Play Chris Rea's songs without the need to search for it in YouTube.Simply type in the song's code from the list and play this virtual JukeBox !Chris Rea (pron.: /?ri??/ REE-?; born Christopher Anton Rea, 4 March 1951) is an English singer-songwriter, recognisable for his distinctive, husky voice and slide guitar playing. The British Hit Singles & Albums stated that Rea was "one of the most popular UK singer-songwriters of the late 1980s. He was already a major European star by the time he finally cracked the UK Top 10 with his 18th chart entry; "The Road to Hell (Part 2)"." By 2009, Rea had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.He is well known for his 1978 hit song "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" that charted #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent three weeks at #1 on the U.S. Billboard adult contemporary chart. The song was later covered by Elkie Brooks and was a top 20 hit in the UK.Although Rea had limited success in the United States, two of his albums, The Road to Hell and Auberge, topped the UK Albums Chart. The book Guinness Rockopedia described him as a "gravel-voiced guitar stalwart".Rea was born in Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, the son of ice cream producer Camillo Rea who together with his brother Gaetano owned an ice cream factory and ran 21 cafe's.After leaving school Rea worked in casual labouring jobs, including working in his father's ice cream business. It was at the comparatively late age of 22 that Rea bought his first guitar and began his musical career, inspired by the music of Joe Walsh and Ry Cooder. A natural left-hander, Rea nevertheless learned to play the guitar right-handed. In 1973 he joined the Middlesbrough band Magdalene, replacing David Coverdale who later created Whitesnake. Rea then went on to form the band Beautiful Losers which he left when he secured a solo recording deal with Magnet Records and released his first single entitled "So Much Love" in 1974. In 1977 he performed on Hank Marvin's album The Hank Marvin Guitar Syndicate and also guested on Catherine Howe's EP The Truth of the Matter.Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? was Rea's debut album. It was released in June 1978 and produced by Elton John's music producer Gus Dudgeon. The title of the album was a reference to "Benjamin Santini", the stage name that Rea's record label suggested he should adopt. The first single taken from the album, "Fool (If You Think It's Over)", was Rea's biggest hit in the US, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching #1 on the Adult Contemporary Singles chart. "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" was nominated for a Song of the Year Grammy, losing out to Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are". Like most of Rea's early singles, "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" failed to appear on the UK Singles Chart on its first release and only reached #30 when re-released in late 1978 to capitalise on its US achievement.The singer Elkie Brooks enjoyed greater success with the song in 1982 when she charted her cover version at #17. It was also the first record played by Radio Caroline after a long period off the air. Another cover of "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" by Kenny Craddock was used as the theme tune for BBC sitcom Joking Apart.Dudgeon went on to produce Rea's next album Deltics. Rea has since spoken about the difficult working relationship he had at the time with Dudgeon who he felt 'smoothed out' the blues influenced elements of his music in order to make it sound more like that of Elton John or Billy Joel.Rea's second and third albums failed to provide further hit singles. By the time his fourth album was released, Rea's relationship with his record company had deteriorated to the extent that it was not even given a title but was simply called "Chris Rea".
VERSION HISTORY
- Version 1.0 posted on 2013-04-12
Several fixes and updates - Version 1.0 posted on 2013-04-12
Program Details
- Category: Audio & Multimedia > Other
- Publisher: Jean Paul Constantsa
- License: Free
- Price: N/A
- Version: 1.0
- Platform: android