Today’s classic song of the day is that wonderful one-hit wonder by the Sanford-Townsend Band, “Smoke from a Distant Fire.” This bouncy little single was released in 1977 and peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Smoke from a Distant Fire” sounded different from everything else on the radio at the time. It was an uptempo shuffle with lots of sax work, which stood out from the disco and proto-punk tunes of that era. Musically, it’s all verse no chorus, with the bulk of the verse moving between the I and iim7 chords (in the key of A, that’s A and Bm7). There’s a nice little downward progression on the hook at the end of the verse, however (where the lyrics go “Your eyes had a mist from the smoke of a distant fire”), that goes IV – I/iii – iim7 – V – I. (That’s D – A/C# – Bm7 – E – A, if you’re following along on your instrument.)
The Sanford-Townsend band was just a duo comprised of Ed Sanford and John Townsend, supported by some backing musicians. Ed and John, both keyboardists from Alabama, were professional songwriters with a few very minor hits to their names. They got together in 1974 as a performing group and released their first self-titled album in 1976. That album contained the track “Smoke from a Distant Fire,” and when that single started climbing the charts they re-released the album under that song’s title.
The duo released two more significantly less successful albums before the founders called it quits and returned to their previous professions of songwriters and session musicians. That makes “Smoke from a Distant Fire” a genuine one-hit wonder—and a track that still sounds fresh when you hear it today.
