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Written by Paul Jameson
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Thursday, 22 September 2005 |
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[img:f3e10f95a4]http://127.0.0.1/phpBB2/album_pic.php?pic_id=17[/img:f3e10f95a4]
Christopher Anton Rea was born in Middlesbrough on 4th March 1951. He bought his first guitar while working in his family's ice cream parlor in 1970. He spent the next two years teaching himself and practicing and in 1973 joined local band Magdelane whos singer, David Coverdale, had just left to join Deep Purple. The band cuts a single in 1974 and wins Melody Makers Best Newcomers award in 1975, but very little else comes of the band. The band split two years later and Chris signed a solo deal with Magnet.
In April of 1978, Chris released his debut single, 'Fool if you think it's over'. It does nothing at first, but after success with the single in the US, his record company re-promote it in this country and it reaches number 30 in the UK charts in September! In May 1979, Chris releases his first LP, which reaches number 54 in the UK album charts.
Over the next few years, Chris continued to record and release single, but his efforts only managed to reach the very lowest reaches of the charts. It was during this time that Chris considered giving it all up. Luckily, his mind was changed by some success not in the UK or the US, but in mainland Europe.
This was followed by the release of 'Stainsby Girls', Stainsby being a Middlesbrough Girls school that his wife (and, incidently, my mam), attended. This was a turning point for Chris in the UK, with the single reaching number 27 in the UK charts. This release basically heralded the breakthrough of Chris's music into major recognition. His next single, 'Lets Dance', reached number 12.
From the release of 'Lets Dance' in 1987, Chris's successes continued with a number of Top 30 hit singles and plenty of albums including two UK album chart number 1's, 'The Road to Hell' and 'Auberge'. Since then, his success has continued to this day, with continued chart success, film and musical work and even work for television advertising. He even re-released 'Lets Dance' with new lyrics in 1997 to celebrate Middlesbrough FC's qualification for the FA Cup Final, a song he sang with another Teesside favourite, Bob Mortimer. To this day, Chris continues to work hard touring, writing and recording. Another example of Teesside breeding success!
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