Why Chris Rea NEVER wanted to write a Christmas hit – and role his loving wife played in crafting his best-known song

BANNED from driving and down on his luck, Chris Rea couldn’t afford the train fare home from London to Middlesbrough for Christmas.  It meant the singer — who has died aged 74 — had to cajole his wife Joan to make the tortuous drive from the North East and back to Teeside to pick him up.  The gravel-voiced songwriter had never...