Mike Chapman

In collaboration with partner <a href="spotify:artist:3et61xOz68U5o7CYBKodAn">Nicky Chinn</a>, Mike Chapman was among the most successful songwriters of the 1970s, later enjoying considerable fame as a producer. Born in Queensland, Australia on April 15, 1947, he was in the group <a href="spotify:artist:19KQZ3IHNEqDoulwHR2hda">Tangerine Peel</a> when he first teamed with <a href="spotify:artist:3et61xOz68U5o7CYBKodAn">Chinn</a>; under the supervision of RAK Records chief Mickie Most, the duo quickly composed a series of smashes for acts including <a href="spotify:artist:3JaAGmSTpJK35DqWrDUzBz">Sweet</a> ("Ballroom Blitz"), <a href="spotify:artist:15jHZ1EZwmm2QDjKctvqJQ">Suzi Quatro</a> ("Stumblin' In"), <a href="spotify:artist:7EgGmzFxfUmVFTDDMHEg8d">New World</a> ("Living Next Door to Alice"), and Mud ("Tiger Feet"), in all scoring over 40 U.K. hits during the '70s. With Sweet's Destination Boulevard, Chapman and <a href="spotify:artist:3et61xOz68U5o7CYBKodAn">Chinn</a> also turned to production, helming Quatro that same year. As a solo producer, Chapman enjoyed his first hit with <a href="spotify:artist:2kzcxYyQIRbwtkwVtj48mG">Nick Gilder's</a> 1978 LP City Nights, which generated the smash "Hot Child in the City"; however, his real breakthrough was Blondie's classic Parallel Lines, which launched the blockbuster "Heart of Glass," a chart-topper on both sides of the Atlantic. He reunited with <a href="spotify:artist:4tpUmLEVLCGFr93o8hFFIB">Blondie</a> in 1979 for Eat to the Beat, and also teamed with <a href="spotify:artist:43mhFhQ4JAknA7Ik1bOZuV">Pat Benatar</a> for her debut In the Heat of the Night, scoring a major hit with "Heartbreaker"; still, neither was as successful as his work on the Knack's Get the Knack -- one of the best-selling debuts in pop history, it yielded the perennial "My Sharona." Chapman and <a href="spotify:artist:3et61xOz68U5o7CYBKodAn">Chinn</a> formed their own label, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dreamland%22">Dreamland</a>, in 1979; the company folded within two years, but the duo continued writing smash hits like Exile's "Kiss You All Over" and <a href="spotify:artist:59hMeIYY3k3NoX54rrVGPv">Toni Basil's</a> "Mickey." Chapman's pace slowed considerably in the years to follow, however, with his most notable projects including albums from <a href="spotify:artist:7FxMjqH6DH056sdsstGeVl">Debbie Harry</a>, the <a href="spotify:artist:5t06MTkDD3yr5LVs3YFLQC">Divinyls</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:77tBvvyd6SD4Y9Um1xcbxP">Lita Ford</a>. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi