Nicky Chinn
| Nicky Chinn | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Nicholas Barry Chinn |
| Born |
16 May 1945 London, England |
| Genres | Pop music |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, record producer |
| Years active | 1970s-present |
Nicholas Barry "Nicky" Chinn (born 16 May 1945, London, England) is an English songwriter and record producer. Together with Mike Chapman he had a long string of hit singles in the UK and US in the 1970s and early 1980s, including several international number-one records. The duo wrote hits for Suzi Quatro, Mud, The Sweet, New World, Arrows, Racey, Smokie, Tina Turner, Huey Lewis and the News and Toni Basil.
Chinn was born to an affluent London Jewish family, that owned a string of service stations and car sales distributorships. As a young man his talent for writing successful pop songs was obvious and within a month or two of his first efforts as a songwriter, Chinn co-wrote with Mike d'Abo the two main songs for the hit film, There's a Girl in My Soup (1970).
It was at this point that Chinn joined the Australian-born Mike Chapman, who was a waiter at a night club Chinn frequented, and they decided to team up. Chapman was already a professional musician and songwriter with the band Tangerine Peel, and the two quickly joined up with Mickie Most's RAK label. They began writing songs for a new glam rock band, Sweet, and their compositions accounted for all the singles the band released in their early years.
Chinn's and Chapman's songwriting style was so successful with British and worldwide audiences, that Sweet had an uninterrupted string of million-selling hits in the next few years. These included "Co-Co", "Little Willy", "Wig-Wam Bam", "Blockbuster!" "The Ballroom Blitz", "Hell Raiser" and "Teenage Rampage". " Ballroom Blitz" entered the UK Singles Chart at number two – an unusual feat in those days. "Little Willy" and "Ballroom Blitz" both went on to be top five hits in America.
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