Glad to hear that someone else had evidence about this. I think I heard it on a Radio Luxembourg special with Cliff in conjunction with the album release. I had access to the extremely weak signal from Radio Luxembourg, and listened to it quite a lot in 1981 and 1982. I was lucky enough to hear this broadcast, and even to record it on a cassette. That I no longer have... I loved the "Wired For Sound" album when I got it for Christmas in 1981. I still like it, but it has faded just a tad, and the previous albums, 1976 to 1980, seem stronger to me now. The songs are mostly good on "Wired For Sound", some even excellent, and the production work is among Alan Tarney´s warmest. When I wrote about the single of the title track in the old Cliff thread, I was a bit fed up with hearing it performed in just about every Cliff concert. I admitted that it was a great song, but... Not a favourite back then. It has now regained its rightful place among the great Cliff singles of the early 80s for me. It´s a classic.
From The Beat's April 2011 issue, this is about the Tepper/Bennett songwriting partnership. Cliff gets a decent mention. Songwriting Heroes Ask about American songwriting duos of the 50s and early 60s and the chances are that the names suggested will be Pomus & Shuman or Leiber & Stoller or perhaps Goffin & King. Not too many people will think of Tepper & Bennett, although they were prolific and successful in their day. Born within a couple of months of each other in the summer of 1918, Sid Tepper and Roy C. Bennett grew up as neigbours in Brooklyn. In Roy’s telling, they wrote their first song together at the age of 11, but didn’t write seriously until after World War II. Their first success, Red Roses for a Blue Lady, came as early as 1949, and it was a big one with hit versions from both Vaughn Monroe and Guy Lombardo. Thanks to its recurring popularity over the years, Roy has described it as the song that “helped put my children through college.” As the 50s unfolded, Tepper-Bennett songs continued to make the grade. There was The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane (Dean Martin and the Ames Brothers), Twenty Tiny Fingers (the Stargazers and Alma Cogan), Kewpie Doll (Perry Como and Frankie Vaughan), and Stairway of Love (Marty Robbins, Michael Holliday and Terry Dene). Given their ages and propensity for writing ballads and novelties, the arrival of rock ‘n’ roll might have put them on the endangered list. But they survived and prospered, a feat in some significant measure attributable to musical relationships with Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard. All told, Elvis recorded more than 40 of their songs, many of them specially written with his movies in mind. Blue Hawaii, the most successful Elvis album during his lifetime, contained no fewer than five Tepper-Bennett compositions. Their first Elvis outing came in 1957, courtesy of Lonesome Cowboy from Loving You. The following year’s King Creole gave them another credit, this time via New Orleans – a song that Roy describes as his favourite Elvis recording of theirs. When Elvis made his first post-army movie in 1960, Tepper-Bennett’s G.I. Blues snagged the title song spot. And Angel struck an effective note in 1962’s Follow That Dream, with many more compositions featuring in the likes of Fun in Acapulco, It Happened at the World’s Fair and Girls, Girls, Girls! Although many people consider Elvis’ movie songs to have been generally mediocre, Roy understandably demurs. From his perspective, the songs were “written for specific spots in the movies and the topics were therefore limited to particular situations and locales.” Put another way, when they wrote for Elvis movies, Tepper & Bennett were musical craftsmen writing to order. Quizzed about the fact that Elvis insisted on a percentage of the publishing, Roy seems mildly perturbed, considering it “unfair” and “small-time” but attributing the practice to Colonel Parker rather than Elvis. In any event, he’s philosophical, noting the prevailing view “that it was better to earn two-thirds of something rather than one hundred percent of nothing.” On the issue of whether Elvis’ renderings were true to their conceptions, Roy’s view is that he generally “sang our songs the way we envisioned them, closely following our demos.” Of the occasions where he wandered, Roy approves of one – the conversion of the syllable “An” from one note to two on Angel. Cliff’s Tepper-Bennett association began with the 1959 recording of Travellin’ Light. Over the next seven years, he did 14 more. According to Steve Turner, Travellin’ Light was a reject from King Creole. Asked about it years later, Roy evinced no awareness of an Elvis connection, but did note that the song wasn’t specifically written for Cliff and their demo was done at a much faster tempo than Cliff’s recording. Whatever its genesis, the enormous success of Travellin’ Light clearly opened another profitable door. Many of the songs that availed themselves of the opening were B-sides and album tracks, but The Young Ones movie produced two Tepper-Bennett blockbusters. The first to come to market was the ballad When the Girl in Your Arms, a song that had been submitted to Cliff independently of the movie. When it hit the UK charts in the autumn of 1961, Connie Francis promptly did a US cover, much to the chagrin of Cliff’s management who had hoped it would pry open America for him. But the biggest smash was the title song, specifically commissioned for the film. The Tepper-Bennett modus operandi was to start with a title and work from there, so when a song called The Young Ones was requested, they turned it around in 48 hours. Asked in a 2003 interview whether, in hindsight, he considered The Young Ones to have been “almost a ‘message’ song,” Roy refused to invest it with any such pretensions. His answer was simple: “We wrote a love song titled The Young Ones, period.” Perhaps because they were based in New York City rather than Los Angeles or Nashville, Tepper & Bennett never met Elvis. But they did eventually meet Cliff, albeit separately. Roy was up first, by virtue of Mike Read flying him to the UK as the surprise guest at Cliff’s December 2002 Tennis Classic in Birmingham. The idea had been to bring both of them over but Sid couldn’t make it. So at 84 years of age, and before an audience of 10,000, a hale and hearty Roy joined Cliff on stage for a post-tennis duet of The Young Ones. But always the business professional, he also took the opportunity to pitch some material! Almost six years later, Cliff was a guest at Sid’s 90th birthday party in Florida. Not to be outdone by Roy’s performance in Birmingham, they also sang together. As Cliff recounted it: “How could Sid possibly remember the lyrics to The Young Ones and Travellin’ Light? Well, he not only knew the words but sang in tune too!” The Tepper-Bennett collaboration came to an end when a 70s heart attack caused Sid to retire from writing. Still, with around 300 published songs, they had surely made their mark. A native of Ireland, Pat Murphy now lives in Canada .
I'd tend to agree, 'Me and My Shadows' in first place, followed by 'Finders Keepers'. I'll have to put my mind to the placing of the others...
Last night I tried out the budget release of "Wired For Sound". The LP was warm and very much alive - I was always a bit disappointed by the CD versions of the album. I tried to listen with an open mind. Mostly great songs, wonderfully arranged and produced. Check. Great vocals from Cliff and good backing vocals from Cliff & Alan Tarney. Check. All it takes to produce a great album. The songs flew by, but the sound was not good. I remember the remastered version was a bit more energetic than this, but the songs sounded very "grey" and unremarkable on this CD. Exceptions were "Wired For Sound" and "Summer Rain", both of which sounds great no matter what. I haven´t heard the remaster in a while, but I must say that I can´t really recommend the original CD. It´s a pity that such a strong album really haven´t found a better-sounding release. I don´t expect audiophile releases of Cliff´salbums, but they could have done better than this. Just my impression.
This was very interesting. When I wrote about their songs on the older Cliff thread, I was not able to find out much about these two dependable songwriters. I was not even aware that Cliff had ever met them! Thanks for posting.
You do that, Anthony. I tend to overlook this part of Cliff´s career, but there were some solid releases. Not all of them were "Cliff Sings". Thankfully.
I know what you mean. Sadly, with the way physical formats are going, we’ll be lucky to see new Cliff CD reissues in our lifetime!
I fear you are right. Probably won´t happen. Neiher physical media nor Cliff himself is flavour of the decade... We do have the great first release of "Now You See Me, Now You Don´t" and Steve Hoffman´s compilation, which sounds great. "40 Golden Greats" not too shabby, either. Several of the other CDs are OK. But "Wired For Sound" sounds lifeless compared to the vinyl album. and, like you, am not that fond of vinyl. A new one can sound fantastic, but... Apart from the nostalgia, it´s not for me.
