Chopper was formed by Geoff Morrow (previously of Samantha, Ammo and Pentagon; q.v. all) and Laurence Bristow. It was run out of premises in Richmond Buildings, Dean Street, London W1, according to 'Music Week' of the 10th of February. The article added that the first two singles were out 'this week'. Chopper seems to have put out records in a wide range of styles, from the Country of Kelvin Henderson to a solo LP by ex-Curved Air singer Sonja Kristina. None of its singles appear to have sold in any great quantity, although the 45s's 'Couldn't Believe A Word' b/w 'Lonesome Lane' (CHEAP-45; 7/79) was awarded Single of the Week status on Radio One - 'MW' of the 11th of August said that the first 10,000 copies of that single were being sold at the discount price of 45p, which explains the different prefix. Distribution was initially by Selecta and latterly by RCA, after Decca and Selecta were sold. Singles generally came in a CHOP-0 numerical series in the Selecta era; the move to RCA in 1980 brought about a change of numbering, to CHOP-100, and of label colour, to black on yellow. The company operated from 1979 into 1981. The discography below is rather holey, but numbers CHOP-6 to CHOP-9 appear not to have been used. Chopper was responsible for one oddity: an America-only single by the children of Hamilton Junior High school, 'An Open Letter To The President' b/w 'Theme From The "White House"' (CHOP-1; 1980).
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.