Friday Nite Retro - Chris Rea

Middlesbrough, England native Chris Rea is a blues-rock singer songwriter who's distinctive, raspy voice stands out in the crowd. His first release in 1978 spawned his first hit, and preceded a long dry spell in his career, at least here in America. From "Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?", here's "Fool (If You Think it's Over)":

Fool if You Think it's Over


Rea released eight albums throughout the 1980's, but focused promotion primarily on European audiences. He went mute to most Americans until 1989's "The Road to Hell" spawned it's title track hit:

The Road to Hell


Rea's 1992 album, God's Great Banana Skin, offered up the haunting strains of "Nothing to Fear":

Nothing to Fear


1993's "Espresso Logic" contained the track "Julia", written about his second daughter. The song gave him his 11th Top 40 in the U.K. Locally, fans of WJHS will recognize this one:

Julia


A long period of ill health prevented his next album from appearing until 1998. After his near death experience from pancreatic troubles, Rea returned to his earlier, mellower jazz blues sound. He's still active today, and you can visit his website to see what he's up to today.