Hello Friend (song)

"Hello Friend"
Single by Chris Rea
from the album On the Beach
B-side"Driving Home for Christmas"
Released10 November 1986[1]
Length4:20
LabelMagnet
Songwriter(s)Chris Rea
Producer(s)Chris Rea
Stuart Eales
Chris Rea singles chronology
"On the Beach"
(1986) 		"Hello Friend"
(1986) 		"Let's Dance"
(1987)
Music video
"Hello Friend (2019 Remaster)" on YouTube

"Hello Friend" is a song by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea that was released in 1986 as the third single from his eighth studio album On the Beach. The song was written by Rea, and produced by Rea and David Richards.[2]

For its release as a single, Rea re-recorded the song and produced it alongside Stuart Eales.[3] It reached No. 79 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the Top 100 for six weeks.[4]

The single's B-side is the first version of "Driving Home for Christmas" that Rea recorded. The song was re-recorded for New Light Through Old Windows in 1988 and released as a single in its own right.[5] A special double 7-inch edition of the single was also released, containing two live tracks recorded earlier in 1986 at Montreux.[6] The re-recorded version of "Hello Friend" was later included on the two-disc deluxe and remastered edition of On the Beach, released by Magnet in 2019.[7]

  1. ^ "New Singles". Music Week. 8 March 1986. p. 12. ISSN 0265-1548.
  2. ^ Rob Caldwell. "On the Beach - Chris Rea | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  3. ^ Ebborall, Bob (18 December 1986). "Surviving punk with the luck of the Irish". The Stage.
  4. ^ "CHRIS REA | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  5. ^ "The Story Of... 'Driving Home for Christmas' by Chris Rea - Smooth". Smoothradio.com. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  6. ^ Massey, Paul (26 November 1986). "Rea-lly good music". Aberdeen Evening Express.
  7. ^ "Chris Rea / The Rea-issues". superdeluxeedition. Retrieved 2020-05-25.