Chris Bradford (rock musician)

Chris Bradford
Bradford in July 2014
Background information
Birth name	Christopher Michael Bradford
Born	4 May 1950 Liverpool, England
Genres	Hard rock, Folk rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1965–present
Associated acts	The Heroes, Bardot

Chris Bradford (born Christopher Michael Bradford in Liverpool) is a British musician and songwriter. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and songwriter in the British rock band The Heroes, and member of the singer songwriting trio, Bardot.

Bradford and Mark Hankins formed the band Palomino in the early 1970s, playing the pub rock scene and university gigs supporting such acts as Osibisa and Vinegar Joe (with Elkie Brooks and Robert Palmer). The band also supported Neil Sedaka at the Albert Hall in 1972. A first airing of Bradford's early songs. Hankins' next band, country rock outfit Randy, recorded Chris's song Crazy Love on their debut album Lady Luck.

Bradford hooked up with Laurie Andrew (aka Laurie Forsey) and Ray McRiner to form Bardot in 1977. Each member a strong singer/songwriter, their sound, heavy on melody and complex harmonies was sometimes compared to Crosby, Stills & Nash.
The band were signed to RCA Records in 1977, and released three singles between 1977 and 1978, the debut Witchfire hitting number 14 in the Dutch charts. During 1977 Bardot supported Bonnie Tyler and her band in concert, and on 2 August performed Eagle Road and Rockin in Rhythm on The Elaine Simmons TV Show in Scotland. RCA released their album Rockin in Rhythm in 1978 – a collection of polished folk rock songs.
1978 also saw Bardot working at Ringo Starr's Startling Studios providing all the backing vocals for Graham Bonnet's album No Bad Habits. The album was produced by Pip Williams who collaborated extensively with Bardot and with Bradford on his later projects.

Formed in 1979, with Bradford and Mark Hankins on guitar and vocals, The Heroes line-up was completed by Pete Lennon (lead guitar), Dave Powell (drums) and ex-Randy band-member Brian (Wally) Wallis on bass guitar. Their musical style combined pop / rock ballads and boogie.