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

Thanks for posting this, Mark! Always good to get another perspective on things.

 

Firstly thanks to Daveymoore for posting the set-list.

The cinema I attended was in Swindon and was barely 1/2 full out of a 244 seat capacity. Not many people in the audience were under 60. A behind the scenes trailer was shown before the show, where Cliff explained the continual difficulty of thinking up a new theme, but this time round he had decided to do 6x15 minute segments showcasing different decades in chronological order. We were also shown the different outfits which he would wear to represent the different eras.

The show was broadcast live from a relatively small venue, the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester which itself seemed to be about 3/4 full. The band appeared to be largely the same as the 75th Birthday tour with a different drummer and no female backing singers. Unusually the drums were situated on the far left of the stage rather than occupying a central position.

The show was stripped back and well produced but consisted of too many covers in my opinion. Cliff looked the same as ever and his voice was in good shape throughout, although it seemed to lose some of its power by the final song (We Don't Talk Any More). At one point when he referenced the BBC, the audience started hissing, but he made the point that it was only a small number of people at the top he had an issue with, not the main body of the BBC consisting of presenters and production staff etc.

Three new songs were performed. Rise Up which went down very well, The Miracle Of Love, his new Christmas single which sounded ok and Reborn, a new single written by Chris Eaton which I thought was awful - the only low point of the evening.

Unfortunately the cinema audience were quite restrained and the sound itself was not as loud as you would expect at a live event so in my opinion it was not really a satisfactory substitute. It will be interesting to compare the experience with watching the same show in Bournemouth next week.

 

Thank you for that detailed dissertation of an evening spent with Cliff´s music. We were almost there. Thanks.

 

Thanks, just to rectify the show itself was sold out, around 2,400 capacity. I did phone the box office a few hours before and they had just released a few seats in the circle section at the side of the stage. This is not a great place for sound or view but obviously close to the stage. Having read previous setlists I decided to pass and wait for the blu ray.
Maybe the camera gave the impression of not being full due to these seats being empty?

Review: Cliff Richard charms his way through six decades at the Bridgewater Hall

 

Hi All,

Good to see some activity on this thread again.

With the set list of the tour, I think Cliff is in a no-win situation here, as his back catalogue is so big, whatever he chooses to include or not, it's not going to please everybody. I,m a bit dissapointed that "Wired for Sound" is missing, the first time I think in recent tours. I wonder who chooses the set list, I think I read somewhere that Cliff asks his sisters for input.
I'm also going to see Cliff in Bournemouth, wiping the dust of my unique hand embroidered "Rock n roll Juvenile" black jacket, as you do!

Got the vinyl of "Rise Up". Number 1900/4000.
One interesting thing (to me anyway!), is that on the "A" side there is some writing etched on the grooves just before they hit the label.
The first word, I think is "Bazza", the next word I can't quite make out. Any ideas anyone what this means?
"Miss you Nights" and "Devil Woman" both have "For Kipper" etched on the "A" side, with "Devil Woman" then having on the "B" side, "Who's Kipper?". I do seem to remember reading somewhere what this all meant, something to do with Bruce Welch does ring a bell, but could be completely wrong.
While I was double checking the Kipper thing on my 45s, to make sure my memory was correct, I looked at the "Its only me you've left Behind", and that has "Lots to do" on the "A" side and "Get your lovely "B" side here!" on the "B" side, which I had never noticed before.
Perhaps now I should do a real train spotting thing and go through all my singles and see if there are any others with writing on!

Tim.

Jarleboy, would appreciate a list of the compilations that "Born to rock 'n' roll" is on please, then I will make a concentrated effort to try and get a copy.

 

I can't make out the word next to 'Bazza'. What I did notice under a strong light though was how badly scratched my copy is. Not by me, I may add. I did think it was quite crackly... (No. 1148/4000).
I read somewhere it will need over 7500 copies to get into the top 75. Don't expect a hit single then... Still copies remaining for sale, could do with a TV performance this week.

 

Interesting post, Tim! I don´t know the meaning of those etchings either, but I also seem to remember the "Kipper" quote from somewhere. Please let us know if you find out anything more.

A hand-embroidered "Rock´n´Roll Juvenile" black jacket? Colour me envious...

The extended version of "BORN TO ROCK´N´ROLL" can be found on these compilations:

Various - Rare Diamonds Collection No. 3 (Canada)

Various - Bavaria's Best Vol. 4 (Germany)

Various - Munich City Nights - Vol. 4


In addition, I found this compilation that includes a 5:22 mix of "WE DON´T TALK ANYMORE". It was released in 1997, so I guess it´s the 1991 remix.

Various - Heavyweight Remixes (South Africa) NB! Just checked, and this contains a 5:22 mix of "WE DON

 

By the way, Happy Birthday to Cliff! 78 years young...

 

Happy birthday !

 

Thanks Jarleboy, I will make note and keep my eyes open for a copy.

 

I may regret ths, but I cautiously move closer to committing myself to writing a few more entries from almost 60 years ago. Bring on the nostalgia as we go back to the summer of 1959. Happy Birthday once again, Cliff. What better time to re-start this thread? Here we go...

Single No. 5: 1959 July 10th
A-side: "LIVING DOLL" (Written by Lionel Bart)
B-side: "APRON STRINGS" (Written by George David Weiss & Aaron Schroeder)
Produced by Norrie Paramor



Here we are - Cliff and the boys´ first No. 1, and the biggest selling single of 1959 in the UK. It says below that the single stayed at No. 1 for six weeks. There was a newspaper strike during the summer of 1959, so it may even have scored more weeks at the top. Quite an achievement. The tale of how it was transformed from a pseudo-rock´n´roll number to a country ballad is also described below. Interestingly, the movie "SERIOUS CHARGE" is actually rather good, and Cliff´s appearance is more a cameo than anything else. All he had to was to show up and look the part, including the curls that adorned his face. And he did look like a star in the making - a one man boy band. The themes of the movie is strikingly close to Cliff´s situation over the last four years, and the film was rather daring for 1959. Recommended viewing.

