CHRIS REA

Chris has also announced the release of a limited edition album. Entitled One Fine Day, the album was originally recorded in 1980 at Chipping Norton Studios and was produced by Rea himself. Never officially released as a single body of work, this limited run of 1000 on vinyl and CD brings together this collection of songs for the first time. Some of the tracks have never been released before whereas other re-recorded versions have appeared on various albums and as B-sides. Chris even did the art himself a few years back and selected it to be used as a sleeve on this occasion. One Fine Day is exclusively available via Rhino’s site (although you have to buy it as a CD+LP bundle).

One Fine Day is (at the moment) only available via Rhino’s store as a CD+LP bundle

Although a very well respected songwriter with such numbers as his 1978 top 30 debut ‘Fool (If You Think It’s Over)’ becoming bigger hits for the likes of lungsmith Elkie Brooks, Chris’ own career finally started happening with the release of 1985’s Top 26 smash ‘Stainsby Girls’, and in 1987 with the radio staple ‘Let’s Dance’ and the number two album Dancing With Strangers.

It was an unexpected turn that shot him into even bigger fame, when certain DJs were coming back from Ibiza in 1988 and claiming that his ‘On The Beach’ tune had gone down a (quiet) storm with the Balearic beat set, and suggested that his music was best heard while on lots of drugs watching a sunrise. Before you knew it, ‘On The Beach’ had been tastefully reswizzled and 1988’s round-up entitled ‘New Light Through Old Windows’ reminded people that Chris was actually amazing, spent over a year in the charts as well as bringing the festive classic ‘Driving Home For Christmas’ into being too.