Not too much disagreement then I'd guess we'd agree that rhyming Heart User with Barracuda is particularly poor.
He, he... I wouldn´t do it in one of my lyrics! (Meaning: I am not that clever... ) I also think that the theme of the song - now, that´s a grandiose word! - is a tad unoriginal. How many lyrics along those lines are there? But I do love the guitar motif in the intro - very classy. The production is a bit too soft for my liking, but it has the building elements for a great song. A harder edge to the production, a more interesting subject... It could have been a classic, instead of an above average album track and a rather forgettable single A-side. (Having said that... The next time I make a CD-R compilation covering the 80s, I´ll be sure to use it. Both it and "Shooting From the Heart" are pleasant enough songs - but not interesting enough to chart very high. I remember jumping on the real-time part of my fanhood of Cliff´s albums in 1979 - the first album I bought when it was a hit was my treasured "ROCK´N´ROLL JUVENILE". I watched him go from strength to strength. I only realised this was no necessarily a given, as 1983 drew to a close, and 1984 gave us two single not even hitting the Top 40. Worse was to come, but his second comeback lay in tatters. For a while. That´s what was so great about being a Cliff Richard fan back in those days: His singles and/or albums could flop, but there was always another chance a month or so later.
You may not be interested, but I'm sort of leading a thread discussion on The Hollies two albums with former Cliff backing vocalist Peter Howarth as lead singer. Obviously I'm trying to go through in the manner and detail you did with the Cliff one . This one will only take a month to go through though! It's tagged on at the end of a longer thread of The Hollies: Head Out Of Dreams' thread. I'd value your opinions on the tracks if you have time to waste.
I am honoured that you would ask me. And I have lots of time to waste this week, so I´ll give it a gander. I had no idea Peter Howarth ever functioned as a lead singer for The Hollies. Goes to show that I don´t give them enough attention. I know they have recorded several songs shared with Cliff over their career, and that Alan Tarney produced one of their albums. (I know The Hollies recorded "Reunion of the Heart" - you told me, and I discovered I had the album in my collection - and "It´s In Every One of Us".
I don't think they've had dealings with Alan Tarney. Perhaps they should have. Peter Howarth was been The Hollies lead singer since 2005, replacing former The Move singer Carl Wayne, who sadly suddenly died. He himself had replaced 'proper' Hollies lead singer Allan Clarke in 1999 following his retirement.
I have read through most of the latter part of The Hollies thread. I have to admit that I am not that much of a fan of theirs - I do have the three big multidisc compilations, and I know and like a lot of their songs, but I know very little about them. I found the posts I read very informative, and I listened to many of the new recordings, before Peter Howarth started in the band, and the ones after he took over. The most interesting part was a parallel to Cliff´s career after 2000. There were some really good songs there, but many of them sounded just like Cliff´s sometimes overdone arrangements. Some of the songs drowned in synths and programmed sound - just like Cliff´s did. Some of them got the balance right, and they sounded younger than I expected.
Well... Yes and no. The 1983 album "WHAT GOES AROUND" had one song written by Alan Tarney and some of his cronies - Tom Snow, Trevor Spencer. The song was "Something Ain´t Right". (Paul Bliss also wrote some songs - together or with other British composers.) He also played bass, guitar and keyboards, and he is listed as having done some of the programming. That might have been on just his own song - I don´t know. And naturally, his contributions were what made me pay through the nose for that Hollies album - only to find that the whole of ti was included on one of those compilations. Will I ever learn? Not likely. He did not produce the album, as I thought he did. He did, however, steal the idea of covering "Stop! In the Name of Love" for his next project producing Barbara Dickson. That´s probably where my misunderstanding arose.
I try as best as possible to forget the WHAT GOES AROUND album. What a wasted opportunity of a reunion album!
He, he... I played it once, and I can´t say I connected to it. Now I see why. Tom Snow, Stephen Kipner... I thought some of them were British, but it seemed that of all the composers, only Alan Tarney and Mike Batt could be called that. (Trevor Spencer is Australian, so that´s pushing it a bit.) All people who wrote hits for Olivia, just not the ones I liked the most. Paul Bliss wrote a song for Barbara Dickson that I actually grew to love quite a bit.
I'd also forgotten, Bruce Welch was enlisted to give them the 'hit factor' again back in 1980. It didn't work well! Not long after two key members of the group left (after Welch refused to use The Hollies long-term bass player as being too old fashioned - bringing in The Shadows Alan Jones for the recording), and the one song they attempted was never released.
I love that acoustic cover of "Carrie". I would love to have Cliff´s voice in there, but I love it. I may end up buying their two albums... I am hopeless.
I expect they are no longer talking. Bruce Welch is genial enough, and an excellent musician, producer, songwriter and all ´round good egg, but he seems to be a little thin-skinned. I read his autobiography, and he came across as a very nice guy. But a little bit on the sensitive side, and not someone who forgives and forgets easily. But then, neither am I, I suppose. I just don´t have reporters writing about everything I do.
Nooo, control yourself! Isn't there only one Frontm3n album? It's a quite expensive double album as I recall.
I have put them on my wantlist on Discogs. One was pretty cheap, so I expect I´ll get that. The expensive one I think I´ll leave - £45, if I remember correctly, for a live CD + DVD. I liked their blend of Cliff and 10cc, but that´s a bit too much. I am not made of money. I mean, we are teachers... Right?
You think rightly, methinks. "Some People" is not much of a song, and I think it only works in its studio incarnation. It´s fluff, or a souffle.
Terrific live performance of "Fireside Song" on Austrian TV show "Spotlight" in 1976. Never saw this clip before. Not sure if the year 1976 is correct. 1974 or 1975 seems more logical to me. Cliff's voice at it's most lush!
Lovely to see Cliff with just the company of his guitar. One of his - many! - better songs of the 70s.
