The timeless tale of Smokie

Nov 15, 2006
By TBT staff

VILNIUS, TALLINN - Anyone who’s ever journeyed on a bus through Latvia, had a coffee in an anonymous Vilnius cafe, or been to a Tallinn karaoke bar will recognize a Smokie song within its first cheesy beat. Hands down, Smokie is a Baltic radio favorite.

Whether its “Living Next door to Alice,” “I’ll meet you at Midnight,” or the classic “Oh Carol,” the bartender is sure to belt out a line or two, while the peroxide blonde Casino waitress snaps her gum to another, and a drunken group of grizzled men slur the famed words “Who the fuck is Alice,” into their empty beer mugs, only a few seconds off cue. TBT would even bet that, oh… every 63 minutes a Smokie song is played somewhere in the Baltics.

But why are they so popular? Is it their British accents and cool electric guitars? Is it a nostalgic love of late ‘80s rock and roll? Is it their black leather jackets, which go so nicely with their tight stone-washed jeans? Or maybe it’s their mullets.
Whatever the reason, the Smokie quintet is beloved around the world. So much so, in fact, that the band members were dubbed honorary citizens of South Korea in 2002.

It will be little surprise if, after their Vilnius concert, President Adamkus awards Smokie with the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, the nation’s highest honor.
According to Smokie’s official Web site, they’re still “Europe’s top live band,” 30 years after inception, which began one dark and dreary day in West Yorkshire, England. Besides a few radio promos on Radio One, some local gigs, and a paltry record deal with RCA, most of the band’s efforts and music “mounted to absolutely nothing,” as band leader Terry Uttley put it.
Then, late in 1973, “bewildered by their lack of success,” the group caught a break with Peter Noone from “Herman’s Hermits,” playing as his backing band. And thus began their illustrious career as rock stars.

Yet it wasn’t until 1985, when Yorkshire musician John Verity redefined the band that Smokie became the name they’re known by today. Over the next decade, surfing the popularity of their 1989 hit album “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” the band toured Scandinavia, Germany, Austria, Ireland and Australia, returning to the U.K. as stars.

And, believe it or not, Smokie fanaticism still exists today, especially when it comes to Alice. In 1995, their once classic song “Living Next Door To Alice” was re-released featuring Roy Chubby Brown. The song, most popular for
its audience-improved “Who the Fuck is Alice” line – a favorite for Baltic karaoke goers to belt out – reached number 5 and sold more than 200,000 copies.

As all five band members of Smokie assert, no matter what country they’re playing in, “Alice” always gets an encore. Which makes you wonder; perhaps the world’s not obsessed with Smokie after all. More likely, they’re all just in love with living next door to Alice.


Smokie, Sweet and Suzie Quattro
Dec. 7 Siemens Arena, Vilnius
More info: www.eb.lt
Dec. 8 Saku Hall, Tallinn
More info: www.pilietai.ee

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