Recording Royalty

[jsmith]

... A picture below of the UK's top male solo recording artist of all time, he's had more hits than any other singer ....BTW, he's pictured with some nondescript female group or other ... Attachment 12404

[greg jones]

And that looks like Mr. Herb Alpert on the far right.

[Bluebrock]

And that looks like Mr. Herb Alpert on the far right.

It most surely does Greg. It is amazing that Cliff Richard has only ever had a handful of hits in the USA yet his success in the UK is quite staggering.

[Motown Eddie]

Nice photo of Cliff Richard with "The Fab Three"; Diana, Mary & Cindy. Thank for posting.

[StuBass1]

If not for The Beatles and what they started with the whole British Invasion thing...Cliff Richards Shadows could likely have gone down as the most prolific rock band to ever come out of the UK...They topped the UK charts in the 60's until The BEatles came along...

[Philles/Motown Gary]

It most surely does Greg. It is amazing that Cliff Richard has only ever had a handful of hits in the USA yet his success in the UK is quite staggering.

Bluebrock, you can sure say that again! As an admitted late bloomer with Cliff Richard, I discovered his music just a year or two ago. I fell in love with it. In fact, I bought all of his CD's and DVD's that I could find. I couldn't believe that all of this gorgeous music was a hit everywhere EXCEPT the U.S. It makes no sense!

BTW, I loved Cliff's duet with Freda Payne. Wouldn't you just love to hear a duet with Cliff & Diana! I can hear it now!

[reese]

And that looks like Mr. Herb Alpert on the far right.

I just found the photo with its original caption. It was taken backstage during at television taping at Paris' Maison de la Radio. The man at the far right is Claude Ebrard, a promotion manager. The gentleman standing between Mary and Diana is Jean-Jacques Timmel, Pathe-Marconi International Manager.

[honest man]

Bluebrock, you can sure say that again! As an admitted late bloomer with Cliff Richard, I discovered his music just a year or two ago. I fell in love with it. In fact, I bought all of his CD's and DVD's that I could find. I couldn't believe that all of this gorgeous music was a hit everywhere EXCEPT the U.S. It makes no sense!

BTW, I loved Cliff's duet with Freda Payne. Wouldn't you just love to hear a duet with Cliff & Diana! I can hear it now!

WOW tHAT IS UNBELIEVABLE That you have only discovered Cliff,Just goes to show how big the world used to be regarding UK-USA,he has such an amazing backlog of music though i love is sixties more i reckon my fave is 70s Just enough to keep me hangin on, same song as Joe Simon -Ann Peebles love all 3 versions .cheers

[Bluebrock]

WOW tHAT IS UNBELIEVABLE That you have only discovered Cliff,Just goes to show how big the world used to be regarding UK-USA,he has such an amazing backlog of music though i love is sixties more i reckon my fave is 70s Just enough to keep me hangin on, same song as Joe Simon -Ann Peebles love all 3 versions .cheers

I was playing Joe Simon's version only yesterday. Ann Peebles is perhaps my favourite version but all 3 are good.

[Bluebrock]

Bluebrock, you can sure say that again! As an admitted late bloomer with Cliff Richard, I discovered his music just a year or two ago. I fell in love with it. In fact, I bought all of his CD's and DVD's that I could find. I couldn't believe that all of this gorgeous music was a hit everywhere EXCEPT the U.S. It makes no sense!

BTW, I loved Cliff's duet with Freda Payne. Wouldn't you just love to hear a duet with Cliff & Diana! I can hear it now!

Diana has turned down the opportunity to duet with Cliff on at least two occasions that i know of. The first time was in the 90's and the 2nd time was in the early noughties.
Cliff has made some great music. His 70's output is my favourite era. He really should have got more attention in the States.

[mysterysinger]

Yikes - purchasing all of Cliff Richard's output in one go is a sure fire way to go bankrupt lol.

His contribution in terms of singles, albums, live shows, films, TV series etc is unmatched in terms of volume and longevity [[aside from Elvis who was so influential even on Cliff, and probably more successful world wide). Might be fair [[if a little simplistic) to say that since the US had Elvis, why would they need Cliff who was marketed as something similar in the early days.

The Shadows were also a huge band [[and influential too) back in the day and still have a devoted following. They were also the real musicians who wrote some very good songs as well in a way that maybe Cliff and Elvis didn't.

My fave Cliff single was "I Could Easily Fall" since the B' Side was "I'm In Love With You" - a fantastic song. Both sides were written by The Shadows.

[Philles/Motown Gary]

Yikes - purchasing all of Cliff Rigetchard's output in one go is a sure fire way to go bankrupt lol.

