Sniff 'n' the Tears

Sniff 'n' the Tears are a British rock band best known for their 1978 song "Driver's Seat", a moderate hit in many countries, including No. 15 on the American Billboard Hot 100, in September 1979. The band is led by singer–songwriter Paul Roberts, the band's sole constant member.

Formation and initial success (1973–1979)

An early version of Sniff 'n' the Tears had been gigging in England as early as 1974. They were unable to land a record deal and the band's singer–songwriter Paul Roberts decided to dissolve the group and move to France. However, the band fractured almost immediately after the album's release; in a matter of months, Birkin, Fealdman, and Salvoni all left the group to pursue other interests.

Nick South took over on bass and would become a permanent member of the band. On tour, Sniff 'n' the Tears were augmented by drummer Paul Robinson and keyboardist Keith Miller.

When naming the 1973 band, Roberts suggested "The Tears", but their manager suggested "Sniff 'n' the Tears" because Roberts had hay fever and sniffed a lot.

1980s

For the group's second album, 1980's The Game's Up,) recorded two albums: Love/Action (1981), and Ride Blue Divide (1982). Again no hits were spun off from these albums, and after the contract ended with Chiswick Records, the group broke up in 1983. and the music video having some airplay on MTV in 1983 while the latter song turned up in an episode of the Miami Vice television show.

Reformation (1992–present)

After a decade of inactivity, Sniff 'n' The Tears were unexpectedly revived in 1992, after the use of "Driver's Seat" in a European advertising campaign pushed the 13-year-old recording to the very top of the Dutch chart in mid-1991. Roberts took the opportunity to assemble a new version of Sniff 'n' the Tears, and took them out on the road in the Netherlands and Germany. This version of the band consisted of Roberts and Davidson, with new recruits Jeremy Meek (bass) (Ex Live Wire), Steve Jackson (drums) and Andy Giddings (keyboards). This line-up also cut a new studio album in 1992, No Damage Done, which was the first new Sniff 'n' the Tears release in a decade.

"Driver's Seat" was prominently featured on the soundtrack of the 1997 film Boogie Nights and had another popular resurgence as a result. The song also appeared in episode 10 of the second season of The Walking Dead, "18 Miles Out".

The band's next release, 2001's Underground, featured Roberts singing and playing almost everything. He was credited with vocals, guitars, mandolin, harmonica, keyboards, bass and drum programming. However, longtime group member Les Davidson also played guitar on the album, and new member Robin Langridge handled the bulk of keyboard parts.

After another long hiatus, the band released their seventh album, Downstream, in February 2011. The Sniff 'n' the Tears line-up for this album consisted of Paul Roberts (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboard), Les Davidson (guitars), Robin Langridge (keyboards), returning member Nick South (bass) and new member Richard Marcangelo (drums). Marcangelo had previously been a session player on The Game's Up. Jennifer Maidman, who had played bass on Paul Roberts' two solo albums, also played bass on several tracks.

A line-up of Roberts, Davidson, South, Langridge and new drummer Paul Robinson issued the album Random Elements in 2017. While Roberts remained the band's primary songwriter, for this album Davidson and Langridge also received co-writing credits on a number of tracks. Robinson had not only played on 'The Game's Up' but had toured with the group as their drummer in the late 1970s; this marked his official entry into the group 37 years later.

In 2020, Sniff 'n' the Tears (now consisting only of Roberts and Davidson) issued the album Jump, which consisted of new acoustic versions of a number of songs in the band's catalogue (including "Driver's Seat").

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable"

! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:40px;"|Year

! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Album

! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:40px;"|AUS

! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:40px;"|CAN

! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:40px;"|US

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

| style="text-align:left; "|1979

| style="text-align:left; "|Fickle Heart

| style="text-align:center; "|72

| style="text-align:center; "|43

| style="text-align:center; "|35

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

| style="text-align:left; "|1980

| style="text-align:left; "|The Game's Up

| style="text-align:center; "|-

| style="text-align:center; "|77

| style="text-align:center; "|-

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

| style="text-align:left; "|1981

| style="text-align:left; "|Love/Action

| style="text-align:center; "|-

| style="text-align:center; "|192

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

| style="text-align:left; "|1982

| style="text-align:left; "|Ride Blue Divide

| style="text-align:center; "|-

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

| style="text-align:left; "|1992

| style="text-align:left; "|No Damage Done

| style="text-align:center; "|-

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

| style="text-align:left; "|2002

| style="text-align:left; "|Underground

| style="text-align:center; "|-

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

| style="text-align:left; "|2011

| style="text-align:left; "|Downstream

| style="text-align:center; "|-

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

| style="text-align:left; "|2017

| style="text-align:left; "|Random Elements

| style="text-align:center; "|-

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

| style="text-align:left; "|2020

| style="text-align:left; "|Jump

| style="text-align:center; "|-

Compilations

{| class="wikitable"

! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:40px;"|Year

! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Album

|- style="vertical-align:top;"

| style="text-align:left; "|1991

| style="text-align:left; "|A Best of Sniff 'n' the Tears

Singles

{| class="wikitable"

! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:40px;"|Year

! style="text-align:left; vertical-align:top;"|Song

! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:40px;"|UK

! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:40px;"|CAN

! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:40px;"|NED

! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:40px;"|US

! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; width:40px;"|AUS