Chris Rea On The Beach (1986)

The perfect album for a day at the beach, Rea's eighth album takes the listener from the water's edge of the title song to the sunny fields of the French countryside in "Giverny." The upbeat reggae feel of "Lucky Day" works particularly well, but it is "On the Beach" that's the standout track…

The perfect album for a day at the beach, Rea's eighth album takes the listener from the water's edge of the title song to the sunny fields of the French countryside in "Giverny." The upbeat reggae feel of "Lucky Day" works particularly well, but it is "On the Beach" that's the standout track. Rea seems to think so, too, as he's recorded it numerous times. The version here, though, is the most evocative, a little slower and more meditative than others. The lyrics, as in many of his songs, deal with remembrance and old love. "Little Blonde Plaits," "Hello Friend," and "It's All Gone" are other examples of this theme that appear on the album. While his later release, The Road to Hell, shows the darker side of Rea's worldview, On the Beach is an excellent introduction to his brighter, more optimistic songwriting. The last three songs are bonus tracks that were not on the original LP release, "Bless Them All" being a smooth, fluid instrumental.

The perfect album for a day at the beach, Rea's eighth album takes the listener from the water's edge of the title song to the sunny fields of the French countryside in "Giverny." The upbeat reggae feel of "Lucky Day" works particularly well, but it is "On the Beach" that's the standout track. Rea seems to think so, too, as he's recorded it numerous times. The version here, though, is the most evocative, a little slower and more meditative than others. The lyrics, as in many of his songs, deal with remembrance and old love. "Little Blonde Plaits," "Hello Friend," and "It's All Gone" are other examples of this theme that appear on the album. While his later release, The Road to Hell, shows the darker side of Rea's worldview, On the Beach is an excellent introduction to his brighter, more optimistic songwriting. The last three songs are bonus tracks that were not on the original LP release, "Bless Them All" being a smooth, fluid instrumental.

Chris Rea’s eighties and early nineties gear has been expanded and remastered for release this October. The albums – Shamrock Diaries (1985), On the Beach (1986), Dancing With Strangers (1987), The Road to Hell (1989) and Auberge (1991) span Rea’s commercial peak and are to be reissued as deluxe double CD sets. They will also be accessorised with period appropriate ‘additional recordings’ such as remixes, non-album and live tracks, all newly remastered.

With a career spanning over 40 years and over 30 million album sales, Chris Rea’s distinctive husky-gravel vocal and incredible body of work has seen him become one of the most loved solo artists the UK have ever produced. Each set of reissues comes with the original album fully remastered alongside a second disc of live performances, b-sides and previously unreleased versions of tracks from the accompanying album.

Herzklopfen (German for "Heartbeat") is an early compilation of a number of excellent Chris Rea tracks. German only release by Polygram Records, Germany. Includes "Josephine," "On The Beach," and more.

The 80s Compilation market is a minefield - a lack of variety, re-recorded versions, poor sound quality among the pitfalls - but Demon Music Groups' "100 Hits" series have been the pick of the bunch in recent times…

Viktor Lazlo (real name Sonia Dronier) is a French-Belgian singer of Grenadian and Martiniquan descent. She studied in Belgium, where she is primarily known. Her biggest hit was "Breathless" in 1987. That year she also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1987 held in Brussels. Dronier took her stage name from Paul Henreid's character Victor Laszlo in the 1942 film Casablanca. She sings in French, English, Spanish and German. Most of her albums were released in an English/international and a French version. Also, numerous compilation albums have been released.