in the United States .

<i>What Goes Around – Greatest & Latest</i> 1995 studio album by Suzi Quatro

What Goes Around – Greatest & Latest is the eleventh studio album by rock singer-songwriter and bassist Suzi Quatro, released in 1995 by CMC International Records. It features re-recordings of her original recordings, spanning from the 1970s and features four new tracks, one a cover version of Bruce Springsteen's song "Born to Run".

References

  1. "CHAPMAN, Michael Donald". It's an Honour – Dept of the Prime Minister & Cabinet. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Chinn and Chapman". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Oxford Music Online. 7 April 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2013.(subscription required)
  3. Mason, James (2011). Churchie: The Centenary Register. Brisbane, Australia: The Anglican Church Grammar School. ISBN   978-0-646-55807-3.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ankeny, Jason (15 April 1947). "Mike Chapman | Biography". AllMusic . Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  5. 1 2 "That's neat: Chinnichap's blitz of 70s hits become a musical". The Guardian . 12 September 2014.
  6. "Interview with Rob Davis, Sound on Sound website and magazine, 2002". Soundonsound.com. Archived from the original on 28 February 2004. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  7. Archived 23 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Obituary: Brian Connolly". Archived from the original on 27 September 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2022 via Find Articles.
  9. 1 2 Paphides, Peter; Donovan, Miles (21 September 2002). "Musical Chairs". The Guardian. London. pp. C28–C33. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  10. 1 2 "Blondie: Still Dreaming". Mixonline.com. 1 May 1999. Archived from the original on 6 May 2005. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  11. "Basil, Toni". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Oxford Music Online. 7 April 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2013.(subscription required)
  12. "New York Rocker, September 1978". 30 April 2007.
  13. "Fred Bronson, The Billboard Book of Number One Hits, Billboard, 1988". Superseventies.com. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  14. Archived 7 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ""Platinum Blondie: A tough rock group rises about the New Wave with a disco beat", by Jamie James, Rolling Stone, June 1979". Rolling Stone . 31 August 2010. Archived from the original on 27 February 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  16. "Knack History". Knack.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2003. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  17. "KNACKROPHELIA LIVES!IF YOU DIDN'T GET THE KNACK THE FIRST TIME AROUND, HERE'S YOUR CHANCE". Archived from the original on 12 March 2007. Retrieved 13 February 2006.
  18. ""Blondie in LA" by Chris Stein, Creem, June 1981". 30 April 2007.
  19. "Ace of Base – Always Have, Always Will (CD) at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  20. "Ace of Base – Travel To Romantis (CD) at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  21. "SoundClick artist: Erin Evermore – Hot young temptress sings about parties and sex backed by powerhouse band. Songs written and produce". Soundclick.com. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  22. Thompson, Dave (14 March 2006). "Back to the Drive – Suzi Quatro : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic . Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  23. Buskin, Richard. "Modern Times: Mike Chapman Today". Sound on Sound magazine. Media House Cambridge UK. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
  24. "The Neighborhood Bullys in the studio w/ Mike Chapman | Video Youtube – NMETV Latest Music Videos and Clips". NME. 24 February 2013. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  25. "The Arcadian Kicks". One Beat Records. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  26. "Jeremy Lascelles: From Three Lions on a Shirt to Blue Raincoat – industry veteran turns to music publishing". Evening Standard . 18 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  27. Fulton, Katherine. "the automatic music explosion". MTV. Retrieved 1 June 2007.
  28. Wolfman, Jeff. "Automatic Fun with The Automatic Music Explosion". all access magazine. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
  29. "About the Queensland Music Awards". Queensland Music Awards. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  30. "Past Winners 2008". Queensland Music Awards. Retrieved 25 March 2021.