Living Next Door to Alice

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Living Next Door to Alice
New World
publication 1972
Genre (s) Pop , folk
Author (s) Nicky Chinn , Mike Chapman
Label RAK Records
Cover versions
1976 Smokie
1977 Howard Carpendale
1995 Gompie
1995 Smokie feat. Roy "Chubby" Brown

Living Next Door to Alice is a pop song written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman . The piece was originally released in 1972 by the Australian pop group New World and became a worldwide hit for the English band Smokie in 1976 . The German version Door to Door with Alice by Howard Carpendale from 1977 was also a great success.

action

The song is about a man's long-time unrequited love for his neighbor and girl next door Alice, who moves away after 24 years. The lyrical self has seen a limo parked in front of her house and is beginning to reflect childhood memories of his friendship with her. It breaks his heart when he watches Alice sit inside the limo and drive away. He regrets that she leaves him without explanation and that for 24 years he never had the courage to reveal his feelings to her.

Another character in the song is Sally, also a longtime neighbor of the main character. In the first verse of the song, she reminds the protagonist of Alice's imminent departure. In the last verse, she explains to him that she herself had waited 24 years for him and could now help him get over Alice.

history

In November 1976 the British band Smokie released their version of Living Next Door to Alice . The single peaked at number 5 on the UK singles chart, and in March 1977 it peaked at number 25 in the United States. It was a number one hit in Austria, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland.

Chart placements by Smokie
Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 1 (27 weeks) 27
Austria (Ö3) Austria (Ö3) 1 (26 weeks) 26th
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) 1 (19 weeks) 19th
United Kingdom (OCC) United Kingdom (OCC) 5 (11 weeks) 11
United States (Billboard) United States (Billboard) 25th (20 weeks) 20th

Other versions

Another popular version of the song is from 1995 by the Dutch band Gompie , titled Alice, Who the Fuck Is Alice? . The band members had heard the version of Smokie in a bar. Every time after the name Alice was mentioned in the song, the DJ turned the music down and called Alice, who the fuck is Alice? . The band saw the potential and released their version of the piece. The title topped the charts in the Netherlands and Belgian Flanders and reached the top 10 in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Norway. In the UK, the song reached number 17 and sold over 150,000 copies.

The success of this version led to several similar versions, including a new recording of Smokie with comedian Roy "Chubby" Brown , who reached number 3 on the British charts with this. They sold nearly half a million copies. A dance version of Alice, Who the Fuck Is Alice? was published by The Steppers and reached number 2 on the Australian charts in September 1995. Dr. Hook also played a version of Alice, Who the X is Alice? a.

Chart placements by Smokie feat. Roy Chubby Brown
Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 18th (19 weeks) 19th
United Kingdom (OCC) United Kingdom (OCC) 3 (19 weeks) 19th
Chart placements by Gompie
Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 2 (22 weeks) 22nd
Netherlands (Media Markt) Netherlands (Media Markt) 1 (11 weeks) 11
Austria (Ö3) Austria (Ö3) 2 (13 weeks) 13
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) 2 (25 weeks) 25th
United Kingdom (OCC) United Kingdom (OCC) 17th (12 weeks) 12

Simultaneously with Smokie's success with the song in the United States, country singer Johnny Carver had released his version of Living Next Door to Alice , which had reached number 29 on the Billboard country charts in April 1977 .

Kevin Bloody Wilson from Australia recorded a parody for his album Kev's Back (The Return of the Yobbo) entitled Living Next Door to Alan in 1985 . It tells the story of an Aboriginal family who got a house next to Alan Bond (a well-known Perth entrepreneur ) in an exclusive suburb of the city.

In 1996, 18-time Grammy Award winner Jimmy Sturr recorded the song under the title Alice on his Grammy -winning album Polka! All night long on.

The anti-Islamic street protest group English Defense League sings a version titled Allah , Allah, Who the fuck is Allah?

Translations

German language translations

The best-known German version of the song comes from Howard Carpendale and is titled Door to Door with Alice . With her he celebrated a big hit in 1977. The single reached number 8 in Germany and Switzerland and number 11 in Austria. The text tells the same story as the original by Smokie. However, instead of Sally, an unnamed friend appears and instead of the limousine, a moving van appears.

Other German-language cover versions are:

Translations in other languages

There are numerous other translations of the song. In Danish , the song was released in 1977 as Alice by Flemming Jørgensen ( Bamses Venner ) on his solo debut album Din Sang . In Sweden, Living Next Door to Alice was released in English in 1977 by Wizex from the LP Som en sång and some comedy versions in Swedish . The song was recorded in Finnish in 1977 by Kari Tapio under the title Viisitoista kesää (Fifteen Summers ). A Czech version ("Alenka v říši divů") is also known.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Living Next Door To Alice - NEW WORLD (1972) . In: Pop Archives . Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  2. ↑ Chart Stats - Smokie - Living Next Door To Alice . Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Chart sources:
  4. ↑ Muziekencyclopedie - Gompie (1995-2000) . Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  5. ↑ Chart Stats - Smokie Featuring Roy 'Chubby' Brown - Living Next Door to Alice (Who the Fuck is Alice) . Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  6. ↑ The Steppers - Who The F..k Is Alice? . In: australian-charts.com . Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  7. ↑ a b c d Chart sources: DE AT CH UK NL
  8. ^ Johnny Carver Awards . Allmusic . Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  9. ↑ David Cameron sparks fury from critics who say attack on multiculturalism has boosted English Defense League . The Observer
  10. Jump up ↑ Chart Tracking - Carpendale, Howard . In: Musicline.de . Archived from the original on June 27, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 30, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / musicline.de
  11. ↑ Howard Carpendale - Door to Door with Alice . In: hitparade.ch . Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  12. ↑ Howard Carpendale - Door to Door with Alice . In: austriancharts.at . Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  13. ↑ Howard Carpendale - Door to Door with Alice Lyrics. ( Memento of the original from February 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Magistrix.de @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.magistrix.de
  14. ↑ bamsesvenner.dk From the bands official website discography
  15. ↑ Hakutulos kappaleelle Viisitoista kesää . Retrieved April 30, 2010.