Greatest Bands of All Time: Smokie

* First Video: "Lay Back In The Arms of Someone"




* Second Video: "Stumblin' In"




* Third Video: "Mexican Girl"




Smokie is an English rock band from Bradford, Yorkshire who found success in Europe in the 1970s.

Originally called The Yen, then The Sphynx and later Essence, the band was formed in 1964 at St. Bede's Grammar School 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) (born Christopher Ward Norman, 25 October 1950, at 139 Laburnum Road, Redcar, North Yorkshire, England), Terry Uttley (bass/vocals) (born Terence David Uttley, 9 June 1951, at St Luke's Hospital, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England), Alan Silson (lead guitar/vocals) (born 21 June 1951, at St Luke's Hospital, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England) and Ron Kelly (drums) (born Ronald Bruce Kelly, 10 February 1950, at the Royal Hospital, Winchester, Hampshire, England). 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. 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. 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, but due to a strike, the double A-side, "Light Of Love" / "Lindy Lou", was not released for a few months. 300 copies of that were sold and it was followed by a second single "Oh Julie" / "I Love You Carolina".

In late 1970, Dave Eager approached the group and offered to manage them. Subsequently, an arrangement was made with Rory Storm - formerly of the influential band and early Beatle contemporaries Rory Storm and the Hurricanes - the band to which Ringo Starr had originally belonged. Kindness backed Storm performing as 'Rory Storm and the Failures'. In late 1971, Norman suffered a serious infection which affected his vocal cords. 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 . Shortly thereafter their next single was released: "Let the Good Times Roll"..

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.

On September 22, 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 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 drop the "ey" and undergo another name change to Smokie. Shortly after the release of the second album, their first tour as headline act commenced.

According top wikipedia, 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 "Living Next Door to Alice" was released in November 1976, it quickly became the group's biggest hit, followed by the equally 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 emphasize 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..