Nicky Chinn | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Nicholas Barry Chinn |
Born | London, England | 16 May 1945
Genres | Pop, glam rock |
Occupation(s) | Songwriter, record producer |
Years active | 1970s–present |
Nicholas Barry Chinn [1] (born 16 May 1945 [2] ) 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. [3]
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). [3]
It was at this point that Chinn met Australian-born Mike Chapman, who was a waiter at a night club 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. [3]
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", "Blockbuster!" "The Ballroom Blitz", "Hell Raiser" and "Teenage Rampage". [3] "Ballroom Blitz" entered the UK Singles Chart at number two – an unusual feat. "Little Willy" and "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". [3]
In 1978, the two scored their first number one in the United States with Exile's "Kiss You All Over", [3] and Suzi Quatro's duet with Smokie's lead singer Chris Norman, "Stumblin' In", [4] reached number four in the same year. In 1982 "Mickey" by Toni Basil gave the two their second American number one, [3] and in the mid 1980s they had top ten hits with Tina Turner's "Better Be Good to Me", [5] and Huey Lewis's "Heart and Soul". [6]
Chinn and Chapman gradually separated during the early 1980s, finally splitting up in 1983. Chinn's 12-year stint with Chapman had made him co-writer of over fifty Top 40 hits. In 1983 he co-wrote "Dancing in the Dark", a UK hit for Kim Wilde. [7]
During their careers they were recipients of three Ivor Novello Awards for songwriting, [8] including the Jimmy Kennedy award for outstanding career achievement in 1997. [9]
During the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, Nicky Chinn suffered from ill health causing an enforced break in his career. He returned in 2004 and started working with various writers including Jorgen Elofsson, and they wrote "You Must Have Had a Broken Heart" for Westlife's 2006 album Back Home , [10] which went to number one in the UK Albums Chart selling over a million copies. [11]
Chinn now spends time in Nashville, Tennessee, working with many writers there. He co-wrote "Live Like There's No Tomorrow" recorded by Selena Gomez for her 2010 album, A Year Without Rain , which debuted at number 4 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart. [12] The song was also featured in her Disney movie Ramona and Beezus . [13] Also while in Nashville he co-wrote "A Beautiful Life", which was recorded by Donny and Marie Osmond for their 2010 album, Donny & Marie. [14]
Susan Kay Quatro is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. 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 number one in several countries.
Michael Peter Hayes, known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind 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.
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.
Rak Records is a British record label, founded by record producer Mickie Most in 1969. Rak was home to artists such as Herman's Hermits, Suzi Quatro, Mud, Kenny, Hot Chocolate, Smokie, Arrows, Span, Racey and Kim Wilde. Rak Records were distributed via a licensing deal with EMI Records, which bought the company and its master recordings from Most in 1983. Most kept the company name and his RAK Studios, which still exists in St. John's Wood along with Rak Publishing. The latter company represents artists such as Joan Jett, Ben Taylor and KK. In 1986, Most defected the label from EMI to PRT Records which handled the last releases until February 1988. Owing to the records not being hits, the label folded. However, 26 years later in late 2014, Rak Records was revived as a label for new artists releasing both downloads and 7-inch vinyl in the form of a singles club. The Cadbury Sisters, Trojanhorse, and Beautiful Boy were the new signings. They recorded their own original songs as the A-sides, and covered a classic Rak artists cover as the B-side. The Cadbury Sisters covered Steve Harley's 1975 classic "Make Me Smile ", Trojan Horse did Cozy Powell's "Dance With The Devil", and Beautiful Boy did "Kids In America". As PRT Records no longer exists, the label is now distributed by Gearbox Records using the original sailing yacht paper label and the records packaged in the original royal blue paper sleeves.
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 2024. 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".
Desolation Boulevard is the third studio album by the British glam rock band Sweet, originally released in the United Kingdom in November 1974. Two noticeably different versions of the album were released: one by RCA Records in Europe, and another by Capitol Records in the United States, Canada and Japan.
"The Ballroom Blitz" is a song by British glam rock band The Sweet, written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. The song reached number one in Canada, number two in the UK Singles Chart and the Australian Chart, and number five on the US Billboard Hot 100.
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.
Michael Donald Chapman 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.
Christopher Ward Norman is an English soft rock singer. Norman was the original lead singer of the English rock band Smokie (1964–1986), which found success in Europe in the 1970s. "Stumblin' In", a 1978 duet with Suzi Quatro, became a big hit in the United States and Europe. The single "Midnight Lady" also became an international hit. In the 1990-2000s he toured the countries of Eastern Europe. He is most popular in the Baltic countries.
Philip Neil Wainman is an English record producer and songwriter, primarily active in the 1970s. He is noted for his work with Sweet, XTC, Dollar, Mud, and the Bay City Rollers. His greatest chart success, however, was the production of "I Don't Like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats, written by Bob Geldof and arranged by Fiachra Trench.
"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; Quatro achieved her most consistent success throughout her career in these markets. 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.
"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.
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.
"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.
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.
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 .
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".
"If You Can't Give Me Love" is a 1978 song written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, performed by Suzi Quatro from her album If You Knew Suzi.... It became an international hit in the spring of the year, reaching number four in the United Kingdom and number five in Germany. It also reached the Top 10 in Australia.