User:Goodbucket/Jim Chapman (Canadian)

Jim Chapman (Canadian) is a Canadian musician, radio and TV personality, journalist and author.

Personal Life
Robert James Chapman was born in London, Ontario, Canada on February 10, 1949, to Wilfred Theodore and Helen Mae Chapman. His sister Marianne Joan was seven years older, and his younger brother William Edward (Ted) Chapman was born seven years later. He grew up in a modest but loving home, read voraciously from the age of four, learned to play the trumpet and began writing songs and poems while still very young. Although he was a good student and had aspired to be a history teacher or a lawyer, at 17 he dropped out of school to pursue his dream of becoming a rock and roll star.

Colombia Records
As a young teenager Jim developed an interest in R&B music and played bass guitar with several local bands from 1963 to 1966, before helping form The Bluesmen Revue, originally Sally and the Bluesmen. They quickly became the top-grossing and most popular band in Southern Ontario, touring throughout the area and into the U.S. . At various times the band included Jim Chapman, Kenn Allison, Paul Kersey, Dave Baker, Rick Wadds, later known as Rick Alexander, Charlie Mitchell and Dave Partridge. In 1967 the Bluesmen Revue signed a recording contract with Columbia Records in the U.S. that saw the release of "Spin the Bottle", a local hit. They toured through Pennsylvania and upstate New York and as far south as Florida for several months, including a two-week engagement at the legendary Trude Hellers in New York City. A falling out with their U.S. management company and dissatisfaction with the label's plans for them spelled the end of their Columbia contract, and, dispirited by their failure to crack the big time, the band split up in early 1969.

Working Musician
After a year-long hiatus from music, spent in Alberta, Canada, Jim joined popular Canadian showband Leather and Lace for several months, leaving shortly before they changed their name to Ocean and had an international hit with Put Your Hand in the Hand. He then formed his own band, Bad Axe, with John Hotson, George Attrill, and Bert Hamer. They toured throughout Ontario and the northern U.S. and eventually worked as the back-up band for Rockabilly star Ronnie Hawkins. When Hawkins left for an extended party tour of Europe with Kris Kristofferson, the band split up and Jim moved on to managing bands and artists.

Supervision/Springfield Sound
With partners Sandy Wilson and Brian Ferriman, Jim formed the successful musicians' management company, "Supervision". Among their clients were Garwood "Twitch" Wallace, Homespun, North, Busker, Rick McGhie, and Easy, all of whom enjoyed success as touring acts. With support from financier Lou Saddy and recording engineer Bob Leth, they opened Springfield Sound in a former country schoolhouse near Aylmer, Ontario. It became the first state-of-the-art 24-track studio west of Toronto. It was at Springfield Sound that folk legend Stan Rogers recorded his iconic Fogarty's Cove album and was also where Jim recorded his first album of "soft-rock/country" tunes, including "Reach out to the Children", a ballad that got extensive local radio airplay. Chapman, Hotson, Ferriman and Wilson soon formed "The Jingle People", which became the top jingle production company in the area, with dozens of their creations being heard on radio and TV over several years. Jim Chapman also rejoined the active music world as the bassist for Homespun, a popular act that toured across Ontario and had been tapped for a contract with A&M Records when they broke up over "artistic differences" in 1976. He left Supervision shortly thereafter. Springfield Sound suffered the effects of a poor economy and was voluntarily liquidated in the early 1980's.

Advertising Agency
Jim then opened an advertising agency "Jim Chapman Associates" and soon had a thriving business providing communications and promotion consulting to a variety of clients, including many local firms, Kraft General Foods, Ontario Hydro and the Ontario Home and School Association. He also built another recording studio and started his own jingle company, turning out memorable musical moments for dozens of clients. One of them was the London Tigers, a Detroit Tigers farm team, where Jim's theme song "Tear 'Em Up Tigers" became an anthem for the organization on its way to an Eastern League championship in 1989. Jim took over the duties of Marketing and Promotions Manager for the team in the early 1990's.

The Morning Show Musical Maestro
His continuing work as a jingle writer attracted the interest of Peter Garland, the area's top radio host, and Jim was contracted to write humorous songs for his morning show on CFPL 980 Radio, reaching an audience across southern Ontario. As "The Morning Show Musical Maestro" from 1988 until the spring of 1991, Jim was the only staff songwriter at any Canadian radio station. He turned out dozens of humorous and satirical songs, also producing two albums of his tunes that raised thousands of dollars for charity. One of his songs, "Stand Up For Canada, Eh!" was recorded by the True Grit Band that included Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien and was used as the theme for a campaign to promote Canadian unity.

