Living Next Door to Alice


"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.

Plot

The song is about a young man's long-standing unrequited love toward the girl next door and his neighbour of 24 years, Alice. The protagonist had seen a limousine parked at Alice's home, learning through mutual friend Sally that she is moving away, 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 sadness over Alice leaving without explanation, and regrets that, in 24 years, he never took the opportunity to express his feelings for her.
In the final verse, Sally explains that "Alice is gone, but still here" and that all the time that the singer has been pining for Alice, Sally herself has been waiting 24 years for her opportunity with him. But the song ends with the singer still hurt and asserting that he'll never get over his previous crush.
Later versions of the song insert a profane interjection during a pause in the chorus : "Alice! Who the fuck is Alice?". These performances may also change a line in the chorus so that the singer's affections are as much sexual as they are romantic, and that the singer had hoped to "get inside her pants" instead of "get a second glance."
On the American Top 40 broadcast of 26 May 1979, Casey Kasem reported that Chapman stated that his source of inspiration for "Living Next Door to Alice" was "Sylvia's Mother" by Dr. Hook.

Smokie versions

In November 1976, the British band Smokie released their version of "Living Next Door to Alice". The single peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart and, in March 1977, reached 25 in the United States. It was a number one hit in Australia, Austria, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland. Smokie collaborated on a parody version in 1995 with comedian Roy Chubby Brown, which peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart, selling almost half a million copies.
Ex-Smokie vocalist Chris Norman included his solo cover of the song on his 2000 studio album Full Circle.
Chart Peak
position
Australia1

Chart
with Roy Chubby Brown		Peak
position

Gompie version

It spawned a more risqué version in 1995 by the Dutch novelty act Gompie, titled "Alice, Who the Fuck Is Alice?". Their version topped the charts in the Netherlands and Belgium, and reached the top 10 in Austria, Germany, Norway and Switzerland. In the UK, the song peaked at number 17.
Gompie is a project of Peter Koelewijn and Rob Peters. Peters, while visiting a bar called Gompie in Nijmegen, heard "Living Next Door to Alice" by Smokie. After the name Alice in the song, the disc jockey Onno Pelser turned down the volume and the crowd sang "Alice, who the fuck is Alice?". Peters realized it could become a hit record, contacted Koelewijn and a day later the song was recorded and released under the name Gompie.
The success of this version resulted in various similar versions, including a new recording by Smokie with blue comedian Roy 'Chubby' Brown. A dance version of "Alice, Who the Fuck Is Alice?" was released by The Steppers, reaching No. 2 on the Australian charts in September 1995. Actor Alan Fletcher, who plays doctor Karl Kennedy in the soap opera Neighbours, took up the song as "Who the Fuck Is Susan?" at fan events, in reference to his erstwhile fictional wife.
Chart Peak
position
Australia 54

Certifications

Other cover versions

Concurrent with Smokie's American success with the song, country music singer Johnny Carver released his own version of "Living Next Door to Alice". Carver's version peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in April 1977.
In 1985, Australian comedian Kevin Bloody Wilson released "Living Next Door to Alan", a parody of "Living Next Door to Alice" imagining an Aboriginal family living next door to Alan Bond, a famous Australian entrepreneur.
In 1996, Jimmy Sturr recorded the song under the title "Alice" on his album Polka! All Night Long.
The 1996 album The Smurfs Go Pop! by The Smurfs included a song to the same tune, titled "Smurfland".
Members of the British far-right anti-Muslim group the English Defence League reportedly chanted "Allah, Allah, who the fuck is Allah?" at a rally in Luton in 2011.
The Danish singer Flemming "Bamse" Jørgensen covered the song as "Alice" on his 1977 solo debut Din Sang.
In 2016, to celebrate their team's success in qualifying for the finals of the 2016 European Championships in France, a group of London-based Northern Ireland national football team fans released a song to the same tune, as "Making Our Way To Paris" by The London Green And White Army, featuring Jinski.

Translations

In 1981 South Korean band Oxen 80 recorded cover of the song with title "In a Lonely Night".
In Finnish, the song was recorded in 1977 by Kari Tapio, with the title "Viisitoista kesää". The arrangement is by :fi:wikipedia|Veikko Samuli and the Finnish lyrics by Juha Vainio.
In Norwegian, there is a translation, "I 24 år har jeg bodd i samme gård som Anne". There are also other songs to the same tune. "Storholt, Stensen, Stenshjemmet, Sjøbrend åsså'n Hjallis" deals about the famous Norwegian speed skating team known as The Four Aces. The single was released in 1977 by Stein Ingebrigtsen & Store Stå and peaked at No. 3 in the Norwegian VG-lista.
A German version of the song, titled "Tür an Tür mit Alice", was a hit for Howard Carpendale in 1977. The single peaked at No. 8 in Germany and Switzerland and at No. 11 in Austria.
In Czechoslovakia the song was released on 21 February 1973 under the title "Alenka v říši divů", performed by Karel Zich. There has also been a parody under the name Denis in Czech Republic.
A Hungarian version was performed by István Torontáli with the title "Drága Alice", including lyrics translated by Tibor Bornai
In former Yugoslavia, Toni Montano made a song based on original tune and named it "10 godina".
A Russian version of the song, titled "Элис" was released by Конец фильма rock band in 2001 as the closing song of their studio album Soundtracks . Lyrics is by Mikhail Bashakov. The humorous lyrics are driven by "А кто такая Элис?" interjection and are about some company considering crashing at Alice's place, indeed answering to the ever repeated question in form of a long list of her virtues There is also by Dmitry Rezchikov based on this version.