Line #6 Music/CliffRichard


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cliff_richard.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''Congratulations\
3	And celebrations\
4	When I tell everyone that you're in love with me'']]
5	-> Oh Cliff / Sometimes it must be difficult not to feel as if / You really are a cliff / when fascists keep trying to push you over it! / Are they the lemmings / Or are you, Cliff? / Or are you Cliff?
6	--> '''- Rick''', ''Series/TheYoungOnes''
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9	Sir Cliff Richard (real name Harry Rodger Webb, born 14 October 1940 in Lucknow, India) is a singer and entertainer who has managed the feat of a British number one hit single in every decade from the [[TheFifties 1950s]] to [[TheNineties 1990s]]. One of the most enduring icons of British showbusiness, Cliff began his career billed as England's answer to Music/ElvisPresley, and indeed was a cutting edge figure in the RockAndRoll era who made some genuinely good memorable music in that idiom. His hit "Move It" is regarded as the first significant British RockAndRoll song. He fronted a band called the Shadows, who after he went solo, re-invented themselves with some success as an instrumental guitar group. Outshone in the [[TheSixties 1960s]] by Music/TheBeatles and other beat groups, his career never went belly-up, and he reinvented himself with some success as a TV presenter and celebrity. Music never went away, and he remains popular as a middle-of-the-road singer, although possibly as un-known outside Britain as Creator/JohnnyHallyday is outside France.
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11	Cliff has in fact had moderate success in the USA, but unfortunately not enough to establish him as a household name there. In his career he has had eight US Top 40 singles, including the million-selling ''Devil Woman'', and ''We Don't Talk Anymore'', the latter becoming the first to reach the Hot 100's top 40 in the 1980s by a singer who had been in the Billboard top 40 in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
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13	In Europe, Sir Cliff Richard has represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest twice. In 1968, he finished second with ''Congratulations'' - missing out to Spain's Massiel and her song La La La La. (There is a suspicion that the politicking for which Eurovision is notorious ensured he missed out on the top slot here: Spanish dictator General UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco, in the middle of a row over Gibaltrar, is said to have personally intervened to ensure Spain's vote did not go to the UK). In 1973, Cliff came third with ''Power To All Our Friends''.
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15	Outside music, Cliff is probably best known for his intense evangelical Christian faith, and the fact that for a rock singer, he leads a squeaky-clean life involving self-imposed celibacy. This, and the palpable absence of a Lady Richard, has led some to question his sexuality, although this is unfair: celibacy is rare, but is a genuine vocation and lifestyle choice which does not imply gayness. (By definition, in fact, to be celibate precludes ''any'' form of active sexual expresssion, hetero ''or'' homo.)
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17	As a tax exile from Britain, it has been remarked that as a Christian he knows how to give unto God what is God's, but perhaps requires assistance with giving unto Caesar that which is Caesar's.
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19	His commitment to Christianity is both ridiculed and grudgingly admired - he really does appear to live as he preaches (except perhaps in the matter of shelling out tax) - and he has a legion of devoted fans, who, as with Music/BarryManilow (a singer in the same ilk) tend to be middle-aged and female.
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21	He ended at #56 in ''Series/OneHundredGreatestBritons''.
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23	!!Cliff Richard tropes include:
24	* AnAesop: He has a few songs which fit this trope. As one would expect, some are clearly religious in inspiration, and some are not (the 1971 single "Silvery Rain" is a GreenAesop).
25	* ChristianRock: He's done a few Christian recordings (often covers of gospel songs) one of was a [[LetsDuet duet]] with Music/VanMorrison, and including "The Millennium Prayer", which is The Lord's Prayer set to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne". He also has a few songs whose religious meanings are veiled but detectable (e.g "The Day I Met Marie" - think about the title for a moment).
26	* ChristmasSongs: Sir Cliff has recorded his share of both secular and religious Christmas music, and in fact he's the last artist to occupy the Christmas number one slot with a song that actually has Christian themes.
27	* CoveredUp: He did a cover of Music/MarvinHamlisch's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAL5u_o4PI4 'Cause I Believe in Loving]]" from ''Film/{{Bananas}}''. [[invoked]]
28	* {{Crossover}}: With ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' for the the charity single "Livin' Doll" in 1986.
29	* CunningLinguist: Being born in India, he has some knowledge of Indian languages, which he showed off when he appeared on ''Series/TheKumars''.
30	* GriefSong: "Hey Mr Dream Maker" is one of these. It hints that the person being mourned (who has a GenderBlenderName, Josie/Josey) was DrivenToSuicide ("cried a lot, had to go away ... didn't say much"). The song also implies that much time has passed, during which the narrator has chosen celibacy, and now, rather than seek a new lover, he's living in/living for a fantasy romance.
31	* KavorkaMan: The 1985 mini-hit "Heart User" imagines one of these pairing off with a [[DistaffCounterpart Kavorka Woman]].
32	* LastOfHisKind: Cliff, Tommy Steele (who started out two years before Cliff), and Music/PaulAnka are probably the very last rockstars of the fifties pre-Beatles era following Music/JerryLeeLewis' death in 2022.
33	* LetsDuet: He has duetted with several big names, including Music/DavidBowie, Music/EltonJohn, Music/OliviaNewtonJohn and Music/{{Lulu}} and believe it or not Music/JanetJackson, but the one everyone can hum is his hit Christmas collaboration with Music/VanMorrison. His 2014 foray into the charts is a duet with equally venerable singing star Music/EngelbertHumperdinck.
34	* LongRunners: He debuted in the 1950s and is still performing to this day.
35	* SharpDressedMan: Always clean in costume.
36	* TheShowMustGoOn: Famously he was once in the spectator stands at Wimbledon when rain started bucketing down, calling off the match; he promptly entertained the crowd with an impromptu concert. Expect this to be referenced whenever he appears on a show.
37	* TransAtlanticEquivalent: He has ''two'' of them:
38	** He wasn't necessarily the first British answer to Music/ElvisPresley (that was probably Tommy Steele a few years before him) but he was definitely the most successful.
39	** Cliff Richard also shares some similarities with Music/PaulAnka. Both were RockAndRoll {{Teen Idol}}s of the late '50s and early '60s, who later adopted an adult contemporary sound.
40	* WhiteDwarfStarlet: The subject of his song “The Golden Days Are Over” from his Silver Album.

Context Music / CliffRichard