As I have stated many times before, this is not a song that I admire that much. The tune is very simple, and the lyrics would not have been accepted in 2018. Reducing women´s importance to that of a doll seemed cute back in 1959, but it now seems strange and highly politically incorrect. My problem with the song is not this - "the past is a different country, they do things differently there", to paraphrase Hartley´s utterance. So, let sleeping dogs lie. I like the song because I have a history with it, though mine only started in 1980. It´s a good sing-along song, and it´s easy to smile when you hear the opening. Having said that... How memorable is it, apart from the nostalgia? I don´t know. I´m surprised it went all the way to No. 1, but I´m glad it brought Cliff and The Shadows - sort of - so much success. (I say sort of - this was their last Cliff single billed as The Drifters.)

So listen to that simple intro, and get wrapped up in nostalgia by the sweet sounds of "LIVING DOLL". And we´re back!



Charts
UK: No. 1
Norway: No. 1
Sweden: No. 1
Ireland: No. 1
Australia: No. 9
Belgium: No. 16
Germany: No. 19
The Netherlands: No. 2
US: No. 30

From Wikipedia:
"Living Doll" is a song written by Lionel Bart made popular by Cliff Richard and the Shadows (then still 'the Drifters') in 1959. It was the top selling single in the UK in 1959. It has topped the UK charts twice: in its original version in 1959 (their first number 1 single) and a new version recorded in 1986 in aid of Comic Relief.

Worldwide sales
1959 version: 1.86 million[
1986 version: 1.50 million

Background and composition
"Living Doll" was written for the film Serious Charge. Lionel Bart had been approached by film producer Mickey Delamar to write songs for the film. The idea for the song came on a Sunday morning in October 1958 while reading a newspaper and seeing an advert for a child's doll. The doll was said to "kneel, walk, sit and sing". Bart recounted, "I was looking at the back pages and there was a small advert for a doll which could apparently do everything. I wrote the song in ten minutes." The song was written as an up-tempo light rock and roll song (rather than a ballad), and this is how Cliff Richard performs the song in the film.
Unbeknown to Richard, his contract to appear in the film required that there would be a single of one of the film's songs released. Richard recounts, "I remember passionately refusing to record 'Living Doll'. There was a day of telephone calls from Norrie Paramor, with me saying I hated the song and that it wasn't right for us." Richard did not like what he called its "pseudo-rock" beat. "It did not sound like real American rock 'n' roll to us" said Richard. Paramor told Richard "Change it. Do it any way you like, but do it". While sitting around one afternoon before a show, thinking about what they could do with the song, Bruce Welch, while strumming a guitar, suggested they do it like a country song. Richard and his band agreed and duly rerecorded the song with the slower tempo.

1959 version
The song was recorded in April 1959 by Cliff Richard and the Drifters and produced by Norrie Paramor. It was first released in the UK in May 1959 on the Serious Charge (EP) soundtrack before being released as a single in July 1959. It was number 1 on the UK Singles Chart for six weeks from July, selling over a million copies worldwide and earning the record company's internally awarded Gold disc for the achievement. It also became the top selling single of 1959 in the UK. In the US, it was Richard's first hit single, reaching number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a number 1 hit in several European countries, including Ireland, Norway and Sweden. The song won Bart an Ivor Novello Award for best song. The single featured Apron Strings on the b-side. It was the first number 1 in the UK Singles Chart for Cliff Richard and the Drifters; although their debut single "Move It", released the previous year, is often cited as their first number 1, in fact that peaked at number 2.

Personnel
The song is performed by Cliff Richard (vocals), Hank Marvin (lead guitar), Bruce Welch (rhythm guitar), Jet Harris (bass) and Tony Meehan (drums).
1986 version


