Originally formed in Yorkshire, England, in 1966, Smokie hit the British pop charts several times during the late '70s with updated psychedelic pop, influenced by the band's stay on Mickie Most's Rak Records as well as the writers of most of the band's hit material, Rak's Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Vocalist Chris Norman, bassist Terry Utley, guitarist Alan Silson, and drummer Ron Kelly had played in the Elizabethans, but formed the bandKindness in 1970. The quartet recorded many singles during the late '60s and early '70s, but failed to show any chart activity. By 1973, Kelly had left the band and was replaced by Pete Spencer. In 1975, the band, signed to Rak Records, and billed as Smokey, hit number three 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," Smokey became Smokie; during 1976, the group scored with three Top 20 hits, including the number five "Living Next Door to Alice." Smokie hit number five both in 1977 ("It's Your Life") and 1978 ("Oh Carol"), but the band's chart run ended by early 1980, and following 1982's Midnight Delight, they disbanded. Both Spencer andNorman continued to work at Rak during the '80s, writing hits for several groups; they re-formed Smokie in 1986, resurfacing with the LP My Heart Is True. Two more albums, All Fired Up and Greatest Hits Live, followed, with the group remaining active throughout the '90s, issuing new material as well as a number of hits collections.

1990s–2010

The remaining members decided to continue with the band and went about finding their third lead singer. Friend of the band Mike Craft was chosen; allegedly it only took one song to come to a decision. The band released The World and Elsewhere later that year, followed by Light a Candle — The Christmas Album.

In 1996, Alan Silson terminated his membership, saying he intended to pursue a solo career and to work with other acts as well, joining Mickey Finn's T. Rex, and that he also no longer wanted to be on the road all the time. Mick McConnell, one of the band's road crew and their guitar technician replaced him as the group's new lead guitarist, this formation producing the next album, Wild Horses - The Nashville Album (1998), precisely in Nashville, Tennessee. In February 2001, Smokie released two albums, Uncovered andUncovered Too, which consist entirely of cover versions, with no original new songs added.

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 brand new tracks.

2010 has seen Smokie gain new chart success with a CD of brand new material, Take a Minute. Released initially 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" — a continuation of the story of the other character in "Living Next Door to Alice" — also released. UK release dates have yet to be announced for either Take a Minute or "Sally's Song".

·         Pass It Around (1975)

·         Changing All the Time (1975)

·         Smokey (1975)

·         Midnight Café (1976)

·         Bright Lights & Back Alleys (1977)

·         The Montreux Album (1978)

·         The Other Side of the Road (1979)

·         Solid Ground (1981)

·         Strangers in Paradise (1982)

·         Midnight Delight (1982)

·         All Fired Up (1988)

·         Boulevard of Broken Dreams (1989)

·         Whose Are These Boots? (1990)

·         Chasing Shadows (1992)

·         Burnin' Ambition (1993)

·         The World and Elsewhere (1995)

·         Light A Candle (1998)

·         Wild Horses - The Nashville Album (1998)

·         Uncovered (2000)

·         Uncovered Too (2001)

·         On the Wire (2004)

·         Take a Minute (2010)