Dancing with Strangers

Dancing with Strangers is the ninth studio album by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in 1987. It became Rea's first major success in the UK, peaking at No. 2 behind Michael Jackson's Bad, and spent 46 weeks in the charts before going platinum.^[4] The album entered the Top 10 in six other European countries, and topped the chart in New Zealand.^[5]

Dancing With Strangers
Studio album by Chris Rea
Released	September 1987^[1]
Genre	Album-oriented rock
Length	49.16 (58:54 on cd with bonus tracks)
Label	Magnet Motown (US)
Producer	Chris Rea
Chris Rea chronology
On the Beach (1986) Dancing With Strangers (1987) New Light Through Old Windows (1988)
Singles from Dancing with Strangers
"Let's Dance" Released: 6 June 1987

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Record Mirror	^[2]
Smash Hits	7/10^[3]

"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.^[6] It was followed by "Loving You Again", "Joys of Christmas" and "Que Sera". The album features renowned Irish piper Davy Spillane.

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."^[7] 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".^[8]

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 Chris Rea, 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.^[9]

Track listing

All songs by Chris Rea.

1. "Joys of Christmas" – 5:15
2. "I Can't Dance to That" – 4:19
3. "Windy Town" – 4:25
4. "Gonna Buy a Hat" – 4:25
5. "Curse of the Traveller" – 6:26
6. "Let's Dance" – 4:07
7. "Que Sera" – 5:23
8. "Josie's Tune" – 2:19
9. "Loving You Again" – 5:40
10. "That Girl of Mine" – 3:41
11. "September Blue" – 3:09
12. "I Don't Care Any More" – 2:10
13. "Donahue's Broken Wheel" – 3:02
14. "Danielle's Breakfast" – 4:33

Tracks 12, 13 and 14 are bonus tracks not available on the initial LP release.

Personnel

• Chris Rea – vocals, guitar (1, 2, 6), accordion (1, 4, 10), harmonica (1, 2, 7), brass (1, 4, 6, 7, 9), acoustic guitar (3), rhythm guitar (3), banjo (3), slide guitar (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 (2, 5, 7), Hammond organ (4)
• Jerry Donahue – 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, 6, 7, 9, 10)
• Davy Spillane – Uilleann pipes (3, 5, 8, 10), low whistle (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 – management
• Paul Lilly – management

Studios

• Recorded at Mountain Studios (Montreux, Switzerland); Studio Miraval (Le Val, France); Hartmann Digital (Bavaria, Germany).
• Mixed at Studio Miraval

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1987–88) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)^[10] 7 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[11] 13 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[12] 7 European Albums (Music & Media)^[13] 8 French Albums (IFOP)^[14] 14 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[15] 5 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[16] 1 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[17] 6 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[18] 7 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[19] 7 UK Albums (OCC)^[20] 2

Year-end charts Chart (1987) Position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[21] 85 European Albums (Music & Media)^[22] 68 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[23] 27 Chart (1988) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[24] 68

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia	—	75,000^[25]
France (SNEP)^[26]	Gold	100,000^*
Germany (BVMI)^[27]	Gold	250,000^^
New Zealand (RMNZ)^[28]	Gold	7,500^^
United Kingdom (BPI)^[29]	Platinum	300,000^^
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Index: Releases". Record Mirror. 19 September 1987. p. 8, 9. ISSN 0144-5804.
2. Morton, Roger (3 October 1987). "Albums". Record Mirror. p. 21. ISSN 0144-5804.
3. Cranna, Ian (7–20 October 1987). "Albums: Chris Rea — Dancing with Strangers (Magnet)" (PDF). Smash Hits. Vol. 9, no. 19. Peterborough: EMAP National Publications, Ltd. p. 60. ISSN 0260-3004. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2023 – via World Radio History.
4. 1987-09-26 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive, Officialcharts.com, Retrieved July 9, 2013
5. Chris Rea - Dancing With Strangers, swisscharts.com, Retrieved July 9, 2013
6. Chris Rea - Let's Dance, swisscharts.com, Retrieved July 9, 2013
7. "Chris Rea on "Dancing with Strangers" | The Story Behind". Chris Rea Official channel (YouTube.com). Retrieved 7 November 2022.
8. McCann, Ian (1 September 2021). "Dancing With Strangers: How Chris Rea Whirled His Way To The Top". This is Dig.com. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
9. Wade, Ian (16 August 2019). "Chris Rea / The Rea-issues". Super Deluxe Edition. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
10. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 246. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
11. "Austriancharts.at – Chris Rea – Dancing with Strangers" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
12. "Dutchcharts.nl – Chris Rea – Dancing with Strangers" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
13. (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 4, no. 44. 7 November 1987. p. 24. OCLC 29800226. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2022 – via World Radio History.
14. "InfoDisc : Les Tubes de chaque Artiste commençant par R". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
15. "Offiziellecharts.de – Chris Rea – Dancing with Strangers" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
16. "Charts.nz – Chris Rea – Dancing with Strangers". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
17. "Norwegiancharts.com – Chris Rea – Dancing with Strangers". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
18. "Swedishcharts.com – Chris Rea – Dancing with Strangers". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
19. "Swisscharts.com – Chris Rea – Dancing with Strangers". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
20. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
21. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1987" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
22. (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 4, no. 51/52. 26 December 1987. p. 35. OCLC 29800226. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2022 – via World Radio History.
23. "Top Selling Albums of 1987 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
24. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). Dutch Charts. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
25. "The Majors" (PDF). Billboard. 30 January 1988. p. A-22. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
26. "French album certifications – Chris Rea – Dancing with Strangers" (in French). InfoDisc. Select CHRIS REA and click OK. 
27. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Chris Rea; 'Dancing with Strangers')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
28. "New Zealand album certifications – Chris Rea – Dancing with Strangers". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
29. "British album certifications – Chris Rea – Dancing with Strangers". British Phonographic Industry.