Christopher Michael Bradford (born 4 May 1950) 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.

Early years

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 Osibisa is a Ghanaian-Caribbean Afro rock band founded in London in the late 1960s by four expatriate West African and three London-based Caribbean musicians. Osibisa was the most successful and longest lived of the African-heritage bands in ...

and Vinegar Joe (with

Elkie Brooks Elkie Brooks (born Elaine Bookbinder; 25 February 1945) is an English Rock music, rock, blues and jazz singer. She was a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe (band), Vinegar Joe, and later became a solo artist. She gained her biggest su ...

and

Robert Palmer Robert Allen Palmer (19 January 1949 – 26 September 2003) was an English singer and songwriter. He was known for his powerful and soulful voice, sartorial elegance and stylistic explorations, combining soul, funk, jazz, rock, pop, regga ...

). The band also supported

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

at the Albert Hall in 1972. A first airing of Bradford's early songs. Hankins' next band, country rock outfit Randy, recorded Bradford's song "Crazy Love" on their debut album ''Lady Luck''.

Bardot 1977–1978

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 RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

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 Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer. Known for her distinctive husky voice, Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' and its ...

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 Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

Startling Studios Tittenhurst Park is a Grade II listed early Georgian country house in Sunningdale near Ascot, Berkshire. It was famously the home of musicians John Lennon and Yoko Ono from 1969 until 1971, and then the home of Ringo Starr and family from 19 ...

providing all the backing vocals for

Graham Bonnet Graham Bonnet (born 23 December 1947) is an English rock singer. He has recorded and performed as a solo artist and as a member of several hard rock and heavy metal music, heavy metal bands including Rainbow (rock band), Rainbow, Michael Schenke ...

's album ''No Bad Habits''. The album was produced by

Pip Williams Philip "Pip" Williams (born 7 October 1947), sometimes spelt Phillip, is an English record producer, arranger, and guitarist. He is best known for producing albums for Status Quo and The Moody Blues, but has also worked with a large number of we ...

who collaborated extensively with Bardot and with Bradford on his later projects.

The Heroes 1979–1981

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. Although primarily a recording group, they undertook a tour of Germany playing the Olympianhalle in Munich, the

Top Ten Club The Top Ten Club was a music club in Hamburg's St. Pauli district at Reeperbahn 136, which opened on 31 October 1960 and kept its name until 1994. In 1961, the Beatles performed 92 times at the Top Ten Club. History At the beginning of the 2 ...

in Hamburg and a show in Berlin. In this show, the truck carrying the group's instruments did not stop and continued into Poland, forcing the group to use the equipment belonging to the band they were touring with, Dr. Feelgood. The Heroes signed with

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

in 1979, and recorded an album of ten songs, ''Border Raiders'' also produced by

in 1980, plus a single "Some Kind of Women" b/w "10% Will Do".

Sweet connection

Bradford has worked for many years with Andy Scott, guitarist and writer of

Sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, ...

who went on to have a successful solo career after

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

. Some of Scott's solo successes came from his collaborations with Bradford: they co-wrote "Krugerrands" - a top ten hit in Australia and South Africa, "Invisible", "Let Her Dance" and many others. Bradford also worked with Sweet's lead singer

Brian Connolly Brian Francis Connolly (5 October 1945 – 10 February 1997) was a Scottish singer-songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead singer of glam rock band Sweet between 1968 and 1979 and known for his charismatic stage presence and di ...

on his solo work. During 1983, Bradford, Scott and producer Mike Vernon wrote a collection of songs together, intended for release by other artists. Some of the music written that summer was used in the Italian film ''Il Lupo di Mare''.

Covers

Bradford has written songs for many diverse artists such as

Kit Hain Kit Hain (born Keturah V Hain, 15 December 1952) is a British singer, songwriter, musician and writer. She was a member of the pop rock duo Marshall Hain and had a solo career as a performer and songwriter. Musical career Hain met Julian Mar ...

Kiki Dee Pauline Matthews (born 6 March 1947), better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English pop singer. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records. Dee is best known f ...

, Dr. Feelgood,

Lene Lovich Lili-Marlene Premilovich (born March 30, 1949), known professionally as Lene Lovich ( ), is an American-British singer. She first gained attention in 1979 with the release of her hit single "Lucky Number", which peaked at number 3 on the UK Sin ...

and

Greg Lake Gregory Stuart Lake (10 November 1947 – 7 December 2016) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP). Born and b ...

Studio work

Bradford has provided backing vocals for many artists including

, Dr. Feelgood,

Terry Sylvester Terence “Terry” Sylvester (born 8 January 1947) is an English musician and songwriter. He is a former member of the Escorts, the Swinging Blue Jeans (1966–1969), and the Hollies. In the latter role, he took on the high parts formerly su ...

of The Hollies, blues guitarist Ray Minhinnet, The Monroes, Breathe and Andy Scott.

Discography

Solo

Albums

* 2019 - ''Christopher Days'' * 2020 - ''Beachcomber'' * 2022 - ''Winterface''

With Bardot and The Heroes

Albums

* 1978 – ''Rockin in Rhythm'' – Bardot (Composer, Guitar, Vocals) * 1980 – ''Border Raiders'' – The Heroes (Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Vocals)

Singles

* 1977 – "Witchfire" / "Hero's Reward" – Bardot * 1978 – "Julie" / "Mountain Side" – Bardot (Netherlands) * 1978 – "No-One Cries" / "All The Ladies" – Bardot * 1980 – "Some Kind Of Women" / "10% Will Do" – The Heroes

With other artists

* 1978 – ''No Bad Habits'' album by

– Vocals (Background, with Bardot) * 1980 – "Take Away the Music", single by

- Vocals (Background) * 1981 – "Sunnuntaiaamu" ("Julie") song on the album ''Armi'' by

Armi Aavikko Armi Anja Orvokki Aavikko (1 September 1958 – 2 January 2002) was a Finnish singer and beauty pageant titleholder. She was chosen as Miss Finland in 1977 and was best known for her duets with singer Danny. She was born in Helsinki. Towar ...

- composer * 1982 – ''Perfect Timing'' album by

– Composer, Vocals (Background) * 1983 – '' School For Spies'' album by

– Composer * 1983 – "Famous Last Words" (on '' Manoeuvres'' album) by

– Composer (with Andy Scott), Vocals (Background) * 1983 – "Krugerrands" single by Andy Scott – composer, arranger * 1984 – "Let her Dance" single by Andy Scott – Composer, Vocals * 1984 – "Invisible" single by Andy Scott – composer, arranger * 1985 - ''Face Another Day'' album by The Monroes - Vocals (Background) * 1987 – ''Classic'' album by Dr. Feelgood – Vocals (Background) * 1987 – " Hands to Heaven" single (UK no 4, US No 2) by Breathe – Vocals (Background) * 1987 - "In The Heat Of The Night" b/w "Invisible" single by Press The Flesh - composer * 1989 – "Wonderland" by

– Composer * 1990 – ''

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

'' album by

– Composer * 1990 - '' Me And My Mouth!?❊'' album by Robert Lloyd – Vocals (Background) * 1992 – "Natural" (song on album ''A'') by Andy Scott's Sweet – composer, arranger * 1995 – "A Touch of Class" (on ''Looking Back'' Box Set) by Dr. Feelgood – Composer, Vocals (Background)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradford, Chris 1950 births Singers from Liverpool Living people English rock singers English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters