"In my 53 years in the industry, they are the hardest working band I have been involved with": Michael Chugg on Sheppard’s radio renaissance

You don’t need to cast your mind all the way back to 2014 to conjure up the sounds of Sheppard’s multi-Platinum single ‘Geronimo’. It’s one of those tunes that has a long shelf life - both in your head, and at radio.

It racked up 88 weeks on the TMN Hot 100 - six of those at #1, holding off a deluge of strong competition from Sia (‘Chandelier’), Justice Crew (‘Que Sera’), and Calvin Harris (‘Summer’) during its reign.

The band’s latest single ‘Coming Home’ has picked up right where ‘Geronimo’ left off, more than three years later. It’s success is the byproduct of astute strategy, a well-crafted song and good old hard work, according to Michael Chugg, pioneering music promoter and founder of Sheppard’s label Chugg Music.  

“We felt ‘Coming Home’ was a great song and would be perfect as a lead into the second album, due for release in the first quarter of 2018,” Chugg told TMN.

“We released ‘Keep Me Crazy’ and ‘Edge Of The Night’ to bring the band back into view on the world stage. Both singles did well and certainly gained critical praise and pricked up some ears and gained new fans.”

The legendary promoter insists ‘Coming Home’ has what it takes to go above and beyond the legacy carved out by ‘Geronimo’. Being the #2 Most Added To Radio on its first week at commercial was a good start, placing second to Eminem’s comeback single ‘Walk On Water’ featuring Beyonce.  

“The pick up by radio on ‘Coming Home’ sits alongside ‘Geronimo’. After less than a month it’s Top 10 at radio and tracking just as well worldwide, if not better than ‘Geronimo’.”

Dan Hill, music director at Hit Network’s Fox FM Melbourne, was equally enthusiastic about the track and made the decision to back the song upon hearing it for the first time.

“As soon as Russell [Thomas] played me Sheppard’s new single, I was hooked. They keep raising the bar with every release they bring out, and I’m so excited for them on their continuing success both domestically and internationally.”

Needless to say, Fox FM and the entire Hit Network made room for the track straightaway. Aussie music champion Ash London took ‘Coming Home’ to air on her national nights show, while Hit’s Regional Network added the track on high rotation.

“It was a no brainer for us to add it to our playlist,” Hill added.

With Australian radio clearly in a frenzy, Sheppard are closing in on a string of tour dates in the early part of 2018 that will see them perform in the UK before they make their way back to home soil in support of Robbie Williams on his Heavy Entertainment Show Australia Tour in February.    

“In my 53 years in the industry, they are the hardest working band I have been involved with, brilliant musicians, and just really, really nice people,” Chugg concluded.