Roger Chapman

Roger Chapman - Hide Go Seek - 2009 - Hypertension

4/5 - Chappo was the far from secret weapon who fronted Family in the 70s. This excellent double CD set maps 28 years of rarities and offcuts from a solo career full of lost gems waiting to be uncovered. A true lionheart still roars. © Gavin Martin on May 1, 09 12:00 AM, © http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/the-ticket/

A 28-track 2-CD album set featuring a diverse collection of previously unreleased songs, demo's and alternative versions of tracks [drawn from previous albums]. Roger explains There were no 'Added Extras', just cleaning up stuff. i.e. 'topping & tailing' tracks. Being demos they would have all kinds of stuff on - beginnings & ends, count ins, rough fades, F'ing & blinding, piss takes etc. The rest contain hours and years of me & Stevie in various studios and houses around London. There are also out takes from sessions as far back as 'Chappo'. Also obvious ones from 'Cat'. I just hope they're enough for people to enjoy & have an idea of what goes into our making music. It's not just write something, record it, wham bam, there's so much more to it. Whole life changes, thought processes & styles for people through so many years)

A truly great album from one of the great icons of British rock music. Check out the great "Family Live" album @ FAM/LIVE and Roger Chapman's " "One More Time For Peace" album is located @ ROGCHAP/OMTFP If you have never heard Family's classic 1972 "Bandstand" album, check it out.

TRACKS CD 1

1. Stone Talking
2. L. A. Trails
3. Wicked B's
4. Naked Hearts / The Movie
5. I Need A Connection
6. 2 Pieces Of Silver
7. Come To Papa
8. Hurry On Love
9. Borderline Of Love
10. Another Stone Unturned
11. Kiss Till It Hurts
12. X-Town Loving
13. Sprouting Wings
14. Into The Bright

TRACKS CD 2

1. J & D
2. That Was A Glory Ride
3. Same Old R&R
4. One More Story
5. Devil & Son Ltd
6. Renegade
7. Over & Done
8. Mac & Kokomo
9. Bring Me Your Love
10. One More Whiskey
11. Daddy Red Moon
12. Got Me Gone
13. Let's Go Again
14. We Will Never Pass This Way Again

N.B: Please check sleeve notes for composers and musicians

REVIEW

Formerly of Family, Streetwalkers and with a successful solo career, Roger Chapman is back with a new release of lost gems, demos and remixes. In contemporary music mention the name Family or Streetwalkers and one name always springs to mind, that of Roger Chapman. In 1978 Roger started a long and successful solo career that would see him and his band The Shortlist perform all over Europe and beyond. Highlights included two appearances on the famed German TV rock show Rockpalast, a lead vocal on the Mike Oldfield hit Shadow On The Wall and an award for Best Singer at the 1982 German music awards. Now after a thirty year solo career Roger returns with a twenty eight track double CD of lost gems, demos and alternative recordings of familiar tracks. Some tracks are over twenty years old yet still sound fresh and vibrant today. With his barbed wire and wine delivery ‘Chappo’, as he is affectionately known by his legions of fans, shows no sign of slowing down, mention retirement and the usual response is “Retire, why!”. © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates

BIO (Wikipedia)

Roger Chapman (born Roger Maxwell Chapman on April 8, 1942 in Leicester) is an English rock singer. Roger "Chappo" Chapman is probably best known for his participation in the English progressive band Family in the late 1960s through the early 1970s and subsequently, from 1973 to 1978, in Streetwalkers, a rock/R&B band. Prior to Family he had sung with this band's precursor, the Farinas. His idiosyncratic brand of on-stage showmanship and characteristic vibrato led to him becoming a cult figure on the British rock scene. Chapman once claimed he was trying to sing like both Little Richard and especially his idol Ray Charles.In the late 1970s Roger Chapman began a solo career and recorded his first solo album, Chappo. In 1983, Mike Oldfield recorded the album "Crises" featuring the song "Shadow On The Wall" sung by Roger Chapman. The song turned out to be a huge hit for Mike Oldfield (along with the even more popular "Moonlight Shadow"). As other musical styles, such as Punk Rock became more popular in England, Chapman began to have more success in other European countries, especially Germany, where he has spent much of his time since the early 1980s, winning Artist of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement Award.



MORE ABOUT ROGER CHAPMAN

Roger Chapman is best known for his barbed-wire voice, used to front British '70s rock acts Family and Streetwalkers. He began a long-awaited solo career in 1978 that has led to over a dozen full-length releases. Never heard of them? It's not surprising; album-wise, he's been camped out in Germany for 20 years. His first album and tour got high praise in his British homeland, but critics cut into him soon after. When the hassle-free German market beckoned, Chapman began to focus all subsequent work there, where he has become a musical hero, the "Working Class Artist." Chapman split with his longtime writing partner, Charlie Whitney, after the breakup of Streetwalkers in 1977. He surrounded himself with ace session musicians to cut a debut solo effort, Chappo. It was an album of strong rock which catered to the singer and not the musicians. An appearance on Germany's Rockpalast TV show and the ensuing hit single, "Let's Spend the Night Together," gave Chapman the shot of success he needed, so he set up operations in Germany. Live in Hamburg was a reassuring second album, demonstrating the live energy of this experienced yet stage-crazed performer. Studio albums over the next few years blended straight power rock with funk, R&B and soul, all topped with Chapman's characteristic vocal style. In the 1981 German music awards, Chapman was voted Best Singer, and his Hyenas Only Laugh For Fun won an award. Chapman and his backing band, the Shortlist, released two alter-ego albums in the early '80s as the Riff Burglars. These releases honored roots and classic rock by artists like Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon and Leiber & Stoller. A lead vocal on Mike Oldfield's 1983 hit, "Shadow on the Wall," also added to Chapman's diverse repertoire. Chapman's mid-'80s foray into polished studio sounds did not fare well with his audience. When his extended partnership with guitarist Geoff Whitehorn ran it's course, Chapman returned to pure rock form with 1989's Walking the Cat, which featured Alvin Lee and old friend, Bob Tench. Two compilations filled a silent period in the mid '90s, but 1996's Kiss My Soul was a comeback for the guy who never went away. It even got attention and a pressing in Chapman's British homeland, where he often tours but has no domestic releases. This was followed by 1998's A Turn Unstoned? and the 2-CD Anthology; the next year saw re-releases of Chappo and Mail Order Magic. Moth to a Flame was issued in early 2001. © Patrick Little, allmusic.com