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Smokie (band)
Encyclopedia
Smokie is an English
rock band from Bradford
, Yorkshire
who found success in Europe in the 1970s.
in Heaton, Bradford as The Yen. The Yen's first gig was at Birkenshaw School in February 1965. It was composed of Chris Norman
(lead vocals/rhythm guitar/piano), Terry Uttley (bass/vocals), Alan Silson (lead guitar/vocals) and Ron Kelly (drums). As Essence, they toured small clubs in Bradford and the surrounding communities before they split in 1966. The Black Cats were already a working band when Ron Kelly joined them at Dewsbury College, in September 1966. The Black Cats at this time were Peter Eastwood on guitar/vocals and Arthur Higgins on bass. Kelly replaced the drummer they had at the time. Alan Silson joined the band initially alongside Pete Eastwood, but Eastwood soon left and was replaced by Chris Norman. In Nov 1967 the band changed their name to The Four Corners.
In April 1968, the group found a manager in Mark Jordan, who advised them to rename themselves The Elizabethans. The group now became fully professional, and the members garnered higher salaries. In June 1968 Terry Uttley joined the group as replacement for Arthur Higgins, who had left the band in order to carry on his education. December saw the group having a first TV appearance on Yorkshire Television's news and magazine show Calendar
. In August 1969, the four performed two songs for the BBC
show High Jinx. Enthused with this successful performance Jordan had them record a first demo tape. In January 1970 RCA
showed an interest in the band and suggested a name change to Kindness. A single was recorded, the double A-side, "Light Of Love"/"Lindy Lou", was released on 3 April 1970. 300 copies of that were sold, but unfortunately no other tracks were released, and RCA subsequently terminated the record contract.
However, an arrangement was made with Ronnie Storm (not to be confused with Rory Storm of the Beatles connection) to back him on a single release, which was called "My Desire" and was released under the pseudonym "Fuzzy and The Barnets" due to contractual diffiulties encountered by Storm. At the same time Steve Rowland of Family Dogg fame, heard the band playing live on Radio One Club, and offered to sign the band to his production company. He arranged for Albert Hammond, who was in Family Dogg with him, to write a number for the band, which Hammond duly did. This track was entitled "It Never Rains In Southern California", but before it could be released, Albert decided that he wanted to record it for himself, so he wrote a couple of other tracks for the band and a single "You Ring a Bell/Have You Met Anglea" was recorded and prepared for release, but due to various problems in Rowland's organisation, it was never released. In late 1971,the band's management was taken over by Dave Eager, the Radio One DJ, and Norman suffered a serious infection which affected his vocal chords. After getting over the sickness his voice sounded much rougher, which the other group members considered an interesting addition to their sound. Eager introduced them to Decca
, which resulted in recordings in February 1972, their first single being "Oh Julie/I Love You Carolina. Shortly thereafter their next single was released: "Let the Good Times Roll" which was well liked by the media and was selected as the shows opening theme for Emperor Rosco's Radio One Saturday show, but this popularity did not translate into record sales. The last single on Decca was "Make it Better"/"Lonely Long Lady" which unfortunately flopped and led to Decca terminating their contracts.
's (of Herman's Hermits
fame) backing band. The band were immediately asked to become his permanent band after their audition at Noone's House in Denham (Bucks) and soon they embarked on a nationwide tour with him. Noone didn't bring the boys any luck, but during the tour Bill Hurley offered to manage them. Hurley convinced Eager to release the boys from the contract with him. Ron Kelly left Kindness on 8 August 1973 and the band recruited an old school friend, Pete Spencer (drums/vocals), who had played in various groups, to drum for them (ex The Chevrons, The Common Bond, The Collection, Dave and Dee Dees Playground, London Fog, Sugar and Spice, Brenda and The Collection). This line-up performed on a sightseeing boat in Frankfurt
, Germany. Hurley introduced the band to composers Nicky Chinn
and Mike Chapman
(aka Chinnichap), who also wrote songs for glam rock
contemporaries Sweet
, Mud
and Suzi Quatro
, and also for Hot Chocolate. At first "Chinnichap" turned them down, but Hurley's tenacity eventually convinced the composers/producers to give the young group a chance. Hurley and Chinnichap started working intensely with the band, and suggested yet another name change to Smokey. Reluctantly, the band agreed. An attempt to dress the band up in leather clothes (similar to Suzi Quatro
) was dropped, and the four won acceptance for their jeans outfit.
