Shamrock Diaries

Shamrock Diaries
Studio album by Chris Rea
Released 1985
Recorded December 1984
Genre Album-oriented rock
Label Magnet
Producer Chris Rea, David Richards
Chris Rea chronology
Wired to the Moon
(1984)		 Shamrock Diaries
(1985)		 On the Beach
(1986)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link

Shamrock Diaries is the seventh studio album by 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 reached number one.

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).

"Josephine" is a track that Rea has re-recorded many times. The version released on the original LP was replaced in later CD editions by the "disco" version, which is also the basis for the later "Josephine (La version Francais)". The original LP version was later made available on the French release "The Best of Chris Rea" in 1998. There is also the version recorded in 1988 for "New Light Through Old Windows", also available on the 1994 "The Best of Chris Rea". Additionally, there is the slower version released on the U.S. edition of "New Light Through Old Windows" in 1988, also available on the 2001 "Very Best of Chris Rea" which is itself similar, though not identical to the version used in the original video from 1985. Finally in 2008 another re-recording was released on the Germany-only "Fool (If You Think It's Over) - The Definitive Greatest Hits"

"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 Certification Sales/shipments
Germany (BVMI)[1] Gold 250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[2] Silver 60,000^

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

Personnel

Singles

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


  1. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Chris Rea; 'Shamrock Diaries')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  2. ↑ "British album certifications – Chris Rea – Shamrock Diaries". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Shamrock Diaries in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
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