* En anglais uniquement
In collaboration with partner
Nicky Chinn,
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 Tangerine Peel when he first teamed with
Chinn; under the supervision of RAK Records chief
Mickie Most, the duo quickly composed a series of smashes for acts including
Sweet ("Ballroom Blitz"),
Suzi Quatro ("Stumblin' In"),
New World ("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
Chinn also turned to production, helming Quatro that same year. As a solo producer,
Chapman enjoyed his first hit with
Nick Gilder's 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
Blondie in 1979 for
Eat to the Beat, and also teamed with
Pat Benatar 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
Chinn formed their own label, Dreamland, in 1979; the company folded within two years, but the duo continued writing smash hits like Exile's "Kiss You All Over" and
Toni Basil's "Mickey."
Chapman's pace slowed considerably in the years to follow, however, with his most notable projects including albums from
Debbie Harry, the
Divinyls, and
Lita Ford. ~ Jason Ankeny