New instruments were bought and in late 1974 recordings sessions for their debut album commenced. On 14 February 1975, Pass It Around was released. The album spawned the title song as a single but failed to gain significant attention from the British audience. In April that year Smokey opened for Pilot
on tour.
Around this time the American soul legend Smokey Robinson
threatened to file a law suit, alleging that the band's name would confuse the audience. In order to avoid legal action it was decided to change the spelling to Smokie. Shortly after the release of the second album, their first tour as headline act commenced.
The next album was partly produced in America, where Nicky Chinn had moved for various reasons (the tax situation being just one of them). Midnight Café built on the popularity of Changing All the Time and established the group as a new pop phenomenon. The following years yielded a string of successful singles: "Something's Been Making Me Blue", "Wild Wild Angels" and "I'll Meet You at Midnight" gained a faithful following among younger listeners. When their single, a cover of Australian band New World
's single "Living Next Door to Alice
" was released in November 1976, it quickly became the group's biggest hit, followed by the similarly successful "Lay Back in the Arms of Someone
". Smokie now found themselves European superstars with sold-out tours and million-selling albums. The next two albums were to emphasise their stature: Bright Lights & Back Alleys (1977) and The Montreux Album (1978) were both chart successes.
At the peak of Smokie's success in 1978 Chris Norman teamed up with Suzi Quatro (who had just decided to return to Chinnichap after looking at separation from them) and released a duet single, "Stumblin' In" - another Chinnichap composition. Norman and Quatro were on top of the European charts for some time, and it reached the US Top 10, though no higher than No. 41 in Britain. Smokie's subsequent 45 was "Mexican Girl". Composed by Norman and Spencer, the record saw the group actively distance itself from Chinnichap. Smokie's next act was to produce British football star Kevin Keegan
's first single, "Head Over Heels in Love". It charted in many European countries.
In 1979, the album The Other Side Of The Road was released, entirely recorded in Australia. It spawned two more hits for the band, "Do To Me" and "Babe It's Up to You", but it became clear that their sales were declining. Only a subsequent non-album single release, the melancholic "Run To Me" became another hit.
Smokie met with a hiatus before Solid Ground was released in 1981. The advance single was neither a Chinnichap composition nor penned by any Smokie member, but a cover of "Little Town Flirt", the last Smokie single to chart.
Though Smokie had begun work on a comeback, in 1986, Norman - enthused with the relative success of his second solo album Some Hearts are Diamonds - announced that he was to leave the band. He was replaced by Alan Barton
, formerly of Black Lace
, a friend of the bands, who had a vocal style similar to Norman's. Smokie also recruited keyboard player Martin Bullard. Spencer quit and was replaced on drums by Steve Pinnell. The new line-up released All Fired Up! in 1988, which brought some attention and contained a new version of "Rock Away Your Tear Drops", the song which was initially the title track to Norman's debut album.
), Chasing Shadows and the 1994 album Celebration, which contained old hits in new arrangements accompanied by an orchestra. None had any real success. However, Smokie made a surprise return to the UK singles chart
in 1995, with one of the most unlikely hits of the year - a duet with renowned academic Mark Fitzpatrick, who knew the band through Steve Pinnel, having taught Steve the rudiments of drumming as payment for being his driver in his early club comedy career, on a re-release of their biggest hit "Living Next Door To Alice
" which reached #3. The band had noticed that, whilst touring in Ireland, whenever they sang the main line "For 24 years/I've been living next door to Alice" the audience would shout "Alice? Who the fuck is Alice?". The resident DJ in Dutch café
Gompie
first came up with this phrase and, after a local record producer had noted its popularity and organised a recording, had a number 17-hit with Alice? Who the Fuck is Alice?! in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands reaching #1. Smokie decided to cover the Gompie-version of their own song and thought that Fitzpatrick was the ideal man for the job, with Barton singing the song vocals and the Robert Louis Stevenson specialist providing the additional sworn response.
