Cliff Richard: And They Said It Wouldn’t Last (My 50 Years In Music)

Elly Roberts reviews

Cliff Richard:
And They Said It Wouldn’t Last (My 50 Years In Music)Distributed by
EMI Records

• Released: September 2008
• Format: 8 CD boxset
• Tracks: 187
• Rating: 10/10+
• Vote and comment on this album:

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And they said it wouldn’t last eh? 50 years on, Cliff has the last laugh, so the bachelor boy’s done well.

Britain’s answer to Elvis, Indian born Harry Roger Webb aka Cliff Richard OBEhas just set a new record, unlikely to ever be broken.

On its first week of release, Sir Cliff made the top three with singleThank You For A Lifetime, giving him a remarkable achievement by havinga hit single in every decade since the ’50s, an incredible 6 decades, equalledonly by Elvis. The stats don’t lie : 14 number 1s, 11 no. 2s, 8 no.3s, 6 no. 4s,1 no.5, 40 Top 5s, 68 top 10s, 97 Top 20s, 120 Top 30s, 123, Top 40s, a grandtotal of 134 hits singles. Globally, he’s sold a staggering 250 million records.

In latter years, his singles have been limited to Christmas releases, thoughhis pop credentials have never diminished one iota, and he’s as popular now asever, so EMI have pushed out the boat with this definitive collection of awhopping 187 songs spanning his illustrious 50 year career. It doesn’t comecheap though, around the £100 mark, but devotees will jump at it.It’s everything a Cliff fan could ever want, making it the perfect Xmas pressie.

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Sectioned into eight neat CDs – The Early Years, Rare B-Sides (1963-1989), RareEP tracks (1961-1991), Stage And Screen, The Hits – Number Ones Around TheWorld, Faith And Inspiration, Live In Japan ’72, and Lost And Found (From TheArchives) reveals an artist who left his Rock’n’Roll stylings, after a Christianconversion, for a softening of his repertoire making him Britain’s firstgenuine pop star, and national institution.

It all began with 1958’s Move It (originally recorded as a B-side toBobby Helms’ Schoolboy Crush included here), which peaked at 2, thougha year later he topped with Living Doll. It was the right decision, whichlaunched his career.

Much of the early years Richard spent emulating The King with very much anAmerican sound, with the best being the wholesome She’s Gone and ..showinga definite shift in sound (and reverb), while A Girl Like You (CD 1)sees him developing his own voice rather than merely ‘copying’ Elvis. On CD2,you get 26 years worth of rare B-sides, with many of them potential singles.

There’s also a fair bit of what would now regarded as ‘cheese’ – SomebodyLoses, Occasional Rain, So Long, and I Was Only Fooling Myself,though gems like Say You’re Mine, Empty Chairs and the ‘disco-fied’Stronger Than That restore genuine credibility via some superb songwritingwhich Cliff was totally dependent upon.

He faced fierce competition with the arrival of The Beatles and Rolling Stonesis the 60s during a time he considered quitting the business, but continuedto be popular throughout the decade culminating with Eurovision runner-upCongratulations in ’68 and five year later in ’73 he came third withPower To All Our Friends peaking at 4 in the UK charts.

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Next (CD3) we get 30 years worth of rare EP songs – ’61 – ’91, the best ofwhich are the jazzy I’ll See You In My Dreams, Alberto Dominguez’s 1940’sstandard Frenesi (Frenzy) and the southern soul inflected classicLa La La, one of Cliff’s biggest musical departures. It has it lowpoint – the a capella It Came Upon A Midnight Clear. Its highpoint is abrilliant take on the Rat Pack style on Sooner Or Later, a style that hecould have pursued with great success.

Showing his versatility, CD 4 plunders his stage and screen repertoire withclassic Dancing Shoes (Cliff At The Movies) and other hits, Bachelor Boy, Summer Holidayon the CD5 – The Hits. Taken from The Young Ones we get Lessons In Loveand from Summer Holiday there’s Dancing Shoes. CD 5 has all the householdand world-wide songs which have sustained his glorious career, kicking offwith 1959’s lightweight ballad Living Doll to the Millennium Prayer.

Sandwiched in between are The Young Ones, and his signature tune Bachelor Boy.1976 signalled a ‘comeback’ with the release of Devil Woman, signifying adramatic shift in style, taking him into the Top 10 for the first time inthree years. Three years later he topped with arguably his greatest song –We Don’t Talk Anymore, a disco and party favourite.

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By definition, (CD6) Faith And Inspiration deals with Christian orientatedmaterial like Help It Along (UK chart 29 1973) with the staggeringlybeautiful Such Is The Mystery being the highlight. Live In Japan ’72sees the Peter Pan of Pop on great form thrilling his adoring fans with aselection of then recent, but lack lustre singles – Sunny Honey Girl,Flying Machine, Silvery Rain.

By the mid-point he’s on fire, rolling out classics including Move It,Bachelor Boy, The Young Ones and Congratulations. The final CD,8, has 21 previously unreleased tracks ranging from beat – a Rolling Stonessounding intro for Deep Purple to ballads, which most of them are, to rockerMobile Alabama School Leaving, between ’65 and ’74.

Put into context, whether you like his music or not, this is a fantasticcollection.

File under: FAB!

Weblink:cliffrichard.org

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