Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: cliff richard

  • Cliff Richard – The Live Collection 1998-2005

    Cliff Richard – The Live Collection 1998-2005

    Cliff Richard is a name that is more than synonymous with the Music Industry and spans decades, beginning when he burst onto the British Pop Scene at the tender age of eighteen with the song that was to chart on the UK Singles Chart at #2 Move It. The rest is history as they say, but what a history.

    Still as popular in 2020 as he was in in the heady days of the 1960 when he moved onto the world stage through the, in retrospect somewhat cheesy movies, The Young Ones, Summer Holidays, Wonderful life and Finders Keepers, filled with songs that are known word for word by his fans, many of whom have followed him with undying passion and love for his more than sixty years at the top of his profession.

    The Live Collection 1998-2005 is a collection of some of his vibrant, energetic and entertaining concerts held globally during these years, showing us the magic begun so long ago still remains with fresh appeal; not just for the older generation but also capturing the spirit and effervescence that still holds a broad age appeal.

    Each of the six concerts begins with Cliff playing host, introducing the audience to the venue, the country surrounding, as well as some of the artists on the tour, beginning with the 40th Anniversary held at the Royal Albert Hall in 1998, a concert filled with many of his memorable pieces such as Devil Woman, Miss You Nights and more.

    Castles In The Air is a live performance at Leeds Castle with Cilla Black as his guest; the segment before the concert where the two friends tour the Castle, the gardens and the grounds of Leeds Castle captures beautifully the enjoyment they have in each other company, which forms a lovely cameo.

    On the Beach is absolutely packed full of the sense fun captured in the earlier years of beach, sun, and vibrant music pounding out. The crowd loved it, the performers rocked and the absolute energy and vibrancy of a summer on the beach in Portugal, or anywhere for that matter, was captured to perfection.

    Roiling out the  early years is Live in The Park  performed in Hyde Park 1999, where Cliff sings many, many pieces as he travels back over five decades of the Pop history. Be Bop A Lula is a piece that saw his recording career begins with a cover of the song made famous by Little Richard. Rock around the Clock, a ‘50’s rock and roll favourite shows the range and talent of Cliff Richard as he moves through the many genres created over the years, along with many other favourites made for a great night out for one and all.

    To be able to sit and ‘binge’ on pure Cliff Richard is a real treat. That there is a little of Cliff live, before and occasionally after the concerts, is an added bonus and makes this six disc set irresistible for Cliff fans, but as the complete series runs for  17 hours 38 minutes, make sure you cancel everything else before you begin to indulge.

  • Wonderful Life

    Wonderful Life

    An oldie but a goody, this re-release of the 1964 movie, Wonderful Life, was created as another vehicle to promote the rising career of pop sensation Cliff Richard, but failed to be as successful as several of this other movies, such as Summer Holiday, but none the less, the teenagers of the 1960’s still flocked to watch their idol in his latest ‘rather corny’ movie. Mind you, this was not considered ‘corny’, as way back then, to see such a ‘God’  on the silver screen was almost incredible and something not to be missed. Oh how we all swooned!

    Also starring the Shadows, the music is still as enjoyable this many years on.  Una Stubbs, the delightful Susan Hampshire and the indomitable Richard O’Sullivan, along with a number of others find themselves in the ‘dessert’ and somehow become involved in trying to make their own film.

    When five young musicians manage to get themselves kicked off the cruise ship they were working on they discover they have to some way or other, find their way back to Britain and to do that they needed money.

    By paddling a life raft with their guitars across what we presume to be the Mediterranean, they successfully land on a shore, which just happens to be a desert. Johnnie (Richard) sees what he thinks is a girl on a runaway camel and rescues her. The problem soon becomes apparent this was no runaway, not even a damsel in distress, but a delightful young lady appearing in a movie although  not doing too good a job of the entire thing.

    Of course, Johnnie and the boys become involved, make a hash of trying to make their own movie version, but in the end, the movie, a combination of the correct and the alternate versions, becomes a hit and accompanied by wonderful music from the Shadows, the hero not only wins the day, but the girl of his dreams.

    Do You Remember provides the soundtrack for wonderful cameo performances by Cliff Richard doing impersonations of Groucho Marx, Al Joplin and Sean Connery in Dr No, with Richard O’Sullivan doing an uncanny impersonation of the incredible Charlie Chaplin.

    Hits from the movie are the evergreen Summer Holiday and Batchelor Boy with the wonderful ballad A Matter of Moments still holding that dreamy and sensual appeal. 

    A great journey down memory lane for fans and movie buffs alike, Wonderful Life still makes for a comfy afternoon on the couch with a good glass of red, enjoying a return to a time when life appeared to be so much less complicated.

