Chinn And Chapman
Mike Chapman (b. 15 April 1947, Queensland, Australia) and Nicky Chinn (b. 16 May 1945, London, England) teamed up to form a songwriting partnership while the former was a member of the group Tangerine Peel and the latter a garage owner. With the encouragement of the Rak label boss, Mickie Most, they were later to compose a string of hits in the early '70s for such acts as New World, Sweet, Gary Glitter, Mud, Suzi Quatro and Smokie. The duo became one of the most successful songwriting teams of the era and obtained a reputation in the UK that was only to be matched in the '80s by the team of Stock, Aitken And Waterman. Mike Chapman emerged as an influential force in moulding Blondie for the pop market, providing production credit on such hits as Heart Of Glass, The Tide Is High, Sunday Girl, Atomic and Rapture. Chinn and Chapman inaugurated the Dreamland label in 1979 which folded two years later. Chapman later worked with Pat Benatar, Exile (Kiss You All Over, a US number 1—a Chinn/Chapman composition), Nick Gilder(Hot Child In The City, a US number 1), the Knack (My Sharona a US number 1), Patti Smith and Lita Ford. During this time the duo's songwriting skills later earned them a US number 1 in 1982 with Mickey for Toni Basil.