Unfortunately shortly after the song was recorded Smokie's tour bus careened off of the road during a hailstorm in Germany. Barton, badly injured, died after five days in intensive care. The rest of the band and Brown agreed to donate their royalties from the song to Barton's first wife.
In 1996, Silson terminated his membership, saying he intended to pursue a solo career and to work with other acts as well, joining Mickey Finn's T. Rex
; he also no longer wanted to be on the road all the time. Mick McConnell became the group's new lead guitarist. This formation produced the next album Wild Horses - The Nashville Album (1998), precisely in Nashville
, Tennessee. In February 2001, the group released two albums, Uncovered and Uncovered Too, which consist entirely of cover versions, with no original new songs added.
In 2004 Smokie released a studio album with their own material, On the Wire. Eleven of the 14 songs on the new album were written by the band themselves. In 2006 Smokie released the album From the Heart. Although mainly a compilation album, it contained three brand new tracks.
2010 has seen Smokie gain new chart success with an album of brand new material "Take a Minute". Released initially in Denmark in August, it peaked at number two on the Danish album chart. Releases in the remainder of Scandinavia and Germany are taking place during October, with the single "Sally's Song", a continuation of the story of the other character in "Living Next Door to Alice" also being released. UK release dates have yet to be announced for either Take a Minute or Sally's Song.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
rock band from Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
who found success in Europe in the 1970s.
Early years
Originally called The Yen, then The Sphynx and later Essence, the band was formed in 1964 at St. Bede's Grammar SchoolSt. Bede's Grammar School
St. Bede's Grammar School, in Heaton, Bradford, West Yorkshire is a Roman Catholic boys' Secondary school and specialist science college close to Bradford city centre.-School history:...
in Heaton, Bradford as The Yen. The Yen's first gig was at Birkenshaw School in February 1965. It was composed of Chris Norman
Chris Norman
Chris Norman is an English soft rock singer. Norman was the lead singer of Smokie, an English glam rock band from Bradford, which found success in Europe in the 1970s....
(lead vocals/rhythm guitar/piano), Terry Uttley (bass/vocals), Alan Silson (lead guitar/vocals) and Ron Kelly (drums). As Essence, they toured small clubs in Bradford and the surrounding communities before they split in 1966. The Black Cats were already a working band when Ron Kelly joined them at Dewsbury College, in September 1966. The Black Cats at this time were Peter Eastwood on guitar/vocals and Arthur Higgins on bass. Kelly replaced the drummer they had at the time. Alan Silson joined the band initially alongside Pete Eastwood, but Eastwood soon left and was replaced by Chris Norman. In Nov 1967 the band changed their name to The Four Corners.
In April 1968, the group found a manager in Mark Jordan, who advised them to rename themselves The Elizabethans. The group now became fully professional, and the members garnered higher salaries. In June 1968 Terry Uttley joined the group as replacement for Arthur Higgins, who had left the band in order to carry on his education. December saw the group having a first TV appearance on Yorkshire Television's news and magazine show Calendar
Calendar (News)
Calendar is a regional television news and current affairs programme, produced by ITV Yorkshire at its studios in Leeds, serving Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and parts of the North Midlands and North West Norfolk...
. In August 1969, the four performed two songs for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
show High Jinx. Enthused with this successful performance Jordan had them record a first demo tape. In January 1970 RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
showed an interest in the band and suggested a name change to Kindness. A single was recorded, the double A-side, "Light Of Love"/"Lindy Lou", was released on 3 April 1970. 300 copies of that were sold, but unfortunately no other tracks were released, and RCA subsequently terminated the record contract.
