Rick Astley released his second album ‘Hold Me In Your Arms’ in 1988 and proved that his breakthrough success was no fluke. The album achieved numerous international Top 10 chart positions, including #8 in the UK plus Top 20 in the States. Within a month, it had been certified Platinum in the UK in recognition of more than 300,000 sales and then Gold in the US, following 500,000+ sales. It expanded upon his star status, which he first established when the global cultural phenomenon ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ fired to #1 in 25 different territories, while his debut album ‘Whenever You Need Somebody’ sold millions of copies.
Now Rick Astley celebrates the 35th anniversary of ‘Hold Me In Your Arms’ by releasing a remastered Deluxe Edition of the album on May 12th. Now available to pre-order HERE, the album will be reissued as an extended and remastered 2CD Deluxe Edition, a remastered blue vinyl, as well as digital and streaming formats.
The album’s three singles – ‘She Wants To Dance With Me’ (#6), ‘Take Me To Your Heart’ (#8) and ‘Hold Me In Your Arms’ (#10) – continued Rick’s phenomenal chart success, which saw his first eight singles all race into the UK Top 10. ‘She Wants To Dance With Me’ and ‘Hold Me In Your Arms’ were both written solely by Rick and have remained as firm fan favourites and staples of his live set ever since. Rick wrote six of the album’s ten tracks, while three were penned by Stock Aitken Waterman. The album was completed by Rick’s soulful take on The Temptations’ classic ‘Ain’t Too Proud To Beg’, which landed him another chart hit in the States.
The original ‘Hold Me In Your Arms’ album has been freshly remastered by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road. The 2CD Deluxe Edition adds a wealth of bonus material, highlights of which include the b-side ‘I’ll Be Fine’; Rick’s reimagined solo takes on ‘She Wants To Dance With Me’ and ‘Hold Me In Your Arms’ plus a vast array of remixes, extended mixes and instrumentals.
Rick says, “So many good memories of making this album, great way for me to finish the ‘80s!”
Rick launches the Deluxe Edition by sharing a restored 4K video for the album’s lead single ‘She Wants To Dance With Me’. It features Rick leading a band through an energised performance of the song, and was filmed at Rumours in Covent Garden, London. In addition to its domestic success, the song also peaked at #6 on the Billboard 100.
This summer will see Rick Astley play select UK festival dates at Kendal Calling (July 27th-30th) and the Big Feastival at Alex James’ Farm (August 27th). He is also confirmed to headline the Paloznaki Jazzpiknik in Hungary on August 3rd. Expect more shows to be announced soon – please see his website for the latest updates.
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