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Cliff Richard

Cliff Richard

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Cliff Richard

Profile by Steve Turner, The History of Rock, 1983

CLIFF RICHARD HAS DONE MUCH more than merely survive on the British pop scene. He remained a chart act and pin-up in the Eighties, still ...

Audio interviews

Ian Samwell on Cliff Richard (1995)

Interview by Johnny Black, Rock's Backpages audio, 24 November 1995

From The 2i's, Cliff Richard and writing 'Move It', to producing America's 'Horse With No Name', this beat-boom Zelig takes us on a journey through British Rock'n'Roll history.

File format: mp3; file size: 64.9mb, interview length: 1h 07' 33" sound quality: ****

List of articles in the library

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Another Hit for Cliff but This ISN'T Expected

Interview by June Harris, Disc, 15 April 1961

CLIFF RICHARD, winner of eight of our Silver Discs, has another hit on his hands, and one he did not really expect. The number is ...

Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Lonnie Donegan: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by June Harris, Disc, 15 April 1961

CLIFF, SHADOWS TOPS IN BEAT SHOW ...

The Young Ones (dir. Sidney J. Furie, Warner-Pathé)

Film/DVD/TV Review by June Harris, Disc, 16 December 1961

CLIFF SHOWS HOW POP STARS SHOULD MAKE FILMS June Harris reviews The Young Ones ...

Snuffy Garrett: I'd Change The Backing If I Recorded Cliff In America

Interview by June Harris, Disc, 10 February 1962

SNUFFY GARRETT, the 22-year-old A& Rhead of Liberty's chart-hitting teenage artists at present over here with the label's top seller, Bobby Vee, wants to record ...

First It Was Mrs. Kenny Ball, Now Norrie Paramor's Wife Picks A Hit For Her Hubby

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 13 April 1962

PUZZLING, isn't it, that no one has thought of an award for the wives of hit parade stars — to be presented when they inspire ...

Cliff Richard, Adam Faith, Brenda Lee, John Leyton: NME Poll Winners Concert, Empire Pool, Wembley, London

Live Review by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 20 April 1962

At the NME's sensational Poll Winners' concert — CLIFF, SHADOWS, HELEN, BILLY, ADAM GIVE THRILL OF LIFETIME ...

Cliff Richard, The Shadows, Eden Kane: Our Friends The Stars Charity Concert, London

Live Review by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 11 May 1962

NEW SHADOW MAKES LONDON DEBUT ...

Ed Sullivan Says Cliff Right To Avoid Oxford Accent

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 3 August 1962

THE NEWS that Cliff Richard is being sought for American TV's world-famous Ed Sullivan Show this autumn couldn't be more appropriate than it is right ...

The Unseen, But Not Unheard Side Of The SHADOWS

Profile by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 16 February 1963

THE SHADOWS: top instrumental group; world travellers; hit disc-makers; theatre packers-in; fan-forming personalities. But while they've strummed and struck their way to fame, they've been ...

The Secret That Cliff Can't Tell!

Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 9 March 1963

CLIFF RICHARD is, for sure, the most successful pop entertainer in Britain right now. But could it be that he is becoming more popular abroad ...

Cliff Richard, The Beatles, The Tornados, Joe Brown et al: NME Poll Winners Concert, Empire Pool, Wembley, London

Live Review by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 26 April 1963

MIKE BERRY burst into the second half to the throbbing beat of 'La Bamba'. Close on its heels came his current release 'My Little Baby' ...

Cliff Richard: How Cliff Rose To Fame

Profile by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 7 September 1963

David Griffiths spotlights the early days of Cliff's career... ...

Cliff Richard & The Shadows: Cliff's New Film and Hank's New Guitar!

Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 19 October 1963

IT WAS BUSY-ness as usual for birthday boy Cliff Richard this week. On Sunday night he cut his next record (out in about three weeks) ...

Cliff Off The Cuff

Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 4 April 1964

ALWAYS CHARMING, always straightforward in his replies to Press questions, Cliff was chosen by the Record Mirror to be the opening interviewee of an occasional ...

Cliff Richard, the Shadows, Bob Miller & the Miller Men: Finsbury Park Astoria, London

Live Review by uncredited writer, Record Mirror, 11 April 1964

Cliff's Tour — A Knock-Out!! ...

Pop Music Democratised

Essay by Geoffrey Cannon, New Society, 3 December 1964

Author's note, 2018: Here is my late 1964 insight on the transformation of British pop into rock which can be dated to 21 February 1963 ...