Robert Porter:
Except for a mock stereo mix of this mono track, this track has only ever been released in mono format. The mock stereo version is created from the true mono mix.
"His recent single, Living Doll, No. 1 for six weeks in Britain's New Musical Express, may soon earn him two coveted Golden Discs."
Norrie Paramor (February 1960 - Cliff Sings No. 1 EP)
"It was his first film Serious Charge, which led to the number destined to put him right at the top. This was Livin' Doll [sic], and earned for Cliff a coveted Golden Disc for selling over a million copies."
Unknown (May 1962 - Hits From The Young Ones EP)
"In September 1959, the boys elected to change their name to The Shadows, owing to confusion between themselves and an American group called The Drifters-- confusion which was sparked off when Cliff's Living Doll was released in the States."
Derek Johnson (June 1963 - liner notes for The Shadows' The Shadows Greatest Hits)
"Cliff's hit record Livin' Doll [sic] consolidated his fame as it attracted a wider audience than he had before because of its ballad quality, rocked up a bit by the then Drifters. It stayed at Number 1 on the UK charts for five weeks, until knocked off the top spot by Craig Douglas with his recording of Only Sixteen. One of Cliff's happiest triumphs at that time was the announcement in the August 15, 1959 issue of the music newspaper Disc, that he had been awarded a Silver Disc for a quarter of a million sales of Livin' Doll. This was the highest award any recording artiste could win in Britain and made Cliff very proud. [...] Just have a listen to both sides of Cliff's first No. 1 hit, Livin' Doll [sic] to hear is versatility. The disc proves he can sing cooler numbers as well as big beat rock and roll. Cliff never thought Livin' Doll would be anything like a hit. It just goes to show that you can't predict in the musical world. Livin' Doll was recorded for the EP of Cliff's first film, Serious Charge. The Shadows thought it was just another ballad but it went on to sell nearly a million and that didn't include the sales of the EP. [...] But Cliff really did arrive with a bang with his first record, Move It. After that came High Class Baby, followed by Steady With You, and then Mean Streak. Next there was Livin' Doll [sic]. All these records featured prominently in the hit parade. [...] It was the hit record Livin' Doll that really established Cliff. Craig Douglas pushed Livin' Doll from its Number 1 position after five weeks, with his recording of Only Sixteen. Cliff was thrilled that another British artiste should be Number One. It was his own idea to send a personal message of congratulations to Craig. Now, Craig Douglas has in his possession a treasured photograph with the words, 'To Craig - I'm glad it was you I had to give No. 1 place to. All the best. Cliff.' Perhaps one of Cliff's happiest triumphs was the announcement in the August 15 1959 issue of DISC that he had been awarded a Silver Disc for a quarter of a million sales of Livin' Doll. That was the highest award any recording artiste could win in Britain then and made Cliff very proud. [...] The quickest record the Shadows did with Cliff was also his most successful, Living Doll. They recorded that in just three takes."
Royston Ellis (1960/1961 - Cliff Richard and The Shadows: A Rock 'n' Roll Memoir [published 2014 as reprint of Driftin' With Cliff Richard (1960) and The Shadows (1961)])
"Cliff gave us Living Doll, written by Lionel Bart, and featured in the film Serious Charge-- in which Cliff made his movie debut in a supporting role. Cliff was adamantly opposed to its release as a single, claiming that it would not sell in large quantities. Yet it reached the No. 1 spot in July, 1959, remained there for six weeks, and subsequently won a Gold Disc for selling over a million copies. The trophy was presented when Cliff appeared in Sunday Night At The London Palladium in November-- one of a string of ATV appearances (including several of his own spectaculars) which he made in 1959/60."
Derek Johnson (July 1963 - liner notes for Cliff's Hit Album)
"There is no going back, you have to go forward in this business, or get out. Living Doll, for instance, was a step which he didn't want to take but, having taken it and met with tremendous success, he then felt sure that he could then go on and do Travelling Light [sic], which was the follow-up. This opened up for him the whole ballad sphere. [...] We could never have sat down and said, 'If we record Living Doll now instead of another wild rocker, it will sweep the country.' As a matter of fact, we hated Living Doll. We said, 'What a diabolical load of rubbish...'"
Ian Samwell (1964 - The Wonderful World of Cliff Richard)
"EMI issue souvenir 'Golden Discs' to all artists who sell one million copies of one number. If all are called, few are chosen. Cliff has four of these庸or Living Doll, Bachelor Boy, The Young Ones and Lucky Lips. They also issue souvenir 'Silver Discs' for sales of 250,000 and over, and Cliff has some seventeen of these, for such numbers as Living Doll, Travelling Light [sic], Voice in the Wilderness [sic], Fall in Love with Me [sic], Please don't Tease, Nine Times out of Ten, I Love You, Theme for a Dream, Girl in your Arms [sic], Looking out the Window [sic], It'll be Me, Lucky Lips, Don't Talk to Him, All in the Game [sic], as well as the four million-sellers."
Bob Ferrier (1964 - The Wonderful World of Cliff Richard)
"The [Serious Charge] film (which concerned a 'serious charge' made by a youth club member against a parson-- it earned an 'X' certificate) and Cliff's share in it, were mainly important for him because of one song, Living Doll. When he first heard it, he did not like it; and it was not improved for him by being accompanied in the film by a group [no Drifters!] engaged by the studios. However, an E.P. record had to be made of the songs from the film, and for this Cliff was able to use the Drifters. At his own suggestion they took it much slower than in the film, and the result was a record that sold over a million copies and topped the hit parade for six weeks. For this, Cliff was awarded one of the coveted 'Golden Discs.' This record marked an important advance in Cliff's career for another reason. it was not a rock 'n roll number. Living Doll was the polished, fairly sophisticated kind of country and Western ballad that was thousand miles beyond the reach of the run-of-the-mill beat soloist. It was the first definitive sign that Cliff might have a career as an entertainer that would survive the numbered days of the rock. [...] Meeting Lionel Bart in Cheshunt, and so being suggested for a role in Serious Charge, was a most timely happening. It represented the first real break out of the rut of the screaming rock 'n' roller for Cliff. Until Serious Charge and its hit song, Living Doll, he was, in his own words, 'strictly for the birds.'"
David Winter (1967 - New Singer, New Song)
