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Smokie music biography continued...

The band's original member's included childhood friends and old bandmates Chris Norman (vocals), Terry Utley (guitar) and Alan Silson (bass), in addition to drummer Pete Spencer. The quartet recorded many singles during the late '60s and early '70s, but failed to hit the charts until 1975, when they signed with Rak Records. Billed as Smokey, the group hit #3 in the U.K. with "If You Think You Know How to Love Me." After another Top Ten hit, "Don't Play Your Rock 'N Roll to Me," and the threat of a lawsuit from Smokey Robinson, the band became known as Smokie; during 1976, the group scooped up with three Top 20 hits, including such Smokie songs as "It's Your Life" (1977) and "Oh Carol" (1978). The band's chart run ended by early 1980, and following 1982's Midnight Delight, they disbanded
Smokie reemerged in 1986 with a changed lineup but just as much passion for performing. However, tragedy would strike as new lead vocalist Alan Barton died in a bus accident. They regrouped yet again and in 1995 made a surprise return to the UK singles chart in 1995, with one of the most unlikely hits of the year - a duet with controversial northern comedian Roy Chubby Brown on a re-release of their biggest hit "Living Next Door To Alice" which reached #3. The current lineup of the band was firm by 1997, when Smokie released Wild Horses, a Nashville-recorded album that gave them a toehold in the American market, while the band's Greatest Hits entry won a ready audience worldwide. This was followed by the album Uncovered which went platinum in Norway, double platinum in Denmark and gold in Sweden. In 2004, Smokie released On The Wire, a studio album that they had mostly penned themselves. It marked the beginning of a productive period for a band that, despite being in the music business for about 30 years, refuses to rest on their laurels.