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The Cliff Richard TV Special
Recorded 3 October 2001
When I
originally was told that our club was to receive a few tickets for this show I
was thrilled. To begin with the quantity of tickets was unknown, so I arranged
for an urgent envelope mail shot to let all my club members to apply for a
ticket. I was inundated with requests to attend (as I expected!). We were
eventually allocated just five tickets, and the four lucky winners were, Lynn
Armfield, Carol Barnes, Pauline Barnes and Rozy Rajabali.
Sorry that I couldn't give you all tickets!
I met up
with Lynn and drove to Wembley, joining the queue at the red entrance to the
studios at about 5pm. By then the queue was probably at least 75 strong, with
the front having been there since 2pm!
We could see
Cliff's burgundy Range Rover in the car park (CR2000 is the number plate!), so
we knew he was tucked away inside. The weather was pleasant but with ominous
looking clouds gathering. Some guests had sensibly brought chairs with them.
Everyone was chatty and we all exchanged stories and had discussions about Cliff
whilst we waited. It rained twice while we waited, but fortunately the showers
were brief and the large number of umbrellas meant that we formed an umbrella
tunnel, so even those without them were dry!
We were
ushered in calmly at 7pm, greeted by a large predominantly white arched set,
with arc-like shapes across the back. The bands equipment was set up to the
left. Other than that the stage was empty. The studio held approximately 560
seats, which were arranged in three bands. The rear rows were for us, and we
had around 260 of the seats. The next band of seats (the middle section) had a
slightly smaller number at around 200 seats and were for guests of Cliff and his
other special guests. The front section of seats held around 100 people and
there sat people whose origin was unclear.
We were
seated first and sat happily singing, clapping and swaying to the Cliff music
which was being played over the speakers. There was a picture of Cliff on all
the TV monitors. Next to be seated were the middle section. I saw DJ Mike Reid,
tennis's Sue Mappin, Cliff's sister Joan and her husband David, Malcolm Smith,
Helen Hobson, Pia Hoffman and Richard Madley (sporting the unshaven look!).
Bill Latham and Roger Bruce were also there but were busy 'working' and
therefore didn't have seats in the audience. The front seats were last to be
filled. I didn't recognise anyone famous amongst this audience and they were
all amused to see us singing and clapping to the music. It became clear
throughout the evening that this particular crowd weren't really Cliff fan's and
they weren't nearly as enthusiastic as we were!
By 7.30, the
lights had been tested and we were welcomed by Phil, who I assume was the stage
manager or director. He gave us some basic rules like turning off all phones,
not to eat or drink, no photography etc. He then introduced Amanda Ross who
explained that we would have no 'warm up' period as she felt sure that the club
members in particular would make lots of noise and be enthusiastic.
She
explained the concept of the show: Cliff had picked songs that had been hits
over his 44 year career but that these songs weren't hit for him but for other
people. She told us to be loud, to be excited and to enjoy ourselves!
Phil then
welcomed on Cliff's band and his backing singers who received a huge welcome,
particularly from us! At this point, there were a final few people still being
seated and once they were settled, the lights dimmed and Phil welcomed Cliff
onto the stage. It was 7.40.
Cliff,
wearing a black suit with satin lapels and pocket flaps, a red shirt with open
at the neck and no tie and black shoes, began singing Elvis's 'All Shook Up'
from 1957. He was accompanied by 6 women dancers, all wearing off one shoulder
red dresses, each slightly different to each other. They danced sexily and
provokingly around him to this new updated version of the song. He got a
fabulous response from the audience when he completed the song. He explained
that for the purpose of TV, throughout the evening he would have to introduce
his guests twice and each time we would need to clap and cheer. He said he
wasn't sure quite why TV did this, but they did and that was that really! He
was asked if he could read the cue cards at this point, and he replied that
unless the letters were 8ft, they had no chance!
Cliff looked well and fit, but it was apparent from this early stage that he'd
got a cough and a throat problem. Make-up touched him up before he was cued in
to welcome us and thank us for coming. He explained that it was going to be a
time tunnel of a show with songs that he wished he'd recorded first. He asked us
to consider the show as a kind of time machine. Pausing, the TV screens above
us showed a video of 'The Best Of Me' recorded at The Event in 1989. The
information scrolled across the screen confirmed that the single was Cliff's 100th
single, which was written by Richard Marx. Cliff commented on who'd written the
song and said that his next song had also been a hit for Richard in the same
year. He then sung 'Right Here Waiting For You', ending with rapturous
applause!
A quick
make-up touch up and he was straight into the next year which was 1964. The
video showed him having a 'Wonderful Life'. It scrolled across information
which said the film had had 5 top ten hit songs and also said that Cliff had
received an award in this year from NME for being the Best British Male
Personality. It was also the year in which Cliff played Aladdin at The London
Palladium. Cliff commented on the number of hits that the film had produced and
added that The Beatles had only had three hits that year, which was a fact he
was obviously tickled pink about. The song he chose to sing from this year was
The Searcher's 'When You Walk In The Room'. He was joined by 10 dancers this
time, 6 women and 4 men all wearing a combination of red, white and black
trouser and top outfits.
Filming was
suspended between each song and this was no exception. Cliff was unsure as to
whether he should change his shirt at this stage and offered to do so on stage.
much to our delight, but instead he walked off stage, pretending to undress as
he left. Phil returned to the stage and congratulated us, the fans at the back,
for making all the right noises and for being enthusiastic but he questioned
those people sat in the middle and at the front for being too quiet. There were
many requests shouted out from us that we ought to swap seats with them as we
were better! It didn't happen though! He explained that the next stage of the
show would be part 2.
Cliff
returned to the stage wearing that same suit but with a black shirt, open neck,
no tie. He walked on to the stage quietly rehearsing the show's words to
himself. With a cue from Phil, he welcomed us back to part 2, assuring everyone
that it wasn't a golden oldie show. Quite the contrary, and he welcome Atomic
Kitten on stage. And then for TV, he welcomed them again! Bizarre! The Kittens
wore complimenting black and white outfits.
Off camera
for a moment, the girls were obviously quite excited about the fact that they
would be singing with Cliff and commented that they'd seen him back stage with
no shirt on. We all cheered and he then added that he'd seen them with no
shirts on either, showing what good form he was on! Back on camera, Cliff asked
them about them getting lots of award at the moment. He spoke to them about the
new single due out later this year and they were about to sing when one of the
microphone's broke bringing proceedings to a halt. The girls took the
opportunity to say how excited there were and how HE was the big star, not
them. With the mikes fixed, they all sung Atomic Kitten's new single called
'You Are' to a backing track. It’s a sure fire hit for the 3 Liverpool girls, a
nice catchy number. Cliff sang along harmonizing well and looked as though he
was really enjoying himself. Once completed however, he was told that they
would have to sing it again, as Cliff had got some words wrong! In his defense,
he said that he'd only had a day to learn the words! Make-up stepped in again
and touched everyone up, and Cliff had a small drink of water offered by Roger
Bruce. Take 2 of the song had them stopping again because Cliff forgotten the
words again! On take 3, they sang the song again, this time word perfect.
Considering Cliff had got a problem with his throat, his voice was absolutely
amazing! After the song was completed, Cliff poised for a photo with the girls
and hugged each of them before they left the stage.
Pampered
once again by the make-up lady, Cliff took advantage of the bottled water being
offered by Roger before starting to record again. The next year he announced
was 1984, which was the year in which he turned down the song 'What's Love Got
To Do With It', later given to Tina Turner . Cliff expressed regret at turning
down what turned out to be a great, great song. 1984 saw Cliff dueting with
Elton John with 'Slow Rivers', which is the video they played, but he also had
duets with Janet Jackson and Stevie Wonder. Cliff and the Shadows sell out with
their reunion concerts. The next song is "What's Love Got To Do With It?', a
great Tina Turner classic. The dancers rejoined Cliff on stage, dressed in
black outfits this time. It was a slightly more upbeat version than the
original, and Cliff showed us that he had the moves and dances with dancers
competently. The song ends to huge applause, everyone showing their
appreciation. However, for some reason the control room asked Cliff to sing it
again. The next take is a good one and the dancers leave the stage.