However, an arrangement was made with Ronnie Storm (not to be confused with Rory Storm of the Beatles connection) to back him on a single release, which was called "My Desire" and was released under the pseudonym "Fuzzy and The Barnets" due to contractual diffiulties encountered by Storm. At the same time Steve Rowland of Family Dogg fame, heard the band playing live on Radio One Club, and offered to sign the band to his production company. He arranged for Albert Hammond, who was in Family Dogg with him, to write a number for the band, which Hammond duly did. This track was entitled "It Never Rains In Southern California", but before it could be released, Albert decided that he wanted to record it for himself, so he wrote a couple of other tracks for the band and a single "You Ring a Bell/Have You Met Anglea" was recorded and prepared for release, but due to various problems in Rowland's organisation, it was never released. In late 1971,the band's management was taken over by Dave Eager, the Radio One DJ, and Norman suffered a serious infection which affected his vocal chords. After getting over the sickness his voice sounded much rougher, which the other group members considered an interesting addition to their sound. Eager introduced them to Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
, which resulted in recordings in February 1972, their first single being "Oh Julie/I Love You Carolina. Shortly thereafter their next single was released: "Let the Good Times Roll" which was well liked by the media and was selected as the shows opening theme for Emperor Rosco's Radio One Saturday show, but this popularity did not translate into record sales. The last single on Decca was "Make it Better"/"Lonely Long Lady" which unfortunately flopped and led to Decca terminating their contracts.
Rise to fame
During the band's Decca contract, Eager used his contacts with the Manchester based Agency Kennedy Street Enterprises, to gain the band an audition to be Peter NoonePeter Noone
Peter Noone is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist and actor, best known as "Herman" of the successful 1960s rock group Herman's Hermits.-Early life:...
's (of Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English beat band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's record producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...
fame) backing band. The band were immediately asked to become his permanent band after their audition at Noone's House in Denham (Bucks) and soon they embarked on a nationwide tour with him. Noone didn't bring the boys any luck, but during the tour Bill Hurley offered to manage them. Hurley convinced Eager to release the boys from the contract with him. Ron Kelly left Kindness on 8 August 1973 and the band recruited an old school friend, Pete Spencer (drums/vocals), who had played in various groups, to drum for them (ex The Chevrons, The Common Bond, The Collection, Dave and Dee Dees Playground, London Fog, Sugar and Spice, Brenda and The Collection). This line-up performed on a sightseeing boat in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany. Hurley introduced the band to composers Nicky Chinn
Nicky Chinn
Nicky Chinn born Nicholas Barry Chinn, 16 May 1945, London, UK) is a British songwriter and record producer. Together with Mike Chapman he had a long string of hit singles in the UK and US in the 1970s and early 1980s, including several number-one records...
and Mike Chapman
Mike Chapman (record producer)
Mike Chapman is an Australian born record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s...
(aka Chinnichap), who also wrote songs for glam rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
contemporaries Sweet
Sweet (band)
Sweet was a British rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s as one of the most prominent glam rock acts, with the classic line-up of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker.Sweet was formed in 1968 and achieved their first...
, Mud
Mud (band)
Mud were an English glam rock band, formed in February 1968, best remembered for their single "Tiger Feet", which was the UK's best-selling single of 1974...
and Suzi Quatro
Suzi Quatro
Susan Kay "Suzi" Quatro is an American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor.She scored a string of hit singles in the 1970s that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, and had a recurring role on the popular American sitcom Happy Days.-Music:Quatro began her...
, and also for Hot Chocolate. At first "Chinnichap" turned them down, but Hurley's tenacity eventually convinced the composers/producers to give the young group a chance. Hurley and Chinnichap started working intensely with the band, and suggested yet another name change to Smokey. Reluctantly, the band agreed. An attempt to dress the band up in leather clothes (similar to Suzi Quatro
Suzi Quatro
Susan Kay "Suzi" Quatro is an American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor.She scored a string of hit singles in the 1970s that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, and had a recurring role on the popular American sitcom Happy Days.-Music:Quatro began her...
) was dropped, and the four won acceptance for their jeans outfit.
New instruments were bought and in late 1974 recordings sessions for their debut album commenced. On 14 February 1975, Pass It Around was released. The album spawned the title song as a single but failed to gain significant attention from the British audience. In April that year Smokey opened for Pilot
Pilot (band)
Pilot was a pop rock musical group, formed during 1973 in Edinburgh, Scotland by the former Bay City Rollers members, David Paton and Billy Lyall.-Career:...
on tour.