"Living Doll was written originally with [a] sort of boogie theme. It sort of went, [imitates rhythm]. And it was horrific. I mean, it was just bad. We did it because it was in a film called Serious Charge. And we recorded it for the film because we were obliged to. We contracted... We'd done some scenes. It wasn't as though we could pull out. And it was really bad. I think it was really bad as a rock 'n' roll song. And we refused to record it. And we got frantic phone calls from Norrie saying, y'know... We were on tour. We've got to do it. We've got contractual things. We have to. We want a record released and that's it. And we sat down and thought, 'Well, what are we going to do with it, 'cause we can't record it in that style. It can't be done.' And Bruce Welch sat there and he strummed the chord in A and just played a kind of country and western riff. Just played rhythm... And said, 'What about doing it at this slower, gentler feel?' And we did it. And as soon as we did it, it felt right for the song. [...] Living Doll stopped me relying upon a kind of beat type thing to have a hit record. It meant a tremendous change really from being the kind of artist, for instance, that young kids came to see. I mean, I was very aware that we did have a-- I mean now, we call it teeny boppers, that's the word so let's just use the same terminology-- it was a teeny bopper audience. And parents didn't go, y'know, we were the sort of hippie cult at the time, I suppose. I mean, we only had Brylcreem hair instead of leather jackets. I had my pink jacket on and a curled upper lip and I had a sour looking face because I had a funny tooth and didn't want to smile. We weren't quit legit, y'know. It wasn't quite the accepted thing to enjoy the music of a pop singer unless you were fifteen and under. Suddenly the mums and dads were interested and the sound appealed to them. So I found, y'know, personally that my audience changed, of course. Changed overnight, really. Suddenly we were aware that the kids were being brought in-- the kids still came but they were being brought in by their mums and dads and their grandparents. And I have to say that the excitement was incredible. We were still on that tour-- Or a tour perhaps a few months later on. And we opened up a Daily Mirror or whatever it was and there it was. It crashed in at #14. And we just couldn't believe it. It just wiped away all the hate for the song. And the public chose the kind of song that they wanted me to sing. It branched me off into a field that I would never have touched on. I mean, a country and western thing would have never have been me. Travellin' Light, in fact, the follow-up was a country and western song and was a #1 hit."
Cliff Richard (1974 - The Music And Life Of Cliff Richard collection)
"Living Doll stopped me relying on a kind of beat type thing to have a hit record."
Cliff Richard (August 1980 - The Cliff Richard Special on 2HCR FM in Australia)
"I'm so glad I was forced (by a clause in a film contract) to record [Living Doll]-- turned out to be my 1st Number 1 and million seller!"
Cliff Richard (1985 - liner notes for From The Heart album)
"We were on tour when we first heard ths song Living Doll, which marked a major turning point in Cliff's career. it was one of the three numbers he had to sing in his forthcoming movie, Serious Charge, and had to record. It had been written by another old hand from the 2i's, Lionel Bart, who had composed a number of songs for Tommy Steele and was currently working on his new movie Tommy The Toreador. He was rapidly emerging as one of Britain's most successful songwriters. He had written the musical Fings Aint Wot They Used To Be, and penned the lyrics (to Laurie Johnson music) for Lock Up Your Daughters. He was not completing a third musical project called Oliver, based on the Charles Dickens novel. Before Cliff was given Living Doll to record, it had been offered to one of Larry Parner's proteges, Duffy Power, who turned it down as being ncommercial, much against the advice of his manager, who realized the song would become a massive hit. Cliff also hated the song in its original form, and thought it was chronic. When we heard it for the first time, we were sitting in the dressing room of the City Hall, Sheffield, and Cliff played us a demonstration record. The arrangement for the demo was terrible. It was up-tempo-- played like a big band number, old-fashioned and square. None of us liked that version at all, but we could see that the song had enormous potential. It was a great number. I listened to it for a while, picked up my guitar and strummed away in a slower, almost country-and-western rhythm, which gave it a much simpler style. It fitted perfectly, and a few weeks later, when Cliff and the Drifters recorded the song, this basic, uncomplicated arrangement was used. Its strength was in its utter simplicity. It was Cliff's fourth single, which he later said he recorded under extreme duress. It came out in July 1959, as a follow-up to the Ian Samwell song Mean Streak. [...] Living Doll gave Cliff Richard his first No. 1 single in Britain when it topped the charts in August for six weeks, and his first million-selling record. It also became his first record to make the breakthrough in America, when it reached No. 3- in November, and ended the year as Britain's biggest selling single of 1959. More than that, Living Doll was the record that broadened Cliff's appeal. It reached out to a different generation. He moved away from rock 'n' roll to ballads, and on to more subtle and gentle material; he moved out of the teenager-only market and widened his scope to attract the mums and dads. THe great British rock 'n' roller had joined the establishment. However the teenagers didn't desert him. [...] The importance of Living Doll to Cliff's career was beyond any doubt, and it also had a crucial influence on British pop music in general. Many of the lightweight tuneful pop ballads of the next few years owed their style and success to that one record, and their domination of the charts remained until the arrival of the Beatles. There were many songs like it, including Cradle Of Love (Johnny Preston), Angela Jones (Michael Cox), Why (Anthony Newley), Venus In Blue Jeans (Mark Wynter), My Kind Of Girl (Matt Munro) and Ginny Come Lately (Brian Hyland). It wasn't a conscious decision on Cliff's part, it just evolved. Tito Burns was shrewed enough to realize as soon as he became Cliff's manager that the singer had to broaden his appeal."
Bruce Welch (1989 - Rock 'n' Roll - I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life)
"I sang a little song called Living Doll in [Serious Charge]. And the song, in fact, was so successful I'm sure that had a great part to play in the fact that the film got seen by quite a few people too."
Cliff Richard (1987 August 13 - interview on 2CH's The 9 O'Clock Special)
"It's funny because I really missed the boat in many ways. In '59 when I released Living Doll, it did actually get to #30 in the States. [...] I never saw my record company the whole six weeks [we were in the States touring in 1960], and that's with my record at #30 in the charts."
Cliff Richard (June 3, 1991 - Cliff Richard - The Interview Australian CD)
"By changing the emphasis from rock'n'roll to pure pop, Cliff achieved two number one singles with Living Doll and Travellin' Light."
Peter Lewry & Nigel Goodall (1994 - liner notes for The Hit List)
"In April [1959], Cliff cut the soundtrack sides for his first feature film Serious Charge but re-recorded a new country version of Living Doll for record release as the version in the film had to bear an authentic rock 'n' roll stamp in keeping with the setting of the movie. [...] Lionel Bart: 'I think Cliff & The Shadows unique rendition of my Living Doll is merely a rung on the ladder towards far bigger things.' (circa September 1959) [...] March 14, 1960: Cliff receives the coveted Carl-Allan Award for the artist who made the most popular record during 1959, for his best-selling Living Doll. [...] August 1961: In Norway, Cliff is presented with a Silver Disc for Living Doll at a concert in Oslo. He becomes the first British artist to win the award, which is made by the Norwegian newspaper Arbeiderbladet and handed to him by DJ Erik Heyerdahl. [...] October 14, 1961: ...[At a tribute show to Cliff celebrating his 21st birthday,] Cliff himself looks back over the previous three years: 'It seems incredible that so much has been crammed into such a short spell. If I was asked to nominate the supreme highlight of my career to date, I expect that I would settle for the day when I received my Gold Disc for Living Doll at the London Palladium. [...] March 13, 1964: Cliff says: '...People judge you be what they hold to be your personal best. People still say I've never made a record as good as Living Doll."
Mike Read, Nigel Goodall & Peter Lewry (1995 - The Complete Chronicle)
"I got my first movie within three months of the start of my career. They wanted an up-and-coming rock 'n' roll singer so I got the job because Move It was a hit and Living Doll was on the soundtrack, although not the version that became a hit single."
Cliff Richard (circa 1995 [published 2008 May] - The Bachelor Boy)
