Cliff Richard - Back from the Wilderness Singles and Albums 1975 - 1995

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Jarleboy, Sep 28, 2016.

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  1. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

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    Not yet, but I will. I´m looking forward to hearing some of the songs on there.
     
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  2. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
    Norway
    He, he. A must to avoid. I don´t mind it if others like it, but I have successfully managed to avoid this certain track for years. I´m going for the record...
     
  3. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
    Norway
    He, he. You could both be right.
     
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  4. Tim Cooper

    Tim Cooper Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southampton UK
    Yep got my copy out, and yes, have played "this certain" track!
     
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  5. RonBaker

    RonBaker Forum Resident

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    Jackson, Ohio USA
    I bought a US CD single of it although I already had the UK single. In addition to the title track, we got "Two Worlds" and an instrumental version of "Millennium Prayer"
     
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  6. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

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    I do hope you enjoyed "that" track. And I´m saying that with no hint of sarcasm. :agree:
     
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  7. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

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    Needless to say, I also have two versions of the CD single... "TWO WORLDS" is the better track, I think.
     
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  8. RonBaker

    RonBaker Forum Resident

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    Jackson, Ohio USA
    If we can multiply horrible by a million and get a 1, then "Two Worlds" is the most magnificent recording ever done! LOL. Not a bad song, really, but as a 'b' side or track 2, it far outshines the a side.
     
  9. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
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    That´s one way of putting it... I don´t hate the A-side, but I kind of wish he never recorded it. "TWO WORLDS" is an OK song - not A-side material, but, then, neither was the actual A-side. In my very persoanl opinion - the charts proved me wrong as far as commercial potential was concerned. But I still don´t like it.
     
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  10. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
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    By way of a comment on my absence lately: 2018 will mark the 60th anniversary for the start of Cliff´s career. My plans are to start the third part of this thread, which will cover the years 1958 to around about 1972 or so, with his first releases, and then go on with the singles, EPs and albums that were released in that period.

    First off, hopefully on January 1, will be the demos he made in the summer of 1958, "BREATHLESS" and "LAWDY MISS CLAWDY".

    I wonder what great and wonderful releases we will see to mark this anniversary. I hope there´ll be something intersting. Mostly I´m hoping for the release of some hitherto unreleased tracks, and I wouldn´t mind seeing a reissue plan for the unreleased VHS concerts and compilations, like "THANK YOU VERY MUCH", "THE VIDEO CONNECTION", "TOGETHER" (with The Shadows) and "ROCK IN AUSTRALIA". I´m not holding my breath, though.
     
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  11. Tim Cooper

    Tim Cooper Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southampton UK
    Maybe "Two Worlds" not quite A - side material I agree, but would have made an album track as I think not many people play the B - sides, especially when the A - side like this one, in my humble opinion is fab!

    Don't think Cliff ever sung "Two Worlds" live, which was a shame, I do love the track.
    The same goes for one of my fav Cliff Christmas songs, which only appeared as a B - side, "Another Christmas Day". He has sung it at Gospel events, with just him and his guitar, buts that's not the same as singing it with his full band.
     
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  12. CheshireCat

    CheshireCat Forum Resident

    Location:
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    I'm fairly sure it's not just over-familiarity, but, for me, several of my least favourite recordings from Cliff are some of his number one singles. I guess I'm just out of step with the general public... I mean, LIVING DOLL, I LOVE YOU, BACHELOR BOY, SUMMER HOLIDAY, CONGRATULATIONS, MISTLETOE AND WINE, MILLENNIUM PRAYER. I could live without all of them. Well, I might keep SUMMER HOLIDAY...
     
  13. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

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    Norway
    Agree about "TWO WORLDS" - perfect as an album track, side 2, track 2 in old money. :agree: I also agree about the fact that not many people discover the hidden gems stacked away as B-sides. Anyway, the CD single made the concept more or less redundant. Most CD singles were more like EPs than anything else.

    I made a cassette compilation of many of Cliff´s forgotten B-sides in the mid-80s, naturally calling the cassette "BESIDES". I filled two volumes of B-sides, and I listened to this compilation more than most of his hits compilations. "MR. CLOUD", "(WOULDN´T YOU KNOW IT) GOT MYSELF A GIRL", "LOVE ON (SHINE ON)", "EMPTY CHAIRS", "A THOUSAND CONVERSATIONS" and many others were much closer to my heart than the overfamiliar hits. I am not saying they are better, but as I hadn´t already played them to death, they felt fresher to these ears.
     
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  14. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

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    For me, many of the songs you mention have outstayed their welcome. It´s not that I don´t like them, necessarily, but there are so many other songs I like better. Give me a choice of hearing "LIVING DOLL" again, or "MONDAY THRU FRIDAY"... No contest. The hits are OK for what they are, and some of them are better than others, but I feel finished with many of them. I know every twist and turn within the arrangements by now, and very often there´s not that much going on in the first place.

    They´ll always have nostalgic value, and I´m not completely done with them, but my favourite Cliff tracks aren´t to be found on the big singles, as a rule. (Though I feel this changed somewhat with the material recorded between 1975 and 1995, the period I initially covered in this thread. The quality of the songs was substantially higher during these years, and that also applies to the hit singles. I don´t think I´ll ever tire of "CARRIE", "DREAMIN´" and "NEVER SAY DIE", for instance. And even though I have come somewhat immune to the charm of even "WE DON´T TALK ANYMORE", I still think it´s a great song. The Tarney songs are almost evergreens to me, strangely enough. There´s a certain quirk in their DNA that I enjoy, even though, to many, they sound as straight-ahead commercial pap.
     
