Released in May 1974 following the break-up of Family, the album was the first project by Chapman and Whitney in what would become the band Streetwalkers.
Joining vocalist Roger Chapman and guitarist Charlie Whitney in the sessions were such luminaries as bassists John Wetton, Ric Grech, drummers Mike Giles and Ian Wallace, keyboard player Max Middleton and saxophonist Mel Collins.
This new expanded 50th Anniversary edition of this classic album has been newly remastered from the master tapes and also includes seven bonus tracks comprising ‘The Crack’, a rare single B-side, a previously unreleased mix of ‘Call Ya’ and a complete BBC Radio 1 John Peel session from June 1974. This new expanded remastered release also features an illustrated booklet with a new essay.
“Released in 1974 after their band Family disbanded, the Chapman-Whitney album “Streetwalkers” was the first post-Family album by Roger Chapman and Charlie Whitney, following the late 1973 dissolution of that band.
Streetwalkers, the band, put out three consistent albums of funky booze rock in the mid- to late ’70s, but the origin of the band was not a mediocre affair. Roger Chapman and Charlie Whitney led their previous outfit, Family, through eight LPs of limited success, breaking up the band in late 1973. But their partnership continued and months later they set out to record a one-off album as a duo. A number of colleagues contributed to the project, including alumni of Family (John Wetton, Rick Grech, Poli Palmer, Jim Cregan) and King Crimson (John Wetton, Mike Giles, Boz Burrell, Ian Wallace, Mel Collins). The resulting LP, “Streetwalkers”, was released in May 1974. The mixture of rockers and ballads was not Family; yet there was added depth to the music, stemming from the evolved songwriting and from the involvement of so many musicians. “Roxianna” and “Showbiz Joe” were part New Orleans jazz, continuing the Americana feel of Family’s last album. “Systematic Stealth,” a lovely textured ballad, and the slinky “Creature Feature” demonstrate the range of Roger Chapman’s unusual voice, from gravelly crooning to just plain gravel. The album’s most stunning moments, “Parisienne High Heels” and “Hangman,” are brooding and hair-raising in their energy and dark themes. Chapman and Whitney kept drummer Ian Wallace and horn player Mel Collins to form a touring group, adding bassist Phil Chen and guitarist Bob Tench. Only Tench would stay for the full-fledged Streetwalkers band, which embraced funk and hard rock in a less subtle way than this first venture. Whitney’s biting lapsteel guitar would become a signature sound of the Streetwalkers, but the songwriting never matched what was accomplished on this album.
The Fat Angel Sings 