The thing with Cliff is that he has such a huge catalogue, I can’t see them all getting reissued again. I have both CDs of Wired For Sound. Neither are great. The remaster probably has the edge. Same with I’m No Hero.
True. 60 years´ worth. And a bit more. Understandable that they won´t do the lot. The "old" "I´m No Hero" is not too bad, but both albums gain something by the extra energy the loudness gives. Hard as that sentence was to write...
From the June 2011 issue of The Beat, this article is about Alan Tarney. Of course, Cliff features. A Reclusive Talent Alan Tarney is a long way from being a household name. Indeed, it’s not a big stretch to describe him as a reclusive talent. Still, 30 years ago he was one of the hottest songwriters and producers – and a first-rate musician to boot. Even among those familiar with him, some may be surprised to discover that Alan is English rather than Australian. But if his Wikipedia entry can be relied on, he was born in November 1945 in Workington, in what was then the county of Cumberland. However, it was as a young man living in Adelaide, Australia, that Alan first came into the music business. The time was the mid-60s, the group was called The James Taylor Move and they were good enough to get a record deal with Festival. But after a couple of singles, the group split up. By 1969, Alan and drummer Trevor Spencer were in the UK where they formed a band called Quartet with Kevin Peek and Terry Britten. Although a couple of singles were released on Decca, Quartet didn’t make it commercially so the members gravitated into the world of musicians who played recording sessions and live back-up for others. Whether by coincidence or design, much of this work had an Australian connection, a big chunk of it through Sydney-born Peter Gormley who at the time managed Cliff Richard, the Shadows and Olivia Newton John. Alan played bass guitar in Cliff’s live band through the first-half of the 70s, touring not only the length and breadth of the UK but also venturing as far afield as Japan. There were also stage gigs with the Shadows and Olivia. In the mid-70s, there was another stab at first-person stardom, courtesy of the Tarney-Spencer Band. But it came to naught despite a couple of well regarded albums – 1978’s Three’s a Crowd and 1979’s Run For Your Life. Major professional success first came as a writer, although it took a while. In 1972, Living in Harmony had scored the Tarney-Spencer team a modest hit as a Cliff A-side, and occasional B-sides or album tracks followed over the next five or six years. Then Alan’s ship came in with 1979’s We Don’t Talk Anymore. Legend has it that he wasn’t keen on giving the song to Cliff – preferring instead to hold it back for the Tarney-Spencer Band – but Bruce Welch prevailed upon him and placed it via Peter Gormley. The rest is pop music history. We Don’t Talk Anymore became a monster international hit and the biggest seller of Cliff’s career. In many ways, it was a Tarney tour-de-force. In addition to writing the song, he played the guitar and keyboard parts, sang backing vocals and did the mix. Indeed, in an interview with Steve Turner, he considered it to be a “debatable point as to who really produced that single.” As he put it, “There’s a book that includes a photo of the tape box, and if you look at it, you can see that Bruce asked the engineer to cross my name off and put his name on as producer.” Whatever the ins and outs, We Don’t Talk Anymore’s success provided Alan with the entrée to produce Cliff’s next two albums – I’m No Hero and Wired for Sound. Unsurprisingly, they were both stuffed with Tarney compositions. On I’m No Hero, eight of the songs were written or co-written by him, as were six on Wired for Sound. And some of them turned out to be durable Cliff classics, including Dreamin’, A Little in Love and Wired for Sound itself. But working with Cliff wasn’t the only thing happening. In early 1980, Alan successfully produced The Barbara Dickson Album, on which he had five composing credits, one being the hit single January February. And