CHRIS REA TELLING HIS OWN STORY OF STEEL RIVER

I am always very reluctant to put 80`s pop songs on Lost Treasures because i have always figured that any decent music from that era which isn't already well known out there is obscure 99% of the time because it's really not all that flash and not worth writing about. But i shouldn't generalise about 80`s music too much, because classic pop songs like STEEL RIVER by Irish rocker CHRIS REA is one great exception to the rule and proof that not all great 80`s songs had to sell by the bucketload in america to prove how great they are. The lyrics of STEEL RIVER refer to industrial pollution of the RIVER TEES in northern England during the 1960's when it was at its worst and the colour of the river's water was dark grey and resembled steel. Writing about such a issue would seem to be a recipe for coming up with a highly charged protest song packing a political orientated punch, but Rea being the philosophical songwriter that he is put a personalised and romantic slant on it and in the process created an uplifting tune which is neither too melodramatic or airy fairy. STEEL RIVER comes off the NEW LIGHT THROUGH OLD WINDOWS album in 1988, which was essentially a greatest hits album with a few new tracks thrown in. The other new track off this album which should resonate with all the blue collar workers around the world is WORKING ON IT, a more traditional rock song with the same vibe and pro-worker message as WORKING CLASS MAN by Jimmy Barnes. STEEL RIVER comes alive the moment the caberet styled beat kicks in and Rea's lovely sounding female backing vocalists get into full swing.