Chris Rea

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Christopher Anton Rea (born 4 March 1951) is a successful singer-songwriter, from Middlesbrough, England.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] European breakthrough

Rea began to focus his attention on continental Europe, releasing eight albums in the 1980s. It wasn't until 1985's 'Shamrock Diaries' and the songs 'Stainsby Girls' and 'Josephine', that UK audiences began to take notice of him. Follow up albums 'On The Beach' and 'Dancing With Strangers' became big UK hits before the New Light Through Old Windows compilation album in 1988 brought Rea great success, cementing his reputation as one of the UK's finest singer-songwriters. His next full album was to be his major breakthrough. 'The Road to Hell' [1989] enjoyed massive success and became his first number one album in the UK. These successes could not be mirrored in the U.S., however, where it only reached #107. The follow-up album, Auberge, also enjoyed massive European success, reaching the top spot in the UK.

[edit] After Auberge

After Auberge, Rea released God's Great Banana Skin, which managed to reach Number 4 in the UK. The album returned Rea to the rockier sound of Road to Hell, and the single "Nothing to Fear" gave him another Top 20 hit. A year later "Espresso Logic" hit the Top 10 and "Julia", written about his second daughter, gave him his 11th Top 40. A period of ill health meant his next album did not appear until 1998. Despite no singles being released and little promotion, The Blue Cafe still made the UK Top 10, though it proved to be Rea's last. In 1999, 10 years after Road to Hell, Rea released Road to Hell Part 2. Many felt Rea had begun to lose his way; the album received no promotion and as a result never made the Top 40. However it didn't get Rea down and in 2000 he released King of the Beach, receiving critical praise and a healthy Top 30 placing.

In 2000 a remix of Rea's 1986 "On the Beach" single by York was released and enjoyed moderate success on the dance floor.

[edit] Fighting pancreatitis and back to the blues

Following a severe bout of pancreatitis, and a predicted 50% chance of survival after an operation called a Whipple procedure, Rea promised himself that if he recovered, he would be returning to his blues roots. In an interview with the Britsound Radio Show, Rea revealed that "it’s not until you become seriously ill and you nearly die and you’re at home for 6 months, that you suddenly stop to realize that this isn’t the way I intended it to be in the beginning. Everything that you’ve done falls away and start wondering why you went through all that rock business stuff." So, in 2002, Rea returned to his blues roots, releasing the album Dancing Down The Stony Road following recording sessions in France and the UK. (An abridged version of the album was later released with the title Stony Road.) The album was followed by a DVD of the same name, comprising a "Making Of" documentary and footage from a concert in Cologne. Rea set up his own JazzeeBlue label in 2003 to free himself from the pressure of record companies and their expectations. Since then he has released the blues albums Blue Street (Five Guitars) (an instrumental jazz-blues album) and the recently released The Blue Jukebox (another jazz-blues influenced album released to critical acclaim). He has recently worked with David Knopfler for two albums, Wishbones (2001) and Ship of Dreams (2004).

[edit] Blue Guitars

Chris Rea released his final box-set album, "Blue Guitars" in 2005. Consisting of 11 CDs and 1 DVD (Dancing Down The Stony Road), the album is Rea's testament to blues. Each album contains self-compositions, played and performed in a specific genre of the blues. The box-set includes a book containing reproductions of colourful paintings by Rea. In an interview with the Britsound Radio Show, Rea declared that this box-set album is a result of his love for the blues; "it’s just my first love. You know if you take music as romance, then blues was my first love you know, it’s my wife. And it’s with me all the time, and I just adore it." This album closes the final chapter of Chris Rea's solo career as he does not intend to make any further solo records. He has stated that he will continue to make records with some of his favourite players under the name "The Memphis Fireflies".

[edit] Film

Rea has also dabbled seriously in film, playing lead in the 1999 comedy "Parting Shots" opposite such notables as John Cleese, Bob Hoskins and Joanna Lumley.[1] Somewhat ironically, Rea plays a man who is told that cancer gives him six weeks to live, and decides to kill off the people who've done him wrong in life.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Compilations

[edit] Live Albums

  • The Road to Hell and Back (2006)

[edit] Singles

  • "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" (1978) UK #30, US #12
  • "Whatever Happened To Benny Santini?" (1978) US #71
  • "Diamonds" (1979) UK #44, US #44
  • "Loving You" (1982) UK #65, US #88
  • "Let It Loose" (1983) UK #85
  • "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat" (1983) UK #60
  • "I Don't Know What It Is But I Love It" (1984) UK #65
  • "Touche D'Amour" (1984) UK #86
  • "Ace Of Hearts" (1984) UK #79
  • "Stainsby Girls" (1985) UK #26
  • "Josephine" (1985) UK #67
  • "Ace Of Hearts" (reissue) (1985) UK #78
  • "It's All Gone" (1986) UK #69
  • "On The Beach" (1986) UK #57
  • "Hello Friend" (1986) UK #79
  • "Let's Dance" (1987) UK #12, US #81
  • "Loving You Again" (1987) UK #47
  • "Joys Of Christmas" (1987) UK #67
  • "Que Sera" (1988) UK #73
  • "On The Beach" (reissue) (1988) UK #12
  • "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat" (reissue) (1988) UK #74
  • "Driving Home For Christmas" (1988) UK #53
  • "Working On It" (1989) UK #53, US #73
  • "The Road To Hell (Part 2)" (1989) UK #10
  • "That's What They Always Say"(1989) UK #83
  • "Tell Me There's A Heaven" (1990) UK #24
  • "Texas" (1990) UK #69
  • "Auberge" (1991) UK #16
  • "Heaven" (1991) UK #57
  • "Looking For The Summer" (1991) UK #49
  • "Winter Song" (1991) UK #27
  • "Nothing To Fear" (1992) UK #16
  • "God's Great Banana Skin" (1992) UK #31
  • "Soft Top Hard Shoulder" (1993) UK #53
  • "Julia" (1993) UK #18
  • "You Can Go Your Own Way" (1994) UK #28
  • "Disco La Passione" (with Shirley Bassey (1996) UK #41
  • "Let's Dance" (with Middlesbrough FC and Bob Mortimer) (1997) UK #44

[edit] DVDs

  • Dancing Down The Stony Road
  • The Road To Hell & Back
  • Videos (Unofficial Release)
  • Parting Shots (1999)

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0713730/

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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