What The Folk - Micheal Chapman returns to Southend tonight

From postcards from Pellicci's to postcards from Southend and Scarborough

Rewind backawhiles, to January 2010... and you'll find me getting into a wide eyed (boy from freecloud) froth over Michael Chapman and the proto Bowie-tone colouring the sound of his 1970 album Fully Qualified Survivor - a tone brought to the FQS sessions by the recording debut of Mick Ronson..

The result of some stealthy info-digging since first hearing FQS - reveals an entire web threading the Chapman-first/Bowie-later connection together, with a repertory of Chapman's accomplices and session men being absorbed into Bowie's orbit.  From 69 and Jon Kane covering Chapman's Soulful Lady (produced by Tony Visconti)  to Gus Dudgeon of Rainmaker and FQS (later of Space Oddity, MWSTW, Ziggy), Paul Buckmaster of Rainmaker and FQS ( also Space Oddity, unreleased Man Who Fell to Earth OST) to Chapman's drummer Richie Dharma later appearing on Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side - and of  course - Mick Ronson's The Rats (from Hull), becoming Bowie's Spiders (from Mars).

So what's the point of this see-saw style, name-spotting? Well, Chapman returns to Southend for an appearance as part of the 2013 Leigh Folk Festival, which I believe, is his first live outing in this area since playing two local gigs with Bowie in 1970...

The tickets are booked, the bikes have been readied for a cycle to the venue - and who knows I may even try and grab a quick natter with Pal Chapman to get his take on the push-me—pull-you tale.

If you haven't backtracked to the original Chappers/Ronson post - lend a quizical ear below

Click here for this year's full-folk breakdown

Brian Eno - Music For Winkies

Only Eno could could unplug from Roxy's sequins, sci-fi and avant glam, patch in with a desperately untrendy mob of spit and sawdust pub rockers - The Winkies, and still make music that sparkles.

Following his firing/resignation from Roxy Music, Eno hooked up with The Winkies for live appearances. But, after just five gigs he was hospitalised with a collapsed lung* (he'd been hit by a car, but whispers at the time suggested an over-enthusiastic bedroom session). Before the accident Eno, along with his new backing band, recorded a Peel session for the BBC, reworking (or is it rewinking) some early solo-era songs. Including Totalled a ramped up proto version of I'll come Running with almost Edward Lear style lyrics (it eventually ended up like this)

Eno - Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch



Eno - Totalled



Post Eno The Winkies went on to record an album produced by Guy Stevens (more on him later) with The Paw Paw Negro riff being recycled as, well, ermmm..

The Winkies - Trust In Dick





*It was during Eno's enforced convalescence that he invented ambient music. Eno's Sleeve notes from Discreet Music - his first' ambient' album

In January this year I had an accident. I was not seriously hurt, but I was confined to bed in a stiff and static position. My friend Judy Nylon visited me and brought me a record of 18th century harp music. After she had gone, and with some considerable difficulty, I put on the record. Having laid down, I realized that the amplifier was set at an extremely low level, and that one channel of the stereo had failed completely. Since I hadn't the energy to get up and improve matters, the record played on almost inaudibly. This presented what was for me a new way of hearing music - as part of the ambience of the environment just as the colour of the light and the sound of the rain were parts of that ambience.

It's well worth checking out the full set of Roxy 73 live shots here

Or perhaps trying one of Eno's Oblique Strategies

But Boy Could He Play Guitar

On January the 1st 1970 Yorkshire folkie Michael Chapman released his second album Fully Qualified Survivor, a record that passed with few fanfares or fireworks (apart from John Peel crowning it 'Album of the Year'). Forty years on, the album pooling all the elements for the post sixties Bowie tone remains an overlooked obscurity.The Velvets, Iggy and Dylan may get the knowing nods for the rise of Ziggy Stardust but the core components are much closer to home.

Produced by Gus Dudgeon, with string arrangements by Paul Buckmaster, both having worked on Chapman's debut Rainmaker - and Bowie's Space Oddity in between - it's Chapman's choice of fretman for 'Fully Qualified Survivor' that's the key ingredient here. Handpicked from Hull, and making his recording debut is - Mick Ronson.

Ronno's glittering riffs and runs electrify the album's open aired fuggyness of acoustic shuffles, lumpen drums and sparkling guitar work. Effectively it's a style that informs The Man Who Sold The World through to Ziggy Stardust. In the the same way Anthony Newley and this chap (no it's not Bowie singing honest!) were borrowed for Bowie's vocal coat of many colours, Chapman's chewed 'S's, fey waywardness and louche-lipped, gin-soaked vocals seem to have been appropriated as the voice of choice for DB's heavy hippy moonage daydreaming.

We've already documented, Bowie's magpie eye for talent, so it's no surprise that shortly after Fully Qualified Survivor's release, Ronson and Hull-based band mates Trevor Bolder and Woody Woodmansey were recruited for Bowie's new band The Hype eventually evolving into The Spiders From Mars until Ziggy broke up the band.

If you're familiar with the Dame's pre-Pinups discography (Pin ups drummer Ansley Dunbar also appears on Rainmaker) Fully Qualified Survivor will get you spotting a references from the off. Build in the space-age mod clobber of a Droog suit, top it off with Vivienne Westwood's feather cut, and all the pieces fall into place.

