The man The voice The guitar
Hello Chris;Chris wrote:Hello everyone,
I've been an ardent fan of Chris Rea since the early 80s. It was back in the "vinyl times" that I heard a song by Chris Rea on the radio, and I bought his first "Tennis" LP. Needless to say, the very next day, I went back to the shop to buy all of his available records. Best regards to all of Chris Rea's fans,
Chris
Bart wrote:Hello Chris;Chris wrote:Hello everyone,
I've been an ardent fan of Chris Rea since the early 80s. It was back in the "vinyl times" that I heard a song by Chris Rea on the radio, and I bought his first "Tennis" LP. Needless to say, the very next day, I went back to the shop to buy all of his available records. Best regards to all of Chris Rea's fans,
Chris
I can understand that ! The same applied to myself. I borrowed the CD from "the road to hell" from my uncle (thanks Erik-Jan!) the day I bought my first CD player in 1991 (still using it every day!) so that I would have "something" to try out the new machine ... some days later I owned already 3 CD's (incl. Auberge, new lights).
Welcome to the forum !!
Chris wrote:Thank you Bart for your kind words and for sharing similar, if not the same, feelings about Chris's music.
I've been listening to it for some 25 years and never got tired of it. So, as I already said, I heard him first on the German radio in Munich. The Germans, I must say quite frankly, have a very good taste for music and they've actually "discovered" Chris Rea. I'm positive, some of his songs helped me and others through difficult times. The most strange feeling I experienced, was the confrontation between my imagination about certain climates created by Chris's music and the real reasons why he wrote this or another song. For instance, I imagined that Chris was singing about resting on the beach (sort of wasting himself there 'all summer long'), while in fact he was only dreaming of certain places he knew, or lingering about them. And these feelings, emotions and scenes keep on coming back on many of his recordings.
The other day I wrote to you my first private e-mail. I've since received a personal account as far as the first-ever visit by Chris Rea to Poland. It was, it turned out, in the summer of 1978. The city he was born in, the Middlesbrough, signed these "partnership" agreements with the French Dunkerque, the German Oberhausen, in the Ruhrgebit and - believe it or not - Szczecin, in Poland! (formerly Stettin.) So, on either 27th or 28th August, 1978, a 100-strong cultural delegation from Middlesbrough flew directly from Teesside to Szczecin by Polish Airlines LOT. The delegation, which stayed and performed in the Szczecin region until September 1, included a brass band, a theatrical troop as well as Chris's band. Rea was small at the time, only at the threshold of his career, but knew how to better publicize himself. He had these expensive, shiny color posters splashed all over town. He played several gigs, including one at the stadium to about 2,000 audience. But apparently this particular visit engraved itself upon his memory, as he wrote a beautiful song for Poland in transition (from communism to democracy) a few years latter.
So, thank you for your offer, but I've already solved the mystery about Chris Rea in Poland, in the late 70s.
Best regards to you and other Chris Rea fans,
Chris
Bart wrote:Hello Chris;Chris wrote:Hello everyone,
I've been an ardent fan of Chris Rea since the early 80s. It was back in the "vinyl times" that I heard a song by Chris Rea on the radio, and I bought his first "Tennis" LP. Needless to say, the very next day, I went back to the shop to buy all of his available records. Best regards to all of Chris Rea's fans,
Chris
I can understand that ! The same applied to myself. I borrowed the CD from "the road to hell" from my uncle (thanks Erik-Jan!) the day I bought my first CD player in 1991 (still using it every day!) so that I would have "something" to try out the new machine ... some days later I owned already 3 CD's (incl. Auberge, new lights).
Welcome to the forum !!
Hello Chris. No problem at all !! The more "talkative", the better - specially when it is about new unknown information about Chris (at least in my opnion!) !! For me it is not boring at al !Chris wrote:I have to be careful, you know, because I'm kind of "talkative" person. I'll try not to be boring.
No problem Chris I have quite a reputation for talking too, and I am not the only one around this friendly forum, so jump in and tell us all about yourself, and all the things you love about Chris and his music. Looking forward to hearing from you.Chris wrote:Thank you Leila for you post. I have to be careful, you know, because I'm kind of "talkative" person. I'll try not to be boring.
