Roger Chapman and the Shortlist dominate the surviving live record, building a large German audience through the Hyenas Only Laugh for Fun campaign and the autumn tour captured at Hamburg's Markthalle. Beyond Chapman, John Wetton began Asia with Steve Howe, Geoff Downes and Carl Palmer, while Jim Cregan remained a central guitarist, writer and co-producer in Rod Stewart's band.
Rod Stewart released Tonight I’m Yours, co-produced by Jim Cregan and Stewart. Cregan played guitar and backing vocals and shared writing credit on the title track, extending his central role in Stewart’s recording and touring band.
Chapman & The Shortlist 1981 European tour closes — per concert promoters Lippmann + Rau to Billboard (5 December 1981): "Roger Chapman and the Short List pulled audiences of between 2,000 and 3,000 a night on his 26-date tour which ended Dec. 2." The Lippmann + Rau Frankfurt office — the same Fritz Rau / Horst Lippmann promotion that had handled Family's 1970-73 West German tours and the ongoing Chapman solo relationship since the 1979 Live in Hamburg era — positioned the tour as Chapman's strongest yet on German soil, with the Markthalle Hamburg three-night stand (2-4 November) captured for the He Was… She Was… You Was… We Was… live album. The 26-date total exceeds the ~18 shows currently logged on this timeline (16 Germany + 1 UK + 2 unassigned) — eight or so dates remain as recovery candidates from the Lippmann + Rau tour-diary archive and the Billboard / Sounds 1981 concert-listing pages.
John Wetton joined Steve Howe, Geoff Downes and Carl Palmer in the new group Asia. The sessions that followed produced the band’s self-titled debut and opened the most commercially successful chapter of Wetton’s post-Family career.
