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{{about|the Smokey Robinson album||Where There's Smoke (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox album
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| venue =
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| genre = [[Soul music|Soul]], [[disco]]
| length = 35:06
| label = [[Motown|Tamla]]
| producer = Smokey Robinson, [[Jerry Butler (singer)|Jerry Butler]], [[Stevie Wonder]], Homer Alexander Talbert III
| prev_title = [[Smokin' (Smokey Robinson album)|Smokin']]
| prev_year = 1978
| next_title = [[Warm Thoughts]]
| next_year = 1980
}}
'''''Where There's Smoke...''''' is a 1979 album by [[Smokey Robinson]], released on [[Motown Records]]' Tamla label. It contains his ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' Top ten pop hit single "[[Cruisin' (Smokey Robinson song)|Cruisin']]".
==Critical reception==
{{music ratings
|rev1 = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|Christgau's Record Guide]]''
|rev1Score = A−<ref name="CG">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: R|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=R&bk=70|accessdate=March 12, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Smash Hits]]''
| rev2Score = 6/10<ref>{{cite journal|last=Starr|first=Red|title=Albums|journal=[[Smash Hits]]|issue=September 6–19, 1979|page=25}}</ref>
}}
Reviewing for ''[[The Village Voice]]'' in 1980, music critic [[Robert Christgau]] gave the album an "A−" and called it Robinson's best solo album. He said that, despite potential "cavils" from novice Motown purists about the [[disco]] version of "[[Get Ready (The Temptations song)|Get Ready]]", the songs on side one especially update Robinson's "concise, smoldering romanticism with a flair that seemed lost to him years ago".<ref>{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=February 25, 1980|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv2-80.php|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|___location=New York|accessdate=August 7, 2013}}</ref> ''[[Stereo Review]]'' magazine's Phyl Garland commended him for remaining an unadorned composer and producer, and cleverly underplaying several tracks' "disco flavor". She found the songs pleasurable and consistent, and remarked that, although it may not be a milestone in Robinson's career, ''Where There's Smoke'' is "solid, ingratiating music that should wear well."<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[Stereo Review]]|page=516|volume=43|title=Smokey Robinson: Where There's Smoke...|date=July 1979|last=Garland|first=Phyl}}</ref> [[Dave Marsh]] did view it as a turning point and "genuine creative breakthrough" for Robinson, who finally modernizes his style of [[soul music]] without "being compromised." Marsh also felt that he has matured as a vocalist, because of how he immerses his voice around rhythms and tries [[phrase (music)|phrasings]] that were less evident in his early music.<ref>{{cite book|last=Marsh|first=Dave|author-link=Dave Marsh|year=1985|page=[https://archive.org/details/fortunatesoncrit00mars/page/284 284]|title=Fortunate Son: Criticism and Journalism by America's Best-Known Rock Writer|publisher=[[Random House]]|isbn=0394721195|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/fortunatesoncrit00mars/page/284}}</ref> Red Starr, writing in ''[[Smash Hits]]'', gave the album a mixed review and described it as "pleasant if tame and unremarkable stuff".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Starr|first=Red|title=Albums|journal=[[Smash Hits]]|issue=Sept 6–19 1979|page=25}}</ref>
In a retrospective review, [[
==Track listing==
All tracks composed by [[Smokey Robinson]], except where noted.