"As performed in the [Serious Charge] movie Living Doll was a fast song in four-four time [and still is]. Cliff was not happy with this version and Norrie Paramor released Livin' Lovin' Doll in an effort to halt its release but it was not popular with the public and only reached number 20. With the demand for a soundtrack EP Cliff re-recorded Living Doll with a country feel. [The Serious Charge EP songs] were recorded in a single 3-hour session (2:30-5:30). Living Doll gave Cliff his first number one and million seller whilst the EP failed to register on the chart."
Author Unknown (August 1996 - liner notes for Cliff Richard At The Movies 1959-1974)
"It was with the smash success of Living Doll in the summer of 1959 that Cliff Richard's career exploded. On this record, as on his previous outings, he was accompanied by the Drifters. [...] ...it was the group's rhythm guitarist Bruch Welch who initially suggested that Living Doll be slowed down from the uptempo piece it had been in the film Serious Charge. [...] ...there is a common misconception that Cliff had no success in the United States until Devil Woman in 1976. Although it is true that the Rocket Records release was his first American Top Tenner, Living Doll did reach the US Top 30."
Paul Gambaccini (1997 - liner notes for The Rock 'n' Roll Years 1958-1963 album)
"Guided by Norrie Paramor and his own commercial instincts, Cliff emerged as a fully-fledged pop star: 'My first Number 1 hit was Living Doll. And it became obvious to me that, although everyone was talking about rock 'n' roll, they weren't buying it by the multi-million at all. I've never been an idiot, even when I was niave, and I knew that we would sell a lot of records if I did this because we were on the cusp, still in variety but in rock 'n' roll as well and we were having to get the mums and dads on our side. Because deep down we knew the mums and dads had the money. Living Doll got me a mum and dad audience. The Young Ones movie moved me very solidly into it.'"
Jon Savage (1997 - liner notes for The Rock 'n' Roll Years 1958-1963 album)
"On July 10, 1959, Living Doll was released and it became Cliff's first Number 1 single."
Bill Sloan (1997 - liner notes for The Rock 'n' Roll Years 1958-1963 album)
"Yes, well [the producers of Serious Charge] were doing a movie and they wanted somebody who was a new pop singer. And I guess they wanted a new pop singer because then they would be very cheap. And I was! I was really cheap. I mean, I was so happy to be asked to be in the movie, I would have done it for nothing. and that's what they paid me. [...] We didn't really like [Living Doll] very much. It's just a song. But we recorded it the way Lionel Bart had written it, which was... [Imitates original beat] And it was a sort of psuedo-rock. It didn't sound like real, American rock 'n' roll to us. And we didn't realize that in the contract, there was some small writing and it said there must be a single. And we said, 'Look, we can't release this record like this.' And one day, while we were on tour, Bruce Welch... Well, look, he was sitting by these two big, stone lions in a place called the Sheffield City Hall. And he was just going... [strums acoustic guitar] And he said, 'Why don't we do it like a country and western song?' And yeah, so we just went... [sings song]."
Cliff Richard (December 26, 1998 - Musikbutikken TV show)
"My first #1 was Living Doll and it felt wonderful."
Cliff Richard (2003 December - Good Morning Sunday)
"Sir Cliff Richard heads the push [to extend the copyright extension], admitting he still sings Livin' Doll [sic] only for the royalties."
Author Unknown (April 20, 2006 - Herald Sun Australia)
"When Sir Cliff, 66, had his first UK Number One with Living Doll in 1959, it would be another 10 years before man walked on the moon."\nStephanie Condron (December 19, 2006 - The Telegraph)
"I was nine years old when I first became aware of Cliff Richard. I can remember hearing Living Doll on the radio-- the 'wireless' as we then called it-- and I have a clear memory of children singing Travellin' Light on the way back home from junior school. [...] One of the songs from Lionel Bart's soundtrack was Living Doll. He had written it one Sunday morning in October 1958 while reading the Sunday Pictorial. 'I was looking at the back pages and there was a small advert for a doll which apparently could do everything,' Bart remembers. 'I wrote the song in ten minutes.' The advert that caught his eye was for a 99/6d 'Darling Doll' which was said to 'kneel, walk, sit and sing'. He linked this idea with the Mills Brothers' wartime hit Paper Doll in which the singer asks for a cut-out paper girl because the others wouldn't steal her, and she would be easier to be with than a 'fickle-minded real live girl'. Bart added his own twist to the tale. [...] As performed for the soundtrack, Living Doll was a fast song in four-four time which Cliff hated singing. Paramor tried to thwart its release as a single by writing a song with a similar title, Livin' Lovin' Doll, which Cliff release in January 1959. But the public was not satisfied with Livin' Lovin' Doll, and it only reached number twenty in the charts. There was demand for a soundtrack EP from the film and so, at the end of April 1959, Cliff re-recorded the songs. 'We told Norrie that we didn't like Living Doll the way it was,' says Cliff. We were at Sheffield City Hall doing a sound check one afternoon [14 February 1959], sitting around and thinking what we could do with the song, when Bruce started strumming his guitar and he said, What about having it as a country song?' [...] The slowed-down version of Living Doll became his most important recording since Move It. It redefined him as a singer, as his first number one and sold almost two million copies. [...] 'It wasn't an out-and-out rocker. But by then I was coming to see that rock wasn't a tempo but a musical culture, and that a song like Living Doll fitted into it,' Cliff says. 'What we were discovering was that rock 'n' roll seemed to be fairly limited as a beaty form of music because the public weren't buying it in the hundreds of thousands. We were the first rock teenagers and ten-year-olds had no money to spend and so in the end records like Living Doll sold because they appealed to parents who had money. [...] To rock 'n' roll die-hards, such as Jack Good, this change of pace was the beginning of the end. Living Doll, he claimed, was his least favourite song ever. Its lyrics were twee and its tune trite. Cliff had backslidden from the true faith of rock 'n' roll. [...] Living Doll was Cliff's third American single and had by [1960] become a minor hit, reaching a high point of number thirty in the Billboard charts. This was a considerable breakthrough at a time when British artists rarely had transatlantic success. His first two American singles, Move It and Livin' Lovin' Doll had flopped dismally."
Steve Turner (2008 January - Cliff Richard - The Biography (revised edition))
"Cliff had already recorded Apron Strings during the live recordings for his first album and he re-recorded the song, which would be relegated to the B-side of Living Doll. Livin' Lovin' Doll, Cliff's third single, was released in an effort to halt the release of the fast version of Living Doll that had featured in the movie Serious Charge and had become a popular and requested choice from the fans as a single."
Nigel Goodall & Peter Lewry (2008 - liner notes for The Early Years album in the ...And They Said It Wouldn't Last! {My 50 Years In Music} set)
"Accompanied by The Shadows, then called The Drifters, Living Doll was slowed down from the Serious Charge up-tempo version that had been featured in the film. With its instant appeal not only to a teenage audience, the single arrived at #1 in the summer of 1959, just three months before his next single Travellin' Light was released and achieve the same success. Both those singles, says Cliff, got him a 'mum and dad' audience."
Nigel Goodall & Peter Lewry (2008 - liner notes for The Hits: Number Ones Around The World album in the ...And They Said It Wouldn't Last! {My 50 Years In Music} set)