More make-up
is touched up before he begins again, this time announcing the year 1961. The
next song, he says, was knocked off number 1 by him and the Shadows. The video
clip shows a clip of the movie 'The Young Ones'. Scrolling under the pictures
it says that Cliff was 21 and voted 'Show Business Personality Of The Year'.
The song knocked off the converted number 1 slot was 'Moon River'. Taking a
seat on the edge of the stage at the back, Cliff sings this moody number on a
set that is darkened and bathed in a turquoise light, leaving only the twinkling
floor lights on. It looked terrific – I only hope the mood was caught on camera
too. The audience wanted Cliff to sing it again when he completed the song, but
this was not to be the control room were content with the take.
Part three
saw Cliff rehearsing the words to himself again, make-up touched up under the
numerous hot lights. The video showed 1983 and a clip from 'She's So
Beautiful', celebrating the musical 'Time'. It was also the year in which Cliff
got back to number 1 with 'The Young Ones', with The Young Ones for Comic
Relief. The song had been number 1 27 years previously. Cliff then introduced
Steps and the group joined him on stage. The recording was paused and they all
checked their mikes, Cliff then introduced them again and we all clapped and
cheers as we were supposed too! Cliff chatted briefly to the members of the
group about the fact that the original version of their latest single 'Chain
Reaction' was a hit for Diana Ross in 1983, which knocked off Cliff and The
Young Ones from the number 1 slot. Cliff discussed their ages briefly, noting
that most of the group were under 5 when the song was in the charts then! They
all sing 'Chain Reaction' to a backing track. It's the first time that I've
ever seen Steps since live. They can sing – it's true! At the end of the
track, Cliff kisses the girls and shakes the boys by the hand and the audience
were yelling for it again! During the pause after the song, H and Cliff have a
small tap dance competition, Cliff commenting that if he ever retired, he'd want
to have tap dancing lessons and that he starts next week! We all shouted no! of
course! For whatever reason, they did have to perform the song again, but this
time the song was performed perfectly and Steps leave the stage.
The next
year was 1984, the year that Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer got married.
It was also the year that 'Wired For Sound' was in the charts and Cliff was 40!
Cliff was voted 'Most Exciting Male Singer' by the TV Times and 'Top Pop Star'
by the Telegraph. We go WILD as Cliff announces that he's going to perform a
song originally performed by ABBA "Lay All Your Love On Me'. For the umpteenth
time that evening we all get up and cheer loudly at those known bum shakes, much
to the amusement of the crew around the room. A truly wonderful rendition of
the song, performed faultlessly. We definitely wanted it again! Cliff and his
band leave the stage. Phil rejoins us on stage and amuses us with his wit and
quick fire replies to various audience suggestions. Not bad that a suspected
stage manager also doubles for the warm up man! He tells us that Cliff is
changing his suit and frequently goes to the end of stage and peers around the
corner, pretending that Cliff is in some semi state of dress. Before long Phil
welcomes Cliff back on stage for part 4.
Dressed in a
brown shiny suit, beige shirt - open neck – no tie and black shoes, it's
immediately back to work. The next year is 1971. The video monitors show us
Cliff and Olivia on stage during one of Cliff's own shows shown that year.
Cliff is presented with the Ivan Novello 'Outstanding Service To British Music'
award. Cliff comments that it was also the year that his sideburns were as
wide as his flares. The song chosen is 'You've Got A Friend', originally by
James Taylor. It’s sung without hitch and there is no need to repeat the
recording. Rehearsing the words to himself again, his make-up is again touched
up and he accepts water and a sweetie (possibly a cough sweet since during most
of the breaks during the show, he coughed). Beginning the next part of the
recording, Cliff explains that the next song is actually a medley of two songs.
The video shows 1968 and Cliff during the Eurovision Song Contest singing
'Congratulations'. The text states that the song went to number 1 and stayed in
the charts for 13 weeks. Disc and Music Echo voted Cliff 'Best Dressed Man' of
the year. Cliff jokes that Tom Jones was 2nd and that 3rd was
Engelbert Humpledinck. From the right of the stage we hear Engelbert' s voice
and he emerges from the stage holding the suit that Cliff was wearing when he
was voted best dressed. He says that he can't believe that he won with that
suit and that perhaps it will come back into fashion. The discussed Engelbert's
latest album and who he's been working with. Then he thanks him for coming on
the show and Engelbert leaves the stage. Many people around me were amazed that
they didn't sing together.
In 1968
'Wonderful World' replaced 'Congratulations' at the top of the charts and Cliff
explains how Graham Dene had heard the song mixed with 'Over The Rainbow' from
the movie 'Meet Joe Black' and thought it would be a great song for Cliff to
record. The set is transformed with multicoloured lights and pleasant cloud
forms on the background as Cliff sings. We are all up and dancing along to the
reggae like track. We all shout that we love him during the appropriate part of
the song which Cliff can't help smiling about. I'm sure that's why he chooses
these tracks you know! We gave him huge applause and shouted more and again
while Cliff bowed and said thank you.
Rehearsing the next lines to himself, he had his makeup
touched up and then attempted the say the next few lines again but without
success, pretending his teeth were the fault. Once he got it right, he said
that he'd had a blessed career over 6 decades. No time machines should remain
in the past and that this is now, the present and the future. His next song is
unsure of a single status (though I think it ought to be) and he announces 'Let
Me Be The One'. Sung to perfection, we are up on our feet and swaying to the
ballad. It's definitely a popular song with these fans! At the end of the
song, Cliff asked up to sit down again while the control room reviewed the whole
show to decide if any part of it needed to be done again. He thanked up for
being a good audience and that he thought that TV recordings can be boring and
hard for everyone concerned. He thanked the band and his vocalists and of
course the dancers. Amanda gave him a beautiful bouquet of flowers and at that
point Cliff confirmed that the recording was fine and we could go home. Cliff
left the stage to our clapping and cheering and whistling, leaving us content
and Cliff fulfilled. It was just after 10pm. As we filed out of the studio's
we were again singing along to Cliff, much to the amusement of the front seated
crowd, who just turned and looked at us. I concluded that those people just
weren't Cliff fans. How lucky that they got such prime seats. The fans from
the clubs represented those of you who couldn't attend. We showed dedication
and love to it's fullest extent.
Cliff, well done poppet, considering you weren't well, you
did a sterling job!
It was a terrific evening. Thanks
Cliff!
24 August 2001
Ground Force: A garden for
Jill 1961 - 1999
(Jill was an honorary member
of this fan club until her murder)
How it came about
Jill Dando was born in Weston-Super-Mare in 1961 and spent much of her early
life there. She became well known in the town and she and her brother Nigel
trained on the local paper, the Weston and Somerset Mercury, as journalists,
where her father, Jack Dando, also worked as the head compositor.
The idea for a garden to celebrate Jill’s life came after a meeting at Weston
Hospicecare, of which she was a patron. Since her death two years ago, Jill is
very much remembered in the town, and local people wanted a focal point to
remember her by.
Judi Kisiel, editor of the Weston and Somerset Mercury, decided to contact the
Ground Force team. After negotiations with North Somerset Council, the old
sunken rose garden in Grove Park was chosen as a suitable site for the makeover.
Jack Dando was going to be in for the big surprise!
Design plan
As Jack is almost completely blind, the Ground Force team plan a sensory
garden with lots of plants to smell or touch. To add height and structure, there
are four ornamental archways that will be covered in climbing roses, and large
obelisks decked with scented climbers.
The garden is divided into quarters with some new paths that make it easier to
get into the centre as well as making the garden more accessible to visitors in
wheelchairs. As the symbol of the Jill Dando appeal is the forget-me-not, the
archways and obelisks are painted a shade of forget-me-not blue.
Before
The sunken rose garden is empty, colourless and in much need of rejuvenation.
After
The garden is given a new lease of life. There are lots of places to sit and
reflect and the forget-me-not theme ensures that Jill will never be forgotten.
The existing lawn is marked up with the new flowerbeds and paths. Tommy
arrives with the obelisks, made in advance by one of his friends. The ground
maintenance department at Grove Park show up to lend a hand and they soon get
stuck into moving turf and soil. The foundations of the new design begin to take
shape and, because the paths are going to be a public thoroughfare, hogging is
laid to make a stronger base for the paving, a look-alike York stone.
