| Stainsby Girls | |
| Cover: | Chris Rea Stainsby Girls 1985 Single Cover.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Chris Rea |
| Album: | Shamrock Diaries |
| B-Side: | And When She Smiles |
| Released: | March 1985 |
| Length: | 3:50 |
| Label: | Magnet |
| Producer: | Chris Rea, Dave Richards |
| Prev Title: | Ace of Hearts |
| Prev Year: | 1984 |
| Next Title: | Josephine |
| Next Year: | 1985 |
"Stainsby Girls" is a song by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in 1985 as the lead single from his seventh studio album Shamrock Diaries.[1] It was written by Rea, and produced by Rea and Dave Richards.[2] "Stainsby Girls" reached No. 26 in the UK and remained in the charts for twelve weeks.[3]
"Stainsby Girls" was written by Rea as a tribute for his wife Joan, a former student of the Stainsby Secondary Modern School.[1] The single's B-side, "And When She Smiles", is listed on the back sleeve as having been "recorded on eight track on a yacht in Ibiza harbour".[2] Rea later re-recorded "Stainsby Girls" for his 1988 album New Light Through Old Windows.[4]
In a retrospective review of Shamrock Diaries, Sharon Mawer of AllMusic described the song as "easily the most like Bruce Springsteen that Rea had ever sounded".[1] Colin Larkin, in his book The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, noted the song was a "slice of nostalgia for the northern England of Rea's adolescence".[5]
| Chart (1985) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Belgian Singles Chart (V)[6] | 33 | |
| Irish Singles Chart[7] | 10 | |
| UK Singles Chart | 26 |