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.^[6] The album entered the Top 10 in six other European countries, and topped the chart in New Zealand.^[7]

Dancing With Strangers
Studio album by Chris Rea
Released	14 September 1987[1]
Studio	Mountain Studios (Montreux, Switzerland) Studio Miraval (Le Val, France) Hartmann Digital (Bavaria, Germany)
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: 18 May 1987[2] "Loving You Again" Released: 17 August 1987 "Joys of Christmas" Released: 23 November 1987[3]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Record Mirror	[4]
Smash Hits	7/10[5]

"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.^[8] 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."^[9] 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".^[10]

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.^[11]

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

Note

• Tracks 12–14 are bonus tracks not available on the initial LP release.

Personnel

Musicians

• 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, 5–7, 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

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1987–88) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[12] 7 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[13] 13 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[14] 7 European Albums (Music & Media)[15] 8 French Albums (IFOP)[16] 14 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 5 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18] 1 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[19] 6 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 7 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 7 UK Albums (OCC)[22] 2

Year-end charts Chart (1987) Position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23] 85 European Albums (Music & Media)[24] 68 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[25] 27 Chart (1988) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26] 68

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia	—	75,000[27]
France (SNEP)[28]	Gold	100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[29]	Gold	250,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[30]	Gold	7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[31]	Platinum	300,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.