Will is in charge of mortar making and is using his Irish shovel. It has an
extra-long handle which, he says, saves his back, as he doesn’t have to stoop
down and can reach at least three feet away. All the obelisks and archways must
be painted the same shade of forget-me-not blue. It’s a massive job but the
entire staff of the Weston and Somerset Mercury are there to help out with the
painting.
Nigel Dando arrives too and gets down to work, planting the first of the trees
with a few encouraging words. He is later joined by Alan Farthing, who was
Jill's fiancé, and Nick Ross, her co-presenter on Crimewatch UK. While the team
slave away, Alan takes a moment to survey the rest of Grove Park, in particular
the seaside town’s bedding displays.
As he says, they are not subtle, and nor are they meant to be. The beds contain
pink pelargoniums, scarlet geraniums and purple cordylines with white alyssum
around the edges. Yellow calceolaria, purple heliotrope, also known as cherry
pie due to its smell, and blue lobelia edging are arranged in uniformly straight
lines, just as they would have been over 100 years ago. Although the team have
an extra day to complete the garden, the archways take much longer to put
together than expected. They have hired a post gouger from a tool hire company
to help.
The water feature
Charlie plans to install a water jet in the existing rectangular pool in the
centre of the garden. First she removes the old pump from the pond. A
submersible pump has been used as a surface pump but this gives a minimal
performance and the pump is more likely to burn out. Instead Charlie installs a
proper surface pump. It is vital to make sure the pump doesn’t have any leaks so
it can’t draw air into it. She seals all the pump’s threads and joints with Ptfu
tape so that the pump can function efficiently. This will ensure that it has a
longer life.
Installing a surface pump can be quite difficult as it is not possible to screw
the fountain directly to the top of the pump. Instead a pipe must be run into
the middle of the pond and then the water jet is positioned at the top of the
pipe. The jet must be properly supported. Charlie runs the pipe through a black
plastic pot. Once she has positioned the pipe correctly, it is concreted into
the pot. A second, smaller pot is concreted on top of the first to give the
jet’s pipe further support.
The planting
Before planting begins the soil is conditioned using spent mushroom compost.
Mushrooms are grown in well-rotted stable manure, which is mixed with chalk and
spread out in large trays. When the compost is spent it is replaced and the old
compost makes an excellent soil conditioner for the garden, although Alan points
out that as it has added chalk it is best not used on chalk soils. Alan has
chosen a seasonal tree for each corner of the garden to ensure interest
throughout the year.
The climbers
Rosa ‘Jill Dando’ A highly fragrant dark pink rose which has dark green
leathery leaves, making it more disease-resistant than most roses. The rose,
which is bred by Peter Beales Roses of Norfolk, was introduced at the Hampton
Court Flower Show last year at the request of Gloria Hunniford. For orders and
enquiries, call 01953 454707. The cost is £12; £3 is donated to the British
Heart Foundation. For more information contact http://www.classicroses.co.uk.
As a finishing touch Alan sprinkles a handful of forget-me-not seeds in the
middle of the obelisks, so that next spring everyone can remember.
The 'forget-me-not' story
As well as being the stalwart of the springtime border, the forget-me-not or
myosotis also has its own romantic tale, dating back to medieval times, which
explains how it acquired its evocative name.
A young knight bent down at the side of a river to pick his fair maiden a posy.
As he gave the maiden the posy he slipped on the bank and was carried away by
the river. Before drowning he shouted to his love, 'forget-me-not'.
There will be a special forget-me-not day each year in Grove Park, and seeds can
be obtained from the Jill Dando Fund, which also produces a special badge.
Visit the website at www.jilldandofund.com
The wall plaque
Local ceramic artist Rosie Smith creates a memorial plaque to commemorate
Jill's garden. Her unique design is achieved by chiselling out the limestone
from the north wall in the sunken garden and embedding six ceramic tiles with
the forget-me-not motif onto the wall. Jill's name is inscribed in the bottom
left-hand corner of the plaque as a final touch.
The grand opening
The garden takes just a little longer than expected to finish and Nigel
Dando has to take Jack to the pub to buy some extra time. When they return
everyone is waiting to surprise Jack.
The champagne corks start popping and Alan gives Jack a guided tour of the
garden. There are no statues or memorials but lots of fragrant plants that grow
around the blue obelisks.
It is a garden with plenty of time to mature and bloom and lots of spaces to
sit and reflect, with a plaque on the wall as a simple and modest reminder of
Jill.
Visit the garden
Grove Park is in the centre of Weston-Super-Mare, which makes it easy to
find. It features Grove House, one of Weston’s oldest buildings, and a
refurbished Edwardian bandstand, which holds regular concerts throughout the
summer.
It is situated in Grove Village at the northern end of the High Street, near the
Playhouse Theatre. From the seafront, it is 200 yards up Knightstone Road, past
Weston College and off Lower Church Road.
For more tourist information telephone 01934 888 800.
Keen gardener Sir Cliff Richard became good friends with
Jill. “She was deep, vivacious and funny, and an incredible mimic,” he
remembers. “If you are creating a memorial garden for
someone you have to think of the personality. It is not an easy task but I am
sure the Ground Force team will come up with everything that Jill would have
loved." Sir Cliff Richard
Fenia Vardanis worked with Jill on the Holiday Programme and was responsible
for getting Cliff Richard to the ball to dance with Jill. She was bowled over
when Sir Cliff turned up and led her off for a waltz.
“Trying to get her to do any more work that night was an impossibility; she was
on cloud nine!” remembers Fenia.
"Jill was not only a genuine and natural warm personality, she looked so good
too!"
OFF THE RECORD
Report By
Eileen Edwards
(Honorary member - London and
Surrey Fan Club)
After
Cliff’s sabbatical year off in 2000, his “Off the Record” Concert was an eagerly
awaited return for us fans. The setting could not be more appropriate - the
Royal Albert Hall. Signs to show the concert was about to begin was when the
ladies from the National Symphony Orchestra and Cliff’s familiar musicians and
backing vocals took their seats on the stage. The ladies wore white tops,
black trousers or skirts. The men wore evening jackets, the backing vocals in
tails; fitting in with the atmosphere. The Royal Albert Hall plunged into
darkness, the only light behind a white curtain showing the silhouette of - yes,
you know who! As smoke fell across the stage, the voice we all loved could be
heard with Cliff singing the opening words to “REUNION OF THE HEART”.
Then Cliff appeared. He’s back! Cliff wore a collarless mauve suit with a
mauve shirt, looking slim, fit - and fabulous. There was an almighty response
from the fans at seeing him again. We’re back! By the second song, “WE
DON’T TALK ANYMORE”, once finishing Cliff’s concerts; fans were already up
dancing and clapping. Cliff welcomed us to the Royal Albert Hall. It had
been two years and two months since he last performed here - although half of
that time was his year off. He explained that some of this concert was
dedicated to the past, and part of that was represented by his first single,
reaching No.2 in 1958 - “MOVE IT”. The “past” was mixed with the
“present” with Cliff singing the long- awaited second verse. After singing his
first single it all goes dark as Cliff goes straight into his 100th single.
One of the nicest afternoons I have spent was on the 3rd April 1989. Cliff
invited some members of his fan club to the London Palladium to attend a “Juke
Box Jury”-style session. (Back in 1960 200 fans had chosen Cliff’s 9th single,
accurately selecting “Please Don’t Tease” which became Cliff’s 3rd No.1.) We
listened to six possible 100th songs. Song No.3 was “THE BEST OF ME”,
my choice and obviously Cliff’s too, which reached No.2 in June 1989, and sung
so emotionally at “The Event” at Wembley. Here, with a ‘candle’-effect on
stage, the emotion was still evident. Cliff mentioned his historic Millennium
Concerts held at Birmingham. Although mainly remembered for all the right
reasons to those of us who witnessed them, one memory will be that Cliff
suffered from ‘flu and one day had to be cancelled. But by December 1999 Cliff
had already planned to have a year off in 2000. At this point a fan walked up
to the stage offering him a book. “Oh, cruise holidays”, Cliff exclaimed!