His contribution in terms of singles, albums, live shows, films, TV series etc is unmatched in terms of volume and longevity [[aside from Elvis who was so influential even on Cliff, and probably more successful world wide). Might be fair [[if a little simplistic) to say that since the US had Elvis, why would they need Cliff who was marketed as something similar in the early days.

The Shadows were also a huge band [[and influential too) back in the day and still have a devoted following. They were also the real musicians who wrote some very good songs as well in a way that maybe Cliff and Elvis didn't.

My fave Cliff single was "I Could Easily Fall" since the B' Side was "I'm In Love With You" - a fantastic song. Both sides were written by The Shadows.

Well, mysterysinger, I didn't exactly go "bankrupt", per say, but it did put one hell of a dent in the old wallet! LOL! Actually, I bought a 3-CD Anthology which included a lot of.Cliff's 1950's and '60s material [[which is my least favorite), and I bought all of his individual CD and DVD releases covering his 1970's through current recordings. When I hear tracks like "A Little In Love", "Suddenly", "Miss You Nights", and his recent duet with Freda Payne, how could I not include everything in between? I bought a slew of his CD's and DVD's, and I love every one of them. It was a costly but wonderful and worthwhile investment, and I don't regret a single penny of it. [[Bankrupt, indeed! HaHa!)

[Philles/Motown Gary]

WOW tHAT IS UNBELIEVABLE That you have only discovered Cliff,Just goes to show how big the world used to be regarding UK-USA,he has such an amazing backlog of music though i love is sixties more i reckon my fave is 70s Just enough to keep me hangin on, same song as Joe Simon -Ann Peebles love all 3 versions .cheers

Well, honest man, you have to understand that we Americans get to hear only what the "powers-that-be" in radio want us to hear. If they deem an artist not "cool" enough, they won't program his output. I remember hearing Cliff's late '70s and very early '80s radio hits, but then we heard nothing from him. Unlike you folks in the U.K. where Cliff is considerd a world-wide superstar, we Americans had no further exposure to him over the years, thus giving us lots of time to forget that he ever existed. Now that I've had a chance to seek out his music on my own, I love what I hear, and I resent having been robbed of the pleasure over all these years. The Amazon [[U.S.) customer reviews for most of his CD's reflect the same shock and resentment --"This guy's music is incredible! His hits are famous worldwide. Why did we get denied his music?", they wonder. In his book, Cliff addresses the problem by saying that his dream is to get another hit in America. He's done all he can to promote his releases here, but to no avail. The U.S. radio stations are just not interested in playing his music. So, there ya are. That's why most people over here are not very familiar with the music of Cliff Richard. And it's a shame because he's a dynamic performer who puts on one hell of a show -- both on record and in concert.

[Philles/Motown Gary]

Diana has turned down the opportunity to duet with Cliff on at least two occasions that i know of. The first time was in the 90's and the 2nd time was in the early noughties.
Cliff has made some great music. His 70's output is my favourite era. He really should have got more attention in the States.

Bluebrock, why did Diana refuse the opportunities to duet with Cliff? Do you recall her reasoning? They look great together in that photo. And, vocally, they could have been a match made in Heaven. It might have even provided Diana with that much-needed hit.

[mysterysinger]

Well, mysterysinger, I didn't exactly go "bankrupt", per say, but it did put one hell of a dent in the old wallet! LOL! Actually, I bought a 3-CD Anthology which included a lot of.Cliff's 1950's and '60s material [[which is my least favorite), and I bought all of his individual CD and DVD releases covering his 1970's through current recordings. When I hear tracks like "A Little In Love", "Suddenly", "Miss You Nights", and his recent duet with Freda Payne, how could I not include everything in between? I think I bought 23 of his CD's and DVD's, and I love every one of them. It was a costly but wonderful and worthwhile investment, and I don't regret a single penny of it. [[Bankrupt, indeed! HaHa!)

Well I would ask did you buy his "Soulicious" album in which he duets with Freda and others [[including Brenda Holloway)? There was an associated tour [[and DVD I wouldn't doubt). In the 60s, Cliff made some nice films [[for their time and intended audience of course). So if you feel like getting a flavour of his films and haven't got them yet, I can recommend the Cliff Richard "Sing A Long Collection" which is not a Karaoke set but a nice collection of films like "The Young Ones", "Summer Holiday" etc. Certainly classics of their type.

Good that you avoided buying [[all) his 60s albums - there were quite a few - but there are affordable 5 album sets on both him and also The Shadows.

