Since the release of Brothers In Arms I had become a huge Dire Straits fan and started to take music seriously, perhaps a little too seriously. Frustrated at the lack of a new album I turned to the gravel voiced Teessider Chris Rea and in particular this album.
Chris Rea can only have come from Middlesbrough; his music is littered with north eastern references and his vocal style is rough yet warm. Listening to the 'Dancing With Strangers' album again I was surprised just how varied the musical styles are. Straight forward pop songs sit next to celtic instrumentals; rock ballads are followed by blues based folk songs. Stand out tracks are the opener 'The Joys of Christmas' and 'The Curse of the Traveller', the former being a blues riff about being out of work, on the dole and fighting in pubs. Doubt it gets played much at Christmas parties.
It would be 1991 by the time Dire Straits released another album but by then I had moved on to other things - I was at University and in the grip of indie music.......
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