Cliff continued to tell us about his year away from us. He had thought about
driving round in Australia, not in a double-decker ‘bus, but in a trailer with
plenty bottles of champagne (really roughing it!). However, Australia was too
far to go (!), so instead chose America for his destination. There, he was able
to relax, being relatively unknown. On one occasion he went to a friends
‘Cook-out’ (B.B.Q. to you and me!), where he was naturally enjoying himself
dive-bombing into the pool. The hosts’ son was heard to say, “He can’t be
famous, he’s having too much fun”. And “fun” is something Cliff admits to
having still after all these years. He has made us all happy too! A reggae
version of “LETS FALL IN LOVE” / “BLUE SKIES” was next, the stage going
blue. Fans then gave Cliff gifts (mainly bottles). Cole Porter’s beautiful
ballad, “EVERY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE”, sung at Cliff’s 40th Anniversary
here in 1998, followed, with ‘flames’ on stage and a lovely solo from the ladies
playing their stringed instruments. Cliff talked about Barbados: “You’ve all
been there”, he asked. (Well, actually I have, back in 1976!) The Paparazzi
settled in the west of the island, so Cliff and his friends chose the south
coast. Feeling safe from their peering lenses, Cliff was able to swim and
relax, until he received a call from his Personal Assistant with the words:
“Don’t panic”! Cliff was told he was on page 3 of The Mail. (Cliff would
have panicked if he had been on page 3 of The Sun!) Photographs of Cliff on
the beach were shown with a comparison of him back in the early ‘60s. All
Cliff was worried about was: “Was my stomach in?” He had no worries. I had
rushed to buy The Mail when I heard about these photos and all I can say about
them is - “CORR”!! Apart from his hair-style, there was no difference - Cliff
looked gorgeous! (The next part of my report is censored!) Cliff was
thankful the photos were taken when he arrived in Barbados. With the food so
fantastic there, had the photos been taken two weeks later they would have seen
a “blob”! Telling us this beach story, gave the cue to the next song - “ON
THE BEACH”, Cliff’s 26th single released in 1964, reaching No.7 in the
charts, with Cliff doing a short attempt at the twist. More fans stood at the
stage to hand Cliff gifts, one being a 9 year-old girl. “So nice to see she’s
been brought up well”, Cliff boasts. Another fan offered Cliff her hanky which
he pretends to blow his nose on, then throws it back to her. A guitar was
given to Cliff for the next song, “SHE’S GONE”, then straight into
“BLUE TURNS TO GREY”. This was Cliff’s 33rd single released in 1966,
reaching No.15 in the charts, but more famously for being penned by Mick Jagger
and Keith Richard of the Rolling Stones. The guitar taken off Cliff, he went
straight into “SOME PEOPLE”. This was Cliff’s 102nd single reaching No.3
in 1987. Again fans stood at the stage, one offering her hanky to Cliff. He
pretended to clean his shoes with it, but the fan wanted him to wipe his face on
it. Cliff obliges, but then adds some ‘spit’ to it! “She came to see a class
act”, he joked! Cliff’s latest album, produced by Alan Tarney, is
appropriately called “Wanted” (a poster we would all have of Cliff). Alan
brought to Cliff’s attention a song from the film “Breakfast At Tiffanys”
starring Audrey Hepburn. Cliff’s backing vocals leave the stage as he sings
“MOON RIVER”. There have been many versions, most famously sung by
Danny Williams and musically by Henry Mancini, both entering the charts in
1961. However, this version was the tops, with a lovely guitar solo. The
singers return on stage to line up with Mike Haughton on sax as Cliff sings
“WHEN OR WHERE”, a Rogers and Hart number from one of their earlier
musicals. The ‘show-stopper’ at Cliff’s ‘Silver Tour’ at the Apollo, Victoria
in 1983 was “OCEAN DEEP”, with the unbelievable special effect of the
‘ocean’. This single was released twice in 1984 with “Ocean Deep” and “Baby
You’re Dynamite” swapping the ‘A’-side following demands from fans. Chris
Eaton heard Cliff complain about not releasing a recent Gospel number, so wrote
“LET ME BE THE ONE” for him. With the stage turning pink, the fans
rushed the stage. I thought the concert had come to an end, being then when
fans customary act this way. But they were eager to get a prime position for
Cliff’s notorious Xmas No.1 single “THE MILLENNIUM PRAYER”. Again fans
stood singing in harmony to this classic, comely combination of the Lord’s
Prayer with music to Auld Lang Syne. This ended the first half of “Off The
Record”.
Part Two
began, the ladies taking their place on stage. They were now all in black.
The boys in the band and the vocals also took their place. They were now
wearing white jackets. Cliff returned on stage wearing black trousers, a peach
‘T’-shirt and trainers and a white top. His first number was “LAY ALL YOUR
LOVE ON ME”, a No.7 single for Abba in 1981. Where “Human Work Of Art” had
the infamous ‘hip -wiggle’, this song gave us an even better ‘bum-wiggle’ -
wow! More bottles of wine were presented to Cliff from fans, commenting:
“Anyone would think I drank!” Another number from our ‘Juke Box Jury’ in 1989
was “JOANNA”, written by Chris Eaton and voted No.4 by us. This was the
‘B’-side to “Stronger Than That” and also on the ‘Stronger’ album. Cliff
talked about his 60th birthday being the highlight of his year off. To
celebrate Cliff invited 85 family and friends onto a cruise liner for a week.
He was so pleased they all got on so well and have kept in regular touch by
meetings and even by e-mail. One of the memories he has of that week was when
he listened to Natalie Cole singing her version of “SHE WAS TOO GOOD TO ME”.
During this beautiful ballad there were a string and flute solo. Cliff is well
aware of what us fans think of certain songs he has sung. It only reached
No.15 in the charts, but has been our No.1 favourite since 1975 - “MISS YOU
NIGHTS”. As well as the usual ‘midnight diamonds’, we had ‘flames’ on the
stage. The three vocal singers joined Cliff near the piano as he sang “WHERE
DO WE GO FROM HERE”. This was Cliff’s 84th single, only reaching
No.60 in 1982. Alan Park moved over from the piano to the organ to accompany
Cliff with two more ‘oldies’ - “THIS CAN’T BE LOVE” / “MY FUNNY
VALENTINE”. Before Cliff could finish, the fans again rushed to the
stage. Next was another song from our ‘Juke Box Jury’, where fans chose as
their No.1 - “STRONGER THAN THAT”. This was Cliff’s 111th single,
written by Alan Tarney, reaching No.14 in 1989. Terry Britten wrote the next
number in 1980 - “CARRIE” - Cliff’s 77th single reaching No.4. As
always, Cliff gave a perfect interpretation, complete with appropriate actions
and a solo sax. “MY HEART STOOD STILL” was the next number, new
to me. A number certainly not new to me was next - “DEVIL WOMAN”.
Cliff has often admitted this, his 66th single, to be his favourite song; one he
would most wish to be eternally remembered for. It was Cliff’s near
break-through across ‘The Pond’. It has it all - a good beat, lyrics and a
clear message. It was also penned by Terry Britten, reaching an incredibly low
No.15 in the charts in 1976. It was also popular to the ladies on the string
instruments. Not being required for this number they took the opportunity to
enjoy their ‘rest’, some almost dancing in their seats. “A LITTLE
IN LOVE”, Cliff’s 1981 No.15 single and “DREAMIN’”, Cliff’s 1980
No.8 single brought the concert to an end after introducing his band on and off
stage. Cliff is the best ‘teaser’ in show business. Despite the expected
bows, waves and convincingly walking off stage ignoring the loud “more” screams,
we fans know he will return. And, to date, we have not been wrong! Cliff
returned joking how pleased he was to hear our reaction as they had rehearsed
another song! The finale was a delight. Following his instinct to combine
songs cleverly, Cliff sang two of the most popular songs in the last century.
With a reggae beat, Cliff sang “OVER THE RAINBOW, THERE’S A WONDERFUL WORLD”.
Those old enough to remember, “Over The Rainbow” was eternally sung by Judy
Garland from the film ‘The Wizard Of Oz’. “What A Wonderful World” was a 1968
No.1 for Louis Armstrong. (N.B. For many years I thought ‘Sachmo’ sang:
“and the dogs say goodnight”. Strange, I thought. Later I realised the
correct words were: “and the dark sacred night” - !!)
For some time fans had been standing up dancing,
but this clever combination had everyone singing along in harmony with Cliff.
Magic! This really did complete the concert.
