Chris Norman

For other uses, see Chris Norman (disambiguation).
Chris Norman

Chris Norman in 2008
Background information
Birth name Christopher Ward Norman
Born (1950-10-25) 25 October 1950
Redcar, North Yorkshire, England
Genres Soft rock
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter
Years active 1964–present
Labels BMG, Edel Records
Associated acts Smokie, Chris Norman Band
Website www.chris-norman.co.uk

Christopher Ward "Chris" Norman (born 25 October 1950) is an English soft rock singer. Norman was the lead singer of Smokie,[1] an English soft rock band from Bradford, which found success in Europe in the 1970s.

Life and career

With the advent of rock and roll, Norman acquired his first guitar at the age of seven. His early musical influences were Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Lonnie Donegan.

In these early years, Norman's parents moved around the country a lot which resulted in him going to nine different schools, and living in various locations around England, such as, Redcar, Luton, Kimpton and Nottingham. By 1962 however, the family had moved back to Norman's mother's home city of Bradford. Approaching his twelfth birthday, Norman started at St. Bede's Grammar School where he was to meet Alan Silson and Terry Uttley, future members of Smokie.

As teenagers, influenced by the new era of groups such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and then folk singer, Bob Dylan, Norman and Silson began meeting up and spent nearly all their spare time learning new songs on their guitars. They managed to persuade Uttley to join them and, along with a drummer friend called Ron Kelly, they formed their first band. The Yen, Essence, and Long Side Down were just some of a variety of names they called themselves before settling on "The Elizabethans". When Ron Kelly left the group in 1973, an old friend called Pete Spencer was asked to take over on the drums, and the group, which was to become Smokie, was complete.

Between 1974 and the early 1980s, Smokie were enjoying success touring all over the world, but the strain and pressure of constantly being away from home and family was beginning to tell on Norman. By the early 1980s he decided to spend more time writing and working in the studio. Norman together with Pete Spencer, now concentrated on songs for other artists including hits for Kevin Keegan ("Head Over Heels in Love", a No. 31 UK hit),[2] and the England football team song "This Time (We'll Get It Right)".[3] He also worked with Agnetha Fältskog (on her solo album), Racey (co-writer of "Baby It's You"),[4] Donovan (backing vocals on Donovan),[5] and Heavy Metal Kids.

In 1978, Norman recorded a duet with Suzi Quatro, "Stumblin' In", which made No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and sold over one million copies.[6][7]

Norman's solo career took off in 1986 with the song, "Midnight Lady", which was a hit throughout Europe holding the number one spot in Germany for six weeks.[8] Written by Dieter Bohlen (of successful Modern Talking), it sold 900,000 copies in Germany alone. Further success followed by the songs "Some Hearts Are Diamonds", "No Arms Can Ever Hold You", "Broken Heroes", "Fearless Hearts", "Sarah" and "Baby I Miss You".[9] In 1994, Norman was honoured by CMT Europe as their 'International Video Star of the Year'.

In 2004, he took part in the Comeback Show on the German TV station ProSieben and he performed "Stumblin' In" as a duet with C. C. Catch. In the final episode of the show, he was joined by Smokie for the final song.

On 2 June 2007, Norman performed at the Peel Bay Festival, Isle of Man. Robin Gibb and Bonnie Tyler also performed on the same night.[10] He also performed a three song set at the 2012 Discoteka 80 concert in Moscow. The last song in his set was the "Stumblin' In" duet with C. C. Catch, who then continued on with her own set.

Norman continues to this day to record and perform gigs throughout Europe and beyond.

Discography

Solo albums

Solo singles

Albums – Smokie

References

  1. ↑ Kohn, Michael (January 2006). Dateline Mongolia: An American Journalist in Nomad's Land. RDR Books. pp. 87–. ISBN 978-1-57143-155-4. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  2. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 297. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. ↑ "The England World Cup Squad - This Time (We'll Get It Right) / England, We'll Fly The Flag (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  4. ↑ "Racey - Baby It's You (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  5. ↑ "Donovan - Donovan | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  6. ↑ Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 785–786. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  7. 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 444. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  8. ↑ "INFINITY CHARTS: German Top 20". Ki.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  9. ↑ Jason Birchmeier (1950-10-25). "Chris Norman | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  10. ↑ Archived 11 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  11. 1 2 "Chris Norman Discography". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  12. ↑ "Suzi Quatro | Awards". AllMusic. 1950-06-03. Retrieved 2016-01-26.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chris Norman.

Official website

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