; Side one - Smoke
#"It's a Good Night" - 5:46
#"I Love the Nearness of You" (Robinson, [[Stevie Wonder]]) - 4:30
#"The Hurt's on You" (Lawrence Hanks, Rodney Massey) - 4:16
#"Ever Had a Dream" (Robinson, [[
; Side two - Fire
<ol start="5"><li>"[[Get Ready (
<li>"Share It" - 4:58
<li>"[[Cruisin' (Smokey Robinson song)|Cruisin']]" (Robinson, [[Marv Tarplin]]) - 5:53</ol>
== Personnel ==
* Smokey Robinson – lead vocals
* Cheryl Cooper, Ivory Davis, Paula Dickerson, Patricia Henley Talbert, Bernard Ighner, [[Claudette Robinson]], Smokey Robinson, James Sledge and Charles Wright – backing vocals
'''Musicians (Tracks 1 & 4-7)'''
* Reginald "Sonny" Burke – arrangements
* Reginald "Sonny" Burke, [[Ronnie McNeir]], [[Ronnie Rancifer|Ron Rancifer]] – keyboards
* [[Paul Jackson Jr.]], Rick Littlefield, [[Marv Tarplin]], [[David T. Walker]], [[Wah Wah Watson]], [[Robert White (guitarist)|Robert White]] – guitar
* [[Larry Davis (blues musician)|Larry Davis]], [[Chuck Rainey]], Wayne Tweed – bass guitar
* [[James Gadson]], Scotty Harris – drums
* [[Eddie Brown (musician)|Eddie "Bongo" Brown]], James Sledge – [[Bongo drum|bongo]]s, [[conga]]s
* [[Jack Ashford]], Ivory Davis – tambourine
* Fred Smith – alto saxophone, [[flute]], flute solos
* Michael Jacobsen – horns, strings
'''Track 2'''
* [[Stevie Wonder]] – rhythm arrangements
* [[Paul Riser]] – string arrangements
* [[Greg Phillinganes]] – [[Rhodes piano|Fender Rhodes]]
* [[Michael Sembello]], Rick Zunigar – guitar
* [[Nathan Watts]] – bass guitar
* [[Dennis Davis]] – drums
'''Track 3'''
* Robert Bowles, Terry Fryer, Paul David Wilson – arrangements
* Terry Fryer, Lawrence Hanks, Roger Harris – keyboards
* [[Bryan Gregory]], Danny Leake – guitar
* Bernard Reed – bass guitar
* Brian Grice – drums
* Reginald "Sonny" Burke – [[Cowbell (instrument)|cowbell]], spoon
== Production ==
* Producers – Smokey Robinson (Tracks 1, 2, & 4-7); Stevie Wonder (Track 2); Jerry Butler and Homer Talbert III (Track 3); Reginald "Sonny" Burke (Track 5).
* Engineers – Roger Dollarhide, [[Cal Harris (engineer)|Cal Harris]] and Michael Lizzio.
* Assistant Engineer – Gail Ritter
* Mixing – Michael Lizzio and Smokey Robinson
* Mix Assistants – Randy Dunlap and Gail Ritter
* Product Manager – Brenda M. Boyce
* Project Coordinator – Billie Jean Brown
* Art Direction – John Calbaka
* Design – Ginny Livingston
* Cover Photography – Claude Mougin
==Charts==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
===Weekly charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (1979–1980)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
{{album chart|Billboard200|17|artist=Smokey Robinson|rowheader=true|accessdate=April 28, 2021}}
|-
{{album chart|BillboardRandBHipHop|8|artist=Smokey Robinson|rowheader=true|accessdate=April 28, 2021}}
|}
{{col-2}}
===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (1980)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| US ''Billboard'' 200<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1980/top-billboard-200-albums|title=Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1980|work=Billboard|accessdate=April 28, 2021}}</ref>
| 54
|-
! scope="row"| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (''Billboard'')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1980/top-r-and-b-hip-hop-albums|title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1980|work=Billboard|accessdate=April 28, 2021}}</ref>
| 11
|}
{{col-end}}
===Singles===
{|
! Single
! Chart
! Position
|-
|"Get Ready"
|U.S. '' Billboard'' Hot R&B Singles
|align="center"| 82
|-
| rowspan=3|"
| U.S.''Billboard'' Hot 100
|align="center"| 4
|-
| U.S. ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary
|align="center"|34
|-
|U.S. '' Billboard'' Hot R&B Singles
|align="center"| 4
|}
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{{Smokey Robinson}}
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[[Category:1979 albums]]
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[[Category:Albums produced by Smokey Robinson]]
[[Category:Tamla Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Stevie Wonder]]
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