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With the band Smokie, Chris Norman topped the charts several times in Switzerland in the 1970s. After that, the singer started a successful solo career.
His 70th birthday is not something special for Chris Norman. “If you ask me, I’d rather be 35,” admits the singer in an interview with the German press agency. But I don’t feel old. I can still go on tour and have the energy and enthusiasm to make new albums. And as long as I can do the things that I like, it is single a numberthat I shouldn’t worry too much. “
As frontman of the Smokie band, Norman shaped the sound of radio with his distinctive zesty voice in the 1970s. With songs like “Living Next Door To Alice”, “Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone” and “Mexican Girl, “Smokie topped the charts and appeared regularly on television.
Smokie mit “Living next to Alice.” (Video: Youtube)
Church choir, then rock’n roll
I never really thought I would a they have a distinctive and recognizable voice, ”says Norman, who was born on October 25, 1950 in the north-east England coastal town of Redcar. In childhood, little Christopher sang as a soloist in the church choir. His voice was still very clear at the time. “The fact that it finally turned out to be what it looks like now had something to do with the bands she played in,” says the singer. “From playing in stores and singing rock’n’roll it got harder. I think I’ve sounded like that since 1972 or 1973. “
At 17 he had already made music his profession. He was 18 when his band, then called Kindness, recorded their first album. By the time Smokie had their breakthrough in the mid-1970s, they had already released several albums and singles. “We were used to the fact that our records were unsuccessful and that we were always disappointed,” says Norman. So it was mostly a Relief. “
Smokie was even more popular in Germany than in his homeland. “In England we played in theaters in front of 3,000 people, in Germany we were already filling theaters with 12,000 people,” recalls Norman, who now lives on the Isle of Man.
Even during the Smokie period he had released a few singles without the band, including the duo “Stumblin ‘In” with Suzi Quatro. When he appeared on television with Quatro, he wore a Permanent. “Don’t remind me,” he jokes. “That was a mistake, but quite popular back then.” The song became a huge hit.
“Midnight Lady” for the “crime scene”
In 1980, Smokie temporarily went their separate ways because Norman had had enough of “endless touring.” In 1986 he had surprising success with “Midnight Lady.” The ballad, composed by Dieter Bohlen for the episode “Tatort” “Der Tausch”, paved the way for a Permanent solo career, although Smokie was also in demand again. “I thought if I did all of this I would never go home,” Norman says. So he left Smokie on good terms and even found an acquaintance to succeed the band.
Working with tables didn’t work that well. The record company wanted the Modern Talking musician to write all the songs on Norman’s album “Some Hearts Are Diamonds.” “But I said,” No, it’s my album, I’m the songwriter, “Norman recalls. The next conflict in the studio:” I come from the guitar industry, from a rock’n’roll band. It represented the 1980s. with synths and drums. We had different ideas about how the album should be produced. It just didn’t work out well for us. ” However, he personally got on well with Bohlen, Norman emphasizes.
Chris Norman’s “Midnight Lady”. (Video: Youtube)
Old classics and new songs
To date, the singer has recorded more than 20 solo albums. The next one is done. “If I don’t make new music, I can do it at my concerts single I play old songs like it was yesterday, and I don’t want to be, ”explains Norman. “That’s why I hardly ever participated in old festivals.”
The Brit still likes to play the old classics. His planned 2021 tour is called “Forever – The 70th Birthday Tour”, it promises all the solo and smokie hits and takes him mainly throughout Germany. He and Bonnie Tyler are coming to Switzerland, to Münschenstein in the Basel region.
Even if he travels a lot, Norman is a family man. “It is always a It’s a great pleasure to come home and see you all. “He became a father for the first time at the age of 17. A few years later he met his wife Linda, whom he has been married to for about 50 years. The marriage was five His son Brian was killed in a car accident in 2001. Norman is now a grandfather.
The temporary curls of yesteryear, which gave way to a mullet hairstyle in the 1980s, are gone. Even at 70, the singer still prefers to wear long hair. “I feel more comfortable with longer hair,” says Chris Norman. “It feels more like rock and roll. And it looks better, especially since I’m getting older and it covers my face more. “