Ten Minutes with Cliff

Interview by Dawn James, Rave, March 1965

Now Rave writer Dawn James gives you her Bird's Eye View as she spends... ...

The Truth From Cliff

Interview by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 5 June 1965

TODAY'S POP scene is far more vibrant than it was when I came into the business about six years ago. The Shadows and I were ...

Cliff Never Has To Worry About Material For His Next Single Or LP — He's Got Plenty In The Can

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 3 December 1965

"CHUTCHY-FACE." That would have been comedian Bernie Winters' name for Cliff Richard only a few months ago, when Cliff was a chubby-cheeked character who could ...

All About The World's Greatest Pop Show: 1966 NME Concert Mightiest Ever!

Live Review by Keith Altham, Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 6 May 1966

THOUSANDS upon thousands of fans converging on the massive Wembley Empire Pool for the biggest pop show in the world on Sunday... the staggering, the ...

Double Double Vision Vision

Interview by Dawn James, Rave, September 1966

Rave's Dawn James sees Cliff and gets double vision! Cliff the Christian who wants to quit the pop world, and Cliff the film star... ...

Cliff Richard: Empire Theatre, Liverpool

Live Review by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 4 November 1966

ON HIS LATEST TOUR CLIFF CHANGES DYLAN'S WORDS ...

New singles from the Who, Cream, Tim Hardin, the Walker Brothers et al

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 10 December 1966

WHO AND THE HAPPY WORLD OF PETE TOWNSHEND 'Happy Jack' (Reaction) — Happy Who, happy us, happy world of Pete Townshend! ...

The Beach Boys, Small Faces, Dusty Springfield et al: NME Poll Winners Concert, Empire Pool, Wembley, London

Live Review by Keith Altham, Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 13 May 1967

POLL SHOW THRILLS ALL THE WAY ...

Albums from Nancy Sinatra, Etta James et al

Review by Peter Jones, Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 11 May 1968

ETTA JAMES Tell Mama — 'Tell Mama'; 'I'd Rather Go Blind'; 'The Love Of My Man'; 'I'm Gonna Take What He's Got'; 'The Same Rope'; ...

Cliff Richard: The Peter Pan of Pop

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 24 June 1972

POOR OLD Cliff is still a bit too good to be true for most people – the Peter Pan of pop, and a Christian to ...

Cliff Richard: Palladium, London

Live Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 13 April 1974

WELL, WADDYA know? Ol' Cliff's getting a bit nostalgic in his little-corner of comfy respectability. Surrounded by glam girls kicking their legs up, a massive ...

Cliff Richard: Hammersmith Odeon, London

Live Review by Chris Salewicz, New Musical Express, 8 November 1975

A GIANT TUPPERWARE party. ...

Cliff Richard: Old Greasers, Read This And Weep!

Interview by Susan Whitall, Creem, October 1976

DETROIT — Think of someone you know who's within five years of 40. Got it in your mind? The old geezer next door with the ...

Cliff Richard: Cliff Brings Good News To Belfast

Report and Interview by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 9 October 1976

CLIFF RICHARD wasn't smuggled into Belfast on Saturday night in the back of a furniture van. Nor was his appearance marred by a background of ...

Cliff Richard: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 27 November 1976

Cliff: he's nearly rocking ...

John Reid, Elton John's Manager: "Welder's Son Who Built A Pop Empire"

Profile and Interview by Ed Jones, The Sunday Times, 8 May 1977

WHILE ELTON John was wowing the pearl-strung punters at last Monday's concert in aid of the Queen's Jubilee Appeal at the Rainbow Theatre, London, John ...

Cliff Richard: Apollo, Victoria, London

Live Review by Richard Williams, The Times, 2 October 1980

THE LAST time I went to see the principle boy of the British music industry, some pop-crazed teddygirl poked her umbrella in my eye. That ...

Eleganza: The Best-Dressed List

Column by John Mendelsohn, Creem, September 1983

THERE ARE absolutes in fashion. For instance, flare-legged trousers are absolutely more flattering to the vast majority of people than straight-legged trousers, since they make ...

Eurovision: It's That Time Again!

Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, 26 April 1984

On May 5 it's The Eurovision Song Contest. And — admit it — you'll be there in front of the telly cringeing as this year's entry, Belle And The ...

Cliff Richard: The Man Who Invented Rock'n'roll (With A Little Help From Elvis Presley And Shakespeare)

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, 4 December 1985

"I SUPPOSE many of the young rock fans who are always looking for something new and exciting find me terribly boring. But if you think about ...

