Stars of the 70s - Smokie

Smokie – The gentle rock giants from Yorkshire

They never sounded like Yorkshire, more like LA on holiday in Cornwall – and yet, from the north of England, they took the continent's charts by storm. Between 1975 and 1979, Smokie unleashed one of the most impressive hit series of the '70s, with choruses seared into the collective ear of the post-war generation like the silhouettes of a sunset over Scarborough Beach.

It all started with "If You Think You Know How To Love Me" – back then they called themselves Smokey until Motown legend Smokey Robinson insisted on his right to the name. Smokey became Smokie , but their success remained - in fact, it exploded. Especially in 1977: with "Living Next Door To Alice" they created one of the biggest tearjerkers of the decade. The song dominated the BRAVO charts for nine weeks, even though the band hadn't originally intended to record it. "No man can be that stupid," said frontman Chris Norman - but it was precisely this naive heartache that made the song a worldwide success.

Howard Carpendale adopted the template for the German market, and millions were suddenly buzzing "Tür an Tür mit Alice," while Chris Norman had long since embarked on his own path to success. His duet with Suzi Quatro , "Stumblin' In," opened the door to his solo career – crowned by "Midnight Lady," featuring Drafi Deutscher in Dieter Bohlen costume.

The band, originally consisting of Norman, Alan Silson , Pete Spencer , and Terry Uttley , was the prototype of the likeable buddy quartet with a golden-throated quality. A 38-part star cut in BRAVO magazine , plus three OTTO awards (two gold, one bronze), speaks for itself.

But like so many glorious guitar heroes, they were swept away by New Wave in the late 1970s. Synthesizers arrived, pop music became cooler—Smokie's warm harmonies no longer fit in. The band broke up in 1982, regrouped, toured, changed singers (from 1985, Alan Barton ), had to cope with tragedy (Barton's death in 1995), and still persevered.

Terry Uttley , the last original member, left the stage in 2021 – but the impact remains. 18 hits in the BRAVO charts. Six songs reached number one. 41 weeks at the top. That's no coincidence – that's Smokie .