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“CLIFF - LIVE AND KICKING"
If Cliff
ever needed to test his fans loyalty, demand for tickets for his latest concert
‘Live And Kicking’ proved us to be as faithful as ever. Weeks before tickets
for the Royal Albert Hall went on sale, enthusiastic fans were queuing to claim
the best seats. Cliff had heard about this dedication and had thoughtfully
visited them. I chose to book my seats from the comfort of my armchair on the
Internet on the day tickets went on sale. But the Internet crashed, leaving me
to persistently try countless times to buy my ticket over the ‘phone. Perhaps
I should have queued. The day I booked was the 6th April, and my
£30 ticket was only one row from the very top of the RAH. I could hardly see
the stage, let alone see Cliff! And I just about had the oxygen to clap!
However, I was not going to let a silly little thing like being what seemed a
mile between Cliff and me spoil the evening.
The band,
all dressed in black and white (at least I assume it was the band!) made their
way on the stage. A board was held up in the centre by the Jive Dancers, two
girls and two boys, and the stage went dark. Suddenly the board had the
familiar silhouette of Cliff behind as he sang the first song from the ‘Live and
Kicking’ concert.
HEARTBREAK HOTEL.
This was
Elvis Presley’s 1st single released in 1956. Cliff
had heard this song on a car radio and immediately loved the sound. My husband
and I had recently returned from travelling round America, Memphis being on our
itinerary where we stayed at Elvis’ ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, conveniently situated
across the road from Graceland. So the famous words: “I’ve found a new place
to dwell. Well, it’s down at the end of Lonely Street at Heartbreak Hotel,”
means many memories for me now.
MOVE IT
was
Cliff’s first single. Norrie Paramor, Recording Manager for Columbia Records,
had ‘Schoolboy Crush’ for Cliff, but there was nothing to back it. Sammy
Samwell wrote ‘Move It’ on a bus travelling from the recording studios. He
only wrote one verse, Cliff simply repeated. Only recently Sammy wrote a
second verse, which, having heard the original so many times, I still find
difficult to adopt. Cliff’s memories of his first single with the then called
The Drifters was - “When I was 16½ I would have never of dreamed that when I
was 17½ I would have been in the recording studios of Abbey Road making my first
record, and it was ‘Move It’, and I would have never dreamed that it would have
been No.2.” Cliff was in the middle of talking to us when he spotted a
couple arriving late to the right of the stage. “You would be in trouble if
you were at Wimbledon”, he correctly joked"! Cliff was telling us about
recently enjoying a meal at a restaurant in Paris. The owner had politely
waited until Cliff had finished his meal before approaching him. Cliff,
believing he speaks very good French admitted, yes, he was Cleef Reechard! The
owner then admitted he thought ‘Cleef Reechard’ was dead!
IT’LL BE ME
was the
next song. “I’ve always been a Jerry Lee Lewis fan and I recorded
‘It’ll Be Me’ perhaps for an album track, but we enjoyed it so much, and also I
think every now and then you buy a really good record you remember things like
the solo, and I feel Hank Marvin’s solo on ‘It’ll Be Me’ was absolutely a
classic. ‘It’ll Be Me’ was a fun song released in 1962 in between Cliff’s
films ‘The Young Ones’ and ‘Summer Holiday’, reaching No.2.
Cliff talked about
the early music he had been influenced in, giving us an example. BABY, I
DON’T CARE is from Cliff’s 1st album ‘Cliff’. On February 9th
and 10th 1959 several hundreds of Cliff’s fans were invited into the
EMI recording studios at St. John’s Wood, London for the recording of this live
album, accompanied by The Drifters (later The Shadows) and fans’ genuine
screams. Cliff chose all the songs on this album, released in April 1959,
himself. Written by Leiber and Stoller, this was originally an Elvis song from
one of his early films, eventually released in 1983. MY BABE, written
by Dixon and Stone, is also from the ‘Cliff’ album. This version is the basic
rock ‘n’ roll sound, with The Drifters (The Shadows) backing Cliff. Cliff
recorded it again on the ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ album in April 1967. This version
had the backing of Mike Leander’s Orchestra and was arranged and produced by
Norrie Paramor, but I thought lacked the raw live version from the original.
I’M WALKING
was written by Domino and Bartholomew, from Cliff’s 2nd album ‘Cliff
Sings’ released in November 1959.
I GOTTA KNOW
is
another number from ‘Cliff Sings’.
WITHOUT YOU
was an early record Cliff
co-wrote with Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch from his milestone 5th
album, ‘21 Today’, released in October 1961 – when, coincidentally was when
Cliff was 21!
Cliff finishes the song with a kiss from his two girl dancers.
Lucky girls. Then one girl dancer brings on a jacket for Cliff to change into,
the other girl dancer taking the worn jacket off. (Don’t ask me what colour; I
could just about make out he was taking something off from the top!)
WE SAY YEAH.
Cliff mentioned the fact that protest songs are not new, and even he has sung
them. My initial thought here was ‘Silvery Rain’ or ‘Sing A Song Of Freedom’,
but Cliff’s first ‘protest’ song came further back in 1962. When one would say
“No!”, another would also say “No!”, and then another would say “No!”; Cliff
would answer – “We say yeah”. The dancers joined Cliff for this song
from the film ‘The Young Ones’, which was also the B-side from the film titled
song. This is such a special song for me as many once thought I was the girl
fan in the front of the audience in the film ‘The Young Ones’ who shouted “We
want The Mystery Singer” (Nicky Black, played by Cliff), then “We want
our money back”! As if……………..
Cliff introduced
the “Do-Wop” section from America, wondering if they speak the same language as
us!
BABY, IT’S YOU
is also from ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ in 1967. Written by David, Bacharach and
Williams, Cliff also sang this song on his fourth ‘It’s Cliff Richard’ show on
15th January 1972, singing this lovely ballad with the equally lovely
Olivia Newton-John. If my memory serves me right 32 years ago, Cliff and
Olivia were riding on a bike side-by-side as they sang this song.
SAVE THE LAST DANCE
FOR ME
was originally by American group The Drifters in 1960 reaching
No.2, then by Ben E King in 1987. This is another song Cliff sang on his
‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ album. Cliff also sang this song to end his 10th
‘It’s Cliff Richard’ show on 26th February 1972.
DONNA
was
originally a song recorded by Marty Wilde in 1959, which reached No.3 in the
charts. Having a sister called Donna, there was obviously an affinity with
Cliff, so he also recorded it on his 1st album ‘Cliff’.
SILHOUETTES
was a
No.3 hit for Herman’s Hermits, a beaty version, in 1965. Cliff’s slower
version, released in 1990, reached No.10. The dancers joined Cliff, performing
a dramatised story of the song behind a board with appropriate actions as a
silhouette. Very funny was when one boy dancer “rushed down to your house with
wings on my feet”. Mike Haughton also had his silhouette included for his sax
solo.