The Producers: Terry Britten

Interview by Chas de Whalley, International Musician & Recording World, December 1986

The man who made AOR respectable? Terry Britten confesses all to Chas de Whalley ...

The World According to Cliff

Interview by Jon Wilde, Blitz, September 1987

EXACTLY THIRTY YEARS AGO, Harry Rodger Webb was stripped of his prefect's badge for playing truant from school and going to a cinema in Edmonton ...

Cliff Richard

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, November 1987

CLIFF IS PERPLEXED. He is attempting to curl his upper lip into a smouldering sneer but the flesh is not willing. "I can't do it." ...

Lunching with the Elder Statesmen of Charity Rock: The Nordoff-Robbins Concert, Knebworth

Review by Barney Hoskyns, The Times, 2 July 1990

WHEN QUINCY JONES gathered together his USA For Africa superstars to record 'We are the World' five years ago, he pinned a sign outside the ...

Knebworth 90: The Billion Dollar Buskers

Live Review by Mat Snow, Q, August 1990

IN DAYS OF yore, the elders tell, the grassy slopes of Knebworth would resound to the pagan strains of Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers and ...

Who The Hell Does Cliff Richard Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, January 1992

THIS IS a tricky question, I said, but tell me, Cliff: what is it in your half-a-century bound on earth, in your illustrious career, that ...

Cliff Richard in Conversation

Interview by Dave Thompson, unpublished, 1994

TELL US HOW you became Cliff Richard… ...

Move it! The Butch Rock 'n' Roll Explosion

Retrospective by Jon Savage, MOJO, February 1995

FOR MOST PEOPLE OF 40 AND UNDER, British pop begins with The Beatles: this is the view that has been encouraged by rock writers ever ...

The Great Pretender

Interview by Jon Savage, MOJO, February 1995

CLIFF IS THE ARCHETYPAL BRITISH POP STAR. Born in 1940, his extraordinary career began with the release of his first record, 'Move It', in autumn ...

Cliff Richard: King's Hall, Belfast

Live Review by Colin Harper, The Irish Times, 5 June 1999

ONE HAS TO respect Cliff's achievements: 40 years in a business increasingly designed for three year careers; number one hits in five different decades; recently ...

Cliff Richard, Elaine Paige: Hyde Park, London

Live Review by Tom Cox, The Guardian, 19 July 1999

Only for the converted ...

Cliff reveals the secret of youth... his face is injected with botulism

Report by Tim Cooper, The Evening Standard, 13 October 2000

CLIFF RICHARD, the apparently ageless Peter Pan of Pop, has finally revealed the secret of his eternal youth — he has had toxins injected into ...

Cliff Richard: Cliffstory

Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Music Week, September 2008

CLIFF RICHARD has been the most constant companion of British pop fans since 1958, but he remains one of the most enigmatic and controversial figures ...

Why Cliff Richard Is The Epitome And Saviour Of Rock & Roll

Comment by John Doran, The Quietus, 20 September 2008

Forget Liam Gallagher, Richard Ashcroft or Paul Weller — Sir Cliff is the best rock star we have, says John 'We Don't Talk Any More' ...

Bob Stanley's guide to writing the perfect Christmas hit

Guide by Bob Stanley, The Guardian, 16 December 2010

From Elvis to Shakey, from Cliff Richard to Mark E. Smith, every pop star worth their salt has sung a song of Santa at some ...

Copyright extension: good for Cliff and the Beatles, bad for the little guys?

Report by Bob Stanley, The Guardian, 15 September 2011

The extension in copyright law is hailed as a victory for musicians. But while it will surely benefit Cliff, the Beatles et al, it will ...

Sir Cliff and Glen Campbell live in Newcastle

Live Review by Elaine Cusack, Rock's Backpages, 30 October 2011

IF SOMEONE HAD told the 15-year-old Elaine that one weekend in the future she'd see both Cliff Richard and Glen Campbell in concert, she'd have ...

Jack Good, 1931-2017

Obituary by Richard Williams, The Guardian, 29 September 2017

Music pioneer who led a revolution in television coverage of pop ...

Cliff Richard: Arise, Sir Cliff

Retrospective by David Burke, Vintage Rock, 2018

FOR SOMEONE who'd enjoyed a consistent run of success, not to mention the adulation of the public since 'Move It'launched him as Britain's answer to ...

see also Shadows, The

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