Best regards to you Leila and to everyone on this forum,
Chris
Chris wrote:Thank you Bart for your kind words and for sharing similar, if not the same, feelings about Chris's music.
I've been listening to it for some 25 years and never got tired of it. So, as I already said, I heard him first on the German radio in Munich. The Germans, I must say quite frankly, have a very good taste for music and they've actually "discovered" Chris Rea. I'm positive, some of his songs helped me and others through difficult times. The most strange feeling I experienced, was the confrontation between my imagination about certain climates created by Chris's music and the real reasons why he wrote this or another song. For instance, I imagined that Chris was singing about resting on the beach (sort of wasting himself there 'all summer long'), while in fact he was only dreaming of certain places he knew, or lingering about them. And these feelings, emotions and scenes keep on coming back on many of his recordings.
The other day I wrote to you my first private e-mail. I've since received a personal account as far as the first-ever visit by Chris Rea to Poland. It was, it turned out, in the summer of 1978. The city he was born in, the Middlesbrough, signed these "partnership" agreements with the French Dunkerque, the German Oberhausen, in the Ruhrgebit and - believe it or not - Szczecin, in Poland! (formerly Stettin.) So, on either 27th or 28th August, 1978, a 100-strong cultural delegation from Middlesbrough flew directly from Teesside to Szczecin by Polish Airlines LOT. The delegation, which stayed and performed in the Szczecin region until September 1, included a brass band, a theatrical troop as well as Chris's band. Rea was small at the time, only at the threshold of his career, but knew how to better publicize himself. He had these expensive, shiny color posters splashed all over town. He played several gigs, including one at the stadium to about 2,000 audience. But apparently this particular visit engraved itself upon his memory, as he wrote a beautiful song for Poland in transition (from communism to democracy) a few years latter.
So, thank you for your offer, but I've already solved the mystery about Chris Rea in Poland, in the late 70s.
Best regards to you and other Chris Rea fans,
Chris
Bart wrote:Hello Chris;Chris wrote:Hello everyone,
I've been an ardent fan of Chris Rea since the early 80s. It was back in the "vinyl times" that I heard a song by Chris Rea on the radio, and I bought his first "Tennis" LP. Needless to say, the very next day, I went back to the shop to buy all of his available records. Best regards to all of Chris Rea's fans,
Chris
I can understand that ! The same applied to myself. I borrowed the CD from "the road to hell" from my uncle (thanks Erik-Jan!) the day I bought my first CD player in 1991 (still using it every day!) so that I would have "something" to try out the new machine ... some days later I owned already 3 CD's (incl. Auberge, new lights).
Welcome to the forum !!
Tony Van S wrote:REplying to my own message - Van was over here in 2001 for TPSA Festival in Warsaw.
Tony
Chris wrote:Thank you for taking interest in reading my posts, Tony.
I'm Polish by birth, I live now in the suburbs of Warsaw, therefore I've returned home.
But this, obviously, doesn't have anything to do with Chris Rea. Except, that this world, as we probably all realize, is kind of small and many of us are being endlessly tossed about it.
Chris Rea told his story behind the "Candles" song, in an interview on Austrian TV, in the summer of 1984. I saw this program on ORF2, or perhaps was it on ORF1? Well, it doesn't really matter. In those days they didn't have that many TV programs, therefore the probability of me erring is much smaller. Chris said that he "was in Poland in late 70s", but he only recalled this girl-translator for whom he actually wrote this song. I know that it could have been just a symbolic figure, a person he was addressing himself to (as to someone to whom one could dedicate a few words to), but he said that he was "deeply moved by the brutal force used against the entire society which wanted to brake away from communism." So, he showed solidarity with us as he very well understood the real reasons behind the introduction of "the state of war" (the marshal law) to Poland, on December 13, 1981. And further more: he put it very nicely into words; into "Candles" lyrics.
As I said in one of my other posts, Chris wrote another song, which was not directly related to Poland, but came into being in Warsaw! In one of the reviews I read that "he was inspired by his stay at a Warsaw hotel", in December 1999. He came to record a studio interview as well as mini-recital, and wrote ("conceived it") this song "Still Beautiful" (which is definitely a love song.) You can find it on his "King of the Beach" CD (2000.)
