Chris Rea – ERA 1 (As, Bs and Rarities 1978 – 1984), is a new compilation album that brings together a collection of Chris Rea’s early work between 1978 to 1984. The set provides a comprehensive look at Chris Rea’s progression as a solo artist, which started following spells in bands Magdalene and The Beautiful Losers. After securing a solo record deal with Magnet Records, Chris released his debut solo album ‘Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?’ in 1978.

ERA 1 1978-1984 As Bs and Rarities begins with an edited version of Chris Rea’s first big hit ‘Fool (If You Think It’s Over)’ which came from his debut album. The track became a big hit in the USA, earning him a 1979 Grammy nomination as Best New Artist.

Following on from this are a whole host of rarities, including B-sides, language variations and different mixes released throughout this period. During this time Chris Rea released six studio albums one of those being Wired To The Moon – of which this set’s cover artwork is adapted from. Inside contains a booklet which includes pictures of the various original singles artwork.

With a career spanning over 40 years and over 30 million album sales, Chris Rea’s distinctive husky-gravel vocal and incredible body of work has seen him become one of the most loved solo artists the UK have ever produced. A formidable songwriter, and still playing live to this day, he has released an incredible 24 studio albums, the most recent being ‘Road Songs for Lovers’ in 2017 which was met with huge critical and commercial acclaim.


CD 1
1-Fool (If You Think It’s Over)
2-Midnight Love
3-Voy A Volverme Loco (Fool If You Think It’s Over) (Spanish Language Version)
4-Whatever Happened To Benny Santini?
5-Three Angels
6- Diamonds
7-Cleveland Calling
8-Raincoat And A Rose
9-No Qualifications
10-Tennis
11-If You Really Love Me
12-Dancing Girls
13-Friends Across The Water
14-Ya No Te Veo Nunca Mas (Since I Don’t See You Anymore) (Spanish Language Version)
15-Loving You
16-Let Me Be The One
17- Diamonds (12” version)

CD 2
1-Do You Still Dream (Original recording of song. First issued on ‘One Fine Day’ LP in 2019)
2-Loving You (Original recording of song. First issued on ‘One Fine Day’ LP in 2019)
3-One Fine Day (Original recording of the song (in 1981). First issued on Soft Top, Hard Shoulder single in 1993
4-One Sweet And Tender Touch (Original recording of the song (in 1981). First issued on Que Sera single 1988
5-If I Ever Break Free (Original recording of the song (in 1981). First issued on ‘One Fine Day’ LP in 2019.
6-Sierra Sierra (Original recording of song (in 1981). First issued on ‘One Fine Day’ LP in 2019.
7-Members Only (Original recording of song (in 1981). First issued on ‘One Fine Day’ LP in 2019.
8-Let Me Be The One (Original recording of the song (in 1981). First issued on ‘One Fine Day’ LP in 2019.
9-One Night With You (Original recording of the song (in 1981). First issued on ‘One Fine Day’ LP in 2019.
10-Every Beat Of My Heart
11-Don’t Look
12-Let It Loose
13-Urban Samurai
14- Let It Loose(special extended remix)
15-Sierra Sierra (5.38)
16-I Can Hear Your Heartbeat
17-From Love To Love
18-I Can Hear Your Heartbeat (special extended mix)

CD 3
1-Love’s Strange Ways
2-Smile
3-I Don’t Know What It Is But I Love It
4-Mystery Man
5-I Don’t Know What It Is But I Love It
6-Bombollini (6.10)
7-True Love (3.40)
8- Touche D’Amour (special remix)
9-Ace Of Hearts (special remix)
10-Excerpts from ’I Can Hear Your Heartbeat’ recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival
11-Auf Immer Und Ewig
12- Bitter Sweet
13- Touche D’Amour (instrumental)
14-Touche d’amour (Special extended remix)
15-Ace Of Hearts (special remix)
16-Special Edition 12” Medley (Let It Loose/I Can Hear Your Heartbeat/I Don’t Know What It Is But I Love It