Roger Chapman

Roger Chapman is one of those artists who never managed to hit the mainstream in the ‘80’s, but of whom, if you ask people ‘in the know’, huge respect and a certain nodding appreciation is given. Of course, he had been a major artist in the seventies for his work with Family but punk and new wave overshadowed his later work.

This boxset covers his three studio albums and a massive live album with Chapman and his band, The Shortlist, released between ’81 & ’85.

The production values are so much better than the average eighties releases, with a greater depth of sound and band dynamics crucial to the sound and with Chapman’s twisted vocals very much to the fore. The individual members of The Shortlist had been around the scene for a long while and were some of the top session musicians around – Geoff Whitehorn on guitar, Tim Hinkley on keyboards, Steve Simpson on Violin/Mandolin/slide, John Wetton & Boz Burrell on bass, Alan Coulter & Stretch Stretching on drums – all had featured on some of the top recordings of the seventies.

The albums featured here are ‘Hyenas Only Laugh For Fun’, ‘Mango Crazy’ & ‘The Shadow Knows’ along with the double live ‘He Was …She Was…You was…We Was’. Powerful progressive rock with a subtle sense of fun and real focus on the music.

As ever, the remastering is superb and the clarity of the recordings is brought out and an excellent booklet is included.

A must for Chapman afficionados but also for anyone who is into great rock with a progressive edge.