Music Video Of the Week - October 24, 2025

"Downtown Flyers" by Streetwalkers  (Go to the left in the upper-right-hand corner.)

Music Video Of the Week - October 14, 2011

"Toenail Draggin'" by Streetwalkers (Go to the link in the upper right hand corner.)

Hello Again, Mr. Chaps

Back in December 2009, I reported here that British rock singer Roger Chapman, the former frontman for Family and Streetwalkers and, since 1979, solo artist, had retired after two final shows the weekend before Christmas in his hometown of Leicester. It turns out that this was merely Chappo's first final call. Chapman, 68, has spent 2010 on a "Part 2" of his "farewell tour" with a "Part 3" promised for 2011. In other words, on the subject of "retirement," Chapman is as full of crap as Cher. But this is a case of disingenousness I'm actually happy to see.

Because it gets better. Chapman has hinted at the possibility of playing a gig or two in the United States in 2011. Bear in mind that Chapman hasn't performed in America since Streetwalkers toured here in 1976, and neither Family nor Streetwalkers never did really big business in the U.S. To add insult to injury, his solo albums have never been available in this country. Chapman does have a group of devoted fans in America, and while we are not, in fact, a group small enough to fit in a walk-in linen closet, we may not exactly be large enough to fill the Beacon Theater in New York either. So an American gig would clearly be for the fans, not the money. At least that's my take on it. Besides, Chapman has been active in rock and roll at least as long as I (I just turned 45) have been alive. What does he have to prove?

So, yes, an American concert makes perfect sense. I'm cautiously optimistic that it will come to pass. Chappo's reported plans to play New York in 2003 fell through, but I have a good feeling that it's for real this time. The big question is whether he will include any Family or Streetwalkers tunes in his set list. Since he's better known in this country for his involvement in those bands, it's possible he'll do so, although his solo career has never been about looking back. A "farewell" tour, though, suggests a set list with a broader career retrospective. We'll have to wait and see. If Chappo does play a gig in America, though, I'm sure to be there. And you won't have to worry about me getting drunk and shouting out a request for "The Weaver's Answer."

I don't drink, and my favorite Family song is probably "Between Blue and Me," anyway. :-D

(Check out my newly revised Family page - with song lyrics! - here. :-)

Goodbye, Mr. Chaps

The lion in winter has roared his last.

After a career in music spanning over four decades, first as the frontman for Family, then as the lead singer of Streetwalkers, then as a solo artist, Roger Chapman - one of the great unsung heroes of rock and roll - called it a career by performing his last concerts ever in his hometown of Leicester, England last night and the night before. With the possible exception of Family's last concert in October 1973 (also in Leicester), no gig has ever been this bittersweet to fans of the man we all call Chappo.

Chapman was - is - one of the most powerful singers in rock. His bleated vibrato vocal style - described by many as the sound of an electronically amplified goat - brought songs to life with a vicious ferocity and a commanding strength. He could make Robert Plant sound like a crooner with his deliveries on Family classics such as "The Weaver's Answer" and "Drowned in Wine," and his later performances on Streetwalkers songs like "Downtown Flyers" and "Run For Cover," as well as solo tunes like "Do I Leave a Stone Unturned?", were no less potent. Chappo's covers of blues and rock songs gave them his own unique, interpretative stamp; it's hard to hear "Drive" as originally done by the Cars after hearing Chappo sing it.

Roger Chapman was a huge star in Germany, and he didn't do too badly singing for the punters in the U.K., but stardom in America eluded him. He didn't get off to a promising start; he threw a microphone stand at Family's debut 1969 U.S. gig at the Fillmore East in New York when the audience proved to be unreceptive, and it almost hit Fillmore East impresario Bill Graham, setting bad vibes for the band. (The entire group was discombobulated that night by circumstances beyond their control. Their gig as Elton John's warmup act on his 1972 U.S. tour went much better.) Both Family and Streetwalkers diligently tried to gain an audience in America, and they did - just not big enough to sustain either band, or get Family or Streetwalkers into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Chapman's solo career was of even less consequence here; his records were never released in the United States. His last American gigs, in fact, were with Streetwalkers on their 1976 American tour. Conquering the New World may not have worked out, but Chapman remained active and vital throughout his musical career, never letting the nostalgia of his early work with Family and Streetwalkers (both of which featured his old collaborator Charlie Whitney on guitar) get in the way of moving forward as an artist.