Michael Chapman - Soulful Lady





Eleven months later Bowie releases The Man Who Sold The World



Micheal Chapman can be visited online at...

Michael Chapman's official website
Michael Chapman on Myspace

Funky Friday - What You Need You Have To Borrow

The King Of Cut And Paste Pop Culture

Popular opinion would have you believe 'Young Americans' was a calculated attempt by Bowie to attract the attention of, a so far, apathetic American audience by dropping the glam rags and reinventing himelf as a seventies soul boy. Realistically it was more of a revert to type. Ziggy only lasted 18 months, and snappily suited dance fan rather than outsider-outfits has been Bowie's default career setting (Mod, Young Americans, The Thin White Duke, Lets Dance, Tin Machine...).

Dig a little deeper and you'll also find he'd started dabbling with Disco a year earlier - alongside pet projects and helping hands for Lou Reed, Iggy and The Stooges, Mott The Hoople during 1973, Bowie had also found time to write and produce one full album 'People From Good Homes' (recognise that line from a later song) for his backing vocalists The Astronettes which was dressed in a disco trim...

The Astronettes - I Am Divine




During the Young Americans sessions, Luthor Vandross (in pink above and blue below) had become an almost honorary member of the Astronettes - joining them at recording sessions, and for an appearance on the Dick Cavett show

Bowie remodeled one of Vandross's tunes 'Funky Music' as 'Fascination' for inclusion on the Young Americans album (with Vandross getting a composer credit)..

Luther Vandross - Funky Music



During his Dick Cavett set, Bowie also covered The Flares 'Footstompin', which had been given a seventies style re-riffing by Carlos Alomar. A riff, which one month later became worked up into 'Fame' by Bowie and Lennon (with Alomar getting a composer credit for his contribution).




The Flares - Foot Stompin

As well as having a magpie's eye for bright ideas and what's hot - Bowie also clonked out some cracking compositions of his own - an unreleased original being...

David Bowie - After Today



I will get the Bowie-handbrake on soon, it's just that I've been ploughing through the Tony Visconti biog' this week, and have just hit the 'Young Americans' chapter you see.

However, if you fancy more Bowie business an excellent companion to his mid-seventies period is the excellent Golden Years website

Eager Beaver

The Call Of The Beaver Patrol
by V. T. Sherman - is available to buy from Amazon...

I knew that this Soup Dragons tune was a rework of this Stones obscurity, and the bass line on this nineties floor-filler was lifted from this sixties soundtrack.

But until a couple of weeks ago, and thanks to the 'Play Any Track' option on my trusty Creative Zen Xtra, I never knew that ....

PWEI - Beaver Patrol


Was a cover of this....

Wilde Knights - 'Beaver Patrol*'



*mis-spelt as 'Beaver Control' by the ripping software. My favourite example of rock typo's in my MP3 collection is The Sweet's 'Burn On The Flame' re-titled by the Russian download service ALLOFMP3 to 'BUM On The Flame' - ouch!!

Funky Friday - The Groover

He ain't no square, 'without' his corkscrew hair either - Marc Bolan joins John's Children

Marc Bolan is the archetypal UK rock star - a pop pace setter always several stealthy steps and styles ahead of the rest of rock's runners and riders, including an untimely death 31 years ago - early doors East End proto mod, pre-hippy days Tolkien folksy bloke, gone glam before all other gang bangers and one of the only old wavers inclusive of and included by the new wavers.So, how do you pop, skip and jump from Mod Bolan to Modfather? Like this...

John's Children - Hot Rod Mama (BBC Session)


Which was covered by Marsha Hunt as...

Hot Rod Poppa


Which was sampled by Paul Weller for...

Always There To Fool You


Which is the instrumental version of...

There's also a couple of more up to date, but down tempo T Rex pieces on the other side - including an interview with Marc Bolan just before he died.

Funky Friday - Top Of The Pops

Every Friday is Funky Friday on Planet Mondo and this Friday continues the week's theme of glam a go-go with a classic title sequence from a vintage episode of Top Of The Pops, sauce and scatter cushions from Pan's People and two TOTP related downloads.

Every one of the graphics for the top 30 numbers in the opening title sequence would make a tip top T shirt design - just picture any of them on a ringer T shirt. Once the titles are over and Tony Blackburn appears I would recommend hitting the pause button, putting the hand brake on and shimmying down to Pan's People - (not 'cos it's Tony) but because the clip continues with a chart run down set to Ringo Starr's 'Photograph' and an Alvin Stardust appearance neither of which are really five star Funky Friday fodder.





Yikes alive - It's Pan's people bumping and grinding to Buddy miles. Thankfully though, only two of them - any more would just ramp up the raunch into red light entertainment and this routine is already dangerously close lap dancing at teatime. Phew....





Not the CCS version of 'Whole Lotta Love' that appeared in the TOTP titles, but an equally funky refit of the Led Zep'thumper by King Curtis.

King curtis - Whole Lotta Love



Led Zeppelin were always terrors for a bit of light fingered 'Poplifting', and they've borrowed so heavily from 'You Need Loving' that Robert Plant has almost cloned Steve Marriot's performance.

Small Faces - You Need Loving