Board of Control
Jim ran unsuccessfully for Board of Control in the London municipal election in 1991. He did very little fundraising, financing his campaign mostly out of his own pocket. He placed 7th, three places shy of being elected.

Talk Radio
In 1992 he was offered a job out of the blue as a talk show host at CJBK 1290 Radio. After a year there and a subsequent two-year stint at CKSL 1410 Radio he returned to CJBK as the host of "Talk of the Town". He was very visible as a regular news commentator on "The New PL". He also hosted the thrice-weekly Jim Chapman Show evenings on the Rogers TV Network. It reached communities across southern Ontario, and he became a popular columnist with The London Free Press and Business London Magazine. Jim was the first person in the London media to host his own radio and TV shows while writing regular newspaper and magazine columns as well.

Near Death Experience
In 1999 Jim suffered a fatal heart attack and was left brain-dead on an ER gurney. He was eventually resuscitated, but not before having a Near Death Experience which he said transformed his life. Emergency surgery after a second serious heart attack just days later left him very ill and incapacitated for some time, during which his loyal listeners filled his home with dozens of bouquets of flowers and several hundred get-well cards, an experience which he credits with helping him recover more quickly. It was still several months before he returned to the radio, although he was hospitalized again a number of times until his health finally stabilized. He wrote about his NDE and what followed in Heart and Soul, his memoir, which became quite popular locally. For the next few years, in addition to his other work Jim travelled throughout southern Ontario and as far afield as Seattle, Washington and Dallas, Texas, speaking about his Near Death Experience and its aftermath. Jim was also a guest on several paranormal and scientific programs as an expert on Near Death Experiences and to talk about his books, including the Discovery Channel program Conspiracy Test, X-Zone Radio , The Donna Seebo Show , and was scheduled to appear on Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell before Art took an unexpected sabbatical, cancelling the appearance. After a 6-month break from radio in 2004, Jim returned to the airwaves at CHRW-FM 94.9 and did a daily news commentary show there. After a particularly memorable but physically-challenging speaking engagement in Seattle, Jim was inspired to write another book, Come Back to Life, re-telling the story of his NDE but adding much more about his own life and experiences, how the NDE had changed him, how he had foolishly forgotten many of the lessons it had taught him, and how he had found his way back to them. He wrote about his battles in the music industry, his life-long struggles with depression, his petrifying fear of death, and how his NDE had finally allowed him to put his life into perspective and extract more joy from every day. As a very public figure willing to write and talk about very private things, Jim has been a role model for many other people who have suffered from depression, fear of dying and fear of being ridiculed if they shared their own NDE's. Over the years many, many people have written to thank him for his books and his positive example.

Retirement
Leaving CJBK in 2004, Jim took several months off to rest. He then went back to the airwaves with a new show of his own devising, The Jim Chapman Newshour, a 60-minute program featuring his analysis of stories in the news and their significance for his listeners. He continued writing for the London Free Press and Business London Magazine but retired from the media in 2007 to run in the Ontario Provincial Election as a Progressive Conservative, though he promised to ignore party lines in favor of his "tough independent streak". Despite leading in the polls for a portion of the election, he ended up second to incumbant Khalil Ramal. Jim decided to retire, planning to read, write, golf and work on his collection of classic cars. But he found an unstructured life unsatisfactory and soon revived his long-dormant communications consultancy, quickly recruiting several major clients. In 2008 he was invited to go back on the radio as the host of the daily Jim Chapman NewsHour on CFPL (AM), his old home, and began writing again for The London Free Press and Business London Magazine. In 2009 he authored his third book, Mind How You Go, based on a collection of inspirational sayings submitted by his radio listeners.

The Voice of London and Beyond
In late 2009 Jim Chapman solicited a small group of politically-minded investors and in 2010 launched The Voice of London, the city's first electronic political newsmagazine, and an almost-instant success. Jim continues to be in demand as a motivational and keynote speaker while hosting his radio show, consulting for several business clients and performing on weekends with "Jim Chapman's Incontinentals", a vocal-based 50's-60's pop band. As of late 2010, future plans include another book of inspirational sayings, the re-release of his Springfield Sound and Morning Show Musical Maestro albums as CD's, and continuing his support of many local charities.