Chris Thompson

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Chris Thompson (2013)

Christopher Hamlet "Chris" Thompson (born March 9, 1948 in Ashford (Kent) , Great Britain ) is a British rock singer, guitarist and composer. He was best known as the "voice" of Manfred Mann's Earth Band , with whom he had some top ten hits in the 1970s and 1980s .

Career

Thompson grew up in New Zealand and became a professional singer in 1971. In 1975 he became the singer of Manfred Mann's Earth Band and had top ten placements worldwide with songs such as Blinded by the Light , Davy's on the Road Again and Mighty Quinn . The song Blinded by the Light , composed by Bruce Springsteen , reached number 1 on the Billboard charts in the USA in 1977 , which was the greatest success overall for Thompson and Manfred Mann's Earth Band. From 1979 to 1982 he was with the band Night , after which he returned to the Earth Band and released his first solo album in 1983. The second he produced in 1985 with Brian May , who was mentioned with a "feat. Brian May" on the album cover. Engagements with Mike Oldfield (Runaway Son, See the Light), The Alan Parsons Project (Turn it Up, Back against the Wall), Sarah Brightman , Leslie Mandoki and various film and advertising productions followed. As a songwriter, Thompson had successes a. a. as co-author of the song You're the Voice , with which John Farnham landed a top hit in 1986. With The Challenge (Face It) , Chris Thompson celebrated his own hit in 1989: The song composed for the Wimbledon Championships was in the German top 10 for three weeks and climbed to 5th place . Harold Faltermeyer produced the recording . The follow-up single Take Me To Heaven flopped at number 74.

In 1978 he was a singer in the role of the Voice of Humanity in Jeff Wayne's version of HG Wells ' novel War of the Worlds . He sang the end of Act 1: Thunder Child .

In April 2006, War of the Worlds was performed live on the stages of England with the participation of Chris Thompson. Additional shows have been performed in Australia and the UK this year.

Among other things, he contributed to a CD with Doro Pesch , which was recorded by Borussia Dortmund to finance the club's own museum .

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1979 Night - - - - US113 (10 weeks)
US
First published: September 1979
(with Night)

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More publishments:

  • 1980: Long Distance (with Night)
  • 1983: Out of the Night
  • 1985: Radio Voices
  • 1986: Hi Cost of Living
  • 1989: Beat of Love
  • 1999: Backtrack
  • 2001: Won't Lie Down
  • 2005: timeline
  • 2006: If You Remember Me (Very Best Of)
  • 2008: Live
  • 2011: Acoustic
  • 2011: Berlin Live & The Aschaffenburg Remains Live At The Colos-Saal
  • 2012: Do nothing till you hear from me
  • 2014: Toys & Dishes
  • 2015: Jukebox - The Ultimate Collection 1975-2015

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1979 Hot Summer Nights
Night 		- - - - US18 (15 weeks)
US
First published: June 1979
(with Night)
If you remember me
night 		- - - UK42 (5 weeks)
UK 		US17 (19 weeks)
US
First published: August 1979
(with Night)
1981 Love On The Airwaves
Long Distance 		- - - - US87 (3 weeks)
US
First published: February 1981
(with Night)
1983 All the Right Moves
The Right Turn (OST) 		- - - - US85 (4 weeks)
US
First published: October 1983
(with Jennifer Warnes )
1989 The Challenge DE5 (12 weeks)
DE 		- - - -
First published: June 1989
1991 Jolly Joker DE40 (8 weeks)
DE 		- - - -
First published: March 1991

More singles:

  • Thunderchild (1978; from Jeff Wayne 's musical War of the Worlds)
  • If You Remember Me (1979; with Dave Grusin)
  • Dr. Rock (1981; with Night)
  • Do What You Wanna Do (1983)
  • Bye Bye Love (1984)
  • Push & Shove (1985; with Hazel O'Connor ; made for Greenpeace )
  • Reads (1985)
  • What a Woman Wants (1986)
  • Love and Loneliness (1986)
  • Take Me to Heaven (1989; Music + Produced by Harold Faltermeyer )
  • Lullaby for Grownups (Good Night) (1989; with SOS United)
  • The Beat of Love (Promo 1991; different version for the following CD single; Produced by Harold Faltermeyer )
  • Beat of Love (1991; Produced by Harold Faltermeyer )
  • Tower of Love (1991; Produced by Harold Faltermeyer )
  • Seeds of Life (1989; Produced by Jan Hammer )
  • Florida Lady (1994 + 1996; theme song for the ZDF series)
  • Blinded by the Light (1994; Olympia Music Production)
  • How Can Heaven Love Me (1996; with Sarah Brightman )
  • I Look at You (2015; with Leo ; title song for the ARD feature film “ Der Kotzbrocken ”)

DVDs:

  • Chris Thompson & Mads Eriksen Band:
    • One Hot Night In The Cold - Live At The Private Music Club (2006)
  • Manfred Mann's Earth Band :
    • Unearthed - The Best of 1973-2005 (2006)
    • In Europe - Budapest 1983 (2007)
    • Live in Budapest (2007)
    • Watch The DVD (2008)

More albums

Soundtrack

  • "Willy Bogner's Fire, Ice & Dynamite" (1990)
  • "Jolly Joker" (1991, ARD series)
  • "Florida Lady" (1994 & 1996, ZDF series)

swell

  1. ↑ hitparade.ch
  2. ↑ http://bvb-fanabteilung.de/archiv/die-bedeutendsten-aktion-der-fruehen-bvb-fan-und-foerderabteilung-interview-mit-reinhard-beck-und-olaf-suplicki-teil-iii/
  3. ↑ a b Chart sources: DE UK US1 US2
  4. ↑ Discography. In: http://www.donairey.com/ . Don Airey, accessed April 17, 2019 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Thompson, Chris
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thompson, Christopher Hamlet (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British rock singer, guitarist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH March 9, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Ashford (Kent) , UK