Chris Thompson

Not to be confused with the Kiwi singer-songwriter of the same name, Chris Thompson was born in England, and had his biggest success there. At age five he moved to Hamilton in New Zealand, where he later joined band Mandrake. Soon Thompson was back in the United Kingdom; in 1974 he began a long on-off involvement with Manfred Mann's Earth Band — including singing on a hit version of Bruce Springsteen's 'Blinded by the Light'. Thompson has turned up in all kinds of places: on songs for the Auckland Commonwealth Games and Wimbledon tennis, as co-writer of John Farnham hit You're the Voice, and on Kiwi film The Leading Edge.