THE NIGHT HAS TURNED COLD
CHRIS NORMAN
SONGWRITERS: PETER
DAVID SPENCER & CHRISTOPHER WARD NORMAN
COUNTRY: U. K.
ALBUM: HEARTS ON FIRE
LABEL: KARUSSELL
GENRE: POP ROCK
YEAR: 1989
Christopher Ward Norman (born 25 October
1950) is an English soft rock singer. Norman was the lead singer of Smokie,
an English soft rock band which found success in Europe in the 1970s. "Stumblin' In",
a 1978 duet with Suzi Quatro,
was a big US hit.
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 enjoyed 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 and Spencer now
worked together on songs for other artists including hits for Kevin Keegan ("Head Over Heels in Love",
a No. 31 UK hit), and the England
football team song "This Time (We'll Get It
Right)". He also worked with Agnetha
Fältskog (on her solo album), Racey (co-writer
of "Baby It's You"), Donovan (backing vocals on Donovan),
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.
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 (where it sold 900,000 copies). 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".
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.
Norman
continues to this day to record and to perform gigs throughout Europe and
beyond.
Oh, here we are
Like total strangers now
I never thought that we would ever change somehow
I look at you
You played the losing game
Or something in your eyes tells me it's not the same
And the night has turned cold
And the feeling is freezing me
The nightingale has sung its last farewell
And now there's no-one left who I can tell
We used to talk
About the things we'd do
But now I feel alone whenever I'm with you
You never know
You never want to see
The way you make my broken heart keep hurting me
And the night has turned cold
And the feeling is freezing me
Oh, the nightingale has sung its last farewell
Now there's no-one left who I can tell.
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