What really surprises me though, is that nobody seems to remember about these beautiful Chris's gestures towards Poles and not a single Polish journalist had since ever asked him about it. At least I never heard anyone speak on the matter nor mentioning it in any article by all these so-called "music experts" in Poland. And this really makes me both: sad and angry at times. It's as if nobody is aware of these historical facts. I mean, his first-ever visit to Szczecin region, the "Candles" song as well as another one "inspired by his stay in Warsaw."
Chris was in Poland several times. Once, he took along his daughter Josephine. On another TV-sponsored occasion he flew in with his brother who played the drums, and a few trusted musicians. All in all, he visited our country (by my count) at least seven (7) times. He sang at the televised Sopot Festival, performed four times in Warsaw and played once in Katowice's "Spodek" (the Saucer) concert arena, known under that Polish name for it's resemblance to a 'flying saucer.'
And to make story a little bit shorter, I'm personally surprised that Chris Rea is not doing very well (musically) in the US. I've made an extra effort to find out whether his recordings were available in the United States. On my visits there I always go to record stores and ask about Chris Rea. The general answer is: yes, his CDs are there but he isn't that popular amongst Americans. Too bad for them.
Best regards to all,
Chris
Tony Van S wrote:REplying to my own message - Van was over here in 2001 for TPSA Festival in Warsaw.
Tony
Chris wrote:Hi Tony,
To be honest, I didn't expect so quick an answer. I already realized that I might have been overplaying the "Polish accents in Chris Rea's biography", but I felt it would be nice to publicize and share them with (at least) some of his fans. There are some aspects about Chris, which could help better understand his music. For instance, the fact that he is half-Italian, and that his first language was Italian. He spoke about it quite openly a few years ago, in an interview with the leading Polish daily "Rzeczpospolita." He was happy that his daughter Josephine went to Bologna (or was is Modena?) to study at the university. Chris admitted that he cried when it occurred to him that life took a whole circle. He was learning English and his daughter went back to his first language. Perhaps you've read this interview too? He mentioned that there is a little bit of Italy in everything he does. He said (in the same interview) that he loved Italian food, espresso and Italian racing cars, and when you listen very carefully to some of his nostalgic songs, very melodic, you will discover that is sounds very much "Italian."
So, I believe that all artists who have some ethnic background will always do better that homegrown musicians.
Freddie Queen was born in Zanzibar! Van Morrison is Irish and just couldn't compose any more music in America. He had to have these Celtic feelings and surroundings - back. As he once said "I just had to return to my roots."
Chris Rea, when he grew up, was like a sponge, he absorbed and kept for himself phrases, single notes and feelings (moods, if you will), until they matured in him. All this came into fruition, only when he was an adult. These melodies and sounds were and still are in his mind and blood. He just shapes them into songs. Many of them are rewritten or otherwise changed. But he does it so skillfully and nicely that nobody (I presume) holds it against him. Some of the best places to record or write his music, he found outside of Britain. In France, Germany, Switzerland Spain or on the Turks and Coicos Islands.
Answers to questions regarding his background one can find in Chris Rea's early songs. These I call "autobiographical" songs. I think, for instance, that he wanted to return to Middlebrough, but his father talked him out of it. When he went back to visit he was bitter about the reception he received. That's why, in his song "It's All Gone" (CD "On the Beach", 1986), he explains why he was convinced by his father, Camillo, an Italian emigrant, to "sail away." Because "there's nothing for you here now" And so, Chris says "I sail away."
You might take a look at my other posts dedicated to "Blue Guitars." I don't want to repeat myself, although we all tend to do this every once in a while....
A friend in Australia (from Perth) wrote to me that Chris Rea is quite popular there, too.
I hope your daughter didn't do much damage to your kitchen table?
When we visited my brother-in-law in New Jersey (USA), his five year old grandchild, Enrique, kept on painting the entire kitchen walls, up to four feet high, with crayons! My brother-in-law just said: "don't worry about it Chris, we will wash the walls and paint them over with acrylic paint!"
Take care,
Chris