If you ready my post carefully you will realise that I was a small child/pre teen when these records were released and his TV Show was running. CONTEXT... The past is indeed a different country...
Travelled to London from Scotland today ready for RAH tomorrow, been avoiding this thread for spoilers but can I ask, is there an interval?
Approximate schedule: 5:45pm Restaurants and bars open 6.45pm Boxes open 7pm Auditorium doors 7.45pm Cliff Richard 8.30pm Interval (25 minutes) 9.45pm Ends
"Lost in a Lonely" which I did in Brighton. Never been a great lover of this song, but hearing it again after probably not played it for a number of years, it actually sounds quite good! Where I was sitting I had a direct line to watch JJ James, Cliff's on stage sound engineer. After each song he spoke into the microphone, which I think is a direct line to Cliff's earpiece's telling Cliff what the next song is. JJ James has been part of Cliff's stage crew for many years, I might dig out some concert programs later and see how many years.
Thans Tim for this great clip of "Lost I A Lonely World". The guitar solo and saxophone playing definately is live. At some places I think you can hear the backing vocals, but both BV guys are not close to their microhones then. And at the end you can hear the backing vocals but the mouths of the BV guys are closed (at the word "knooooow"). So I guess that part of the bv's is a playback from the original recording. But at the end at least Cliff' singing is definately live.
Also "Ocean Deep" is definately sung life. I think Cliff tends to nearly sing the wrong words at 0:21 when he sings "kindness in the night" but he corrects himself just in time. I think he would sing "a little feeling when we touch", but that is later on in the song. \
I like the lightning design on stage, with all the colour changes at the right place during the songs, especially during "Carrie/Devil Woman":
"Golden" always gives me goosebumps and a lump in my throat when I hear it. For me it has the same quality as "When Two Worlds Drift Apart". If Cliff could only sing once more that song live again! Maybe at the Great 85! Tour!?
Who else is going to the cinema on wednesday 27th? Luckily in the The Netherlands there are about 20 cinema's partaking. But not so in Norway @Jarleboy? That's a pity, but I would be very surprised if a DVD won't be released from it, considering many fans from outside the UK can't visit the concerts this year as usual because of the COVID-19 restrictions. And the concert at the 27th of October from the Royal Albert Hall will already be filmed and streamed live to cinema's all over the world, with repeats at the 30th and 31 October. So it would be very strange and financially stupid not to use this recording again for a DVD release. But of course, it will only be announced until AFTER the tour and cinema showings, in order not to obstruct the cinema owners and concert hall owners. So I think the same will happen as in 2018 with the 60th Anniversary concert DVD and streaming.
I have heard nothing about screenings in Norway. But then again, I would be surprised if there would have been any interest for something like that - at all. Norway used to be a good market for Cliff - after all, we were the first country outside the UK to give him chart placings. (I learned that while writing for this very thread!) Sadly, Cliff peaked here in 1973, when "Power To All Our Friends" topped the charts for at least 4 weeks, and also became the biggest-selling single of the year. He had a little comeback with "Rock´N´Roll Juvenile", and "We Don´t Talk Anymore" and "Never Say Die" were big hits, and "Some People" was a radio hit. His last hit was "Mistletoe & Wine". But Cliff is not really remembered by that many here anymore. I guess there are about twenty fans left, and I think i know all of them by name... He, he... Not quite that bad, but Cliff joins the rank of Barry Manilow, Chris de Burgh and Julio Iglesias as an artist you should not like. I, of course, don´t care. I love Cliff, like Chris de Burgh a lot and tolerate the other two. I won´t be dictated to!