After a long
and lonely year without our Knight, it was great to be back where we all
belong. Together in concert with Cliff. And nothing had changed in those
endless 365 days. As I write this article, Cliff topped a Poll for who ‘most’
want to see retire. ‘Most’ obviously have never seen Cliff in concert;
preferring (a)byssmal, (b)hind or (c)rapp music. They should see one with their
eyes open before opening their mouths. Cliff is as good, professional and loved
as always - which sums up his latest concert. That’s his fan’s view - those
who really count......and that is definitely on the record!
Report by:
Eileen Edwards
22nd May, 2001.
OFF THE RECORD - Last
Night
Well, you
could - but wouldn’t see Cliff’s “Off the Record” Concert once. Although
by myself I
soon met a friend in a ‘convenient’ place! Inside I joined fellow fans for a
chat (guess who was topic of conversation). After comparing notes, I found my
seat. The crowd were getting excited. Even a lighting man climbing above
caused a cheer! The musicians walked on stage, each waving to the crowd. A
pause prompted clapping in harmony. Cliff began “REUNION OF THE HEART”,
finally appearing in a silver suit, then sang “WE DON’T TALK ANYMORE”,
“MOVE IT” and “THE BEST OF ME”. Cliff described his year off and
going to America, mentioning Olivia Newton-John who was here for Cliff’s first
night, bragging: “That lady has such good taste”! As Cliff told about
‘dive-bombing’ into a friend’s pool, two fans threw rubber arm-bands onto the
stage! “LETS FALL IN LOVE” / “BLUE SKIES” and “EVERY TIME WE SAY
GOODBYE” followed. Fans queued to offer Cliff gifts, two from Japan.
Cliff asked how long they had been in the UK. “Six days? So you never made a
special trip to see me!” A white towel was handed to Cliff as he talked about
Barbados and the Paparazzi, which he swept along the stage: “No need to clean up
here afterwards”, he called off-stage. Telling the story of The Mail’s infamous
beach photos, Cliff places the towel on the stage and lays down on it. This
nearly caused a stampede of fans rushing to the stage to get a closer look at
Cliff in a horizontal position - a view to cherish! - and using the towel he
demonstrated how to dry yourself with the stomach in! As Cliff sang “ON THE
BEACH”, the ladies in the Orchestra donned sunglasses joining in the fun,
and a fan gave him a bucket and spade. During “SHE’S GONE”, the fans
rushed to the stage. “BLUE TURNS TO GREY”, “SOME PEOPLE”,
“MOON RIVER”, “WHEN OR WHERE”, “OCEAN DEEP”, and
“LET ME BE THE ONE” followed, then “THE MILLENNIUM PRAYER” to finish
the first half of “Off The Record”.
Part Two
Cliff wore black trousers, a black ‘T’-shirt with a white open shirt singing
“LAY ALL YOUR LOVE ON ME”. Fans immediately rushed to the front of the
stage, surprising Cliff. By now Cliff had perfected (if possible!) his
‘bum-wiggle’. “JOANNA”, “SHE WAS TOO GOOD TO ME”, “MISS YOU
NIGHTS”, “WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE”, and “THIS CAN’T BE
LOVE” / “MY FUNNY VALENTINE” followed. The ladies on stage did all
the actions, flexing their muscles to “STRONGER THAN THAT”, enjoying
themselves. “CARRIE” and “MY HEART STOOD STILL” was next,
then during “DEVIL WOMAN” the ladies on stage acted as unofficial dancers
being the ‘cat with them evil eyes’. Cliff received a huge scroll: “You have
been voted the sexiest man in the world”, then continued reading, saying: “You
cheeky thing!”. A voice calls out: “I love you, Cliff”, another responding for
us: “We all do”. “A LITTLE IN LOVE” followed, then “DREAMIN’”,
the ladies waving their bows. Cliff left the stage, returning to introduce for
the final time those on and off the stage and thank us all for making his
come-back so successful. His final song again had everyone on their feet
swaying in harmony to “OVER THE RAINBOW, THERE’S A WONDERFUL WORLD”. As
Cliff sang, "I see friends shaking hands, saying: ‘How do you do?’” ,
Cliff and all the crowd held out their shaking hands to each other.
Cliff
collected numerous bunches of flowers, bottles, teddies and other gifts from
thankful fans. The band played on, then Cliff made his final exit, followed by
his three backing singers. Then the music stopped. It was all over for
another concert.
Report by: Eileen Edwards, 27th
May,2001.
CLIFF'S 17th
CHRISTMAS PRO-CELEBRITY TENNIS TOURNAMENT AT
THE NATIONAL
INDOOR ARENA, BIRMINGHAM ON 16th DEC 2000.
Report By
Eileen Edwards
(Honorary member - London and
Surrey Fan Club)
Christmas
would not be the same if I wasn’t invited to officiate at Cliff’s Pro-Celebrity
Tennis Tournament. So I was thrilled to receive the welcome call to attend
with daughter Julie. When we arrived, we were issued with the usual ‘Direct
Line’ tops in two sizes only - medium or extra large - (It’s an official secret
which one I chose!). But this year we were given vouchers for a meal,
something forgotten last year. As we made our way to the entrance, Cliff was
walking towards us. He stopped to say “hi”, then warn us his sister would be
playing during the evening and he was aware she foot-faults, and asked us if we
would ignore it. Being on one base line, this was going to be interesting!
Although it had not done us fans a favour, having a sabbatical year off
certainly did Cliff. He looked so well and refreshed.
When it was
time to start, BILL LATHAM walked out onto the court to welcome the 10,000
audience. Back in June tickets for tonight went on sale at 9.30 am and had
been sold out in just two hours. Bill apologised to those up high who had not
been able to get a better seat. I was lucky - I had a great seat on left
base!! Bill then told us Gloria Hunniford was unable to attend as it was her
son’s 30th birthday today and she was giving him a party. Careless planning.
Instead Bill introduced us to SUE BARKER who had been invited to interview
tonight’s players. Sue was Cliff’s doubles partner back in 1983 at Brighton
Centre when this tournament was first staged. I was Team Leader of a group of
amateur line-judges at this event, which was thought of and developed by Cliff
and Sue. It was going to be a “one-off”, but it’s success then has sustained
to become an annual and extremely popular event. Well, what did you expect?
I was a Team Leader!!
Bill
introduced the Ball Girls from the Holy Child School onto court first, then us
line-judges. To start off Cliff came on court and was immediately interviewed
by Sue talking about the “good old days” back in 1983 up to the present date and
its format. Cliff waited while his first partner, CHRIS WILKINSON, a former
British No.1 player, was introduced. Their opponents, BRIAN CONLEY and ANDREW
JARRETT, followed. At first you would never have recognised Brian whose hair
was dyed bright white for a film role. Brian changed from his track suit
bottoms to his enormously long bright red ‘shorts’ (‘longs?’). He teased the
camera crew who went up close to get a ‘camera-eye view’ by asking if they had
‘3-D’!
Game 1 began
with JEREMY SHALES in the high chair. During one very long rally Andrew was
doing all the return of shots from Cliff and Chris. “Feel free at any time you
like to take over, Brian”, Andrew commented, while Brian watched the ball
continuously go over the net. The only shot Brian made was a brilliant lob
over Cliff and Chris which landed miraculously on the opposite base to me. No
one was more surprised than Brian who gave the ‘moon-walk’ to celebrate. When
it was Brian’s turn to serve he was soon put off by fans cheering as Cliff gave
his famous wiggle my end of the court. He looked down his ‘longs’ just to
check all was there! His serve was as near to slow motion as you could get.
This time his lob which Cliff ran for was over my base line and I called “out”
(not to Cliff, though!). Brian was cruelly accurate as he asked “How come her
microphone is louder than mine?” then mimicked my call. The thing was, gang, I
never had a microphone!! When he served next it was well over the service
line, but apparently I had “thrown” him, so wanted another go. Another thing,
gang - he was entitled to another “go” anyway without any excuse. He then
picked on the service line judge saying “He spent 3 hours combing his hair and
left it on the mantelpiece!” Brian then complained that the ball was always
being returned to him. Andrew assured him it was because he was so good, but
we know different. To confuse Cliff and Chris, Brian put in a second ball.
When the original ball missed a long line and was called “out”, Andrew told
Brian to ignore it as they were actually having a rally. During “deuce” Brian
made a run for the ball and landed over the barrier and had to walk round to get
back on court. Cliff and Chris finally won the match and had a kiss each from
Brian. Interviewed afterwards, Brian said that judging by the response of the
audience, they must have thought he was a Swedish champion. Maybe not a
Swedish champion, but certainly British!