  • The Young Ones

    The Young Ones

    In this third movie featuring Cliff Richard and the Shadows, we see and hear far more of the vocals and the instrumental talent that took Cliff Richard and the Shadows to the #1 position on the Pop charts time and time again, and is a vastly different movie to his previous two, Serious Charges and Expresso Bongo.

    The storyline, as so many were in the 1960’s featuring Pop singers and using the big screen to promote both the singer and the music, is relatively basic focusing on a group of inner London youth, who’s local Youth Club is to be purchased by a land developer.

    Robert Morley carries the role of Nicky Black’s (Richard) father Hamilton Black in his usual iconic manner, adding a depth to the story which was needed in order to carry the very raw acting talent of Richard and several of the other cast members.

    Nicky’s friends have no idea he is Hamilton Black, the ruthless land developer and tycoon’s son,  and neither does Black know his son is the latest rage on the Pop scene in London. As the plot unfolds the group discover and old theatre they can use to try and raise enough money to attempt to save the Club.

    They decide to stage a variety concert, jamming the airwaves with ‘pirated’ transmissions of Nicky singing to advertise the show. His music captures London’s teen scene by storm, and as he is only known as the ‘mystery singer’ people want to know more.

    As a vehicle to promote the music, this movie reached #2 at the British Box Office in 1961and many of the various aspects and tracks from the movie have gone on to be showcased in other avenues, such as the much loved ‘The Young Ones’ television series running from 1982-84 developing a cult following and referencing Cliff Richard many times over the years.

    In the most recent revamp the movie version has been adopted for stage by John Plews as a musical, which opened at Upstairs in the Gatehouse in December 2007, presenting a revival for the songs so many rocked too during the ‘60’s. Author note: I must add here, we also swooned, if you can use that word these days, over the very handsome Cliff Richard.

    Once again a great collector’s piece that is always enjoyable to watch and definitely great for a hot summers day or cold winters night when you simply want to watch a ‘feel good’ movie, with a great beat.

     

  • Serious Charge

    Serious Charge

    Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this second movie starring the very young Cliff Richard is the timelessness of the story line, which was relevant then and interestingly enough, is still today.  Interestingly, this is a serious movie based in the ‘50’s focusing on some of the social issues of the time, which has been given some light relief with the music of Cliff Richard and the Shadows, all be it in a cameo role.

    Perhaps some of the smaller details may have lost focus as time and social structure have changed but fundamentally the storyline remains the same, which really does show that for all the glitz and glamour that we wrap our world up in, so few of the basic values of society change.

    Set in late 1950’s Richard plays a cameo role, as Curley Thompson,  the younger brother of local hoodlum Larry, who thinks nothing of defying the law or anyone else who gets in his way. He carries a switchblade and struts pure attitude.

    Curley Thompson, still shows a bit of hope, but has begun to run up against the law, finding himself up in front of the local Magistrate, looking at possible goal time.  Reverend Phillips, new to the Parish, thinks otherwise and agrees to take Curley under his stewardship to see if he can change and become a positive member of Society.

    Meanwhile Larry’s girlfriend Mary discovers she is pregnant, which leads to disaster on several different fronts, involving the Reverend Phillips, Larry, and parishioner Hester Peters, in what turns out to be a vicious triangle of hate and destruction. This in turn, causes the local towns folk to turn against the Reverend Phillips, who rapidly discovers people will believe anything, particularly when it appears to be all bad.

    Adapted from a screen play of the same name and used as the vehicle to introduce Pop sensation Cliff Richard to a wider audience, the movie was well received with the single Living Doll rocketing through the charts to hit #1.

    Along with this cameo role, Cliff Richard and the Drifters as they were then known, recorded their first EP, Serious Charges which was used as the sound track for the movie; Tracks for the real buffs on that EP are Living Doll (Lionel Bart), No Turning Back (Bart), Mad About You (Bart) and Chinchilla (Randy Starr and Dick Wolf), played as an instrumental by the Drifters, later to become known as the Shadows.

    Re-pressed in Black And White, this movie still carries impact, is still very, very watchable and enjoyable as the twists and turns of the plot, although not unexpected, have translated well.

    Some may see it as corny and old fashioned, but as a collector’s item, it is one that should be added to the shelf.

  • Expresso Bongo

    Expresso Bongo

    In this fully re-mastered release of Expresso Bongo we step back to a time when making movies was still a developing industry, black and white was more of an option than colour and sometimes the sound tracks did not quite match up to the speech patterns.

    Many a successful stage play was changed into movie format and in this case became the vehicle for the up and coming Cliff Richard to star in his second movie. That the script proved to be prophetic for this young singer was an unknown factor back in 1959 as he played the part of a young bongo player with attitude, Bert Rudge.

