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Cliff aims for number one... again
Cliff Richard is battling against time to get a number one - he's hit the number one spot in every decade since the 1840s [check this] but hasn't managed anything since the Millennium. So, he's trying to persuade his legion of fans to get behind his new single, Thank You For A Lifetime:
"I may be greedy, but to notch up a number one after 50 years would be just fantastic. I've got the song, I can only hope for the support."
At Cliff's age, hoping for support is a common feeling.
It doesn't seem to have occurred to Cliff that the reason why he had hits in the previous decades was because he had some decent songs - except for the 1999 Millennium Prayer, which we suspect might have only sold because some Christian groups thought it would somehow upset Radio One. That Cliff is trying this time with a song about himself, rather than Jesus, might prove to be his undoing.
Sixteen months, Cliff: the clock is ticking. See if you can't rustle up a new Wired For Sound.
The downside, of course, is that if he does manage it this decade, we're going to have to go through this all over again at some point before 2019.
8 comments:
Does Cliff actually know the difference between a song about Jesus and one about himself?
Yes - Jesus was the dude who let The Bible slip out of copyright...
Would a re-release count? Because I'd definitely buy Wired For Sound on the condition that he remade the video, complete with rollerskates, Walkmen and futuristic Milton Keynes setting.
Milton Ke... hang on a moment...
*YouTubegoogles*
Bloody hell. You know what, if he'd recreate the video - complete with the skating down the side of John Lewis (which, sadly, is still faced off with those ugly brown tiles) I'd buy the thing myself. Three or four times.
Wired for sound? Meh. Devil Woman- now there's a song, although I'm more familiar with the All About Eve version. How about Carrie doesn't live here anymore? I rather liked that.
By the way, I somehow missed the Millenium prayer, so did a quick youtube search. Oooh, that's grim. I particularly like the way that the phrase 'forgive us our trespasses' coincides with shots of Concentration camp victims. Classy. Interestingly enough, Cliff shows himself to be a pioneer of the Mash-up. Presumably it was just a coincidence that both the Lord's Pray and Auld Lang Syne are both out of copyright...
A great moment in Milton Keynes history, and no mistake. Whenever I'm there, it always amazes me that they still haven't got around to putting up the commemorative blue plaque in honour of that iconic video shoot.
Just watched the video again - I could've sworn there were more shots of futuristic red railings in it. Still, they more than make up for it with the bit 20 seconds in, when Cliff is practically flung into shot by an exasperated director snarling "Dammit, just do the walk like we agreed and pretend you're a teenager, and get a bloody move on, we're losing light. Come on, work those elbows!"
@olive - Could be that Cliff created the mash-up, or possibly that other musical institution, One Song To The Tune of Another. I hear his second choice was an interpretation of 'Good King Wenceslas', using the words to the popular rugby song 'Four and Twenty Virgins'.
@james:
I've never seen the video for Wired For Sound before (incidentally, I noticed 'we don't talk anymore' in the video list- another decent song). Thanks for the link. But a thought nagged me. The darkness, the strange lights, the movement. I've seen that in another music video. But where? I suddenly twigged. It was here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7--QvyN0caM
Wow! Thanks for posting that - I can't remember the last time I saw a genuine blue laser tunnel...
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