''Dancing with Strangers'' is the ninth studio album by British singer-songwriter

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is a British Rock music, rock and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist from Middlesbrough. Known for his distinctive voice and his slide guitar playing, Rea has recorded twenty-five studio albums, ...

, released in 1987. It became Rea's first major success in the UK, peaking at No. 2 behind Michael Jackson's ''

Bad Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being *Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored trolley ...

'', and spent 46 weeks in the charts before going platinum. The album entered the Top 10 in six other European countries, and topped the chart in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. " Let's Dance" was released as the first single and peaked at No. 12 in the UK, and climbed to No. 2 in New Zealand. It was followed by " Loving You Again", " Joys of Christmas" and "Que Sera". The album features renowned Irish piper

Davy Spillane Davy Spillane (born 1959 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician, songwriter and a player of uilleann pipes and low whistle. Biography Irish music At the age of 12, Spillane started playing the uilleann pipes. His father encouraged him ...

Production

Rea had put a multi-track recording desk in his garage, and "made the whole album with three microphones. Nobody heard it, nobody witnessed it", he said. "It was just me having fun." It was "the first time Rea had demoed and partly recorded the album at home", which "gave him more control and helped cement his vision". Despite the lead single's success, subsequent singles fared relatively poorly in the UK charts, with " Loving You Again" reaching No. 47, " Joys of Christmas" making it to No. 67 and "Que Sera" reaching No. 73. The latter shares a verse taken from an earlier song from the eponymous ''

'', called "When You Know Your Love Has Died." ''Dancing With Strangers'', along with four other albums from Rea's commercial peak, was remastered and reissued as a double album, with the first disc consisting of the original LP, and the second containing bonus material including singles, along with alternative and live versions.

Track listing

All songs by

. # " Joys of Christmas" – 5:15 # "I Can't Dance to That" – 4:19 # "Windy Town" – 4:25 # "Gonna Buy a Hat" – 4:25 # "Curse of the Traveller" – 6:26 # " Let's Dance" – 4:07 # "Que Sera" – 5:23 # "Josie's Tune" – 2:19 # " Loving You Again" – 5:40 # "That Girl of Mine" – 3:41 # "September Blue" – 3:09 # "I Don't Care Any More" – 2:10 # "Donahue's Broken Wheel" – 3:02 # "Danielle's Breakfast" – 4:33 Note * Tracks 12–14 are bonus tracks not available on the initial LP release.

Personnel

Musicians

– vocals, guitar (1, 2, 6),

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

(1, 4, 10),

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

(1, 2, 7), brass (1, 4, 6, 7, 9), acoustic guitar (3), rhythm guitar (3),

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

(3),

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

(4, 10), all other guitars (5, 7), keyboards (6, 7), acoustic piano (7), all other instruments (8), all guitars (9), strings (9), lead guitar (10), all instruments (11–14) * Kevin Leach – acoustic piano (2, 3, 5, 9, 10),

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

(2, 5, 7),

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

(4) *

Jerry Donahue Jerry Donahue (born September 24, 1946, Manhattan, New York City) is an American guitarist and producer primarily known for his work in the British folk rock scene as a member of Fotheringay and Fairport Convention as well as being a member of ...

– lead guitar (3, 4, 7), acoustic guitar (3), rhythm guitar (5, 10) * Eoghan O'Neill – bass (1–7, 9, 10), drums (1), percussion (1) * Martin Ditcham – drums (2–7, 9, 10), percussion (2, 3, 5–7, 9, 10) *

–

Uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ), also known as Union pipes and sometimes called Irish pipes, are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the ...

(3, 5, 8, 10),

low whistle The low whistle, or concert whistle, is a variation of the traditional tin whistle/pennywhistle, distinguished by its lower pitch and larger size. It is most closely associated with the performances of British and Irish artists such as Tommy Mak ...

(3, 5, 8, 10)

Production

* Chris Rea – producer, mixing * Stewart Eales – engineer * Jean Jacques Lemoine – engineer * Justin Shirley-Smith – engineer * Jon Kelly – mixing * Willie Grimston – coordination * Mark Entwistle – cover illustration * Shoot That Tiger! – sleeve design *

Jim Beach Henry James Beach (born 9 March 1942) is a British lawyer and band manager, best known for being the long-time manager of the rock band Queen, its individual members and the comedy group Monty Python. He was nicknamed "Miami" by Freddie Mercur ...

Production

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References