Christopher Ward "Chris" Norman (born 25 October 1950) is an English soft rock singer. Norman was the lead singer of Smokie, an English soft rock band from Bradford, which found success in Europe in the 1970s.
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.
Chris Cooper Norman (born 1962-05-25 in Albany, Georgia) is a former punter in National Football League. He played his entire 3-year career for the Denver Broncos.
Chris Norman (born in Halifax, Nova Scotia) is a flautist. He also plays bagpipes and bodhran and composes music. Specializing in the wooden flute, he has played as a member of groups such as The Baltimore Consort, Helicon, Skyedance, and Concerto Caledonia; and performed and recorded solo. His musical style is very eclectic, with projects including "Celtic Canadian and American traditional music; Renaissance tunes; orchestral, chamber, and solo performance; rock/jazz crossover; classical crossover" and world music. He plays "traditional Celtic, Appalachian and Cape Breton music... and he played the flute for the ceilidh scene in the movie Titanic".
Norman is also the Director of Boxwood Festival, Ltd, a 501(c)3 non profit organization in the United States which aims to provide opportunities for the dissemination, sharing, presentation and celebration of traditional music. Norman and Boxwood have presented workshops in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia.
"Living Next Door to Alice" is a song co-written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Originally released by the Australian vocal harmony trio New World in 1972, the song charted at No. 35 on the Australian chart. The song later became a worldwide hit for British band Smokie.
The song is about a young man's long-standing love, Alice, who's also the girl next door and his neighbour of 24 years, which is left unrequited after she moves away. The protagonist had seen a limousine parked at Alice's home and begins to reflect on childhood memories and his friendship with Alice, and becomes heartbroken as he sees Alice get inside the limousine.
As he watches the car drive out of sight, the protagonist feels regret about two things:
Another female character in the song is Sally, another long-time neighbour of the main protagonist who is introduced early in the song. In the song's first verse, she reminds the protagonist of Alice's impending departure. Sally, who later tells the man that he now must get over Alice, then states that she is available. But the man fails to acknowledge her and reaffirms that he'll "never get used to not living next door to Alice."
Chris Norman is an English soft rock singer.
Chris Norman may also refer to:
It's just another day
and just cos you've gone away
it doesn't mean I am gonna miss you
there's so many things to do
so why should I think of you
now don't you go thinking I'll be lonely
And don't say I'm going out my mind
'cos that's not funny
I know I'll get used to it in time
so I won't worry now
It's not that I miss you
it's not that I need you
it's just that I cry a lot more now
I've moved to a place that's new
it seemed the right thing to do
'cos there's nothing left here to remind me
surrounded by all my freinds
like a party that never ends
oh please don't you bother tryin' to find me
Ignoring the writing on the wall
I don't regret it
it tell you there's nothing wrong at all
so just forget it now
It's not that I miss you
it's not that I need you