Shamrock Diaries

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Shamrock Diaries
Studio album by
Chris Rea
Released17 May 1985[1]
RecordedDecember 1984
StudioChipping Norton Recording Studios, Oxfordshire; Bray Studios, Berkshire
GenreAlbum-oriented rock
Length48:45
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[2]

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, West Germany, Czechoslovakia, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and spent forty two weeks in the Dutch charts, peaking at No. 3.[3] The album was also successful in Australia, where it charted in the top 50.[4] "Stainsby Girls" became Rea's first Top 30 single since 1978's "Fool If You Think It's Over".[2] In 1988, Magnet Records was taken over by Warner Bros Records, who re-released Shamrock Diaries with a significantly remixed version of "Josephine". The original version was used in the 2019 deluxe re-issue of the album.

Composition[edit]

Rea wrote the material during a protracted stay in Ireland.[5] In a fresh interview for the sleeve notes in the deluxe version of the album (2019), he recalls how Dublin "reminded me so much of my home town.... Middlesbrough back then was about 65% Irish... And half my family are from Ireland." The two most popular tracks from the album were written for members of Rea's family.[2] "Stainsby Girls" was a tribute to his wife, Joan, a former student of the Stainsby Secondary Modern School. "Josephine" was written for his daughter, after whom it is named.[2] Almost a decade later, Rea would also name a song after his youngest daughter, Julia, on the album Espresso Logic (1993).

Rea told Q magazine that he wrote "Steel River" after returning to Middlesbrough "to see me father after me mother died, and [they] had knocked the whole place down. I'd been gone three years, hard touring in Europe, I literally went to drive somewhere that wasn't there. It was like a sci-fi movie. That's when I wrote Steel River. The Middlesbrough I knew, it's as if there was a war there 10 years ago."[6] "Chisel Hill" refers to a house Rea bought in the vicinity of Roseberry Topping, which lies just south of Middlesbrough, and has a distinctive half-cone shaped summit.[5] Rea says that the song "can make me cry quite easily... We'd reached the point where we'd bought a house, I had a child, we were happy. We'd kept the wolf from the door and things were okay... [I] wrote that song all in one quick go... whoever wrote that song back then, he must have been a really happy guy. Yeah, that song gets me."[7] "You're looking back at yourself", he said, "remembering what you thought was going to happen, and then what actually happened... I definitely should have stayed in Chisel Hill, without a doubt!"[5]

Cover versions[edit]

The track "Stone" was covered by the Law on their self-titled album, with Rea on guitar. In 2000, "Josephine" was sampled by Superfunk for their song "Lucky Star", with Ron Carroll, although the samples come from another (shorter) version of the song, rather than the original album version.[8]

In 2007 German guitarist Axel Rudi Pell covered the same track for his album Diamonds Unlocked. His version features Johnny Gioeli on vocals.

Track listing[edit]

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[2]

Singles[edit]

  1. "Stainsby Girls" b/w "And When She Smiles", "Sunrise", "Dancing Shoes", "September Blue"
  2. "Josephine" b/w "Josephine (Remix)", "Everytime It Rains"

Personnel[edit]

Musicians[edit]

Production[edit]

  • Chris Rea – producer
  • David Richards – producer, engineer
  • Barry Hammond – engineer
  • Bil Smith – cover artwork
  • Derek Ridgers – photography

Studios

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for Shamrock Diaries
Chart (1985) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[10] 41
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11] 3
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[12] 12
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 18
UK Albums (OCC)[15] 15

Certifications[edit]

Certifications for Shamrock Diaries
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[16] Gold 250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[17] Silver 60,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Smith, Robin (18 May 1985). "News". Record Mirror. p. 6.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Shamrock Diaries - Chris Rea | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Chris Rea - Shamrock Diaries". Finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Chart Beats: This Week in 1985: November 24, 1985". Archived from the original on 5 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  5. ^ a b c Doggett, Peter (2019). Shamrock Diaries Deluxe (booklet). Rhino/Magnet Records. p. 3.
  6. ^ "Chris Rea Interview: The Underdog's Tale". Pauldunoyer.com. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Chris Rea : Songwriter Interviews". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  8. ^ King, Millane (22 July 2000). "Global Beats—Paris". Billboard. Vol. 112, no. 30. p. 54. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  9. ^ "Shamrock Diaries - Chris Rea | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  10. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 years of hit singles & albums from the top 100 charts. St Ives, N.S.W, Australia: Australian Chart Book. p. 247. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  11. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Chris Rea – Shamrock Diaries" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  12. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Chris Rea – Shamrock Diaries" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Chris Rea – Shamrock Diaries". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  14. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Chris Rea – Shamrock Diaries". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  15. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  16. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Chris Rea; 'Shamrock Diaries')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  17. ^ "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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