大象传媒

Sir Cliff Richard has released over 100 albums, sold well over 250 million records, and is the only British artist to score number ones in five consecutive decades. As an artist, he is at once familiar and enigmatic. His career has seen many transformations from rock and roller to born again gospel singer. Here are seven things we learned from his Desert Island Discs…

1. He has some advice for his younger self

This is Sir Cliff’s second appearance on Desert Island Discs. He was first cast away in 1960, when he was just 20, but had already topped the UK charts three times. So what does he make of his younger self when he listens to that first appearance?

“Well, you know if someone asked me if I could advise that young Cliff Richard about anything… I would actually say to him, ‘Do whatever you're going to do, because apparently it worked!’”

2. Moving from India to England as a child was challenging

Sir Cliff was born in India, where his father Roger was a manager in a catering company that served the Indian railways. In 1947 India gained its independence and the family moved back to England the following year. They’d had a very comfortable life in India, but Sir Cliff’s father couldn’t find work on his return, and had four children to support.

Sir Cliff says: “We arrived with five pounds, which I've looked up and I think it's worth about 200 pounds now. If you can imagine how you have a wife and four children and survive on 200 pounds, and no work. I can remember three meals, three main meals a week were a soup bowl with two slices of toast with tea poured over it. Milky tea and sugar sprinkles on it.” At one point the family of six shared a single room, before moving to a council house.

3. His father got him started on his musical journey

Sir Cliff’s father bought his son a guitar for his 16th birthday and showed him how to play it.

“I remember now not getting my fingers in the right positions all the time,” says Sir Cliff. “But that's the guitar that kicked it off for me. Mostly I used to stand in front of the mirror miming to an Elvis record with a guitar hanging around my neck. And it made me feel the way I thought rock and rollers should look and feel.”

4. His second musical choice for the island was written for him - but became a worldwide hit for another singer

“The song was written for me by Terry Britten, who wrote Devil Woman and a bunch of other songs for me, and has produced an album with me as well,” says Sir Cliff. “Somehow or other, the demo that he sent to my office got sent back to him with a little message saying: ‘We don't think this is right’. So he gave it to Tina Turner!”

The song is What’s Love Got To Do With It. Tina Turner released her version of it in 1984 and it became her most successful single. Sir Cliff decided to record his own version many years later, and it was released in 2001 on his 70th studio album Wanted. It’s this recording that he has chosen for the island.

5. Born Harry Webb, he nearly became Cliff Richards

Very early in his career, would-be star Harry Webb was advised to change his name, and he and his bandmates found themselves in a pub trying to find the right combination. “And I said, Cliff sounds good. That's rock face, rock and roll. Somebody else suggested Richards, Cliff Richards with an S on the end. And the guy who had just joined [the group], Ian Samwell said, ‘Take the S off the Richard and you're left with two Christian names. They're bound to get it wrong in interviews, they're bound to call you “Richards” and you can correct them, and that means you spouted your name out twice in the same interview. So I went into that pub Harry Webb and I came out Cliff Richard.”

6. One disc from his 1960 selection still makes the cut in 2020

“Two friends of mine, a drummer Terry, a guitarist Norman and I… were just we chilling out on the street in Waltham Cross,” explains Sir Cliff. “This car came up, windows were down, the driver jumped out and went into a newsagent’s. We're looking at the car thinking “What a great car. Will we have one of those one day?” And then on the radio, we heard Elvis and it just blew us away. Then of course, the guy came back, drove off so we didn't hear who was singing. We didn't know what he was singing... We thought it was like something from outer space. We'd never heard anything other than Max Bygraves and Frank Sinatra and people like that singing on the radio. So that's what kicked me off and I'm convinced now that that's the reason why I've followed my dreams.”

The song is Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis Presley.

7. He feels that his Christianity is more important than his career

Early on Sir Cliff was advised that talking about his religious beliefs might not fit in with the image of a rock and roll singer. In 1966 he was invited by the evangelist Billy Graham to speak in front of 25,000 people about his faith. Sir Cliff says: “Even management said, you know, you have to be careful about [talking about] that. In the end, I felt that it was more important even than my career. But it was a terrifying moment for me. I mean, I was so scared. But it did lead to me beginning to be able to speak the name Jesus without feeling embarrassed. I don't know why people are embarrassed by that, but they sometimes are. But I don't feel that embarrassment anymore.”