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. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    The Millennium Prayer should have been the second single Cliff banned himself.:D
     
  2. mark ab

    mark ab Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Great thread. I'm not familiar with his work from this era apart from the well known hits. One exception is Hey Mr Dream Maker. I had that song on an old VHS tape and thought it was excellent.
     
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  3. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
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    I know exactly what you mean. You have to admire him, even though it´s all rather comical. Still, he´s consistent. :righton:
     
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  4. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    That's from his 1977 Every Face Tells A Story album. I think it was the lead single, but it flopped. It's very Sylvia's Mother sounding.:)
     
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  5. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
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    Was that "The Video Connection" or just a blank tape that you recorded off air? I have the video - it´s great. I wish they would release it on DVD or Blu-ray.

    "Hey Mr. Dream Maker" has lovely verses - too sad for words.
     
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  6. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
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    Well, somebody should have banned it! :agree:
     
  7. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    And done by Olivia on her Don't Stop Believin' album, of course. Her version is the opposite of Cliff's. Very peppy and uptempo.
     
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  8. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
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    And just to finish the connections: The song was first recorded by the Tarney Spencer Band, on their eponymous 1976 album for Bradley. As usual, both Olivia and Cliff managed to get more out of the song than the band did. Alan Tarney has an O.K. voice, but, like John Farrar, it lacks a strong vocal presence. And that is, as we all know, what Olivia and Cliff have heaps of. :agree:
     
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  9. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    Haven't heard that version. They sure got some mileage out of Hey Mr Dreammaker.:D
     
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  10. Zaragon

    Zaragon Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    That is a wonderful vintage clip of Cliff singing "It's Only Me You've Left Behind". I love the puffy-sleeved shirt and vest combo. As for the song itself, it's kind of grown on me over the course of five plays in the past 12 hours. The most interesting musical aspect to this song is that period synth, which I can't really place in many other songs due to the rarity of synths in pop/rock recordings from this era. I think I'll reward this song a purple.

    I'm rather underwhelmed by the b-side, which shows that Tarney and Spencer had yet to develop their magical formula. I agree that the most catchy aspect of "You're the One" is the calypso part in the middle.

    Neither song is up to par with the material that our man would soon record for I'm Nearly Famous, but both are at least stylistically hip to the jive of '75 .
     
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  11. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    I only have the Hit List cd which opens with Up In Canada :), and a 1963 live concert cd.

    We Don't Talk Anymore and Devil Woman were popular over here, and the disk ends with a duet with Phil Everly, but that leaves 6 songs on it from 1972-1995 that I probably have never really listened to. This thread should give me some pointers.

    PS I had the Wuthering Heights cd, but I eventually sold it, didn't like it at al.
     
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  12. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    It's Only Me... is a #14 record. You could imagine it peaking there. Not that it did, obviously.
     
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  13. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
    Norway
    That´s Alan Tarney for you. His songs crop up on so many of the artists he produces. Cliff recorded his "Hold On" as a B-side, whereas Barbara Dickson included it on her "You Know It´s Me" album. "Remember Me" was first released on David Cassidy´s "Romance" album in 1985, and reworked it from the embryonic version there to Cliff´s single version. Cliff recorded "Young Love" on his "Wired for Sound" album, and David Cassidy renamed it "The Last Kiss" and had a hit with it. Leo Sayer recorded "Once In A While" on his "Living In a Fantasy" LP, and the song also turned up on Cliff´s "Wired For Sound" album... There are some overlaps. The Tarney Spencer Band recorded two versions of "It´s Really You", two different ballad versions, whereas Barbara Dickson recorded a disco cover. (It was also recorded by Karen Carpenter, but never officially released.) Cliff´s "My Pretty One" was recorded as "Pretty One" by Jamie Rae... There are millions of them, seemingly.
     
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  14. mark ab

    mark ab Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    It was The Video Connection.
     
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  15. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    He's similar to John Farrar in that he's obviously a song writing and studio dynamo, but lacks a distinctive voice to put his material across. Great backing singer, again, like Farrar, but doesn't bring out the best in his own songs. I wish he'd worked with Olivia more. I wish he'd work with her now!
     
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  16. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
    Norway
    I don´t think I have heard of this version of the "Hit List" CD before. "Up In Canada" was never a single, so it´s a strange choice for a compilation of hit singles. Great song, though, and Cliff does it well. Do you remember any of the other tracks from this CD?

    Too bad you didn´t like "Songs from Heathcliff". I love it, but then... I would. I was something a fan back then...
     
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  17. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    Heathcliff was really his last strong album. I can see you agree as that's where you end this thread.:D
     
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  18. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
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    I would love to hear the results of such a collaboration! I feel Alan Tarney lost the magic touch at the turn of the century, but perhaps working with the lovely Ms Newton-John would bring his work up to par again? And maybe even more?
     
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  19. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    Unless he wants to produce a load of healing songs I doubt this will happen.:D
     
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  20. mark ab

    mark ab Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    I watched a documentary on the making of the show and liked the songs. Might have to get the album!
     
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  21. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
    Norway
    You read me like an open book, Bobby! (A bad one, but open all the same.) You´re almost right - I think his "Something´s Going On" album was a return to form, before he started releasing the standards album, the soul album, the reunion with The Shadows album, the rock´n´roll songbook album - soon to be albums - and so on. They are not bad, per se, but not all that interesting.
     
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  22. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
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    I fear you are right. Won´t happen, and I don´t think Alan Tarney would be into those "worthy" albums. He makes wonderful "plastic pop" albums. Better than most!
     
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  23. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    It's very good. Obviously it's written for the stage so some of the songs are a bit overly wordy. Misunderstood Man was the lead single and Cliff said it was one of the best songs he'd recorded at the time. Of course, it had just been released so he might have just been saying that to give it a push.:D
     
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  24. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love Thread Starter

    Location:
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    Try finding the songs on YouTube first. It´s an album unlike most of his studio albums, since all the songs are written by John Farrar and Tim Rice. I love it, but it´s in a different genre than his usual stuff. But, of course, you know that! :agree:
     
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  25. mark ab

    mark ab Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    The one later album I have is Real as I Wanna Be. I remember liking it at the time but not sure if it is well regarded.
    Some recent press reports suggest he has a new album ready - one suggested he had written some songs on it but another article suggested it would be another R&R songbook album. The former would be interesting but I suspect the latter is more likely.
     
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