Game 2 was
between ANTHEA TURNER and HENRI LECONTE against AINSLEY HARRIOTT and MANSOUR
BAHRAMI. Ainsley negligently won this tournament two years ago - but was still
invited back. This match was umpired by JANE HARVEY making her debut at
Cliff’s Pro-Celebrity tennis. Jane is a top lady umpire who has earned
enormous respect from many tennis players - but probably would have a tougher
time here! Henri had to advise Anthea where to stand after each point and
seemed troubled when Anthea confessed she had only ‘played’ tennis five times
and was very nervous (so was Henri!). She missed every ball aimed at her, and
was more concerned about her microphone wires which had fallen down her tennis
skirt. When Mansour served an ace, Henri went over to Jane “you cannot be
serious, the ball was clearly out” (where have we heard that before?). Mansour
soon settled the argument telling Henri; “shut up!”. Jane somehow managed to
keep track of the score and the players; with Ainsley and Mansour the obvious
winners.
Game 3 was
between CLIFF and HENRI against MANSOUR and DANIEL O’DONNELL. Daniel seemed
terrified when he first walked out, but received a huge warm welcome from the
audience. As Cliff was about to serve to him, Daniel reminded him “I am a fan
of yours”; so Cliff served under-arm. By now I had been moved from left base
to left centre in order to get a better view of Cliff when my end! After a
couple of points, Daniel asked if he could have a break for a drink; “can
someone get him a gin and tonic?” Cliff called out to the audience. Mansour
then had to remind Daniel it was match point to “them”. Daniel’s response was
“thank God!” Jeremy then declared Cliff and Henri the easy victors.
Game 4 was
between AINSLEY and HENRI against BRIAN and MANSOUR. As Brian walked onto the
court he picked up a board and put over the centre line-judge; “That’s one out
of the way. Get a couple more of them and we might win.” Jane patiently
waited while Brian tried out her chair, going up to “first floor”. He asked if
they were waiting for a photo, but Jane was waiting to do the spin. Just
before serving Brian told the story “while Larry was in church singing a hymn,
someone threw a tomato at him. Tomatoes don’t hurt, they’re covered in skin.
But this one did - it was in a tin”!! This amused Ainsley so much he could
hardly play. “Come on Brian” someone called out. Brian’s response - “Two
weeks ago he couldn’t speak, but now it’s ‘come on Brian’!” This brought Henri
to his knees and Brian was able to ace him with his serve. Jane was asked what
the score was. “4-2” came the reply. “4-2”, said Brian. “What does that
mean?” Henri was still laughing and couldn’t care if it was match point
against him. Brian and Mansour won against Ainsley and Henri, still laughing
hysterically.
Game 5 was a
special tie-break match from members of ‘Coronation Street’, Cliff’s favourite
‘soap’. DENISE WELCH, ‘Natalie Barnes’ and SEAN WILSON, ‘Martin’ were to play
against SALLY WHITTAKER, ‘Sally Webster’ and her ‘ex-husband’, MICHAEL LE VELL,
‘Kevin’. Cliff applauded them as they made their entrance and gave a kiss and
hug to Denise who was pregnant not only in the story-line, but in her personal
life. So in her place was her husband, TIM HEALEY (of ‘Auf Wiedersehen
Pet’). Jeremy tried to keep control of four players who hadn’t a clue what
they were doing - or playing! Sally particularly never knew anything about
tennis and was surprised when she had to serve twice.
We were also
entertained by Cliff partnering his very nervous youngest of three sisters, JOAN
PILGRIM; against his management, BILL LATHAM and ‘birthday boy’ ROGER BRUCE.
At one point when Bill and Roger were very close to beating Cliff and Joan,
Jeremy tactfully reminded them who they ‘were’ working for! Good sense
prevailed, allowing Cliff and Joan to win.
SUE MAPPIN,
along with several young tennis hopefuls, also gave a tennis display while Cliff
stayed on court to admire their talents.
Backstage us
umpires took advantage of this break having the opportunity to speak to the
players. Although I find Brian so funny, his little daughter, Amy Louise, was
even funnier, tirelessly running in and out of the hospitality tent to avoid her
harassed mother. Daniel was a total delight. He spent endless time talking
to us and seemed horrified to know we were “proper” line-judges. And when we
assured him we would not “foot fault” him, we had to explain what a “foot fault”
was! (Daniel is also famed for opening his house to his fans once a year to
meet them - something I find to be so admirable.) Another delight was Ainsley
who took time to speak to us. I happen to be an avid watcher of ‘Ready Steady
Cook’ which Ainsley has recently taken over from Fern Britten. We spoke about
the show and its new format and I was asked if I ever copy any of the recipes.
I told Ainsley that cooking was not something I enjoy and would do anything to
get out of doing. Ainsley was highly amused when I told him one year my kids
told husband they had bought me a Xmas gift but as I was so nosy would no doubt
find it; so did he know of a place to hide it? Husbands reply was - “put it in
the oven - Mum will never think of looking in there!”
The final!
CLIFF was partnered by HENRI against AINSLEY and MANSOUR with Jeremy in the
chair. When Cliff’s serve was called a “fault” (not by me, gang!) Mansour
sportingly offered Cliff two serves, turning to the centre line-judge; “you
can’t be serious; the ball was in!”. There was a competition between whose
‘wiggle’ was best, with Cliff doing his one side, Ainsley on the other.
“You’ve got it in stereo”, called Cliff. Naturally we knew who won!
Appropriately to win the match Cliff did a brilliant return which landed bang on
the near long line, a shot I would have been proud to have judged.
Father
Christmas this year was LIZ DAWN ‘Vera Duckworth’ in ‘Coronation Street’. With
the raffle some lucky fans had the boring flight tickets to Singapore, New York
or Hong Kong; but also received a precious kiss from Cliff. Unanimously and
deservedly, the ‘MAN OF THE MATCH’ went to BRIAN CONLEY who was presented with
the notorious enormous tennis racquet.
The evenings
entertainment began when Cliff stood on the stage in front of the colossal
Direct Line ‘phone to play his guitar and sing “GEE WHIZ IT’S YOU”.
This song was originally from Cliff’s 3rd album “Me And My Shadows” released in
1960. It became a huge success in Europe, being played constantly on Radio
Luxembourg. Columbia, Cliff’s record company, quickly released it in 1961 as
Cliff’s 12th single with “I Cannot Find A True Love”, another number taken from
the album. Although the number reached No.4 in the charts (‘Hit Parade’), it
was not an official release with limited copies, becoming a rare copy (I am a
proud owner of one!). Cliff then introduced a “black Gospel song” he enjoyed
singing; “SWEET LITTLE JESUS BOY”. He enjoyed singing it
enough to record it on the ‘B’-side to his 1967 Christmas song; “ALL ME LOVE”,
which reached No.6. Cliff then invited Daniel O’Donnell to join him on stage
to sing “OH BOY”. Daniel then sang the first verse of “SILENT
NIGHT”, Cliff the second verse; with the audience joining in at the end. It
was a delightful duet. Brian Conley, alias ‘Heinz Beans’ (!), was invited to
sing songs from his hit show ‘Jolson’ - “APRIL SHOWERS” and
“CAROLINA”. Cliff then sang his biggest selling record in 1988 and his
105th single (99th solo record) and the most popular of recent Christmas songs -
“MISTLETOE AND WINE”. As always, Cliff paused for the customary
“happy Christmas” from the fans. They also sang the chorus in perfect harmony.
Cliff then
left the stage to join the Carol Singers to sing two traditional festive songs -
“HARK THE HERALDS ANGELS SING” and “OH, COME ALL YE FAITHFUL”.
As he walked around the court, Liz Dawn was in the sleigh collecting Christmas
gifts and cards for Cliff. This time last year my e-mail was red hot writing
to newspapers condemning other “professional” artists in their unprofessional
conduct. All Cliff was guilty of was to band the words of the Lord’s Prayer to
the tune of “Aude Lang Syne” - a clever combination - and it worked, reaching
No.1. The song we all were united in defending so fearlessly was Cliff’s 131st
- “THE MILLENNIUM PRAYER”. Like last year it again united Cliff’s
fans together - young and old - stranger with stranger - arm in arm - all
singing and clapping loudly. A perfect finale. (Not that there is ever a
perfect finale when you see Cliff.)