ALWAYS is an old song
written by Irvine Berlin, Cliff included in his ‘From A Distance……The Event’
album he recorded on 16th and 17th June 1989 at Wembley.
The dancers join Cliff for a slick
routine then leave, and the backing singers return.
BABY I COULD BE SO GOOD AT
LOVING YOU is
a Burt Bacharach and Hal David song he recorded on the ‘Sincerely’ album,
released in October 1969. Cliff also sang this on his 7th ‘It’s
Cliff Richard’ show on 5th February 1972 where Olivia was a guest
again. It was on this show that Cliff and Olivia sang together Breads song
‘Baby I’m A Want You’.
Cliff has achieved the top spot in Channel 4’s ‘Top Ultimate
Pop Show’ which detailed the 50 top-selling singles artists in British chart
history with almost 21 million singles sales. Cliff beat The Beatles into 2nd
place and Elvis into 3rd. From Nashville Cliff had commented:
“This is better than any accolade or award, and also better than winning a poll,
because it is simply a fact! I’m overwhelmed and in shock – I don’t think my
feet will touch the ground for quite a while!” Cliff was still on a high,
bragging he now wants to be known simply as ‘UPS’. However, ‘UPS’ does also
stand for something else! (And how I’d love it if Cliff were delivered to my
address at Croydon!) It was now sing-along time, with three popular No.1 songs
– ‘The Young Ones,’ ‘Living Doll’ and ‘Bachelor Boy’, to make Cliff become a
‘UPS’. THE YOUNG ONES - having earlier sung the B-side, ‘We Say Yeah’,
Cliff next sang the historical A-side. In January 1962, ‘The Young Ones’
reached the No.1 spot even before the song was released. “What
can I say about ‘The Young Ones’? Because if people ask what about highlights
in my career, ‘The Young Ones’ has to be mentioned. Let me just sum up the way
I feel by telling you when I did a concert in Liverpool the film had been held
over for nearly 8 weeks there, and when I did my act I saved ‘The Young Ones’
‘till towards the end of the show and I could hardly do my act because all
people kept shouting was “The Young Ones”. When I did it there was an
outstanding roar from the audience, and I was just over-whelmed. So, ‘The
Young Ones’ will always be something special for me”. During the
instrumental John Clark (lead) and Steve Stoud (bass) joined Cliff to perform
the famous ‘Shadows walk’.
LIVING DOLL
was
Cliff’s 1st No.1 released in 1959. It was from his 1st
film, ‘Serious Charge’ where Cliff played a character called Curly. Instead of
changing the name, they waved Cliff’s hair! “There were three numbers in
‘Serious Charge’ – ‘Living Doll’, ‘Mad’ and ‘No Turning Back’ and my group
didn’t back me in the picture, but with a group attached to the film unit.
They were fine, but these were different arrangements and when my boys heard the
tapes they weren’t all that impressed. Obviously we had to back the picture
with an EP (Extended Play). We always experiment and play around long
before the actual recording and suddenly we slowed down the tempo of ‘Living
Doll’. It sounded much better, but we reckoned it was just another ballad.
When we finished the EP we didn’t really give it much of a thought then Norrie
(Paramor) told me the disc was doing record business and that the
requests coming in for ‘Living Doll’ as a single were outweighing every other
request. So we made a 45, backing it with ‘Apron Strings’, which was a number
I liked a whole lot.” (So pleased you admit to liking ‘Apron Strings’ a
whole lot, Cliff. It is one rock song I love a whole lot, and strongly believe
you should give it more credit by singing it in concert.)
BACHELOR BOY
-
“‘The Next Time’ was the fore-runner musically speaking of the next film we
did which was ‘Summer Holiday’, the follow-up to ‘The Young Ones’. Again this
was the 3rd double A-side hit we had, but this was the first
double-sided No.1 that I had. ‘The Next Time’ was the A-side, but ‘Bachelor
Boy’ got as many of the votes. From the film ‘Summer Holiday’, this
was released in December 1962. (Now, come on Cliff. You read what we write,
so please sing ‘The Next Time’. Although ‘Bachelor Boy’ is a good, fun,
sing-along song, ‘The Next Time’ is the most beautiful ballad you tend to forget
about.)
The backing singers
join Cliff for his 10th single reaching No.3 in September 1960 -
NINE TIMES OUT
OF TEN.
“I’ve always liked rock ‘n’ roll. I like rock ‘n’ roll in its basic
form which originally was just fun time. I know we get a bit precocious and
pretentious and try to give it all sorts of meaning and depts, but for me I’ve
happily recorded quite a few happy-go-lucky rock ‘n’ roll songs and ‘Nine Times
Out Of Ten’ is one of them. When you hear this you think to yourself, “Oh,
this is what it should have been all the time”.” Like ‘Apron Strings’ this
is another great rock ‘n’ roll song and great to hear again in its original
contect.
PLEASE DON’T TEASE
-
still keeping with the fun early years in Cliff’s career, ‘Please Don’t
Tease’ was next. “It’s always ones dream to be able to know public opinion
about a record so you could release it confident it would be a hit, and when I
made the album ‘Me And My Shadows’, which was really one of the first British
pop albums and was the beginning of pop music, the British pop scene in those
days, we recorded a whole load of songs and what we did was we called about 200
of the Fan Club in and played them about 15 or 16 tracks and said. “Which one
would you like as a single?” Almost unanimously they picked ‘Please Don’t
Tease’, so we kept it off the album and released it as a single, and of course,
they were right. It was No.1.” The fans choice in June
1960, still proved to be a popular choice with fans in 2004.
A
VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS was
from Cliff’s second film ‘Expresso Bongo’. It’s one Cliff film I honestly
would like to forget. Cliff played the embarrassingly- named character called
Bongo Herbert, with the even more embarrassing line in the film, “If I lost
me bongos I’d do me nut!”. Released in January 1960, it reached No. 2.
Cliff himself was not too impressed with the song, again preferring a B-side,
this being ‘Don’t Be Mad At Me’. He has told the story on how just before he
went on tour of America and Canada ‘A Voice In The Wilderness’ was beginning to
climb the charts, but Cliff recorded ‘Don’t Be Mad At Me’ for the radio show
‘Top Of The Pops’. Cliff was surprised that ‘A Voice In The Wilderness’
reached as high as No.2, and had to confess to Tito Burns (his Manager) he had
made a mistake, knowing that with an extra play could have made No.1. (Okay,
Cliff, now listen to me – in your next bestest-ever concert sing ‘Apron Strings’
and ‘The Next Time’.)
