Roger Chapman Streetwalkers Newcastle City Hall 1977
Roger Chapman is often forgotten these days. In my eyes he is a major figure in English rock music and has one of the most unique rock voices. Back in the early 70s, if you asked anyone in the North East their favourite live band, my guess is that they would choose a band who regularly played in local ballrooms and put on a great live show. In Sunderland the answer would have been Free, Family, and possibly Stray or Edgar Broughton. I saw Family a couple of times in the early days, and I’ll blog on that in a day or so. By the mid 70s Family were no more, and Roger Chapman was fronting Streetwalkers, along with Family compatriot Charlie Whitney. 
I saw Streetwalkers a few times: once at the very rainy Buxton 74 Festival, again at Reading 74, supporting The Who at Charlton in 1976, and at this gig at the City Hall in 1977. The Buxton gig was particularly memorable for one thing. Rain poured down the whole weekend, but when Chapman and Whitney sang Family’s My Friend the Sun, the sun came peeping out through the clouds, as if by magic, to a great roar from the festival crowd. 
It was a moment that anyone who was there will remember. I was there with my mate Gillie, and John was there with Susan; we were just talking about that special moment the other week. I also went to this Newcastle gig with Marie. I remember the City Hall being about half full; I guess by that point in time Chappo and his Streetwalkers were beginning to go out of fashion, particularly with punk coming along. The Streetwalkers always delivered a great set of rock with Chapman’s voice and stage presence being like no other. He would talk the crowd as if he knew them, and perhaps in some cases, he did. By 1977 the set featured tracks from their 1970s lps, with one or two Family songs thrown in for good measure. There was then a big gap, where I didn’t see Roger Chapman at all, which was a mistake on my part. I’ll report on some more recent gigs, however, in the next day or so.
16 Jun
Vintagerock's Weblog. 
Posted by peter on November 23, 2015 at 2:43 pm
Can you recall the support band?
Posted by vintagerock on November 23, 2015 at 7:06 pm
Fraid not and wish I could, sorry. Cheers Peter