"In 1959, Cliff acted in two films-- Serious Charge and Expresso Bongo-- and it was a song written by Lionel Bart for Serious Charge that cemented his success. His three singles after Move It were hits but the impact was lessening. It was a re-recorded version of Living Doll that showed that he could do more than rock 'n' roll."
Steve Turner (2008 May - The Bachelor Boy)
"I wrote three songs that were used in the film-- Mad About You, No Turning Back and Living Doll. When I was a boy there was a song around by The Mills Brothers that I always liked called Paper Doll-- 'I want to buy a paper doll that I can call my own/A doll that other fellows cannot steal/And all those flirty, flirty guys/With their flirty, flirty eyes/Will have to flirt with dollies that are real...' Living Doll had a similar sort of message."
Lionel Bart (2008 May - The Bachelor Boy)
"We did the music for Serious Charge, but then we rearranged it for a Cliff EP. It was pretty ghastly in the film. Living Doll was frantic. We said, 'Cliff, this is junk-- it's rubbish,' and he said, 'I know, but I've got to record it.' We hated it all so much that we completely changed it and out of that came Living Doll, the hit single. It was my decision to slow it down and turn it into a country-and-western type of thing."
Tony Meehan (2008 May - The Bachelor Boy)
"That record [Living Doll] changed his whole career. It made him accessible to a much wider audience. I sort of arranged it because it had been a big band number."
Bruce Welch (2008 May - The Bachelor Boy)
"That [Living Doll] was awful. It is still my least favourite song in the world. It was so twee, especially the lyric. No, actually the whole thing was twee. The tune was trite and the lyrics about locking the girl up in the trunk so that she couldn't be stolen by 'no big hunk'-- what sell out! I had the same feeling about Living Doll that I did about Elvis when he went into the army and appeared on TV with Frank Sinatra singing a Sinatra song. In those days rock 'n' roll was a religion for me, and these people were abandoning the faith."
Jack Good (2008 May - The Bachelor Boy)
"I got the shock of my life when I discovered that the painter David Hockney had made a picture about me. It was called Boy Doll. He did it in his student days. Apparently he was besotted with me and did the picture although I've never met him. It was just this image of a guy and instead of calling it Living Doll, he called it Boy Doll. I find that really strange-- really weird. None of us can control how other people feel."
Cliff Richard (2008 May - The Bachelor Boy)
"Sir Cliff Richard, 70, is one of those who will be affected by the change as the copyright on songs will increase from 50 to 70 years, meaning he will still be able to claim royalties for early hits such as Living Doll which was released in 1959."
Unknown (2011 April 2 - Weekend)
"A film company said, 'We're looking for an up and coming pop star to have, just a little guest appearance in our movie.' And so I was the guy [for Serious Charge]. We recorded Living Doll for this movie. And Living Doll came from Serious Charge."
Cliff Richard (October 2, 2011 - Late Show with Keith Middleton BBC WM)
"In 1959, Richard notched up his first No 1 single-- Living Doll, written by Lionel Bart."
Author Unknown (December 18, 2011 - The Sunday Times)
"After Living Doll, Cliff could see the shape of his future career. [...] [As Cliff told Mojo magazine in 1995], 'Living Doll got me a mum and dad audience. The Young Ones movie got me very solidly into it.'"
Rob Finnis (2012 - Let Me Tell You Baby... It's Called Rock 'n' Roll liner notes)
"Living Doll was in the [US] Top 30."
Cliff Richard (2012 September 8 - Wired For Sound Radio)
"Elvis' first record, Heartbreak Hotel, had a ballad on the back called I Was The One. So, I thought, okay. So when I got a chance to do Living Doll, I did it. And I didn't expect it to be that big, but it became the first big move into picking up an audience that was older than fifteen. Some of the children had their parents bring them to concerts and their parents started to enjoy the concerts as well. [...] Living Doll-- I know for a fact people remember that song because they had a baby and it was their "living doll." Or the guy got engaged and she was his "living doll.""
Cliff Richard (September 9, 2013 - Time Out With Phillip Silverstone)
"Some songs become memories-- definite memories. I don't remember if I told you this, but I had a couple sitting on the front row. When I sung Living Doll, the guy nudged the girl next to him. And I'm thinking, 'Now wait a minute. Was she his living doll? Or was their first child their living doll?' And suddenly you do think like that. And to me, one day, people have a fantastic memory that will always means something special to them, and all because of one song."
Cliff Richard (June 29, 2014 - Time Out With Phillip Silverstone)
"Living Doll was really, in a way, an accident. Very early in my career, within three or four months, I'd been offered a small tiny role in a black-and-white movie called Serious Charge. They wanted me to sing some stuff. I think I recorded three songs, and The Shadows � then still known as The Drifters � did a couple of instrumentals. One of the songs I did for the film was Living Doll, which was written by the famous writer Lionel Bart, who wrote some big musicals. We didn't like it because it was very English; it was pseudo-rock to us. We didn't read the small print on the contract, and the company came back and said, 'We want this to be a single, and we have the right for it as a single.' And I'm thinking, 'Oh, no!' Add then, of course, Bruce Welch of The Shadows said, 'Look, OK, we don't like it like this, but what about if we just strum and do it like a gentle country song?' (Sings) 'I've got myself a cryin', talkin', sleepin', walkin', living doll...' He strummed and I sang, and Hank played a bit and that's the way it happened. We didn't expect anything of it, because it hadn't changed our minds about the song at that stage. When I look back now, it was inevitable that Living Doll would be a hit the way it was � and it was. I remember seeing it come in on the charts at something quite low, and then it crept up the charts and went to No. 1 and stayed there for about six weeks. So that was a very, very happy accident. [...] I was so shocked when, during that period [the 1960 tour of America], I didn't see my record company. I was singing Living Doll, and no one from my label came to see me perform. [...] I came to America eight or nine times, and each time I left, I had a record in the Top 30. Living Doll made Top 30 in the States; We Don't Talk Anymore, Devil Woman, Suddenly with Olivia [Newton-John], Dreamin' and Daddy's Home were all hits."
Cliff Richard (2015 January 15 - Goldmine)
"Sir Cliff痴 greatest hits include chart-toppers such as The Young Ones, Living Doll, Summer Holiday, We Don稚 Talk Anymore and 1988 Christmas number one Mistletoe And Wine."
Unknown (October 10, 2015 - The Oxford Times)
"Here痴 a fun fact you mightn稚 know: Lionel Bart, the man who wrote the book, lyrics and music for the popular musical Oliver! also penned Cliff Richard痴 Living Doll and a Bond theme. The songwriter has one of the most unusual and chequered careers of any 20th century writer, made up of hits and devastating flops. [...] Living Doll: A pop hit Lionel wrote for Cliff Richard and the Shadows to perform in a film called Serious Charge. One of the lyrics goes like this: 'I知 going to lock her up in a trunk / So no big hunk / Can steal her away from me.' That kind of activity would probably lead to a serious charge today. It shows Lionel wasn稚 way out in front in terms of feminist theory."
Phil Scott (January 21, 2016 - Daily Review)
Running Time: 2:35
Record Date: April 28, 1959
Record Location: Abbey Road, London
Written By: Lionel Bart
Produced By: Norrie Paramor
Engineered By: Malcolm Addey
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Hank Marvin (guitar), Bruce Welch (guitar), Jet Harris (bass), Tony Meehan (drums)