GOOD GOLLY MISS
MOLLY
was original recorded by legends Little Richard in 1958 reaching
No.8 in the charts, Jerry Lee Lewis in 1963 reaching No.31, and then The
Swinging Blue Jeans 1964 reaching No.11 all in the UK charts. Cliff’s first
version was also from ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ album in April 1967. It was a slower
version, Cliff being joined by his dancers, dressed in pink and blue, ending
with them in a contortionist position, bent backwards. This ended the first
half of the concert.
The second half
began with Cliff singing two songs, both firm favourites with his fans as well
as with Cliff - ‘Miss You Nights’ and ‘Ocean Deep’. Ironically, although
consistently voted high in opinion polls, neither reached very high in the UK
charts.
MISS YOU NIGHTS
–
“What can I say about ‘Miss You Nights’ other than it probably took the place
of Hanks ‘The Day I Met Marie’ as being my favourite song. My favourite ballad
anyway. When I first heard this song, I couldn’t get the hairs on my arms to
lie down. It was just goose-pimple time. I know songs affect different
people in different ways, but ‘Miss You Nights’ for me will always affect me.
I still get the same sensation when I sing it.” This only reached No.15 in
1976, but has been sung at every concert except one, since. Cliff sat
on a stool to sing this.
OCEAN DEEP.
‘Ocean Deep’ reached the unbelievably low number of 27 in March 1984,
when it was the B-side to ‘Baby You’re Dynamite’. Then, despite reversing
sides, making ‘Ocean Deep’ the A-side in May 1984, it failed to rise higher than
No.72 in the charts. However, the impact of seeing Cliff perform this number
at the Apollo, using fantastic green lighting to impersonate the ‘ocean’, was
something special to see, and perhaps the reason it made this song so popular
with us fans.
WE DON’T TALK
ANYMORE.
Now we’re talking! This song was a No.1 for Cliff in July 1979. Many
times this closed concerts, and the 12” version is just brilliant, something
Cliff should sing for a change. The dancers joined in with Cliff.
DEVIL WOMAN
was from the ‘I’m Nearly Famous’ album. In May 1976 it reached No.9 in
the UK charts, but even higher at No.5 in the USA charts. “‘Devil Woman’
was a mile-stone in my career. Two milestones, in fact, because it’s the first
time ever that I had a chart entry in America reaching No.5. which was just
incredible for me.” During the song the stage went green.
FROM A DISTANCE
was written by Bette Midler. Her original version, released in 1990 only
reached No.45. Cliff’s version in 1990 reached No.11. It is best remembered
as being the final song from ‘The Event’ in 1989 where Cliff’s guests returned
on stage to join him in the chorus as Cliff was raised high up on a platform.
The dancers join Cliff on stage, encouraging the audience to clap along with
them.
At the end of the
song the two girl dancers help Cliff change his jacket again. Cliff then talked
about his new album he had recorded in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville was
another place my husband and I had travelled to when in America. I knew Cliff
was due to record his next album there, so when we were shown around what is
known as the ‘Music Row’, I kept a sharp eye out for him! We drove along Music
Square West, the address to Sony Music Publishing, RCA Victor and the famous
Studio B, known as the ‘home of a thousand hits’. It would have been difficult
(downright impossible) to explain to ‘He, who is not a fan’, this trip was a
coincidence!
I DON’T WANNA LOOSE
YOU
was written by Chris Eaton, composer of many past hits for Cliff
(‘Where Do We Go From Here’, ‘Discovering’, ‘Joanna’, ‘All The Time You Need’,
‘Saviour’s Day’, ‘This New Year’, ‘Let Me Be The One’, and most recently Cliff’s
2003 Christmas hit, ‘Santa’s List’ with the backing song ‘It’s A Boy’). This
was the first song from the new album Cliff recorded when he missed me when I
was in Nashville.
THE DAY THAT I STOP LOVING YOU,
a ballad written by Darrell Brown, Bobby Huff and Jennifer Kimball, was next to
be sung.
I CANNOT GIVE YOU
MY LOVE
was written by Barry Gibb and Ashley, his oldest son with
Linda. Cliff enjoys visiting America knowing that he is not so easily
recognized, therefore can wander around without interruption. Imagine that the
only people who happened to recognise Cliff were the talented Bee Gees, riding
round Broadway in their large, fancy car when they spotted Cliff walking. What
does Cliff say to Barry? Not “give me a lift”, but “give me a hit song”!
Barry Gibb, big brother of the ‘Brother Gibbs’ (that is what BG stands for,
changing to ‘Bee Gees’), duly obliged by sending Cliff a song with a message
that if he did not like it, to send it back and he would write another. Cliff
held on to this first song with pleasure. Recorded in Miami, this typically
Bee Gees sound was also produced by Barry, that Cliff gives tremendous justice
to. It was my favourite song, with a very catchy chorus “to the moon and
back”. It could easily be a huge hit.
LAY YOUR BETS DOWN
was another from the forthcoming album, where Cliff was joined with The Jive
Dancers.
WHAT CAR?
- Cliff
always believed that you must have a ‘car song’ when in Nashville. ‘What Car?’
was one written especially for him in mind. It was a beaty song, fitting
Cliff’s special requirements, and was the cue the fans needed to run to the
stage. Cliff then introduced his band and the production team to the audience.
WILLY AND THE HAND JIVE
was another B-side
sung, this one with ‘Fall In Love With You’ released in 1960, reaching No.2.
“It’s quite often the case that an A-side of a record, although it will
always be the A-side, will be remembered for the B-side and I think this is true
of ‘Fall In Love With You’, which was backed with ‘Willie And The Hand Jive’.
I know that when The Shadows and I did the Palladium reunion (March 1978)
it never came into our minds to sing ‘Fall In Love With You’, but we had to do
‘Willie And The Hand Jive’ because it was so recogniseable by the way we
performed it.” This version was a lot funkier than the original, with
plenty of hand jiving. As always, Cliff pretended this song ended the concert,
running off stage while the band played the music to ‘We Don’t Talk Anymore’.
As always, Cliff returns, prepared to sing the song that he and the band had
always rehearsed.
MOVING ON
was another song from Cliff’s new album recorded in Nashville. After singing
this song, he again runs off the stage while the band again played the
music to ‘We
Don’t Talk Anymore’. Cliff runs from the right to the left of the stage, then
stops to thank us for coming to the concert. Then he sings one more song.
