CHRIS REA — ALL SUMMER LONG

ALL SUMMER LONG

CHRIS REA

SONGWRITER: CHRIS REA

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: KING OF THE BEACH

LABEL: EAST WEST

GENRE: ROCK

YEAR: 2000

 

          Christopher Anton Rea (/ˈriːə/REE-ə; born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. Born and raised in Middlesbrough, he is of Italian and Irish descent. He is known for his distinctive, husky-gravel voice and slide guitar playing, and the Guinness Rockopedia described him as a "gravel-voiced guitar stalwart".

               British Hit Singles & Albums stated that Rea was "one of the most popular UK singer-songwriters of the late 1980s" and "already a major European star by the time he finally cracked the UK Top 10 with the release of the single "The Road to Hell (Part 2)", which was his 18th chart entry. Two of his studio albums, The Road to Hell and Auberge, topped the UK Albums Chart. Rea was nominated three times for the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist: in 1988, 1989 and 1990. His other hit songs include "I Can Hear Your Heartbeat", "Stainsby Girls", "Josephine", "On the Beach", "Let's Dance", "Driving Home for Christmas", "Working on It", "Tell Me There's a Heaven", "Auberge", "Looking for the Summer", "Winter Song", "Nothing to Fear", "Julia", and "If You Were Me", a duet with Elton John.

                In the United States he is best known for the 1978 song "Fool (If You Think It's Over)", which reached Nº. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent three weeks at Nº. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. This success earned him a Grammy nomination as Best New Artist in 1979. As of 2009, he had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.

            King of the Beach is the sixteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in 2000. The singles released for the album were All Summer Long and Who Do You Love. The album reached #26 in the UK.

               The album, being a loose sequel to earlier On the Beach, was inspired by Rea's trip to Turks and Caicos Islands. A remix of "All Summer Long" was a dance hit in Ibiza and other Mediterranean places.

All summer long we were happy we were one

We didn't think of an ending to our play

All summer long nights of wine, days of song

It couldn't last, our ageing sun had to go

I will always remember you

 

Watching the waves in the wind

The beach dogs hiding from the rain

Suddenly my colours have turned to grey

Will I ever see your face again

 

And all winter long I will walk my lonely road

Waiting for you and your return

I will always remember you.