Height of popularity
On 22 September 1975, Smokey released their second album Changing All the Time. This LP sounded much softer than the debut, contained string arrangements on some songs, and heavily leaned toward acoustic guitar arrangements with close harmony vocals, which became their signature sound. The first single from the new album, "If You Think You Know How to Love Me", quickly became a big hit in many European countries, peaking at No. 3 in Britain, and won Smokey a wider audience. It was followed by "Don't Play Your Rock'n'Roll to Me".Around this time the American soul legend Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
threatened to file a law suit, alleging that the band's name would confuse the audience. In order to avoid legal action it was decided to change the spelling to Smokie. Shortly after the release of the second album, their first tour as headline act commenced.
The next album was partly produced in America, where Nicky Chinn had moved for various reasons (the tax situation being just one of them). Midnight Café built on the popularity of Changing All the Time and established the group as a new pop phenomenon. The following years yielded a string of successful singles: "Something's Been Making Me Blue", "Wild Wild Angels" and "I'll Meet You at Midnight" gained a faithful following among younger listeners. When their single, a cover of Australian band New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
's single "Living Next Door to Alice
Living Next Door to Alice
"Living Next Door to Alice" is a song co-written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Originally released by the Australian vocal harmony trio New World in 1972, the song charted at # 35 on the Australian chart...
" was released in November 1976, it quickly became the group's biggest hit, followed by the similarly successful "Lay Back in the Arms of Someone
Lay Back in the Arms of Someone
"Lay Back in the Arms of Someone" is a song co-written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, performed by the English band Smokie.-Charts:-Cover versions:...
". Smokie now found themselves European superstars with sold-out tours and million-selling albums. The next two albums were to emphasise their stature: Bright Lights & Back Alleys (1977) and The Montreux Album (1978) were both chart successes.
At the peak of Smokie's success in 1978 Chris Norman teamed up with Suzi Quatro (who had just decided to return to Chinnichap after looking at separation from them) and released a duet single, "Stumblin' In" - another Chinnichap composition. Norman and Quatro were on top of the European charts for some time, and it reached the US Top 10, though no higher than No. 41 in Britain. Smokie's subsequent 45 was "Mexican Girl". Composed by Norman and Spencer, the record saw the group actively distance itself from Chinnichap. Smokie's next act was to produce British football star Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan
Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United....
's first single, "Head Over Heels in Love". It charted in many European countries.
In 1979, the album The Other Side Of The Road was released, entirely recorded in Australia. It spawned two more hits for the band, "Do To Me" and "Babe It's Up to You", but it became clear that their sales were declining. Only a subsequent non-album single release, the melancholic "Run To Me" became another hit.
Smokie met with a hiatus before Solid Ground was released in 1981. The advance single was neither a Chinnichap composition nor penned by any Smokie member, but a cover of "Little Town Flirt", the last Smokie single to chart.
Decline and Norman's departure
In early 1982 the last album for EMI/BMG was released, Strangers In Paradise, which was almost a complete failure. The departure from Chinnichap became notable, and the four members of Smokie appeared unable to recreate their success using their own material. Shortly after the release of Strangers In Paradise, work began on two parallel albums, one released as Smokie - Midnight Delight, the other Chris Norman's solo debut, Rock Away Your Teardrops. Neither release sold well.Though Smokie had begun work on a comeback, in 1986, Norman - enthused with the relative success of his second solo album Some Hearts are Diamonds - announced that he was to leave the band. He was replaced by Alan Barton
Alan Barton
Alan Barton was a member of the hit-making duo Black Lace, alongside Colin Routh. Their hits included: "The Music Man", "Agadoo" and "Superman"...
, formerly of Black Lace
Black Lace (band)
Black Lace is a British Euro pop band, best known for novelty party records, including their biggest hit, "Agadoo". The band first came to the public eye after being selected to represent the UK in the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, in which they finished seventh with the song "Mary Ann"...