 

We have covered "APRON STRINGS" before, as part of the "CLIFF" live album. (See pages 245 and 246 of this thread.) I post it one more time, just beacuse I like it. Great song!

 

I almost forgot - this is what the A-side sounded like in the movie. Glad they changed the arrangement just a little bit.

 

There appeared to be quite a few areas which were completely empty leading up to the 'behind the scenes film' which was shown in the cinema before the concert started. This film lasted approximately 15-20 mins, so I suppose it's possible these seats were filled while we were watching it. I hope so anyway, Cliff deserves it and your phone call appears to indicate this was the case. Thanks for the correction.

 

Great to hear Living Doll as it appeared in the movie - I've never heard that before. What a massive improvement the single was.

Thanks also for continuing to up-date this thread. Apart from being one of the most rewarding articles I have found on the internet, it has led me to completely re-appraise his career. Your effort has been extraordinary and your welcoming of the other people's opinions and general good humour throughout is so refreshing (as with everyone else who has contributed), it has made it a real pleasure to follow every page.

Terrific work indeed.

 

Thank you very much for your kind words. I think we´re a pretty mild bunch here on this thread - there haven´t been any altercations bewteen us. We may disagree about the relative merits of certain Cliff songs, but that´s healthy. We respect each other´s point of view, and I love sharing stuff with people on this thread. You get so much back.

And if you have gained more respect for Cliff´s career through our musings here, that´s great! I present the songs and the albums, but the discussion between the various members afterwards is the most interesting part of the experience. Especially when we disagree about things. And to repeat what I have mentioned before - my main motivation for starting this thread was to show people that there´s more to Cliff than the hits. He is not an artist who is taken all that seriously, and I do see why. But I do love his voice, and when it´s used correctly, he can pull off some magical moments. For me that mostly happened between 1976 and 1982, with an honourable mention of the 1966-1973 period, but there are good songs throughout his career. (And, sadly, quite a lot of less interesting ones. And some of the least interesting ones became big hits.)

Anyway, welcome to our little corner of cyberspace, and I hope you disocver more songs that are to your liking. Also, thank you for your own contributions to this thread - I enjoyed reading them.

