Shamrock Diaries

Shamrock Diaries is the seventh studio album by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in 1985. This album represents the beginning of a creative and commercial zenith for Rea. Shamrock Diaries was a huge seller in Europe, reaching the Top 20 in several countries including Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The album was also successful in Australia, where it charted in the Top 50.[1]

Shamrock Diaries
Studio album by
Chris Rea
Released1985
RecordedDecember 1984
GenreAlbum-oriented rock
LabelMagnet
ProducerChris Rea, David Richards
Chris Rea chronology
Wired to the Moon
(1984)		 Shamrock Diaries
(1985)		 On the Beach
(1986)
Singles from Shamrock Diaries
  1. "Stainsby Girls"
    Released: March 1985
  2. "Josephine"
    Released: 22 June 1985
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link

Summary

The track "Stainsby Girls" was written as a tribute for his wife Joan, a former student of the Stainsby Secondary Modern School.

One of the album's most popular tracks, "Josephine," was written by Rea for his daughter of the same name. Rea would later pay the same compliment to his youngest daughter, Julia, on the album Espresso Logic (1993).

The track "Stone" was later covered by The Law on their self-titled album, with Rea on guitar. "Josephine" was also sampled in 2000 by Superfunk for their song "Lucky Star", with Ron Carroll, although the samples comes from another (shorter) version of the song.

Track listing

All songs by Chris Rea.

  1. "Steel River" – 6:15
  2. "Stainsby Girls" – 3:51
  3. "Chisel Hill" – 4:03
  4. "Josephine" – 4:26 (3:56 in later pressings)
  5. "One Golden Rule" – 4:29
  6. "All Summer Long" – 4:09
  7. "Stone" – 4:23
  8. "Shamrock Diaries" – 4:55
  9. "Love Turns To Lies" – 4:11
  10. "Hired Gun" – 8:03

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[2] Gold 250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[3] Silver 60,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Personnel
  • Chris Rea – lead and backing vocals, guitar, slide guitar, organ, synthesizers
  • Robert Ahwai – additional rhythm guitar
  • Simon Nicol – additional rhythm guitar
  • Kevin Leach – keyboards, grand piano, Rhodes
  • Max Middleton – keyboards, grand piano, Rhodes
  • Eoghan O'Neill – bass
  • Dave Mattacks – drums
  • Adrian Rea – drums
  • Martin Ditcham – percussion
  • Mel Collins – saxophone
  • Annie Whitehead – trombone
  • The Sultanas (Ian Barnett, Donnie Hilstad, Jesse Lortz and Kimberly Morrison) – backing vocals

Production
  • Chris Rea – producer
  • David Richards – producer, engineer
  • Barry Hammond – engineer
  • Bil Smith – cover artwork
  • Derek Ridgers – photography
  • Real Life Limited – management
Studios

Singles
  1. "Stainsby girls" b/w "And when she smiles", "Sunrise", "Dancing shoes", "September blue"
  2. "Josephine" b/w "Josephine (Remix)", "Everytime it rains"

References
  1. http://www.chartbeats.com.au/2015/11/30-years-ago-this-week-november-24-1985.html
  2. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Chris Rea; 'Shamrock Diaries')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  3. "British album certifications – Chris Rea – Shamrock Diaries". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Shamrock Diaries in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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