REVIEW from The Telegraph 'Darling, we're the young ones.' Sir Cliff Richard proves he has still got the moves 4/5 The Bachelor Boy's long-delayed tour with a joyous performance at the Royal Albert HallByNeil McCormick, MUSIC CRITIC24 October 2021 • 10:53am By the time the long delayed Great 80 tour finally rolled into London town, its star had turned 81. “We are the survivors, and we survived that terrible time,” Sir Cliff Richard told his audience, as they bathed in a warm atmosphere of mutual delight at having got this far. And I am not just talking about the pandemic. Richard scored his first smash aged 17 in 1958 and landed a top 5 album in the UK charts last year, in a hit-making career that has now spanned eight decades. “It’s getting harder for me to look back,” the singer joked, “because I started at the beginning of time.” Still slim, fit, energetic and absolutely in his element on stage, the lithest octogenarian in rock and roll stands as a beacon of hope that the past has not yet faded, and some things never change. There aren’t many sights more utterly delightful in modern entertainment than seeing Britain’s oldest pop star lead 5,000 fans of a similar vintage in a spirited singalong of “Young ones, darling we’re the young ones!” Sir Cliff still has all the moves: the twirls, shoulder shifts, finger points, leg shakes, hip swivels, bum wiggles and the truly terrible amateur dramatics in which he enacts disappointment at being unable to deliver a letter during Carrie Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, indicates the relative sizes of speakers in Wired for Sound and does the evil eyes in Devil Woman. It might be corny but it is exactly what the audience came to see. And you cannot argue with the tunes. Richard didn’t become Britain’s longest serving hitmaker by accident. Alongside over a dozen massive hits (he has 67 top ten singles to choose from) he delivered stirring versions of such personal favourites as anti-war anthem Marmaduke. Richard claimed to have accidentally rediscovered it on i-Tunes where it was listed as an extra-track on 1989 album Stronger. “I don’t remember recording it but I suppose I must have done,” he joked. It was a set that had to span a wide musical terrain encompassing early rock’n’roll swagger, cheery 60s pop craft, sleek 70s soft rock, bombastic 80s pop, power balladry and the evangelical Christian rock of showstopping 1993 fan favourite Peace in Our Time. A versatile seven-piece band moved expertly through the gears and Richard linked it all up with well-rehearsed repartee, corny jokes and earnest platitudes delivered with the “gosh wow” affected sincerity that has been his style since his days as a teenage idol. Well, it has worked for 64 years, I don’t think he’s going to switch it up now. There was a bit of technical jiggery pokery, as is increasingly the way in too many modern concerts, whether performed by young artists miming through dance routines or old veterans sparing their vocal cords from overuse. Let’s just say the quality and sound of the lead vocals fluctuated suspiciously throughout, with certain songs evidently relying on pre-recorded parts. For me, it’s a pity Richard feels the need to rely on such showbiz trickery, because it is clear that his voice is still pliant and tuneful. The biggest moments came on such emotional ballads as Ocean Deep, Miss You Nights and Golden, particularly when arrangements were stripped back to piano and backing vocals, and the star sat down and put everything into his singing. Perhaps there is yet a different facet of his talent still to be explored in his ninth decade. But, for now, he clearly still enjoys the razzmatazz, the lights, the action and enthusiastic adoration of a long-serving audience. As he launched into a flashy version of We Don’t Talk Anymore, his aged fans rose to their feet in approval, and a section of the crowd rushed to the front of the stage. Well, I say rushed. Not everyone in the venue was quite as sprightly as the star. But when their old idol sang, time melted away. That is the magic of music.
Just back from the RAH. Just a wonderful, emotional night. I had tears in my eyes during PS Please. (I’m a 43 year old man ) I was introduced to Cliff’s music by my mother as a small child. I bought tickets for tonight’s show back in 2019, for my mother’s 70th birthday in June 2020. We celebrated that with a small outdoor “party “ in the garden due to COVID restrictions at the time. I can’t quite believe we finally made it to the Albert Hall. I haven’t been to every venue in the world but the Albert Hall is by far the finest I have been to. I’ve been avoiding this thread but on a technical level I agree with what was posted above, Cliff appeared to be live but I wasn’t convinced about backing vocals, also a few synth/keyboard parts appeared to come Fromm nowhere.
Interesting message on Twitter, maybe a new Christmas single from Cliff this year? https://twitter.com/morganpochin Morgan & Pochin @morganpochin Composers / Producers / Conductor / Singer • James Morgan and Juliette Pochin • Latest release: Poor Clares of Arundel: Light for the World On this day in 1958 #SirCliffRichard made his radio debut - 63 years later he’s still creating music, including something we produced earlier this year…coming soon!
They're the folks who did the final four tracks on Rise Up -- the ones adding RPO strings to The Minute You're Gone etc. Presumably what they've just done with Cliff is something along those lines.
Whatever might be "coming soon," I doubt it's a single -- or at least not just a single. A standalone single would make no economic sense at this point. The only business justification would be as a promotional trailer for an album.
If that happens, I´ll be over the moon. But also very surprised. But bring it on - I´ve got my kroner at the ready!
I sincerely hope not. Didn't like the way they did that. Hopefully something completely knew, but can't think what, if there was would have thought it would have been promoted on this tour.
It wouldn't surprise me if there's new product this 4th quarter, and I guess an 'orchestrated album' is marginally better than another compilation? Not much better though. Thinking though that the novelty of these types of albums might have passed by now.
I quite liked the Elvis with Orchestra albums but made the mistake of buying The Symphonic Sound of Billy Fury which was awful. If Cliff ever goes this route for a whole album the songs would need to be very carefully chosen. Would prefer he avoids it.
I sort of enjoyed the four songs on 'Rise Up', but I am not sure i am up for a second helping. Carefully chosen, I can see some songs benefitting from this treatment, but it is still not what I really, really want from Cliff. Still, like Anthony, I think it is preferable to another compilation. Unless I get to pick the songs... And my choices would not make for a huge seller. Unfortunately.
Somebody has posted on Youtube 3 parts of last night's concert from their seat in the cinema Obviously not the best way to view but sound is OK and hopefully what was screened at the cinema will end up as a blu ray.
Thanks for this link. Watching now. Just started with the Covid thingy (awaiting PCR test result), so will need plenty to pass the time!
