[4] All of the songs on the album were written or co-written by de Paul (half the tracks were re-recordings of her songwriting demos).

[5] On the album, de Paul was accompanied by some of the UK's leading session musicians including Terry Cox, Ralph McTell, Ray Cooper, Jeff Daly, John Gustafson, Chris Rae, Danny Thompson, Gary Boyle, Barry de Souza, Dick Katz, Robert Kirby, Francis Monkman, John Richardson (who would later become the drummer in The Rubettes) and violinist Johnny Van Derrick.

One review in the mainstream press stated "De Paul manages to write a very good song on "Was God an astronaut?"".

[17] "Just Visiting" was included on the French duo Pilooski & Pentile's (aka Discodeine) guest mix released to promote their album Swimmer (2013).

[22][23] Other promotional work included a lengthy interview with de Paul, as well as airplay of featured album tracks on Japanese radio (Nippon Viva Turtle Show).

The jazz tinged "Mama Do" was covered by a number of artists with slightly different lyrics and with the title "Papa Do", notably by the song's co-writer, Barry Green.

[44] In an interview with Melody Maker about the Surprise album, de Paul revealed that White Plains recorded a version of "The Way It Goes", the song she co-wrote with Malcolm Roberts.

[45] More recently, Japanese artist Nickey recorded a version of "Water", which was the last track on her 2013 album A Taste on Honey.

[46][47][48] Smoove & Turrell borrowed from the backing track to "Water" on their single "You Don't Know" and its various remixes in 2009, with permission from de Paul, who also received a writing credit for the song.

In 2005, the album was released on CD for the first time in Japan on the AIRAC label, and featured the following additional bonus tracks on a second CD: "Storm in a Teacup", "Getting a Drag", "Brandy", "All Night", "Blind Leading the Blind", "Won't Somebody Dance with Me", and "So Good To You" i.e. all four hit singles and B-sides recorded for the MAM Records label.

"[68] The Sunday Herald wrote "...her first album, Surprise, demonstrated a ready facility for melody and catchy hooks, but also a knack for sidestepping the most predictable pop clichés.