So - it’s
“goodbye” from the large red telephone, Bill and it could be “goodbye” from
me. With a new format the tournament may not require us umpires, and even if
they did, I may no longer be selected. Typical, eh? Just when I’ve trained
our ‘Chief’ to invite me first with my name at the top of his list! Out of the
18 Cliff Pro-Celebrity Tournaments I have only missed one when I was foolishly
umpiring at South Africa. If this is my last, one thing for sure
is..........I’ve had a ball!
December,
2000.
By Carol Hall
I was lucky enough to go
to the Jill Dando charity gala dinner in Weston Super Mare, UK on the 26th
February 2000. My mother, who lives in the area, obtained a ticket for us both.
I’d heard all sorts of stories about whether I would be able to get in,
especially as I lived out of the area, that I even took along my passport to
prove who I was. The evening gave my mother and I the chance to really doll
ourselves up to the nines! When we arrived at about 6pm, we were greeted by a
small bank of photographers, all poised with their large cameras, waiting for
the celebrities to arrive. Clutching our beautifully elaborate gold and black
embossed tickets, we entered the doors and gave our jackets into the cloakroom
before stepping through double doors into a large square room. A photographer
was taking pictures of guests, so Mum and I stood and had our picture taken too,
just a little disappointed that Cliff hadn’t joined us for posterity! We were
offered champagne and orange juice and they also provided a bar for those who
didn’t want the complimentary drinks offered.
There were two sets of
double doors, either side of the room, opposite the bar, leading into an even
grander and much larger room. This had even more champagne being served from two
centre stations. Around the edges of the room were many tables where various
items which were being offered as bid prizes. I noted that one lady had offered
£75.00 for a signed copy of “Cliff: A Celebration”. Lots of famous people had
donated items to be auctioned. Chris Bonnington had given a signed poster and
there were BBC “Changing Rooms” T-shirts to name but a couple. Many very
glamorous people were milling about and Mum and I were perfectly happy doing
just the same, wandering around, admiring the huge quantity of items available
to bid for. One corner of the room had generated a great deal of interest and
that was for the Western Hospice, who had managed to get a local company to
donate an Autumn cruise around France, Spain and Portugal. Tickets to win this
holiday were just a pound and they were selling them like crazy!! As their
patron, Jill would have been delighted.
At 7pm, our attention was
drawn to a stage at one end of the room. Mum and I were fortunate to be standing
just feet from the front when a gentleman asked for our attention and introduced
Judy Kiesham on stage, editor of the Western Mercury. It had been her that had
organised the evening for the hospice, and for Jill. Her short speech was full
of praise for Jill and her life, as an ex-employee and as a friend. She then
introduced Nigel, Jill’s brother, who after his speech introduced Les Fake,
chairman of the hospice. Bobby Davro was next on stage, who introduced a short
video of Jill’s life, all set to Cliff’s songs. Urging us to be as generous as
possible during the evening, we were then ushered into the round ballroom at
about 7.10pm. There were many, many tables in the large, white, oval domed
ceiling room. Mum and I were on table 34, situated near the center of the room.
The room looked very pretty, with its white fairy lights draped from the center
of the room to the edges and the coloured projected shapes, twisting and turning
on the white ceiling. The small stage was just off to the right of my seat (two
tables away), occupied at this time by Quintets Classics, a four lady string
quartet.
We all stood to welcome
Jill’s family, Alan Farthing, Nick Ross and Gloria Hunniford into the room. We
said grace before we ate. Dinner consisted of pink salmon, dill and lemon cream
mouse served on a bitter leaf salad with roasted cherry tomatoes, chicken
supreme served in red wine and wild mushroom sauce, garnished with a red onion
and bacon marmalade, bramley apple and wild berry crumble served with clotted
cream, English cheese board with biscuits, grapes and celery sticks and coffee
with cream and after dinner mints. Quite a feast I can assure you. Red and white
wine flowed freely on the table too! Halfway through dinner, tickets for the
cruise were drawn. Neither Mum nor I won that! At 9pm they called our attention
again to announce that’d had a complaint! Someone had told them they they’d not
won the cruise, so the travel agent had offered another one to give away as a
prize! This time we all had to write out name on bank notes that were collected
soon after, to be drawn a little later in the evening. Another £10 went into a
bag between Mum and I, in our hope of being able to take that autumn holiday!
The waiters and waitresses looked like they belonged on a cruise ship with their
very smart uniforms!
At 9.40pm, the string
quartet left the stage to a healthy round of applause. We were served desert
just as Lord Archer was welcomed on the stage, joined by Gloria Hunniford, who
drew the winning note. This time the name of the winner wasn’t simply read out.
Gloria returned to her seat and Jeffery made everyone in the room stand if they
had certain letters in their name. He was quite amusing as people were slowly
whittled down to the winner. It was a very entertaining and exciting way of
winning a cruise! Alas, not my mother nor I were a winner! Lord Archer then
continued the evening with a special auction, showing those people who’d come
with their pockets stashed with cash. There were 4 of the best seats for the
show Doctor Dolittle, with backstage passes which went for £550. A signed
Liverpool football shirt raised £450, 2 people could visit Elstree studios and
sit on the top table for the comedy awards which raised £1000 and 2 of the best
seats in the house for the world premiere of the ballet Sleeping Beauty raised
£1100.
The next item saw Nick
Ross joining Lord Archer on stage, who announced that he had two tickets for the
BAFTA award ceremony in London, which included an overnight stay in the
Grosvener Hotel. He said it was a real chance to meet some serious stars! It
raised £1900! Cliff had donated a black silk suit, which he’d worn. It raised a
disappointing £600! If I’d had the money I would have bought it! Finally, there
was a panda teddy, which had been Jill Dando's cuddly toy since she had been a
teenager, which was auctioned with a superb holiday to the Maldives. It raised a
tremendous £3600!!
As the total raised to
that point hadn’t quite reached the 10k mark, Lord Archer auctioned his latest
book, a signed first edition, not yet in the shops and his bidding hammer. They
both sold for £1000. All agreed that it had been a generous evening!! By 10.50 the auction was over and Lord Archer
had left the stage to a very enthusiastic response. A popular person down in
Weston obviously!! We had a 10 minute comfort break when my mother (who’d had a
few drinks by this point) collected her courage together and boldly went to
speak to Gloria Hunniford. She and Gloria had their heads together in earnest
conversation and I was most intrigued to know what they could possibly be
discussing,.
Gathering my skirt, I
joined them, introducing myself as the president of the club. Gloria was very
courteous and delighted when I asked her to become an honorary member. She
scribbled down her address and I left her and my mother to continue their
conversation. At 10.50pm, Bobby Davro was on stage, performing his usual witty
banter. His combination of jokes and impressions had everyone laughing. He asked
Gloria and Pia Hoffman on stage to do the backing vocals for “The Wonder Of You”
and his Elvis impersonation. Neither could really do it with a straight face!
His impersonations included Cliff of course but also Pavarotti, Sinatra, David
Essex, Victor Meldrew, Shirley Bassey, Neil Diamond, Tony Blair and Cilla Black.
The funniest thing I’ve seen in ages was his impression of Riverdance and when
he came on stage with a four doll contraption which he carried in his shoulders,
two dolls either side of him, people fell about. There was a long broom handle
type pole attached across all the dolls knees which, when he moved up and down,
gave the impression that they we all dancing together. I’d not seen it before
and I found it very amusing! One of the dolls head fell off, adding to the
hilarity of the situation.