THE FAITHFUL ONE
was
dedicated to us fans. It was the best way to describe just why Cliff has
sustained so prominently in the music industry so high for so long. He has so
many fans. Each one of us faithful. And you only have to attend a Cliff
concert to know just why we have such impeccable taste! Cliff wanted us to
share the dedication of this song to ‘Him’. The Jive Dancers, all wearing
black, return to stand on the top of the stage as Cliff sings this lovely,
sincere song, with a brilliant guitar instrumental. Instead of the usual
upbeat ending where Cliff leaves the stage first while his band continue playing
until the end of the song, here Cliff turns to face the dancers. The spotlight
is on them, and then they leave the stage as they are blackened out. Cliff
then turns to each side of the stage to his band, and they too have the
spotlight on them, then they are blacked out. This leaves Cliff alone on the
stage while the haunting sound of the music to ‘the Faithful One’ is played.
Cliff then faces the audience, and the spotlight on him is also turned off, the
stage in total darkness. Cliff leaves the stage quietly to end the concert.
It was obviously an
album review concert, Cliff airing three songs from his 1st album,
‘Cliff’, and two songs from his 2nd album, ‘Cliff Sings’, one song
from ’21 Today’, giving a great reminder of his early rock ‘n’ roll songs.
‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, Cliff’s 20th album, also had three songs brought
back to life. ‘Sincerely’ and ‘The Event’ were two other albums to have one
song from. The early material, followed by current material, proved beyond all
doubt that Cliff was truly ‘Live And Kicking’.
As I began my expedition
abseiling from the top of the RAH, I have a simple solution to such a bad
seat. I
shall just have to go again!
Report by: Eileen
Edwards, April 2004.
[Quotes from Cliff are from ‘It’s Great To Be Young’ book
published in 1960 and from when talking about his single releases on Radio 1 in
1978.]
Friday, 16th April
I was informed that at this concert Cliff was joined by Cilla
Black. Together they sang ‘Imagine’.
Tuesday, 21st April
Well, I had to go to the ‘Live and Kicking’ concert again and
this time I had a seat in the Stalls. Always great at any Cliff concert is his
raport with his fans and his quick wit and humour. Throughout this concert,
Cliff was presented with gifts and flowers from fans. As he was holding many
gifts, one funny fan calls out “Crackerjack”! Taking several bunches of
flowers, Cliff jokes “I am so glad I have that flower stall!”. One fan tells
Cliff she is from Canada and asks him to return there. Cliff tells her he
would love to, but believes she is the only fan from Canada now! There was
also a 10-year-old fan, Cliff thought believed she was seeing a Britanny Spears
concert. Another fan hands Cliff an envelope, informing him that it is a
card. Cliff replies he knows what a card was! Then one fan had a gift for
Alan Park, Cliff telling her to “give it to him yourself!”. After singing
‘Nine Times Out Of Ten’, Cliff is again besiged with fans lined along the stage
wanting to hand gifts to him. Cliff leaves the stage, returning with a
supermarket trolley! He then walks from the right of the stage to the left
pushing the trolley and placing all gifts inside. Magic!
Just had to tell SOMEONE that I saw Cliff in concert in
Christchurch, New Zealand last night (19 February 2003) and he was absolutely
marvellous. Loved every second of the concert - he is just so genuine and
modest and a credit to Great Britain. Thought the band were superb plus the
three male backing singers. 'Some People' was my favourite song, although I
also loved his rendition of 'Claudette'. We sang along with every song and had
a memorable night.
Best Wishes from down under (New Zealand).
Liz Gillies
Dear Carol,
Have you been able to see Cliff yet? I know you
are going to the London Arena. I am going to the London Arena with four
friends on the 13th and I can hardly wait. However, I also had the chance to
see Cliff in concert at Birmingham on Sunday 27th October. It was that
terribly windy day and my husband wasn't keen on me driving all the way to
Birmingham in such dreadful conditions. Luckily, the wind eased during the
afternoon. What a relief because I certainly didn't want to miss the
concert! My friend and I didn't have particularly good seats but it didn't
matter. The only thing that mattered was that we were there. Cliff and the
concert were fantastic. Cliff gives such a polished performance. He is on the
stage for such a nice long time unlike some artists. When he first came on in
the second half, I just couldn't take my eyes off him. Cliff has so many
songs, you always wonder which ones he is going to include. He always comes
up with one or two surprises. As usual, I didn't want the concert to end. It
was a wonderful evening and I have kept thinking back to it ever since. I walk
around with a constant smile on my face.
Maybe I will see you on the 13th. I like the way
you often re-design the website. I have seen the musical Cliff Christmas
card. They have got them in the Bedford branch of Clinton Cards.
Best Wishes from Julie
Got back from the Cliff concert not
long ago and he was absolutely brilliant, I really loved it. I was in row G,
7 rows from the front so had a good seat.
He was on stage from 7.30 until
10.30 with only a very short break, he sang many of his old hits plus his
newer ones and some Elvis songs, he also sang Tina Turners 'Whats love got to
do with it'.
To me his voice was better than
ever and it was a superb concert, as Tina Turner would say, 'simply the best'.
Joan
Just wanted to say that I went to see
Cliff at the Point, Dublin last Thursday so those of you who have
tickets for his forthcoming shows are in for a real treat. He looked
fantastic, sounded fantastic and the show was absolutely brilliant. I am
just sorry that I have now been and don't have it still to look forward
to! Can't wait for the video to come out.
Lesley Howard
Taken from:
http://cliffchartsite.co.uk/hits.html
CLIFF'S "WANTED" TOUR
Full Report and Review. Cardiff Arena.
Saturday, October 19th, 2002.
Whilst waiting outside by the centre doors, every so often when someone opens
the doors we can see Cliff and the band, in casual gear, on stage rehearsing.
Every time someone opens the doors, we cheer! The crowd waiting are all talking
excitedly. Doors should open at 6.30pm, but NO! 'Why are we waiting'. The good
humoured staff tell us 'When someone says we have the 'go-ahead'. 6.35pm and we
are in. 7.25pm and the audience are still piling in. The atmosphere is ELECTRIC.
Very shortly Cliff will be on stage! 7.35pm and the lights go down. Huge cheer.
A large 'eye' is on the centre back-drop and it shows the stage being set up in
fast-motion. Fast playing of 'Wired for sound'. Cliff's backing singers all have
short hair and grey suits. There is an eight-piece all girl string section.
Cliff bounds on with WE DON'T TALK ANYMORE. He is wearing a white suit with
black shirt. The huge 'eye' looks out at us from the stage. Huge applause.