You are right about "Miss You Nights" - a lovely song, but generally I'm more for his 60s stuff. I'm actually fond of "Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha" - but I've found that even die hard Cliff fans hate that one.

It's actually through Cliff that I got my Mystery Singer monicker - you'll understand if you ever do watch The Young Ones [[we get his films on telly on a regular basis lol).

[Philles/Motown Gary]

Well I would ask did you buy his "Soulicious" album in which he duets with Freda and others [[including Brenda Holloway)? There was an associated tour [[and DVD I wouldn't doubt). In the 60s, Cliff made some nice films [[for their time and intended audience of course). So if you feel like getting a flavour of his films and haven't got them yet, I can recommend the Cliff Richard "Sing A Long Collection" which is not a Karaoke set but a nice collection of films like "The Young Ones", "Summer Holiday" etc. Certainly classics of their type.

Good that you avoided buying [[all) his 60s albums - there were quite a few - but there are affordable 5 album sets on both him and also The Shadows.

You are right about "Miss You Nights" - a lovely song, but generally I'm more for his 60s stuff. I'm actually fond of "Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha" - but I've found that even die hard Cliff fans hate that one.

It's actually through Cliff that I got my Mystery Singer monicker - you'll understand if you ever do watch The Young Ones [[we get his films on telly on a regular basis lol).

Like any serious music collector, I've been known to splurge at times when I could nary afford it. But, then, that was two years ago. I could not, however, afford to be that spend-happy now.

Yes, I have Cliff's "Soulicious" CD which I love, as well as his "Two's Company: The Duets" CD. I haven't noticed a "Soulicious" DVD, although I haven't checked recently. I kind of temporarily burned out on Cliff. I still love his music, and I always will, but I'm not in the market to purchase any more of his titles at this time. I already have enough to last me a lifetime! Now, Motown, Phil Spector, and Van McCoy -- YES -- I'll continue spending my last penny on them come hell or high water. But, any other artist, I have to draw the line at a certain point. [[Yeah, famous last words, right?!!!)

I may, however, have to invest in that multi-movie set just to find out how you got your name!

[Bluebrock]

Bluebrock, why did Diana refuse the opportunities to duet with Cliff? Do you recall her reasoning? They look great together in that photo. And, vocally, they could have been a match made in Heaven. It might have even provided Diana with that much-needed hit.

As regards the 90's the song offered to Diana was nice but nothing special in my opinion. It shows what little i know because it later became a worldwide hit by another artist. I think Diana would have done it but we readying TAKE ME HIGHERand i did not think the song was a suitable fit to use as a bonus track for that album. It could have worked as a bonus track for TFBTP but it was too late for that. As regards the noughties i wasn't personally involved in that one but Cliff went ahead and recorded it with Olivia Newton John.

[mysterysinger]

Odd that Diana Ross had an album and song called "Take Me Higher". Cliff also had one called "Take Me High" [[and a film as well lol).

[Philles/Motown Gary]

As regards the 90's the song offered to Diana was nice but nothing special in my opinion. It shows what little i know because it later became a worldwide hit by another artist. I think Diana would have done it but we readying TAKE ME HIGHERand i did not think the song was a suitable fit to use as a bonus track for that album. It could have worked as a bonus track for TFBTP but it was too late for that. As regards the noughties i wasn't personally involved in that one but Cliff went ahead and recorded it with Olivia Newton John.

Well, you can't beat yourself up over it, Bluebrock. You used what you thought was your best judgment at the time. Sometimes we're right, and sometimes we were wrong. Who knew?

Just out of curiosity, was that declined duet by any chance Cliff & Olivia's "Had To Be" from "Heathcliff"?

[Bluebrock]

Well, you can't beat yourself up over it, Bluebrock. You used what you thought was your best judgment at the time. Sometimes we're right, and sometimes we were wrong. Who knew?

Just out of curiosity, was that declined duet by any chance Cliff & Olivia's "Had To Be" from "Heathcliff"?

No it wasn't. I cannot recall the title without checking but it came a few years after HAD TO BE.

[Sotosound]

I may, however, have to invest in that multi-movie set just to find out how you got your name!

Lol. I remember that from when I was a little boy and went to see the film at the Ritz cinema in Muswell Hill.

A few doors up from me a couple of years after that lived a young girl who allegedly had a child by a member of a well-known group from Muswell Hill whose name began with a "K". Big gossip in the 60s!

[mysterysinger]

OO-er. Well my name does begin with a K but I've not been to Muswell Hill and besides I was far too young lol. Oh and obviously I wasn't one of the Muswell Hillbillies.