Time was marching on
now and Mum and I were quite amazed by the fact that Cliff still hadn’t been on
stage. We were convinced that by the time Cliff got on stage, he would only have
10 minutes to entertain up, which of course wouldn’t be long enough! Bobby
introduced Cliff at 11.30pm and the room erupted in applause. He looked fabulous
(as usual) wearing a duck egg blue suit and white shirt. He carried with him his
guitar. Placing his guitar on a stand behind him, he talked briefly about the
reason we were all there. He expressed his great sadness about Jill’s death but
said that it was very important to continue her work with the hospice. Picking
up his guitar he sang: I Could Easily Fall In Love With
You; The Young Ones; Living Doll (Mum and I both sang “Get Down” loudly at the
appropriate moment, but we were alone in doing this!); Great Balls Of Fire;
Travelling Light; Let It Be Me (I’m not sure of the title as I wasn’t familiar
with it, but it was one of Cliff’s religious song and it moved Mum to tears - it
was beautiful); Move It; Hope and Faith; Daddy’s Home; Summer Holiday and a
wonderful rendition of Miss You Nights, with only a piano accompaniment and not
one backing singer in sight. Cliff admitted that it was something he’d not done
before and he had hoped it would work. It did! He ended the song to a standing
ovation! He ended his session with All Shook Up and Whole Lotta Shaking by which
time many people were up and dancing. At 12.30 he left the stage, much to our
disappointment. Cliff had sounded fabulous! Mum grabbed this opportunity to
speak to Bobby Davro who had been propping up a pillar behind us watching Cliff.
She asked him to become an honorary member of the club and he also agreed giving
her his email address. When she came back and gave me the piece of paper, I was
thrilled but I felt I ought to go and introduce myself to him, so I did! He was
very polite and said that he was a great fan of Cliff and his music therefore he
would be very pleased to become a member of the club. I returned to my table
pleased with the fact that I’d managed to gain two extra honorary members for
our club! People were leaving at this point and many people were wandering
around. I noted that Gloria and the majority of her table had already left but I
did see Nigel Dando, who was walking towards me. I grabbed this final
opportunity to get an honorary member who would be ideal to take over from Jill
and also someone who knew her well too. I explained to Nigel that Jill had been
a member of our club and how she had always been so pleased to add her
contribution. I told him how appropriate it would be if he were to take over
from her since her untimely death. He said he would be delighted to. I left
Weston Super Mare on a real high. Not only had the evening been a resounding
success for the Hospice, raising many thousands of pounds but I felt it had also
been a great success for the club too. My thanks to the organisers for a
terrific evening!
An Audience with Cliff Richard
(And the bits not shown on TV!)
After waiting in the cold, wind and rain with about 50 other
people from 3.45 to 7.40pm and after we’d watched Eileen Edwards’ ticket sail
out of her hand and through the bars of the gate we all stood at (with an
interesting and inventive retrieval) only 20 fortunate people were allowed
through and into the studio.
The show began at 7.52 with Cliff singing Move It.
Cliff then sang A Little In Love, not shown on TV. The first batch of
celebrity questions started with Charlotte Church and “Who are your
inspirations?”
Then came Ester Ranson, and Jess Conrad. Next was Sir John
Mills who asked, “How did you feel when you stood in front of the Queen?”.
Back to music and Cliff sang a two track montage of Carrie
and Devil Woman.
Bob Wilson asked “What is your favourite hit and why?” The
answer was Move It, Devil Woman and Miss You Nights.
Jeremy Beadle asked the next question “Which song got away,
which one did you regret not singing?” Anthea Turner’s question next asked was
“Is there a song which someone else recorded and you wish was yours?” Tina
Turner’s “What’s Love Got To Do With It” was the answer, which was written by
the same man who wrote Devil Woman.
Next Bruce Welch and Cliff’s banter, though it looked as
though it had been trimmed slightly for the screen. It was still very good. As
they spoke the stools for Another Level were set out on the stage. As they were
introduced and welcomed onto the stage, the gentleman sitting next to me was
going crazy! After a puzzled look from me he explained that his son, Mark
Barren, was one of Another Level and he was thrilled that they were singing with
Cliff!
After the singing of Some People came the first break.
There was chat between the floor crew and Cliff’s make-up girl came on stage to
take the shine off his forehead!
The second part kicked of with Dreamin’. When Cliff
had finished singing, boxer Chris Eubank sauntered in towards his seat. Cliff
made a comment about his being late and Chris acknowledged the clapping crowd as
his made his way to his seat. I wouldn't have questioned him!!
Russ Abbott asked the next question: “What’s the most
embarrassing moment you’ve ever had?” Cliff was quick to retort with: “What
except for this one?”
Cheryl Baker then asked about Cliff ever having had a face
lift. Tim Bowler asked the next question, which was shown in the trailers for
the show but cut from the show itself! Most odd! He asked “What modern bands do
your like at the moment?”
Then came Mystic Meg before Cliff sang Can’t Keep This
Feeling In after he told the audience how it was marketed. The song was cut
from the broadcast.
Anna Walker asked “Did you have to agonise over what name you
should have?”
Then Peter Stringfellow with “When Chris Evans was so
incredibly rude to you, why didn’t you bop him on the nose? The answer for this
question was much longer than that shown on TV.
Kenny Lynch asked “Would you rather sing or play tennis?” The
answer was that his tennis wasn’t good enough.
Rolf then brought up the Wimbledon singing and Cliff
encouraged the audience to join in as he sang Summer Holiday, Bachelor
Boy (which he got wrong first time round and had to start again!), Living
Doll and The Young Ones. This led to one of the highlights of the
evening with Cliff getting Les Dennis and Bobby Davro up on stage to sing with
him. What the TV viewer didn’t see was Davro stepping up onto the stage and
putting his foot through one of the floor lights that lit the stage edge. The
whole segment was hilarious and what went out on TV didn’t do it justice at all.
The duff mike incident lasted longer with Davro handing the mike to Les Dennis
who in turn handed it back to Cliff. The replacement was brought on and The
Young Ones was somehow performed! When Davro and Dennis had returned to
their seats the light was repaired.
The crew announced that it would be okay for us to get up and
dance throughout the rest of the show and at 9.04pm, Cliff introduced Vincenzo
La Scola and sang Vita Mia. (It was actually mimed).
The next song was to be Miss You Nights, but Cliff had to
explain that Elaine Paige had been unable to attend that night, so they had
recorded the song the night before. We had to clap for the beginning of the song
and clap for the end, though it wasn’t played at all!
Some clever inter-cutting was shown on TV as one shot showed
a woman leaving the stage as the audience applauded. It wasn’t us! Perhaps
family and relatives filled the seats for the filming the day before.
At this point came a pre-recorded message from Olivia
Newton-John which was viewed on overhead monitors. It lasted about a minute, but
was dropped from the broadcast. Cliff was responding to the comments made down
on stage.
Una Stubbs was next, then Gary Wilmot with “If they make a
film of your life, who do you think would make a good Cliff Richard?”. He
answered with people like Darren Day.
John Inman was next to ask: “Next year in the year 2000, you
will be 60. How do you feel about that?”. Then came Angela Rippon with: “What
are you going to do with your year off?”
Cliff introduced his backing singers onto stage, Mick Mullin,
Peter Howell and Pete Morell and they sang We Don’t Talk Anymore. I
didn’t catch who asked this next question but it was “How hard is it to maintain
a steady relationship whilst in the business?”
Gloria Hunniford wanted to know if Cliff was as competitive
as ever before Tanya Briers asked her question, “Have you maintained your sense
of style or has it changed through the years?”
Wendy Richards asked Cliff “Is there just one thing that your
would pick out as the most momentous thing through the years?” The answer was
the knighthood. Cliff’s make-up artist returned to the stage again at this point
to remove the shine once more despite Cliff remarking on the fact the he wasn’t
hot! Cliff also thanked everyone for coming along stating that we must have had
plenty of other things to do.
For one reason or another, the producer wasn’t happy with the
recording of We Don’t Talk Anymore, so we went through the whole song
again, this time though, we got up and danced too!
With Cliff’s guitar being brought onto the stage, Cliff sang When The Girl
In Your Arms to Una Stubbs, but fluffed the first line and had to start
again! Then he sang The Minute You’re Gone and It’s All In The Game.
After the third break Cliff talks about the new single. He introduced the
Capital Voice Choir and The Chicken Shed Company for The Millennium Prayer.
It was a lovely performance!
On TV the single was immediately followed by the mega combination Power To
All Our Friends, Congratulations, and Do You Wanna Dance.
After singing Cliff left the stage briefly before returning to sing Lucky
Lips. We all sang and danced along and to rapturous final applause Cliff
left the stage for good. It had now gone 10pm.
It was a truly wonderful evening, and my thanks for this article also goes to
Mike Wilson as we were both scribbling like mad to bring you as much information
as we could. Sorry that you have mostly questions only but I just have never
learnt shorthand! My thanks go to Christine Whitehead as without her I wouldn’t
have been able to attend.
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