Straight into MOVE IT and it's the 'new' version as performed at the Jubilee
concert with S Club 7. Great guitar work by John Clark. The 'eye' effects are
really dynamic. Cliff looks trim and fit. He chats about how long it's been
since he last played Cardiff. He says he is 'slowing down', but spreading it
out! Next it's the biggest song of the last century-OVER THE RAINBOW/WONDERFUL
WORLD (with clouds in the 'eye'). Strings start up which leads into RIGHT HERE
WAITING. He then talks about the "Wanted" album and it's WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO
WITH IT. This song sounds more 'rocky' with John's guitar playing. Straight into
LET ME BE THE ONE. Cliff says that if asked what was his favourite song from
"Wanted", it would be that one, but if you asked what was his favourite track
was it would be this one-ALL SHOOK UP. He even does some very early 'Cliff
moves' in this! (MORE!) This is a man of 62? Straight into MOON RIVER followed
by LIKE STRANGERS with Anthony Clark. Cliff then talks about real friends and
this one is-Olivia Newton-John, who has a wine Koala Blue, but she didn't grow
her own grapes! He says that he was told he was No.1 in the charts and that it
was the Tesco charts for his wine! He says that this next song is one of her
best ballads-I HONESTLY LOVE YOU. Photos in the 'eye' of Olivia. A nice version
Cliff. SOME PEOPLE is next. He then talks about the Internet and he's been
reading what songs fans would like to hear. GIRL YOU'LL BE A WOMAN SOON is
super, complete with all the 'oohs' as well and SHE'S A GYPSY from Cliff's
"Green light" album. EXCELLENT STUFF. Then everyone claps along to DREAMIN' and
8.40pm it's the Interval. A great first half.
9.35pm and he's back! The curtains rise and the mist comes out at us. Then it's
BORN TO ROCK'N'ROLL from "Time" -BRILLIANT. Cliff is wearing black leather
trousers, black shiny shirt and sunglasses. At the end of the song, he throws
the glasses out to the audience. Cliff says now we have some rock'n'roll with
accoustic guitar it's 'D' IN LOVE with more great guitar work by John. He
invites Anthony Clark to join him on guitar for the Everly Brothers classic
CLAUDETTE-GREAT SAX by Mike Haughton. Talk of Cliff and the Shadows years and
how many songs Hank, Bruce and Cliff wrote. It's GEE WHIZ IT'S YOU and I COULD
EASILY FALL. Talk of Elvis and remembering how he picked up a paper and saw
'Elvis and Cliff battle it out in the charts' and how he was so thrilled by it
all. 'From my favourite guy'..TOO MUCH and DON'T BE CRUEL. There is a real Elvis
finish at the end! Next it's Cliff and the band and the strings for THE YOUNG
ONES, complete with the Shadows walk as well-JUST MAGIC. Huge applause. Cliff
leaves the stage and the three backing singers take centre stage for GREEN
LIGHT, DEVIL WOMAN and CARRIE. All fast versions, really punchy. Great sax again
by Mike. Cliff returns wearing the leathers and a jazzy, turquoise and black
shirt. It's into ANGEL-a real cha-cha version that sounds great. Then it's
straight into Gene Vincent's BE BOP A LULA. The fun's definately back in Cliff's
concerts! The poses are all back too! This is what Cliff does best. He excels at
rock'n'roll. Now it's Chuck Berry's NO PARTICULAR PLACE TO GO. THIS is what
Cliff's fans were brought up on! The audience just LOVE it, swaying clapping and
singing along to songs we all know and love- and he's enjoying them too! The
British King of rock'n'roll is BACK! He then talks about 'doo-wop' music and
with the three singers, it's The Del-Vikings' COME GO WITH ME, Bobby Darin's
DREAM LOVER and the Skyliners 1959 song SINCE I DON'T HAVE YOU, that was also
done by Art Garfunkel in 1979. Now it's screams from the females as a familiar
song starts-LAY ALL YOUR LOVE ON ME, with all the moves! Great cheer for this
one. Now, it's the Jerry Lee Lewis classic WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN' GOIN ON, an early
Cliff favourite. There is a great 'hard-rock' guitar riff to this. Great sax.
FABULOUS. Cliff mentions the string section and now it's Christmas with a
medley: MISTLETOE AND WINE, WE SHOULD BE TOGETHER FOR CHRISTMAS, SAVIOUR'S DAY
and LITTLE TOWN as arms sway and tinsel is waved. Now it's a run to the front.
Cliff talks about Sept. 11, how people should be looking for peace and this
song, this was the biggest-selling record by a British artist in 1999- THE
MILLENNIUM PRAYER. Cliff goes off as fans shout MORE, MORE, MORE. In the 'eye'
on the stage, we can see the stage being dis-mantled. After a few
re-appearances, he is gone. 10.25pm and it's all over.
What a show!! A true return to form Cliff. You have never looked better and you
sang songs that you 'wanted' and we 'wanted' to hear. As I said...The King of
British rock'n'roll is well and truly back!
-Review by William.
Additional Concert Snippets...
Oct. 19: Darren Day in the audience tonight.
Oct. 20: In the 1st half, Cliff was wearing a black suit and white shirt
with black and white tie. In the 2nd half, white shirt, leather trousers and
sunglasses! Then a little later, a flowery shirt with lots of pink, yellow and
black and leather trousers. Cliff is really starting to enjoy the tour. You can
see it in his face. Tonight he was singing better than last night. All I can say
is...Watch out Birmingham next week! I have a feeling in my bones that 'the best
is yet to come!'.
London
Arena on 12th November 2002
Never
has a title of a concert been more appropriate – Cliff – WANTED ON TOUR.
Not ‘arf! It’s been eight years since Cliff toured so extensively – and fans
all over the world have not been very patient! I proudly took my place at
the front of the London Arena. Ice under the flooring could not dampen the
spirits of the eager fans awaiting Cliff’s concert. The atmosphere was at
boiling point! Anchored in my prime seat, I was able to speak to other
‘Cliffetts’ around me. Gary Scott, who has held many Cliff Discos, had
already seen the concert and hinted Cliff sang one song that immediately
reminded him of me. Was it ‘The Next Time’? Gary knew that was my all-time
favourite song. It wasn’t. I wondered what other song would make me sit up
and beg. Apparently I was told as soon as I heard it, I would know.
Really……………?
The London Arena was soon full and then the lights
dimmed, the sign the concert was about to begin. The curtain slowly rose to
an empty stage, the band walking on waving. All were wearing black, the
three backing singers, Peter Howarth, Keith Hurrell and Mick Mullins wearing
dark grey suits and mauve shirts. To the left of the stage the ladies from
the Orchestra Strings, led by Rachel Allen, were also all wearing black. At
the back was an enormous ‘eye’, which to music quickly showed the construction
of the stage.
The famous
introduction of ‘WE DON’T TALK ANYMORE’ began, then the man we were
here to see appeared at the top of the stairs at the back of the stage.
Cliff was wearing a silver suit and a striped shirt. It did not take the
fans long to get into the concert. Their enthusiasm amused the String
ladies. At the end of the song Cliff went straight into ‘MOVE IT’.