At 67, Chapman has ended his career in triumph. Having achieved just about everything he could possibly do, he went out like an undefeated boxing champion. I obviously couldn't go to either of his last concerts, and the news of Chapman's retirement meant I would never get the opportunity to take in one of his shows. I still have the records, and I still have a wonderful tape of one of his sets on the German TV rock show "Rockpalast." I'm thankful for that, and I'm especially grateful for the marvelous music and illustrious career of the man of the hour - Roger Maxwell Chapman, always and forever.

Chappo Retiring!

I got the shock of my life earlier this month when I heard that British rock singer Roger Chapman announced his impending retirement. At 67, Chapman plans a farewell concert this December in his hometown of Leicester, England, capping an illustrious career as one of rock and roll's greatest wild men.

Chapman is best known as the onetime frontman for Family, the great British progressive rock band of the late sixties and early seventies that pushed the boundaries of songwriting and arranging that got them accolades and hit albums in the United Kingdom and continental Europe but failed to gain them any recognition in North America. Chappo (as he became known) had been influenced by the great American rock and rollers and rhythm an blues singers of the fifties, and he created a unique vocal style that sounded like a bleating goat and could possibly, as one music critic put it, kill small game at a hundred yards.

Chappo said he tried to sound like Little Richard and Ray Charles. Instead, he ended up sounding like Roger Chapman, a remarkable achievement.

Family created some of the most thunderous, intense rock and roll to come out of Britain; their albums A Song For Me and Fearless are classics, as are their song s "The Weaver's Answer" and "Drowned In Wine." The bad vibes for the group - and Chapman - in the U.S. were set at their disastrous American debut at the Fillmore East in New York on April 8, 1969 (Chapman's twenty-seventh birthday), when Chapman led family through a desultory performance that led him to throw his microphone stand aside in frustration - almost hitting Fillmore East impresario Bill Graham. The faux pas gave Family a bad reputation among American promoters and sealed their fate as a trivia question in this country.

After Family broke up in 1973, Chapman and Family guitarist Charlie Whitney formed Streetwalkers. That group - which included guitarist Bob Tench of Jeff Beck's group and drummer Nicko McBain (later of Iron Maiden), put out two acclaimed albums (1975's Downtown Flyers and 1976's Red Card) before breaking up in 1977.

Chapman began his solo career in 1979 with the release of his first solo album, Chappo, and he never looked back. He's remained a singer without peer, still able to come out with a trademark bleat, even as other veteran British rock singers like Robert Plant have mellowed a bit. His retirement comes at an ironically poignant moment. In the early sixties, before joining the band that became Family, Chappo began his career fronting local Leicester bands such as the punningly titled Rockin' R's (you have to know British English to get the joke) at a time when British rock and roll was unheard of in the United States. He now ends his career at a time when British rock has never seemed more irrelevant to Americans. But in between, when British rock was a global force to be reckoned with, Chappo and his respective bandmates never dominated music the way the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, or Led Zeppelin did.

He's made himself eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times, as the frontman for Family, the lead singer of Streetwalkers, and as a solo artist. However, Chapmaniacs shouldn't expect any inductions for him, so long as he remains unknown to most Americans and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame keeps inducting celebrity disco singers without considering musical merit.

I'll never get to see Chappo play live. He hasn't played in the U.S since the seventies, and I've never been able to travel to the U.K. But I still have the records, and I intend to keep on listening to them to help keep the legacy of this great singer alive. Here's to you, Chappo - you've earned your retirement. :-)