During a break from a 1979 co-headlining tour with AC/DC, UFO guitarist Paul Chapman visited Satellite Beach and quickly fell in love with the Space Coast’s surf and sunshine.
The globetrotting Welsh rocker set down roots in Brevard County during the 1980s and continued his musical pursuits for decades, writing music at his memorabilia-packed Palm Bay home studio and giving lessons at Guitar Haven and Florida Discount Music in Melbourne.
Paul “Tonka” Chapman died of a heart attack on June 9, his 66th birthday.
“He was like a light, and people were like moths. Everybody gravitated toward him. He had a very boisterous personality, very loving and tender. He was a natural nurturer,” said his daughter, Indialantic resident Brittany Chapman.
“He loved to cook. He was a tour chef — he always was the cook on the road. He just loved to be around people; he was not good at being alone. He was a very people-person,” she said.
On Sunday, a memorial concert and celebration of life are scheduled from 4 to 10 p.m. in the Lou’s Blues parking lot, 3191 N. State Road A1A, near Indian Harbour Beach.
“We’ve got some really awesome tributes from celebrities that have sent video testimonials: Joe Elliot from Def Leppard, Phil Collen from Def Leppard, Phil Campbell from Motörhead,” said Brittany Chapman, who is co-organizing the event.
“It’s been mind-blowing to see how many people loved him. He was just ‘Dad’ to me,” she said.
“He was a cool dad. But it’s kind of cool getting to know him on a completely other level — knowing him as ‘Tonka.’ I know him as Dad, and everyone else knew him as Tonka,” she said.
UFO rose to fame during the late 1970s and early ’80s, selling more than 20 million records and playing arenas and stadiums worldwide. The influential British hard rock band was ranked No. 84 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.
After playing with UFO during a 1977 tour with Rush, Chapman joined the group full-time in 1978, replacing star guitarist Michael Schenker. He appeared on UFO’s next four studio albums — “No Place to Run,” “The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent,” “Mechanix” and “Making Contact” — before the band briefly broke up in 1983.
Chapman also played and toured with Lone Star (which toured with Ted Nugent), DOA, Waysted (which split up after touring with Iron Maiden), Ghost, PCP (which debuted in 2012 at Lou’s Blues), Gator Country (featuring former Molly Hatchet members) and Killer Bee, among other musical projects.
“Just woke up to sad news of Paul Chapman passing. He was my main influence on guitar for many years and a brilliant bloke,” longtime Motörhead lead guitarist Phil Campbell tweeted the day after his death.
“Thoughts are with his family. RIP Tonka,” Campbell tweeted.
Brittany Chapman said her father’s Palm Bay home studio was a treasure trove of demo tapes, posters and recordings dating to the early 1970s.
One Polaroid photo in his collection shows Chapman raising his fist to the crowd during the Colorado Sun Day festival on June 16, 1979, at Mile High Stadium in Denver. The lineup featured Ted Nugent, Heart, The Cars, UFO and The Rockets.
“They were a general-public’s band, but musicians really loved UFO because they always had great guitar players. They never broke it huge in America, but they got pretty darn big,” said Ned Meloni, Chapman’s son-in-law and former Ghost bandmate
“They didn’t have a huge hit single, but they got a lot of FM play, sold a lot of records, did a lot of touring,” Meloni said.
“They’re really one of the classic British hard rock bands, historically. The upper echelon — Zeppelin, Bad Company — those bands were obviously bigger. But they were knocking on their door for a little while there,” he said.
Meloni first saw Chapman play with UFO before about 18,000 fans at the Baltimore Civic Center. He called Chapman the most focused, hardest worker he has met in the music business.
“Paul was an extremely studied and accomplished guitar player, on a level of a Joe Satriani. Taught here, what, 35 years or something? At one point, he had like 80 students a week — which is almost impossible,” Meloni said.
Chapman hosted the 2009 Brevard Live Music Awards at the Henegar Center for the Arts in Melbourne. During the 2012 BMAs, he won the Hometown Legend lifetime achievement award.
Heike Clarke, Brevard Live publisher and editor-in-chief, became friends with Chapman during the 1990s.
“There was not a bad memory of Paul. Everything was good with him. I have photos of us eating sushi — and then he orders some home fries with it. It looks kind of weird, you know. And then he says, ‘You’ve never heard of fish and chips?’ ” Clarke said, laughing.
“He would brighten everybody’s life. Everybody who met him was a friend,” she said.
Christopher Lee Helton met Chapman backstage while he was photographing the Rock Super Bowl 10 on April 18, 1981, at the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando. That lineup featured Heart, Cheap Trick, Blue Oyster Cult, Firefall and UFO.
Helton and Chapman became fast friends, and Helton became one of Central Florida’s top rock photographers.
“It was cool as hell to shoot UFO, because I was a big fan of the band. I’m a big fan of Paul’s, because he’s an incredible player and a nice guy,” said Helton, who now lives in Erie, Colorado.
“We had a bond for years. He was funny. I mean, the guy was really, really funny — and a great cook,” he said.
The day Chapman died, longtime rock-metal broadcaster Eddie Trunk tweeted a video of UFO’s 1980 song “Lettin’ Go” in his memory.
“Listening to Paul Chapman @UFO_rockband all night. Soooo bummed. So many great songs he played on & co wrote in his era. Such a great player. Just found this live version of Lettin Go. What a band! RIP Tonka,” Trunk tweeted.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1. To subscribe: https://cm.floridatoday.com/specialoffer/