On The Beach Trivia Quiz

Answer: York

This was Rea's biggest UK hit at the time, when it was rerecorded for his compilation album "New Light Through Old Windows" (1988). When it was originally released in 1986 as a track from the album of the same name, it only managed to reach number 57, so the rerecording certainly worked, and the distinctive guitar riff also worked for York as their track, also titled "On The Beach" peaked at number four in UK, providing the band with their biggest hit. Rea himself was so taken with their interpretation that he played guitar with the band when they appeared on TV show, "Top Of The Pops".

Answer: Monte-Carlo, Monaco

Rea is an avid collector and racer of cars, having driven several of his own Ferrari's competitively. He also drives some not so fast cars such as the 1957 Morris Minor 1000 police car, which he has driven at several Historic Racing Drivers Club meets.

His 1991 album "Auberge", featured, on the cover, Rea's own Caterham 7 sports car which he sold at auction in 2005 donating the entire £11,762 ($15,500) proceeds to the children's charity NSPCC.

Answer: Phil Collins

This was a period of his career when Collins could do no wrong, having five consecutive UK top ten hits and his studio album, "...But Seriously" (1989) and his live album, "Serious Hits... Live!" (1990) both hitting the top spot in the UK album chart.

Answer: The Road To Hell (Part Two)

Although this track was written by Rea while stuck in traffic on the M4 motorway in UK, and the lyrics reflect that frustration, he has also told of another meaning to the song, whereby once he found success, he did the sensible, adult thing of buying a house on the south coast and commuting to London. He soon realised however that a lifestyle split between isolation and herd is its own kind of hell, being sensible is madness and he needed to get off the sensible road as soon as possible. In 2010, Rea donated the scrap of paper with the scribbled lyrics to the Teenage Cancer Trust, as a lot at an auction. The piece of paper also had the phone number of Rea's favourite Indian takeaway, and a reminder to "phone Brenda."

Of the other possible answers, all were hits in 1989 but "The Living Years" was by Mike and the Mechanics, "I Drove All Night" was Cyndi Lauper's cover of the Roy Orbison track and "Especially For You" was a hit for Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan.

Answer: Felicity Kendal

"Parting Shots" told the story of Harry Sterndale (Rea) who is diagnosed with weeks to live and decides to spend them killing everyone who has made his life miserable. After murdering his estranged wife, he moves on his financial advisor but is witnessed by housekeeper, Jill Saunders (Kendal).

As she didn't particularly like her employer either, she agrees to say nothing and accompany Sterndale on his journey. The film starred several big names other than Rea and Kendal, such as Oliver Reed, Ben Kingsley, Bob Hoskins, John Cleese and Joanna Lumley. Felicity Kendal shot to stardom in UK in the TV sit-com"The Good Life" which aired between 1975 and 1978.

Answer: Fool (If You Think It's Over)

Although this track gave Rea his first taste of the success he craved both in UK and USA, he has gone on record as saying there is not much about the song that he likes. When he wrote it, he intended it to have an Al Green type soul feel to it, but in production it became more similar to a 1960s California sound record.

He has twice rerecorded the track, once in 1988 for his compilation album "New Light Through Old Windows" and again in 2007 for his "Fool If You Think It's Over (The Definitive Greatest Hits)" compilation album. In a similar style to "On The Beach", where another artist had a bigger hit with the song, Elkie Brooks took "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" to number 18 in UK charts in 1982.

Answer: Middlesbrough

Lifelong "Boro" fan Rea was more than happy to give the team his blessing to use his song and fellow fan Bob Mortimer wrote some additional lyrics for the track. Unfortunately Rea and Mortimer may have been more help on the pitch, as Middlesbrough were outclassed by Chelsea who won 2-0, with Roberto Di Matteo scoring what was at the time, the fastest ever goal in FA Cup Final history 43 seconds after kick-off.

Answer: Shirley Bassey

"La Passione" is loosely based on Rea's childhood, although he has said many times it is not an autobiographical film. It recounts the story of a ten year old boy from a northern UK city, who becomes obsessed with motor racing, especially with driver Wolfgang von Trips who was tragically killed when his Ferrari crashed at the 1961 Monza Grand Prix. Bassey, for all her long career, actually made her feature film debut in this movie and although the track "'Disco' La Passione" wasn't a huge hit, peaking at number 41 in UK, she has performed it many times in concerts and included it on her 1997 Grammy nominated live album, "The Birthday Concert".

Answer: Beating Pancreatic Cancer

Rea was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2000, and has had several operations resulting in the removal of the head of the pancreas and part of the duodenum, bile duct, and gall bladder, since which he has a weakened immune system and problems with diabetes which require control through several injections and over 30 tablets each day. Following his cancer, he realised it was time to stop living the record company dream and start living the Chris Rea dream, the first step of which was to found a record company for his releases.

Answer: Stainsby Secondary Modern School

"Stainsby Girls" from Rea's 1985 album, "Shamrock Diaries" is the tribute to Joan, a track which went top 30 in UK and top ten in Ireland. It is a simple yet powerful love song, summing up the memories of being 16 and in love and still being in love over 50 years later. The secret to a long marriage according to Rea, is doing "exactly what the wife tells you to do."