, a friend of the bands, who had a vocal style similar to Norman's. Smokie also recruited keyboard player Martin Bullard. Spencer quit and was replaced on drums by Steve Pinnell. The new line-up released All Fired Up! in 1988, which brought some attention and contained a new version of "Rock Away Your Tear Drops", the song which was initially the title track to Norman's debut album.
Comeback
Several releases followed over the next years including Boulevard Of Broken Dreams (by Dieter BohlenDieter Bohlen
Dieter Günter Bohlen is a German songwriter, singer, musician, producer, entertainer, TV personality, and writer. Bohlen is best known for being part of popular pop-duo Modern Talking during 1984–1987 and 1998–2003.-Biography:Bohlen took his Abitur in Oldenburg...
), Chasing Shadows and the 1994 album Celebration, which contained old hits in new arrangements accompanied by an orchestra. None had any real success. However, Smokie made a surprise return to the UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in 1995, with one of the most unlikely hits of the year - a duet with renowned academic Mark Fitzpatrick, who knew the band through Steve Pinnel, having taught Steve the rudiments of drumming as payment for being his driver in his early club comedy career, on a re-release of their biggest hit "Living Next Door To Alice
Living Next Door to Alice
"Living Next Door to Alice" is a song co-written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Originally released by the Australian vocal harmony trio New World in 1972, the song charted at # 35 on the Australian chart...
" which reached #3. The band had noticed that, whilst touring in Ireland, whenever they sang the main line "For 24 years/I've been living next door to Alice" the audience would shout "Alice? Who the fuck is Alice?". The resident DJ in Dutch café
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
Gompie
Gompie
Gompie is a Dutch band in Nijmegen, which in 1995 edited the Smokie hit "Living Next Door to Alice", adding the words "Alice, Who the fuck is Alice!?". The song reached number 17 in the UK and number 1 in the Netherlands...
first came up with this phrase and, after a local record producer had noted its popularity and organised a recording, had a number 17-hit with Alice? Who the Fuck is Alice?! in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands reaching #1. Smokie decided to cover the Gompie-version of their own song and thought that Fitzpatrick was the ideal man for the job, with Barton singing the song vocals and the Robert Louis Stevenson specialist providing the additional sworn response.
Unfortunately shortly after the song was recorded Smokie's tour bus careened off of the road during a hailstorm in Germany. Barton, badly injured, died after five days in intensive care. The rest of the band and Brown agreed to donate their royalties from the song to Barton's first wife.
1990s-Present
The remaining members decided to continue with the band and went about finding their third lead singer. Friend of the band Mike Craft was chosen - allegedly, it only took one song to come to a decision. The World and Elsewhere was released later that year, followed by Light a Candle - The Christmas Album.In 1996, Silson terminated his membership, saying he intended to pursue a solo career and to work with other acts as well, joining Mickey Finn's T. Rex
T. Rex (A Celebration of Marc and Mickey)
Mickey Finn's T-Rex was formed in 1998 by former T. Rex member Mickey Finn. Mickey Finn's T-Rex have been regularly touring Worldwide since 1997 despite the loss of Mickey Finn in 2003.-Formation:...
; he also no longer wanted to be on the road all the time. Mick McConnell became the group's new lead guitarist. This formation produced the next album Wild Horses - The Nashville Album (1998), precisely in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Tennessee. In February 2001, the group released two albums, Uncovered and Uncovered Too, which consist entirely of cover versions, with no original new songs added.
In 2004 Smokie released a studio album with their own material, On the Wire. Eleven of the 14 songs on the new album were written by the band themselves. In 2006 Smokie released the album From the Heart. Although mainly a compilation album, it contained three brand new tracks.
2010 has seen Smokie gain new chart success with an album of brand new material "Take a Minute". Released initially in Denmark in August, it peaked at number two on the Danish album chart. Releases in the remainder of Scandinavia and Germany are taking place during October, with the single "Sally's Song", a continuation of the story of the other character in "Living Next Door to Alice" also being released. UK release dates have yet to be announced for either Take a Minute or Sally's Song.
