Презентация по страноведению "Smokie"

• Smokie  (originally spelt  Smokey ) are an English rock band from Bradford, Yorkshire. The band found success at home and abroad after teaming up with Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. They have had a number of line-up changes and were still actively touring in 2018. Their most popular hit single, "Living Next Door to Alice", peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart and, in March 1977, reached No. 25 on the  Billboard  Hot 100. Other hit singles include "If You Think You Know How to Love Me", "Oh Carol", "Lay Back in the Arms of Someone", and "I'll Meet You at Midnight".

• The band was formed as "The Yen" after a chance meeting between Ron Kelly and Alan Silson in Moore's Music Shop, North Parade, Bradford, in October 1963. Two days after that meeting they were joined by Chris Norman for rehearsals, but without finding a suitable bass player, just practiced together for a year. The addition of Terry Uttley on bass guitar at the beginning of 1965 completed the line-up and The Yen's first gig was at Birkenshaw School in February 1965

Early period

• Hurley introduced the band to composers Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who also wrote songs for glam rock contemporaries Sweet, Mud, and Suzi Quatro. 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 with the band, and suggested yet another name change, to "Smokey". 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.

Rise to fame

• On 22 September 1975, Smokey released their second album,  Changing All the Time . The first single from the new album, "If You Think You Know How to Love Me", became a hit in many European countries, peaking at No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart.They followed it with "Don't Play Your Rock 'n' Roll to Me".
• At the peak of Smokie's success in 1978, Chris Norman teamed up with Suzi Quatro 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 only No. 41 in the UK.

Height of popularity

• Though Smokie had begun work on a comeback, in 1986, Norman, by that stage 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 band's, 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 that had been the title track to Norman's debut album.

Norman’s departure

• Several releases followed over the next years including  Boulevard of Broken Dreams  (1989, seven weeks at No. 1 in Norway; all tracks were produced by Simon Humphrey, except "Young Love", which was produced by Dieter Bohlen);  Whose Are These Boots?  (1990, No. 1 in Norway);  Chasing Shadows  (1992); and  Celebration  (1994), which contained old hits in new arrangements accompanied by an orchestra.

Comeback

• In 2004, Smokie recorded a studio album,  On the Wire , with eleven of the 14 songs written by the band themselves. In 2006, the band released the album  From the Heart . Although mainly a compilation, it did contain three new tracks.
• In 2010, Smokie gained new chart success with a CD of brand new material,  Take a Minute . Released in Denmark in August of that year, it peaked at number three on the Danish Albums Chart.Releases in the remainder of Scandinavia and Germany took place during October, with the single "Sally's Song (The Legacy Goes On)"— a continuation of the story of the other character in "Living Next Door to Alice"  — also released.

In present time

Discography

• Pass it around
• Changing all the time
• Midnight Café
• Bright Lights & Bright Alleys
• The Monteux Album
• The Other side of the Road
• Solid Ground
• Strangers in Paradise
• Midnight Delight

Popular songs

• I’ll meet you at midnight
• Living next door to Alice
• Oh Carol
• Run to me
• Stumblin’In
• Don’t play your Rock’n’Roll to me
• It’s your life