e-mail Chris Morris (C.C. Morris)
“I mean it most sincerely friends, we wanna hear it for Paper Lace!”
This banal catch phrase from Hughie Green changed the life of 19 year old fresh-faced Chris Morris back in 1973, when Paper Lace achieved Television success by winning Opportunity Knocks over a period of six weeks. The band appeared on the show seven weeks in total including an appearance on the all winners show.
Turn the clock back three years, when 16 year old Chris from Nottingham left school, and the general attitude from his peers, friends and father was, “when are you going to get a proper job?’
His mother, however, had a different vision as she had always supported him in his childhood ambition of becoming a singer and musician, realising at an early age that Chris was not going to follow an academic career. Circa the age of 11-12, she bought him a guitar and encouraged him to follow his heart’s calling and entered him into local talent competitions. Although Chris would generally do well in the competitions, this occasionally caused slight friction between his Mum and Dad. His determination paid off, as approximately three weeks after leaving school Chris had formed a three-piece group and was working the pubs and clubs around the Nottingham area, earning enough money to pay his way.
One of the first bands that Chris played in was called “Infant”, a wordplay on the fact that the boys were so young.
Little did Chris know that within a few months he would be performing in the premier league, playing guitar and singing backing vocals for the 60’s pop legend Billy Fury. Chris’ reputation as a guitarist and singer spread very quickly around the music industry and in 1973, Chris joined the newly formed line up of Paper Lace.
Billy Dont Be A Hero
In March 1974, based on their Television success on Opportunity Knocks, the band released a single called “Billy Don’t Be A Hero” which spent three weeks at number 1 and a total of 14 weeks in the UK singles charts. It was followed by “The Night Chicago Died”, which reached Number 3 and spent 11 weeks in the UK singles charts and reached number 1 in the American charts. A third release, which was called “The Black-Eyed Boys”, took Paper Lace to number 11 in late 1974 and number 37 in the American charts. The original band line-up covering Opportunity Knocks and the three hit single releases consisted of Philip Wright on drums/lead vocals, Mick Vaughan on lead and rhythm guitar, Cliff Fish on bass guitar and Chris Morris on guitar and vocals.
Success often breeds success and through the initial opportunities Chris was given, firstly with “Billy Fury” and then “Paper Lace” he has always worked as a musician. performing all over the world. This was not only with “Paper Lace” but with other bands which included “StoneyBroke”. He has also appeared on many Television shows, including several appearances on Top of the Pops.
Throughout the 1970’s and 80’s and well into the early 1990’s, he was still involved with the group, playing alongside various new members and variations of the name “Paper Lace”, however at the dawn of the new millennium Chris decided it was time to concentrate on his writing talents to pursue a solo career.
Chris has travelled the world in his profession, whilst earning a living from the work he is passionate about. In retrospect, the proudest moment in his career was when he was able to invite his parents to see him perform at the Royal Variety performance in front of her Majesty the Queen Mother in 1975.
In the words of 68 year-old Chris, “I’m a very fortunate man, but if you’re listening Dad, I’ve still not found a proper job!”
With You, All Night, Lets Fall In Love Again, Running Around
In 1983, Chris was signed by a Dutch company called “Blue Strike Records” and released a self penned album called “Frozen Dreams On Ice”, edited versions of four of the tracks from the album can be played on this page.
After the successful release of the album “Frozen Dreams On Ice”, Chris wrote a song called “Cross My Palm” and released it in 1983.
Japanese recording company heard the song and assigned it to their top female artist called Akina Nakamori. The song went to number one in the Japanese music charts and stayed in the top ten for several weeks.
Unfortunately, because of Japanese copyright regulations, the two versions of “Cross My Palm” can only be viewed directly on YouTube and not via third party links.
A montage photo of the two covers is featured on this page.
Over the last twenty years, Chris has built up his own recording studio called “Ocean Audio Studio”, concentrating on recording and promoting his own original material.
He has released a solo album called “Ain’t That Life”, which is still available for streaming and download on all the major platforms.
Ain't That Life
Chris has also written all the music for a theatre musical called “The Pirateers” with lyricist Dave Freeman. There are a total of forty songs on two albums, one of the songs from the show called “You can’t keep a good man down” was featured on an American sit-com called Blunt Talk.
The Pirateers
The Pirateers Two
In 2020, Chris teamed up with fellow songwriter and singer Mark Aynsley Hay – together they have written eighteen new songs and they are presently working on new projects. They are also applying their individualism to each other’s back catalogue of original compositions.
“Ocean Audio studio” is situated in Bodmin, Cornwall, England, and is fully equipped and designed for the best quality of recording.
For at least ten years, Chris has produced tracks for several theatrical agents and managers, representing artists who have appeared on the popular ITV talent shows the “X Factor” and “Britain’s Got Talent”. His main client is the top impresario and theatre producer David King. David produces spectacular shows on both sides of the Atlantic
Chris also has a large catalogue of backing tracks suitable for male and female singers in the original copy keys.
For more information regarding studio hire or backing tracks:
Tel: 0044(0)7741411026. Alternatively, click the Ocean Audio Studio link to email Chris.
Ocean Audio Studio
