Something new from Cliff Richard

I was not surprised about the disappointed remarks heard after Cliff Richard’s concert at the Araneta Coliseum last Feb. 13. This is a country whose people love only hit songs. So an artist with less than 10 big sellers should not bother to perform here at all. That was not the problem with Cliff who has a long list.

Pinoys go to concerts to hear those hits and are ready to pay big money for the pleasure of enjoying their memories. Cliff obliged with a lot. The Young Ones, Bachelor Boy, When the Girl in Your Arms, Summer Holiday, It’s All in the Game, Constantly and Don’t Talk to Him Ocean Deep.

It was all very nice. And Cliff was in perfect voice throughout. But Pinoys could only be satisfied by what they believed was their money’s worth and they wanted more. What about Leggata a un Granelo de Sabia? What about Devil Woman or Next Time, Congratulations, This Day and others that they expected to hear?

I admit that I too felt some disappointment about Move It. I wanted to hear the rocking rendition from the live recording that introduced me to Cliff in 1960. That was certainly a long time ago but I wanted to relive the memory or put myself again inside that moment. What he chose to do though was a new version that was more jazz than rock and very different.

That Move It was recorded last year for the album Two’s Company, The Duets, with Brian May of Queen and Brian Bennett of The Shadows, Cliff’s backing group from the early days. A verse into the song though I began to realize the merits of the new arrangement. The rock ’n roll Presley style of the original is now out of favor but this new one is very contemporary and it showcased Cliff’s fuller sexier tones rather than a frenetic beat.

Move It, plus the other songs he performed from The Duets perked up my interest in the album which ignoramus me initially thought was a compilation of old recordings. True, it includes hits like All I Ask of You from Phantom of the Opera with the original Christine of the musical, Sarah Brightman and Suddenly from the movie Xanadu with Olivia Newton-John. But the rest were all new, very well chosen and performed with big names in the business.

Anyone Who Had a Heart with original artist Dionne Warwick; Miss You Nights with the UK band G4; She Means Nothing to Me with Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers; Let There Be Love with the late Matt Monro; Fields Of Gold with Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees; Up Where We Belong with Canadian country legend Ann Murray; Slow Rivers with fellow knight Elton John; Reunited with Lulu of To Sir With Love fame and others.

The Pinoy audience clearly still needs time to get into the groove of Cliff’s new recordings. I wished though that they had realized they were not watching somebody from the nostalgia circuit like The Lettermen. In spite of nearly five decades in the business, Cliff is a pop star on top of his game. He is still evolving and is on tour to promote his latest albums, not Summer Holiday. He brought along those new sounds for us to hear.

This was more evident during the concert when he started doing cuts from Somethin’s Going On, a country album that Cliff recorded in Nashville a few years ago. Of course, because of the worship that his early recordings enjoy from his fans, those songs also paled in comparison. A closer scrutiny of the CD though showed how versatile Cliff is and what great songs he picked out to do. I still cannot get over I Will Not Be a Mistake. That is the kind of song that songwriters drool about. And what about How Many Sleeps? Why didn’t I think of those when the reality of those themes is all around us?

Somethin’s Going On is one classy production. Prepare for tears with How Did She Get Here and For Life. He is in great form, singing with so much power, energy, expression and most of all with perfect vocals. It is one of Cliff’s best and here is one instance wherein you really wish that people would forget Ocean Deep and Constantly and give his new music the appreciation it deserves.