Personnel
| 1965 - 1968 |
|
|---|---|
| 1973 - 1986 |
Chris Norman Chris Norman is an English soft rock singer. Norman was the lead singer of Smokie, an English glam rock band from Bradford, which found success in Europe in the 1970s.... - lead vocals, rhythm guitar |
| 1986 - 1995 |
Alan Barton Alan Barton was a member of the hit-making duo Black Lace, alongside Colin Routh. Their hits included: "The Music Man", "Agadoo" and "Superman"... - lead vocals, rhythm guitar |
| 1995 - 1996 |
|
| 1996–Present |
|
Albums
For more, see Smokie discographySmokie discography
- Studio albums :- Live albums :...
| Title | Year of release | Members info |
|---|---|---|
Pass it Around |
1975 | with Chris Norman Chris Norman Chris Norman is an English soft rock singer. Norman was the lead singer of Smokie, an English glam rock band from Bradford, which found success in Europe in the 1970s.... |
Changing All the Time Changing All the Time Changing All the Time is an album by Smokie, released in 1975. It includes the hits "Changing All the Time", "Don't Play Your Rock 'n' Roll to Me", "Back to Bradford" and "If You Think You Know How to Love Me".-Tracklisting:... |
1975 | with Chris Norman |
Midnight Café |
1976 | with Chris Norman |
Bright Lights & Back Alleys |
1977 | with Chris Norman |
The Montreux Album The Montreux Album The Montreux Album is the sixth album by the British band Smokie.#The Girl Can't Help It#Power of Love#No More Letters#Mexican Girl#You Took Me By Surprise#Oh Carol#Liverpool Docks#Light Up My Life#Petesy's Song#For a Few Dollars More... |
1978 | with Chris Norman |
Live: The Concert |
1978 | Chris Norman Terry Uttley Pete Spencer Alan Silson |
The Other Side of the Road |
1979 | with Chris Norman |
Solid Ground Solid Ground Solid Ground may refer to:* Solid Ground , a single by Norwegian pop music singer Marit Larsen* Solid Ground , a social service organization in Seattle, Washington, U.S.* Solid Ground , an album by the country singer... |
1981 | with Chris Norman |
Strangers in Paradise |
1982 | Chris Norman Pete Spencer Alan Silson Terry Uttley |
Midnight Delight |
1982 | with Chris Norman |
All Fired Up |
1988 | with Alan Barton Alan Barton Alan Barton was a member of the hit-making duo Black Lace, alongside Colin Routh. Their hits included: "The Music Man", "Agadoo" and "Superman"... |
Boulevard of Broken Dreams |
1989 | with Alan Barton |
Whose Are These Boots? |
1990 | with Alan Barton |
Chasing Shadows |
1992 | with Alan Barton |
Burnin' Ambition |
1993 | with Alan Barton |
Celebration |
1994 | with Alan Barton |
The World and Elsewhere |
1996 | Mike Craft Terry Uttley Steve Pinnell Alan Silson Martin Bullard |
Light a Candle |
1996 | Mike Craft Terry Uttley Steve Pinnell Mick McConnell Martin Bullard |
Wild Horses |
1998 | with Mike Craft |
Uncovered |
2000 | with Mike Craft |
Uncovered Too |
2001 | with Mike Craft |
On the Wire |
2004 | with Mike Craft |
From the Heart |
2006 | with Mike Craft |
Eclipse |
2008 | with Mike Craft |
Take a Minute |
2010 | with Mike Craft |
Collections
- Smokie's Greatest Hits (1977)
- The Collection (1992)
- Their Hits (1995)
- With Love from Smokie (The Best of the Ballads) (2002)
- The Best of Smokie (2003)
DVDs
- Smokie Bratislavská Lýra '83 (1983)
- Bad Segeberg 1996 (1996)
- Smokie Live at Circus Stockholm (2006)
- Live at Rival (2008)
External links
- [ Smokie biography at AMG website]
- Smokie.co.uk
- Smokie Discography 1975-1982
- Smokie fanclub
- Smokie fanclub
- alansilson.com