SMOKIE
Smokie (originally spelt Smokey) are an English rock band from Bradford, Yorkshire. The band found success at home and abroad after teaming up with Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. They have had a number of line-up changes and were still actively touring in 2018. Among their most famous hit singles are “If You Think You Know How to Love Me”, “Oh Carol”, “Lay Back in the Arms of Someone”, and “I’ll Meet You at Midnight”. Their most popular hit single, “Living Next Door to Alice”, peaked at No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart and, in March 1977, reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. (More from Wikipedia)
The name “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” has a long history in music and elsewhere. According to Wikipedia, there have been six previous uses of the phrase as a song or album name by everyone from David Cassidy to Smokie to Hanoi Rocks, beginning with a 1930’s standard called “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” – in all, there are 14 items listed on the phrase’s “disambiguation” page. Green Day created a combined rock video for “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “Holiday”; as mentioned in Wikipedia: “MTV’s Green Day Makes a Video described ‘Holiday’ as a party, and ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ as the subsequent hangover.”
(June 2017)