Again, thank you for your very kind words. We aim to please.

Edit: I forgot to respond to your response to the original version of "LIVING DOLL". Yes, I definitely agree - the film version would not have reached No. 1 - it wasn´t a real rocker, and worked a lot better as a country ballad. Once again, Bruce Welch had a good idea.

 

By the way, I just thought about something. I know something about what Anthony listens to apart from Cliff, and I do get a hint now and then about what kind of music you all like. (For instance, a little bird tells me that @Bobby Morrow , who used to be a regular 0n this thread, and may pop in every once in a while with his informative and humorous comments, may enjoy Olivia Newton-John´s recordings. He´s never said anything about it, retiring creature that he is, but I can take a hint... )

So, my question to you thread-dwellers is: What other artists do you listen to?

I tend to like singer-songwriters, and I like many artists from many genres. Here are some of them:

ABBA
Joan Armatrading
Janis Ian
Carly Simon
Nick Drake
Carole King
Paul Simon
Sally Oldfield
Van Morrison
The Police / Sting
Yes
Deep Purple
Electric Light Orchestra
Olivia Newton-John (Of course!)
Simon & Garfunkel
The Tarney/Spencer Band
Bing Crosby
Boney M.
Mott the Hoople / Ian Hunter
David Bowie
Jon English (Not Johnny... )
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Neil Sedaka
Blondie
Bob Dylan
Leonard Cohen
The Alan Parsons Project
Pink Floyd
The Kinks
Gordon Lightfoot
John Denver
Nina Simone
Tim & Jeff Buckley
John Coltrane
James Taylor
Dr. John...

I think it would be easier to write down what I don´t like. (Which tends to be heavy metal and Scandinavian dance bands... Like Vikingarna.) I tend to go for pop artists rather than rock ones, and singer-songwriters are heavily represented. Leonard Cohen, Sally Oldfield, John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot, Carly Simon, Joan Armatrading, Nick Drake etc... Now, that´s what I like!

 

What else is there time to listen to after Cliff and his 103 albums! (Well, I make it 51 studio albums including 'Rise Up').
These are some of the artists for whom I own their full studio discography (if they've made more than 5 albums anyway). If I've got a band member's full solo discography too, that's added alongside. Main favourite artists highlighted.
A-ha/Morten Harket
Aztec Camera/Roddy Frame
Beatles/George Harrison/Paul McCartney/John Lennon
David Bowie
Blur/Damon Albarn/Graham Coxon
Del Amitri/Justin Currie
Chris DeBurgh
John Denver
Bob Dylan
Everly Brothers/Don Everly/Phil Everly
Billy Fury
Green Day
Hollies/Allan Clarke/Graham Nash
Kinks/Ray Davies/Dave Davies
Oasis/Noel Gallagher/Liam Gallagher
Mike Oldfield
Roy Orbison
Pet Shop Boys
Tom Petty
Pulp
Cliff Richard
Rolling Stones
Suede/Brett Anderson
Shadows/Hank Marvin
Searchers
Stereophonics
Simon & Garfunkel/Paul Simon/Art Garfunkel
Walker Brothers/Scott Walker

I expect I will have missed some others!

 

I think the main ones I listen to the most are:
Bob Dylan
Van Morrison
Neil Young
Elvis Costello
Paul Simon
Richard Thompson
Tom Waits
Lou Reed
Bruce Springsteen
Paul Weller
The Beatles
The Rolling Stones

So mainly singer/songwriter toes too. The one big exception to the list is Frank Sinatra who I probably listen to more than anyone except Dylan.
No doubt I'll have missed some names off that list.

 

Thanks for responding to my question. I realise I left a lot of artists I do listen to off my list. I like most of the artists you two mention, and I listen to most of them. Not overly fond of Oasis, but it´s nice to see proof that you can have an eclectic, good taste in music - and still enjoy Cliff as well. Warms my heart.

And nice to see the Norwegian band a-ha get a thumbs up. (Hmm... Sounds dirty.) I especially like their second album, "SCOUNDREL DAYS", and the title track of their third album, "STAY ON THESE ROADS". And those albums may feature some of Alan Tarney´s best production work. (In addition to his work for Cliff and Leo Sayer´s "ORCHARD ROAD", which I think is a great song and a great recording.)

 

RISE UP does not seem to be in the top 100 of the 'chart update' for sales over the weekend. Looks like it'll miss the official chart completely on Friday if this is anything to go by.

 

Oops... This sounds ominous. I hope the single goes at least Top 40, but this doesn´t look promising. Thanks for keeping us up to date, Anthony.

 

I even own Morten Harket's two Norwegian language albums ('Poetenes Evangelium' and 'Vogts Villa') Sadly I have no idea what he's going on about!

 

I doubt you would understand much more if you knew the language... He, he. This isn´t a dig at you, but his lyrics aren´t always easy to understand. Perhaps there´s not much to them. He is seen as quite prentious here in Norway. Charming, but pretentious. I don´t know whether that´s correct or not. I can translate the titles, at least - the first one is "THE GOSPEL OF THE POET", and the ssecond one is "VOGT´S MANSION". (Where Vogt is someone´s surname, but you got that, I´m sure.) Morten Harket´s voice is great, and some of his solo songs are great - I can´t remember the title of his best song - IMO, of course - but on that one he sounds like Edwyn Collins, who sang "A GIRL LIKE YOU" - definitely not the Cliff song! - and was a member of Orange Juice. I think he´s a Scot.

If you want to, I´ll translate the lyrics for you. It´ll give me something worthwhile to do.

 

Cliff's backing band's name got changed due to threatened legal action by George Treadwell, manager of the American R&B group The Drifters. It was thus something of an irony when, from 1961 to 1963 or '64, Shadows' releases were issued in the U.S. on the same label for which The Drifters recorded for some two decades (well into the early '70's) - Atlantic.