Streetwalkers were an Englishrock band formed in late 1973 by two former members of Family, vocalist Roger Chapman and guitarist John "Charlie" Whitney. They were a five piece band which evolved from the Chapman Whitney Band. The band was managed by Michael Alphandary and Harvey Goldsmith and were best known for their live performances and their album Red Card. By 1977 their potential to become more important in UKrock history was diminished by changing musical taste, due to the growing influence of punk rock and new wave music on European culture. The band had success in USA and Europe, particularly Germany.
After recording the album Chapman Whitney Streetwalkers, Chapman and Whitney changed the name of their band to Streetwalkers and Tench joined them as an official band member, when they signed to Phonogram Inc. in 1975. Tench was joined by drummer Nicko McBrain and bass player Jon Plotel. They had previously appeared on a European broadcast for the German TV show Rockpalast with Chapman and Whitney earlier the same year, billed as The Chapman Whitney Streetwalkers. The band's first album, Downtown Flyers was released in both USA and Europe but did not achieve the anticipated success in USA, although interest in Europe was more encouraging.
Red Card, stadium concerts
Their second studio album, the groove heavy album Red Card reached #16 in UK album charts and remains a much respected album. The band performed at a series of concerts entitled Who Put The Boot In appearing at UK Football stadiums, during May and June 1976. The billing for these concerts included The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Little Feat, Outlaws, Widowmaker and Streetwalkers were the second act to appear. The band also toured the U.S as support to others such as Wings, 10cc and Joe Cocker.
On 12 June 1976 they made their first appearance for John Peel on his "Peel Sessions" recorded by BBC radio, with the line-up of Chapman, Whitney, Tench, Plotel and McBrain and were featured by Peel once more as a "Peel session", on 14 March 1977. On 19 April the same year, they made their final appearance on Rockpalast, with a line-up which included Chapman, Whitney, Tench, keyboardist Brian Johnstone, bassist Mickey Feat and drummer David Dowle who later joined Whitesnake.
By the time their third and final studio album Vicious But Fair was released, Vertigo had shifted their commercial emphasis to the musical trends of punk rock and new wave music. The euphoria surrounding the band began to diminish and the potential of becoming more established in Europe evaporated. Streetwalkers Live was their final album and included a rough and ready compilation of poorly recorded tracks, probably released to comply with contractual obligations. In his review of this album for Allmusic, John Dougan mentions the poor quality of the recording and states that: "Chapman tears off a few soulful moments and it can rock". By now the band had broken up and Tench moved on to work with Van Morrisson, along with Feat.
