Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version

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Tagged: Mike Chapman

1980s, Rock

Better Be Good to Me

First recorded by Spider (1981).
Hit version by Tina Turner (US #5/R&B #6/UK #45/CAN #6/AUS #28/NZ #22/IRE #22 1984).

From the wiki: “‘Better Be Good to Me’ was written by Mike Chapman (‘Mickey‘, ‘Kiss You All Over’), Nicky Chinn and Holly Knight, and enjoyed its greatest commercial success on Tina Turner’s solo album, Private Dancer.

“The song had originally been released in 1981 by Spider, a New York City band that included co-writer Knight as a member. Chapman is an Australian record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s and early 1980s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Smokie, Mud, and Racey, and later produced breakthrough albums for Blondie and The Knack.

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1970s, Pop

Mickey

First recorded (as “Kitty”) by Racey (1979).
Hit version by Toni Basil (US #1/UK #2/AUS #1 1981), Lolly (UK #4/IRE #14 1999).
Also recorded (as “Ricky”) by “Weird Al” Yankovic (1983).

From the wiki: “‘Mickey’ was written by Mike Chapman (‘Better Be Good to Me’, ‘Love Is a Battlefield’, ‘Kiss You All Over’) and Nicky Chinn as ‘Kitty’, and was first recorded by UK group Racey in 1979 for their debut album Smash and Grab. When she recorded the song in 1981, Toni Basil changed the name from ‘Kitty’ to ‘Mickey’ to make the song about a man.

“For years, it had been rumored that the name was changed to ‘Mickey’ because Basil was fond of The Monkees’ drummer and lead vocalist Mickey Dolenz after meeting him as a choreographer on the set of The Monkees’ movie Head. The accompanying music video for the song, featuring costuming and choreography inspired by cheerleader dance routines, was later played heavily on MTV. It is considered to be the very first choreographed dance video ever produced.

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