This was yet another version of Cliff’s very first release which reached No.2
in 1958. The ‘eye’ showed kaleidoscope-type colours and shapes.
Cliff then
welcomed us all to the London Arena. With the London Arena being totally
full, he assumed there was nothing on the television. He informed us that
this venue was about to close down – not because he had been here! This was
his 3rd week in a 6-month tour. One question often asked was when
Cliff would retire. He told us he would, then after cries from the crowd,
assured us he would when he was 125 years young! Although he will not
retire, he was slowing down It only takes two days to arrive at New Zealand,
but Cliff was taking six months to get there, via the U.K., Europe and
Australia.
Cliff gave an
insight to the concert. The 1st half was dedicated mainly to his
‘Wanted’ album. His 133rd single (and 123rd hit
single) was the first to be taken from the ‘Wanted’ album, being the cleverly
connected two hit songs – ‘SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW / WHAT A WONDERFUL
WORLD’. This was recently voted for being the 38th ‘Worst
Video’. (Who cares – it reached No.11 in the charts.) ‘Somewhere Over The
Rainbow’ was famed by Judy Garland from the film ‘Wizard Of Oz’. Many
artists have sung it since, the most recent chart success by Eva Cassidy. I
particularly love Olivia Newton-John’s haunting version from her ‘Warm And
Tender’ album produced by John Farrar (of Marvin, Welch & Farrar) in 1989.
As Honorary Ambassador for the Environment, Olivia dedicated this album to her
daughter, Chloe, pleading for the world to keep “green and clean for us and
future generations”. ‘What A Wonderful World’ was recorded by Louis
Armstrong (Sachmo) reaching No.1 in 1968. In the appropriate spot the ‘eye’
showed clouds, trees, flowers, snow and butterflies. And when Cliff sang “I
see friends shaking hands, saying “how do you do?”, he puts out his hand to us
fans and we all stretch out our hands to shake Cliff’s hand.
The next song
was ‘RIGHT HERE WAITING’. Richard Marx wrote and recorded this song
in 1989. Also in 1989 Richard Marx co-wrote Cliff’s 100th single,
‘The Best Of Me’ with Lubbock and David Foster, which reached No.2 in the
charts. The ‘eye’ looked like red water.
Cliff explained
why he recorded his latest album ‘Wanted’. After his recent ‘Hits I Missed’
show, Cliff admitted being “greedy”, wanting all the hits other artists had!
One song in particular, written by Terry Britten, had been sent to his
office. Terry had penned ‘Devil Woman’ and ‘Carrie’ and with Cliff produced
his 1979 album, ‘Rock and Roll Juvenile’. The song was returned with the
comment “it was not right for Cliff”. The song in question was then offered
to Tina Turner who recorded it in 1984 and reached No.3 in the charts. Cliff
joked that member of staff no longer works for him, then sang the song that
got away – ‘WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT’. The backing boys stood on
the stairs side-ways to join Cliff and the ‘eye’ became psychedelic colours.
(Forget about that Tina Turner song, Cliff. The song she had you should have
recorded would easily be adopted as your theme song – ‘Simply The Best’.)
The boys return
to their mikes, and the ‘eye’ then looked like flying mushrooms as Cliff sang
his 134th (his 124th hit single) and last single –
‘LET ME BE THE ONE’. This also made Cliff’s 109th Top 30
single, disappointingly only reaching No.29. Already having written for
Cliff ‘Where Do We Go From Here’, ‘Discovering’, ‘Joanna’, All The Time You
Need’, ‘This New Year’ and ‘Saviour’s Day’, Cliff has asked Chris to write
some more spiritual songs for his next album. Cliff mentioned that one fan
had misunderstood the context of the song, and was not purely a ‘gospel song’
– just Cliff’s favourite on the album, and the second from ‘Wanted’ to be
released.
Whilst ‘Let Me
Be The One’ may be Cliff’s favourite on the album, ‘ALL SHOOK UP’ is
Cliff’s favourite track from ‘Wanted’. Cliff acted his way through this
number, and enjoyed the response from the fans when he was “in love” and “all
shook up”, standing still and shaking! The ‘eye’ had red stripes.
At the end of
the song, Cliff walked up to the top of the stairs. The ‘eye’ showed a town
in darkness with a moon along a river. (Can you guess what the next number
was?) ‘MOON RIVER’. The ‘eye’ turned blue as Cliff sang this lovely
song, which reached No.1 for Danny Williams in 1961. During the guitar solo,
Cliff made his way slowly down the stairs.
Peter, Keith and
Mick returned on stage as Cliff went straight into ‘LIKE STRANGERS’,
recorded by the Everly Brothers in 1960. The ‘eye’ went from black to red
and yellow.
Cliff talked
about his long friendship with Olivia Newton-John which started in the early
70’s. He first met Olivia when he was starring in his weekly Saturday early
evening shows, ‘Its Cliff Richard’, which co-starred Hank Marvin and Una
Stubbs. His shows started in 1970, running regularly at the start of each
year. Cliff and Olivia shared the same Manager, Peter Gormley, who suggested
Olivia sang her first song, the Bob Dylan number ‘If Not For You’, on Cliff’s
show on 6th February 1971. Also on that show Cliff and Olivia
sang the duet ‘Don’t Move Away’ (B-side to Cliff’s ‘Sunny Honey Girl’, Cliff’s
52nd single). Cliff and Olivia looked absolutely perfect
together. Olivia was so beautiful – and they sounded great too! At the
time Olivia was engaged to The Shadows guitarist, Bruce Welch, and flashed a
huge emerald engagement ring for all to see. The engagement ended as her
popularity increased. As Cliff said – the cameras loved her, the cameramen
loved her – and the Americans loved the lovely ‘Livvy’. In 1974 Cliff’s
weekly shows moved to the end of the year. I had tickets to see his sixth
and final show on 28th September when Olivia was Cliff’s guest. I
had seen most of the recordings of Cliff’s shows, but was keen to see this
one. Olivia was leaving the U.K. to live in the U.S.A. where her recent
‘Country ‘n’ Western’ songs had been very popular. Having represented the
U.K. in April with the awful ‘Long Live Love’ in the Eurovision Song Contest,
Olivia had just released her final song in England, which she sang on this
show, aptly named ‘I Honestly Love You’. Olivia had enormous success in
America, but remained a close friend of Cliff’s throughout the years,
exchanging ‘phone calls, and now by e-mail. Excitedly she recently called
Cliff to exclaim that an Australian company had asked if they could use her
Koala Blue name for their wine. “Oh, good!” replied Cliff. Having
something similar outside show business was a coincidence – but he was
unimpressed. “She did not grow her own grapes”, he bragged! (Cliff’s wine,
‘Vida Nova’, was voted ‘Wine Of The Year’, and also the fastest selling
product ever at Tescos.) Cliff proudly mentioned that Tesco had contacted
and congratulated him with the news he was No.1 in their charts. No.2 were
the toilet rolls! Cliff was delighted to have outsold toilet rolls! Cliff
sat at the top of the stairs to sing his version of Olivia’s 6th
single – ‘I HONESTLY LOVE YOU’ – and, using another of Olivia’s single
titles - it was ‘Magic’. The ‘eye’ had blue circles and photos of Cliff and
Olivia, mainly together, crossing behind him. (Please Cliff, release this
song!)