there was also his production work with Leo Sayer, specifically, 1980’s Living in a Fantasy. That one had nine Tarney writing credits. The extent to which Alan put his personal stamp on these projects was neatly encapsulated by the September 1980 tongue-in-cheek comment of a journalist. While writing favourably about Living in a Fantasy and I’m No Hero, a reviewer for one of the Sunday papers complimented Alan on the quality of his “guest vocalists.” As the decade progressed, there were collaborations with the likes of David Cassidy and the Norwegian group A-Ha. In Cassidy’s case, Alan’s production magic ended a 10 year chart drought with The Last Kiss. And the related album, Romance, featured no fewer than nine Tarney credits. With A-Ha, the seminal contribution was a production rework of their first single Take On Me. While Tony Mansfield’s initial version didn’t quite hit the mark, Alan’s was a major international hit, leading to a close association for the next several years. Although Cliff had moved on to other production arrangements after Wired for Sound, by the mid-80s he was ready to reprise the professional relationship. You might even say that he was in need of the special Tarney spark. The two albums that followed – Always Guaranteed and Stronger – were both very successful. Indeed, if compilations and film soundtracks are set aside, Always Guaranteed is Cliff’s biggest selling album ever. But in Alan’s mind, they were a mixed bag. And it all came down to a matter of control. Whereas Alan was very much in charge on Always Guaranteed, Cliff insisted on importing other (non-Tarney) songs to Stronger. In Alan’s telling, this made it “one of those hodgepodge albums again.” It’s something that injects a bit of an edge into his perspective. On the one hand, he is fulsome in his praise of Cliff’s voice and ability to work effectively in the recording studio. But he also observes that it “goes in cycles,” with Cliff resenting producers who have “too much control.” And his bottom line is this: “We set a precedent with Always Guaranteed which we should have built on, but for some reason Cliff undermined it.” Creative differences notwithstanding, the two men collaborated again on 2001’s Wanted. This time, the starting concept was for a 50/50 split between covers of well known songs and Tarney originals. But it didn’t work out that way. The final product had only two new Tarney-written pieces with one more tucked away on a B-side. As for commercial reaction, the album was just a moderate hit. Although sales were certainly very respectable, they were a relatively pale shadow of the glory days. While an obvious way to sample Alan’s talents is through some of the hit albums he produced for others, a listen to the Tarney-Spencer Band itself wouldn’t go amiss. And thanks to the Swedish label STIM’s reissue of the estimable Run For Your Life, that’s now possible. So check it out and then put on I’m No Hero. Taking nothing away from Cliff’s musical abilities and pop instincts, that little experiment will clearly underline just how important Alan Tarney was to the Cliff sound of the early 80s. A native of Ireland, Pat Murphy now lives in Canada.
Thanks for posting this, Strongbow! Alan Tarney has always been an elusive character, and this is the first time I have seen so many tidbits of information about him gathered in one place. Some of them I knew, some were new to me. I have to agree with him about the "hodgepodge" albums. "The Rock Connection", anyway? And I know he wasn´t referring to that one, but still... All very interesting stuff. Especially when he dares to be critical of Cliff. Not many do. And if you want more information about Alan Tarney, get this version of Leo Sayer´s 1981 album "Living In A Fantasy": Leo Sayer - Living In A Fantasy . It includes an almost 20 minutes long audio session with Leo and Alan, talking about their approach to music - and you get a few stories about Cliff. Alan sounds like a modest, self-effacing man, with a sense of humour. Recommended for those who are interested. Again, thanks!
