Editing Chris Rea (section)

====Subsequent early albums====
Dudgeon also produced Rea's second album ''[[Deltics (album)|Deltics]]'' (1979). Rea recorded his self-produced third album, ''[[Tennis (album)|Tennis]]'' (1980), with musicians from Middlesbrough, and it received positive reviews.<ref name="DeNoyer"/> As both albums had failed commercially, Magnet rejected the artwork Rea wanted for the cover of his fourth album, 1981's ''[[Chris Rea (album)|Chris Rea]]'' (produced by [[Jon Kelly]], who later oversaw Rea's most successful albums).<ref name="DeNoyer"/> None of these albums reached the Top 50 in the UK, with his singles also delivering lacklustre performances. ''Diamonds'' reached No. 44 in the US, and ''[[Loving You (Chris Rea song)|Loving You]]'' went to No. 88 on the Billboard Hot 100.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/chris-rea/chart-history/hsi/|title=Diamonds (Hot 100)|magazine=Billboard|access-date=14 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/chris-rea/chart-history/hsi/|title=Loving You (Hot 100)|magazine=Billboard|access-date=14 December 2017}}</ref> Rea had a difficult working relationship with Dudgeon and the other "men in suits" who he felt "smoothed out" the blues-influenced elements of his music.<ref name="Independent"/><ref>"Auf Wiedersehen", Pet..., ''Q'' magazine, February 1988, pp.33-4</ref><ref name="DeNoyer"/> Rea "always thought that [producers] knew best. I never thought for a minute that they might have another agenda", but "all of a sudden I was the goose that laid the golden egg, and it was hell for me".<ref name="Guardian02"/> He ruefully acknowledges, "I can't blame anyone but myself. I gave them what they wanted rather than what I wanted".<ref name="Questia">{{cite news |url=https://www.questia.com/article/1G1-92208461/interview-chris-rea-my-road-from-hell-how-a-near-death |title=Interview: Chris Rea – My Road To Hell; How a Near-Death Experience Made Singer Chris Rea Realise What He Really Wanted out of Life. |first=Rebecca |last=Fletcher |date=28 September 2002 |work=The Mirror |access-date=31 March 2014}}</ref>