Amazing how close these Sweetsong demos made by Mike Chapman are to the finished record. (you'll want to skip ahead past the early abject bubblegum pap to the "Wigwam Bam / Little Willie" onwards stompy stuff.)
Particularly on the level of the vocal inflections, the campy ad libs, the whole pitch of hysteria - almost all of it was worked out in advance.
Eventually the dummies assimilated the implanted style - so well they could generate their own material and dispense with the ventriloquist - a kind of self-parody but with the original "self" invented by another
From Chapman's wiki: 'Deborah Harry has referred to Chapman as a dictator, and for the photo shoot for one magazine interview he insisted on dressing up as US wartime General George S. Patton, Jr.'
ReplyDeleteHe puts these over well enough (and going by that picture, was non-hideous enough) that one wonders why he bothered with the band as beard in the first place instead of going the solo (or 10cc, as a duo with Chin) route
DeleteYeah making Parallel Lines sounds like an unpleasant experience. Probably the same for Bow Wow Wow when they did their post-McLaren album (out of the frying pan, into the fire).
DeletePerhaps Chapman knew he didn't have quite enough of a voice, nor the looks, to really make it, whereas Brian Connolly had both.
Also, there is more money, more control, and more staying power in being behind the scenes.
And think of all the tedious stuff he could avoid - promo spots in record shops, waiting around TV studios until it's time to mime, soundchecks, tour bus journeys, playing the same songs night after night. Outside the limelight is both less stressful and has a better tedium to creativity ratio.