Cliff made his
way to the front of the stage to sing ‘SOME PEOPLE’, his 102nd
single released in 1987. The ‘eye’ had black, blue and red ‘shells’. To
perfection, Cliff did his usual ‘moon walk’ as he sang the words “love to
walk”.
Cliff mentioned
he had read on the Internet a list of fans favourite songs. I was
particularly interested here as I had been part of this survey. Cliff had
read our views and was amazed that one song had been mentioned most. It was
a B-side, and hardly known, being ‘GIRL YOU’LL BE A WOMAN SOON’. This
was the song Gary knew I would love. With ‘The Next Time’ I would always
demand this song to be played at his Cliff Discos. I gave a squeal of shock,
which echoed around the front. I have not heard Cliff sing this song in
concert since I saw him live at The Talk Of The Town in 1970. The A-side was
Cliff’s 1968 42nd single ‘I’ll Love You Forever Today’, which Cliff
co-wrote with the Director of ‘Two A Penny’ film, James Collier. However, I
preferred the B-side, written by Neil Diamond. I finally perfected keeping
up singing along with Cliff with the fast lyrics – and I just loved the groan
at the start and in the middle of the song!! (I don’t need a cold shower,
gang – the ice under the flooring was cold enough!!) (Okay, Cliff – as it
proves you do read what I write – please, please me and sing ‘The Next Time’,
the next time.)
From the
‘Wanted’ album, Cliff changed over to the ‘Green Light’ album in 1978, singing
‘SHE’S A GYPSY’. There was a pause before going straight into ‘DREAMIN’,
Cliff’s 78th single released in 1980, and reaching No. 8 in the
charts. It was time to stand up to sing along with Cliff and clap. At the
end of the song, Cliff left the stage for a short intermission. The others
on the stage also followed in order, the curtain slowly lowering.
During the interval, we were all able to chat about
what we saw (I was still in shock over ‘Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon’) and
what to expect (placards with areas were being shown – I had no idea what this
would be; and letters of ‘A’ and ‘D’ were given out – I know what song this
would be). Interrupting our social chat, the curtain raises and the lights
dim. Smoke nearly chokes us ‘lucky’ ones in the front.
From ‘Wanted’ in
2002 to ‘Time’ in 1986, Cliff sang ‘BORN TO ROCK ‘N’ ROLL’. He was
wearing a black leather waistcoat, shirt and trousers with leather in the
front and material at the back. He also wore sunglasses. The backing
vocalists wore black trousers and shirts and a white, red or mauve tie. The
‘eye’ showed a car fast driving. As Cliff walked to the front, he pretended
he couldn’t see with the sunglasses still on, walking into the on-coming stage
mike. He then took the sunglasses off, saying he no longer needs them, and
throws them into the audience for a memento for one lucky fan.
Next song was
the one we were ready for – ‘D IN LOVE’. As Cliff sings about getting
an ‘A’ for various subjects, the letter ‘A’ is raised on cue. When he then
mentions the girl gets ‘D’ in love, our ‘D’ is raised. Cliff only had the
guitarists on stage. (Well, he did have us to accompany him!)
The backing
vocals returned to join Cliff as he introduces his next song by the Everly
Brothers. It was a No.1 double-A number with ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’ in
1958, called ‘CLAUDETTE’. For this, Cliff needed a ‘Phil’ to his
‘Don’, so he asked guitarist Anthony Clark to join him for a duet, both
playing the guitar. The ‘eye’ was full of kaleidoscope shapes and colours.
At the end of
the song, all leave the stage while Cliff mentions the fact that the guitarist
for The Shadows, Bruce Welch, was present. He talked about being with his
band. Bruce had a complex about his nose (probably because Cliff would call
him “Concorde”!) and once asked Cliff to scratch it for him as he was nearer
to the end! Hank would comment on Cliff’s suit, saying they looked like a
pair of curtains he has. “A pair of curtains you used to have”, Bruce
joked. The Shadows all agreed that Cliff was the star, and so should attend
the press conference at the venues they were appearing at while they went back
to their hotel. When Cliff joined them, he would discover that they had
written some songs while he was doing the interview. One of those songs
written was ‘GEE WHIZ IT’S YOU’, written by Hank Marvin and Ian Samwell
in 1960, reaching No.4. Cliff’s 12th song was only released after
it had been a huge success in Europe. Immediately followed was ‘FALL IN
LOVE WITH YOU’, also written by Ian Samwell in 1960, being Cliff’s 8th
release, reaching No.2. Both songs gave us all a singsong along with Cliff
Then Mike
Haughton on brass, and Alan Park on keyboards joined Cliff on stage while
Cliff admitted he wanted to be like Elvis. He claimed that if there had been
no Elvis, there would have been no Cliff. “Oh yes there would” a fan called
out. “Oh no there wouldn’t”, replied Cliff. (Well the panto season was
approaching!) Cliff left school at 16½, and when he was 17 years had his
first song, so he understands how Gareth Gates feels. (Maybe, but will
Gareth Gates understand how Cliff feels in front of a sell-out audience,
sustaining five decades where he recorded 134 records? Doubt it.) Proudly
Cliff is in the Guinness Book Of Hit Records. Counting up the number of
weeks Cliff has spent in the charts, amounted to recently finally passing
Elvis. Elvis, having another recent No.1 record, has sold more records since
his death in 1977 – which has left Cliff with a terrible choice………….!!
The backing
vocalists returned to join Cliff on the stage to sing Elvis’ 1957 song ‘TOO
MUCH’, which Cliff covered on his first album, ‘Cliff’ in 1959; and
‘DON’T BE CRUEL’, which was released in 1978 after Elvis’ death. Both
guitarists stood on top of the stairs.
Cliff introduced
the Strings, led by Rachel Allen. The ladies accompanied Cliff as he sang
‘THE YOUNG ONES’. Cliff, and the two guitarists, John Clark and Steve
Stroud, stood at the top of the stairs, and during the musical break were
joined by Dave Cooke on keyboards to do ‘The Shadows walk’.