My next review: Good News - October 1967 Good News – 6 It’s No Secret – 5 We Shall Be Changed – 6 23rd Psalm – 8 Go Where I Send Thee – 7 What A Friend We Have in Jesus – 5 All Glory, Laud and Honour – 3 Just A Closer Walk With Thee – 3 The King Of Love My Shepherd Is – 4 Mary What You Gonna Name That Pretty Little Baby – 6 When I Survey The Wondrous Cross – 3 Take My Hand Precious Lord – 4 Get On Board Little Children – 7 May The Good Lord Bless You And Keep You – 5 This is a puzzling album, consisting of gospel/religious country songs and straight hymns. I liked the gospel songs, which are upbeat, with good use of call and response between Cliff and the backing singers and generally very committed performances. These numbers show just how good Cliff is at this style of music. I particularly liked “Go Where I Send Thee”, where the call-response is very effective, and “Get On Board Little Children” which is sung with great abandon and sounds so modern to my ears it could be 1970s gospel/funk. My favourite of the country style numbers was “It’s No Secret”, a Jim Reeves style track that is well sung but let down slightly by intrusive backing vocals. The same applies to “May The Lord Bless You and Keep You”. “Take My Hand Precious Lord” promised much with a mellow double bass and stripped-down arrangement but was marred by intrusive backing again. “Just A Closer Walk With Thee” is perhaps the worst offender. The backing vocals seem to me so overdone that the performance sounds like a parody. This isn’t meant to be a criticism of the singers. When used as a choir in the hymns they do a good job. However, it is the inclusion of “straight” hymns that I find most problematic. The great processional “All Glory, Laud and Honour” is a favourite hymn of mine. The performance is classically styled and very straight. It’s not objectionable but I have to question why it was included at all. Likewise, “When I Survey The Wondrous Cross” is a favourite although I question the reason for including it. Plus, the arrangement is so saccharine it almost feels like a parody again. This is not to say that none of the hymns are enjoyable. “What A Friend We Have In Jesus” has a nice string arrangement and heartfelt singing from Cliff. He takes care to craft the lines - witness the crescendo on the word “care”. Singing craft is also evident in my favourite track, the “23rd Psalm”. Yes, I know it’s another “straight” hymn, but it’s hard to mess the 23rd Psalm up and Cliff’s version is rather affecting. After a slightly bumpy start, Cliff brings out the meaning of the words and carefully styles his vocal line again – joining the second and third lines “He maketh me down to lie in pastures green” without taking a breath in between, and the same in verse 2 with “and me to walk doth make within the paths of righteousness”. Even the backing singers are well used, for a change, as a choir, with harmonies that could be straight out of “Hymns Ancient and Modern”. I didn’t find “Good News” a bad album, though I rate it near the bottom of the 50s/60s so far. You could make a good LP side out of the gospel/country numbers and there are some standouts I would definitely listen to again. Also, the sound is so good you could almost spin it just for that. I just find it strange that Cliff (and EMI) recorded this album. I know religion is his passion, and he generally sounds very committed here. But it conflicts with his other great passion – making hit records. The album probably narrowed his appeal, and indeed at no. 37 it recorded his lowest chart position to date. This didn’t really recover much until 1974.
Good News Yes, although I got this back in the day, I never much cottoned to it. There's nothing wrong with Cliff's singing or his level of engagement but the backing vocals give it a screechy effect that puts me off. I can't remember the last time I played it. While the religious theme isn't a problem for me -- for instance, I really like Small Corners -- I suspect it put a fair number of people off. As to why EMI did it, I imagine it was to placate Cliff. He was publicly musing about retiring in order to become a religion teacher and they were undoubtedly looking for a way to persuade him otherwise. He was still a commercially valuable property to them.
Interesting review. I too haven’t played the album for ages, it’s ok. Maybe I will give it another spin. Guess Cliff done it as he wanted to do a religious album having recently becoming a Christian. I think he was in a no win situation, criticised for doing a gospel album and criticised for the choice of songs. I do love the “Small Corners” though.
I do hope that if there is a planned album release that it isn’t another hybrid album by which I mean 1/2 dozen new recordings tacked on to 1/2 dozen from the back catalog such as Two’s Company, Love … The Album and Music … The Air That I Breathe. At this stage of his career we have to be grateful for whatever Cliff and the label come up with but ……..
I couldn´t agree more. Give us the Everly Brothers album or anything "whole" - not another themed album like those above, or any of the hybrids. (And, I hope, not the threatened Elaine Page collaboration. As I have mentioned before, I respect the lady, but I have little interest in a project that certainly would rely on old, previously covered material.) But, as you make clear, another Cliff album will once again be more than we have any right to expect. Bring it on, Cliff! A country album, a reggae album, a folk album... We´ll take anything!
Colin, Agree with you on that, but will still buy anything with new recordings. And if it's a hybrid, there are some back catalog items that've never appeared on a Cliff album per se -- such as All That Matters, Only You (with Sarah Brightman), and Hurting Each Other (with Carla Williams). Fingers crossed ...