  15. CheshireCat

    CheshireCat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cheshire
    In it's 6th (and Christmas) week, Cliff's 'Stronger Thru' The Years' drops just two places in the Chart to number 33.

    (14 - 25 - 39 - 40 - 31 - 33)
     
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  16. RonBaker

    RonBaker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Jackson, Ohio USA
    It's kind of remarkable that these compilations keep on charting. How many times can these things be done? "75 at 75," wasn't that long ago. "And They Said It Wouldn't Last" was great and that should have been the final word on all these compilation discs. Two years from now it will be 30 years since The Event and a new compilation will probably be released called "The Best of Me" with the same contents as all the others.
     
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  17. CheshireCat

    CheshireCat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cheshire
    I was hoping for a '30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Always Guaranteed' this year, packaging the original album, b-sides, maybe even some out-takes and unreleased tracks (if any exist) and a DVD of the Promotional videos and concert. I'd have bought that...

    Mind you, I bought Stronger Thru The Years, for no other reason than completion sake.
     
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  18. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

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    I´ll trot out the word again: Impressive. This album should do Cliff´s reputation no harm at all.
     
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  19. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
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    Apart from "SUMMER HOLIDAY" and "WONDERFUL LIFE", I don´t think Cliff has done any Deluxe Editions of his albums. (Those two were promo releases, and not intended for general release at the time, and the B-sides tacked on to the remasters don´t really constitute Deluxe Editions.)

    I would love to see what´s hidden in the vaults. You mention "ALWAYS GUARANTEED", Anthony, and that would be a logical place to start. Next year will be the 40th Anniversay of both "SMALL CORNERS" and "GREEN LIGHT", and I would LOVE to see expanded and remastered versions of those. (Hey, why not throw in a hi-rez version or two, either on SACD or Blu-ray. It´s not going to happen, but there´s no harm in "Dreaming" about it.) "GREEN LIGHT" in particular has a lot of unreleased tracks, and "SMALL CORNERS" had the jaunty, yet lyrically corny "YOU CAN´T GET TO HEAVEN (BY LIVING LIKE HELL)" attached to it.

    Maybe we have to wait until 2026 to get the 50th anniversary Deluxe Edition of "I´M NEARLY FAMOUS", and who knows if Cliff will still be with us then. I hope so, of course, but you never know.
     
  20. Tim Cooper

    Tim Cooper Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southampton UK
    Well that sounds like a fantastic idea. I would love it.
    "Small Corners", "Green Light" both re-released, with unreleased tracks added in, well written sleeve notes, with interviews with band members, producers etc, who were involved with the albums, can't wait.

    Now I'm back on planet Earth, so to speak, it ain't ever going to happen.
    In all fairness to Cliff, CRO, or whoever has the say, I don't think there is a market for it, apart from us here, and a few others.
    At the end of the day, unfountantly releases have to make money, but what a lovely thought.
     
  21. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
    Norway
    Unfortunately, you´re right. Cliff isn´t seen to have a real legacy, and I don´t think for a moment such Deluxe Editions would sell more than, ooh, to be generous, perhaps 5000 copies, worldwide. It wouldn´t make any sense commercially, and because Cliff isn´t seen as a "serious" artist, they would gain nothing from releasing them. We all realise that.

    But I still want them. :agree:
     
  22. RonBaker

    RonBaker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Jackson, Ohio USA
    There are limited editions out there by other artists. I just got a Sparks 45 for Black Friday that only had 850 copies pressed. CDs are even cheaper to produce than vinyl. I would really love to have an expanded release of "Green Light"...it was a real rock album and was my favorite by Cliff...still is.
     
  23. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
    Norway
    It is one of his very best, indeed. They have already released "MOBILE ALABAMA HOME LEAVING HULLABALOO" from those sessions, and there are at least three more in the vaults, though no one has been able to confrim that they are all finished tracks. (Including Cliff´s vocal contribution.) But if those songs are half as good as the song mentioned... I want to hear them.

    The physical CD is not expensive to make, but the licensing of unreleased tracks might be prohibitive. Also, I don´t think they´re at all interested in paying for any kind of remastering. (And hi-rez? Forget it! Three Cliff tracks have appeared on SACD: "THEME FOR A DREAM", "EVERGREEN TRE" and "OCEAN DEEP". Only "EVEGREEN TREE" was a revelation - but it was really great. The other two were OK, but not great improvements on the vinyl nor CD versions.

    But I wish we would get some unreleased tracks - they brought out some for the 50th anniversary in 2008, so why not try some for the 60th?
     
  24. Chris Lane

    Chris Lane Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sunny Devon
    Apparently there are no more unreleased tracks left to issue of great recording value according to Nigel and Peter. However, the case of Elvis and his wacky recorded edits/snippets were all released after he died. Not that I want that to happen but what is left in the vaults could make a great collectors set but nothing with commercial clout as what we have seen before. Perhaps the out of copyright guys can get on board?

    Any way please all have a wonderful Christmas and a brilliant New Year from us. I'm off to dust off the track known as my favourite Christmas song by Cliff!
    May I present "Little Town"..................
     
  25. RonBaker

    RonBaker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Jackson, Ohio USA
    There are dozens of songs he did with the Settlers...probably not very exciting though.
     
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