The backing
vocalists returned to the stage and Cliff left. Peter, Keith and Mick stood
at the front of the stage to sing a medley of ‘Green Light’ (the ‘eye’ going
green), ‘Devil Woman’ (the ‘eye’ going red) and ‘Carrie’ (the ‘eye’ going
mauve).
Returning on
stage Cliff appeared behind Alan Park. He had changed his top to a turquoise
shirt with black designs around. Cliff sang ‘ANGEL’, from his ‘Cliff
Richard’ album released in 1965. This was a beaty version of the song Elvis
sang to Anne Helm at the end of his film ‘Follow That Dream’ in 1962.
Peter, Keith and
Mick left the stage while Cliff sang Gene Vincent’s 1956 song, ‘BE BOP A
LULA’. Cliff recorded his slower version on ‘The Rock Connection’ album
in 1984.
Peter, Keith and
Mick returned to join Cliff for the next number. I understood now why fans
had signs of places ready as Cliff sang the Chuck Berry 1964 number, ‘NO
PARTICULAR PLACE TO GO’. Middlesex, Enfield, Kent, Essex, etc. - fans
had plenty of suggestions where Cliff could go! (Had I known, Surrey, would
have been in huge letters, Croydon, Shirley and No.1 Links View Road to
pin-point one particular place to go.) Cliff brilliantly acted his way
through the song, and the ‘eye’ showed the view of sitting in the front of a
car driving along with – yes – no particular place to go.
As Cliff
introduces the next music era, he is offered a towel from a fan. Obligingly
Cliff wipes away his perspiration. The fan wants the used towel back, so
Cliff wipes his shoes, then pretends to blow his nose before returning it.
For the ‘Do Wop’, he sings ‘COME GO WITH ME’; then ‘DREAM LOVER’,
Bobby Darin’s 1959 hit; ending with ‘SINCE I DON’T HAVE YOU’, recorded
by Art Garfunkle in 1979.
An Abba number
from 1981, ‘LAY ALL YOUR LOVE ON ME’, was next. This got us wanting
more, seeing the famous hip-wiggle and also Cliff lifting his trouser to bend
lower! Wow!!
There was no way
the crowd was sitting down any more. They rushed to the stage as Cliff sang
his next song ‘WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN’ GOIN’ ON’ recorded by Jerry Lee
Lewis in 1857. Then Cliff told how he would like to introduce some “gifted
and talented people, but until I find them he would introduce those on and off
the stage!”
Introductions
all around over, came the familiar sounds of Xmas bells, the introduction to
‘MISTLETOE AND WINE’, Cliff’s 1988 Xmas No.1. ‘Snow’ was falling all
over the stage and the ‘eye’ showed an Xmas tree with gifts. ‘WE SHOULD
BE TOGETHER’, Cliff’s 1991 No.10 Xmas hit followed; then his No.1 Xmas hit
a year earlier, ‘SAVIOUR’S DAY’. ‘LITTLE TOWN’, Cliff’s
addictive version of the carol ‘Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem’ which he released
in 1982, reaching No.11 followed.
Cliff left the
stage to cries of “more!”. He returned, looking surprised, and then turned
to his backing vocals to ask, “shall we do what we rehearsed at this point?”
Seriously Cliff mentioned the troubles we were experiencing in the world –
September 11th, the bomb in Bali, and the hostage situation in
Moscow – nowhere was safe – we lived in a dangerous and evil world – far from
the ideal of peace. With everyone standing, listening to every sincere word,
Cliff finished the ‘Wanted On Tour’ with his No.1 1999 Xmas hit and Cliff’s
131st single – ‘THE MILLENIUM PRAYER’. This ingeniously
linked arrangement of the Lord’s Prayer and Aude Lang Syne has finally
received the Ivor Novello Award for the Best Selling UK single of 1999 – three
years later. However, we knew at Cliff’s Millennium Concert just how great
is was – uniting old with young, irrespective of age, colour, religion or
creed. The only sad reason to hear this song was the notion the ‘Wanted On
Tour’ concert was over. If only I was going to Europe, Australia or New
Zealand…………
Report by:
Eileen Edwards
November 2002
Brighton
Centre on 15th November 2002
Well, you can’t
just see Cliff in concert once, can you? No way! I was lucky to be offered
two tickets to see Cliff again, this time at the Brighton Centre. Although
no being as near as I was on Tuesday, I was able to see the concert again with
my daughter, ‘From A Distance’. This time I was aware of the songs, but not
so aware of his ‘extras’ – the loyal Cliff fans.
‘WE DON’T TALK
ANYMORE’, ‘MOVE IT’, ‘SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW / WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD’,
‘RIGHT HERE WAITING’, ‘WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT’, ‘LET ME BE THE ONE’,
‘ALL SHOOK UP’, ‘MOON RIVER’ and, ‘LIKE STRANGERS’ were sung. At the end of
Cliff’s version of ‘I HONESTLY LOVE YOU’, fans from the front row timely
walked up to the edge of the stage to leave a single red rose. It said it
all to Cliff from the fans – they honestly love Cliff too. ‘SOME PEOPLE’,
‘GIRL YOU’LL BE A WOMAN SOON’, ‘SHE’S A GYPSY’ and ‘DREAMIN’ again finished
the first half.
‘BORN TO ROCK
‘N’ ROLL’ started the second half. Again, when Cliff sang ‘D IN LOVE’, the
fans had their ‘A’ and ‘D’ letters at the ready. ‘CLAUDETTE’, ‘GEE WHIZ IT’S
YOU’, ‘FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU’, ‘TOO MUCH’, ‘DON’T BE CRUEL’ and ‘THE YOUNG
ONES’ followed. As Cliff changed to sing ‘ANGEL’, fans in the front donned
wings and a halo – hoping Cliff would heed words from the song – “I’ve never
kissed an angel, let me kiss one tonight”. ‘BE BOP A LULA’ was next, and
then out came even more placards for ‘NO PARTICULAR PLACE TO GO’. ‘COME GO
WITH ME’, ‘DREAM LOVER’ and ‘SINCE I DON’T HAVE YOU’ were next. For ‘LAY ALL
YOUR LOVE ON ME’, Cliff changes the lyrics to “and tennis was my only vice”.
He then pauses and pretends to serve a tennis ball, making a sound as he hits
the ball with his imaginary racquet. As he does, fans in the front all throw
tennis balls back at him! All very funny to see. Being Children In Need
night, Cliff received plenty of bears and pledges if he mentioned names of
fans. ‘WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN’ GOIN’ ON’, ‘MISTLETOE AND WINE’, ‘WE SHOULD BE
TOGETHER’, ‘SAVIOUR’S DAY’, ‘LITTLE TOWN’ and ‘THE MILLENIUM PRAYER’ finished
another terrific performance by Cliff – and his fans!
Report by:
Eileen Edwards
November 2002
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