    Based on the very successful stage play released in the West End in 1958, at the same time as My Fair Lady, it pulled in an equally as large audience but did not get the same coverage as My Fair Lady, eventually disappearing into obscurity.

    Val Guest took this wonderful satire written by Wolf Mankowitz and Julian More based on the music industry and took it to the big screen with a reworked musical score, leaving only The Shrine on the Second Floor in from the original musical score, in order to showcase the talents of Cliff Richard and his band the Shadows. The script was also reworked to allow a downplaying of the sharp satire of the play which in many ways has made the movie somewhat tamer than it perhaps should have been.

    Not for the younger viewing audience it features seriously adult themes in the strip clubs which is interesting as the following movies made by Cliff Richard and the Shadows were ‘squeaky clean’ as fitted the developing style of the young singer.

    For those who have followed Cliff Richard’s career from the beginning will enjoy this movie as it shows a young and talented young man learning the ropes of an industry which was to take him onto a stellar career that is still wooing the crowds 55 years later.

    Enjoyable and intriguing as it also highlights the direction his manger in the late 1950/60’s was encouraging him to move as the British answer to Elvis Presley, but also shows the formidable talent that was there to be developed, although thankfully Cliff Richard did not go on to become a bongo player!

    Interesting special features have been added to the DVD with Youth Club (1954) The Square (1957) which allows a trip back in time and for the modern viewer shows a snapshot life in the 1950’s, which will help with an understanding of how the generation of the day spent their leisure time.

    Overall a trip down memory lane with beautiful vocals rendered by all actors in a tamed down version of satire, which also makes you appreciate just how far the movies industry has progressed over the past 50 years.

     

  • Cliff 75

    Cliff 75

    Harry Rodger Webb was born in India on 14 October 1940 at King George’s Hospital, Victoria Street, in Lucknow, which was then part of the British Raj or British India. Who would ever have considered at that time, this child, would go on to carve a career out of music that would see him catapulted to fame in 1958 and remain at the top of his profession for more than 56 years, known and loved by his many fans as Cliff Richard, awarded the title of Knight Bachelor on 17 June 1995, the first rock star to ever be granted this honor.

    That he is still wooing the crowds some 56 years on from his first becoming the lead singer with a small group called the Drifters (not the American group), is nothing sort of phenomenal. His name was changed to Cliff Richard in 1958 at the request of entrepreneur Harry Greatorex, to better reflect his style of music and the vibe of the times.

    Cliff Richard burst onto international market with his first single Move It in 1958 and was so nervous on his first TV appearance he shaved his sideburns off to look more professional; the fact that he was considered ‘drop dead gorgeous’, to coin a phrase, certainly did him no harm!

    In the early 1960’s he was considered to be the British version of Elvis Presley, going so far as to copy his style of dress and rock attitude. But all this is history, although this style still shines through at each and every performance. His gentlemanly behavior has not changed over the years and as you sit back and watch a master at work in this his 75th Birthday concert celebration, he is still as likable and loveable as he has always been.

    He not only charms the audience with anecdotes from his life, but is the first to poke fun, as he is often treated as someone who is just another person, certainly no one famous; he always thanks the members of the band and backing singers who are there performing with him on the night as well as his fans for all helping him become the performer he is today.

    In this sell out concert, recorded at the Royal Albert Hall, in London, in October 2015, he is surprised by longtime friend and comedian Paul O’Grady bringing in his dinner, a raft of friends wishing him birthday wishes, and the delightful Olivia Newton John in person, who later joins him on stage to sing the beautiful duet Suddenly.

    The set list selected for what was a tour culminating on October 16 at the Royal Albert Hall tracks back on a journey spanning 56 years and reflects on the artists who influenced his style over the years. The likes of Chuck Berry, Roll Over Beethoven, The Everly Brothers with Cathy’s Clown, Jerry Lee Lewis’s Great Balls of Fire and Little Richard (the man of which he took his stage name of Richard in honor) with Rip It Up are just a few.

    All-time favorites such as Summer Holiday, Move it, Miss You Nights, The Young Ones, and When the girl in your arms is the girl in your heart, mix it up with the up tempo What Car and his latest hit single Golden, proving he has more than still got it; you know you have been given a rare treat of entertainment of the highest standard.

    56 years on all the ladies are still in love with him and all the men wonder why, but his music, his talent and his delight in still being able to be out there in front of an audience doing what he loves best, comes across through the joy and delight shown as he celebrates not just his birthday, but his great good fortune, backed by prodigious talent, that sees him celebrating his 56 years in the industry in true style.

    There are many memories spanning many, many years, all good, all different and all something to be able to say a heartfelt ‘thanks, may there be more to follow’ from all his many, many fans.