Customer Reviews

Collection 1976-94

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While Cliff Richard's career in his native Britain has been likened to the Elvis phenomenon of the U.S., here in America he's only been able to chart on the top 40 a handful of times. This CD features those hits we Americans associate with Cliff Richard, all of them classics, "We Don't Talk Anymore," "Dreamin'," "Devil Woman," and "A Little in Love." Just for those handful of songs the album is worth owning, but the rest of the songs are also enjoyable in their own right. While many American acts are able to duplicate their success in Britain, it's curious as to why Cliff Richard never really caught on to the extent here that he did in his homeland. What's really striking about this CD is how modern many of the songs sound, even though they were recorded 20-25 years ago.

Many of the disc's most memorable songs (and not coincidentally, its biggest U.S. hits) were written or co-written by Alan Tarney. The rest of the songs make it apparent that Richard's success depended largely on having sympathetic producers and songwriters. A few of the non-hits fall into the coulda-been category, like "Wired For Sound," "I Still Believe In You" and "Ocean Deep." But after the Tarney association ended, Richard also recorded a good deal of bland AC pap whose U.S. chart failure can't be blamed on poor promotion--"Love Is The Strongest Emotion" shows a distinct lack thereof, and the corny Christmas anthem "Mistletoe and Wine" could only be enjoyed with a great deal of the latter. A 1987 reunion with Tarney failed to reignite the magic, with tracks "Some People" and "My Pretty One" sorely lacking the musical energy and lyrical tension of their previous work.

The most surreal moment of the CD is on "She's So Beautiful," written for Richard in 1985 by Stevie Wonder. The melody is so quintessentially Stevie that it simply doesn't sound right for anyone else to try it.

The tunes on this CD appear to be in no particular order, which is a good thing for U.S. listeners who will be unfamiliar with more than half the material and might have been tempted to hit -stop- after "Daddy's Home" had the songs been chronologically ordered. All in all it's a great pop CD with many more catchy songs than most. You can fault Razor & Tie Records for including several unexciting UK-only hits, but they seemed to be genuinely trying to make a quality compilation, filling the CD to near-capacity (20 tracks/76 minutes of music). The liner notes are well written, too.

I love this cd, had it for 4 years now.Love the old songs of the 70's and 80's. It is is best music in the 70's and 80's. Wonderful Voice. The Best English singer.

GREAT CD!!!! I HAVEN'T HEARD ALOT OF THESE TUNES IN YEARS. TRULY A GREAT ARTIST WHO IS WAY AHEAD OF HIS TIME. BRINGS BACK ALOT OF MEMORIES.

that this collection from Razor and Tie Records is out of print. This single cd contains Cliff's most popular recordings including the then overlooked ballad "Ocean Deep," that's been included on the recently released "His Whole Story" collection, his last for EMI. Cliff changed record labels and now records for Phillips/Decca. Maybe luck will be on your side and this disc will be found at a used cd store. The sequencing and mastering of this disc is superb, the songs recognizable and the total running length of this disc satisifying.

while it doesn't have the song move on when he was with the shadows the songs on this collection are fantastic! If you are wondering why this man is now called Sir Cliff Richard order of the british empire by the Queen of England get this cd it's a great intro cd on a great singer, and humanitarian

A nice collection of fans from the great Cliff Richard."Some People"is one of his best and should have been a US top 10 for Cliff(who has sold 90 million records worldwide).For one cynic that criticised his US success of 8 top forty hits(one a duet with Olivia),plus numerous top hundred hits,it is difficult for any artist to break into a the US market with the radio station payolla situation.Cliff deserved more and would have had more if he had got the airplay.

Cliff has more #1 hits than Elvis and has been Knighted by the Queen of England recently. His never-ageing voice will make you his biggest fan.

This CD includes a good range of Cliff's hits from the last few decades including duets with two popular female artists. A CD not to be missed even though you may already have CDs containing the original recordings.

Cliff Richard has been making music and charting Top 40 hits since the late 1950's. However, this collection of 20 tracks pretty much covers his best stuff from 1976 to 1994. Despite having always been more popular and well-known in his native United Kingdom more than here in America, this CD should certainly appeal to moderate to die-hard fans of either country. All 7 of his Top 40 singles that charted here in America from 1976-1982 are included, including "Devil Woman", "Dreaming", "We Don't Talk Anymore", "Daddy's Home", "A Little In Love", "Suddenly" (duet with Olivia Newton-John from the Xanadu soundtrack), and "Carrie". Other highlights include his stunning duet with Sarah Brightman on "All I Ask of You" (from Phantom of the Opera), "My Pretty One", "Some People", and the romantic pleadings of "Ocean Deep". For those just getting familiar with this British icon who certainly was worthy of the honor of being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1995, this is a great starting point. I love this CD and highly recommend it. Not all that easy to locate, but great listening!