Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Singer and actor; sold over 250 million records, released over 100 albums, only British artist with number ones in five consecutive decades.
On the island
Eight records
I've been a fan of her voice. That voice is, for me, the greatest voice ever.
he gave it to Tina Turner and because I got it first I wanted to record it
that's what kicked me off and that's what I'm convinced now that that's the reason why I've followed my dreams
I would want to feel still loved, even if I couldn't see the people that I was hoping would still love me
It Is Well with My SoulFavourite
Cliff Richard and Sheila Walsh
It makes me think even now as I'm saying it, faith can get us through some of the most disastrous periods of our life.
Sometimes people get to say and sing the things that you sometimes can almost imagine you feeling.
I will survive this, I will survive this. So I've loved the Bee Gees forever … I definitely will play this song really loudly.
deep down inside of me there's a little part of me that says, oh, I wish I could do that. I wish I was able to do that kind of music. So I can pretend it's me.
In conversation
Presenter asks
2:44How does it feel listening back to your younger self?
The thing is, what I can't relate to is that I sound quite confident back there, didn't I? I mean, I because I was only about, well, I was only 20.
Presenter asks
2:55How do you look back at that young man now?
Well, you know, if someone asked me if I could if I could advise that young Cliff Richard a about anything, what would you say? And I'd say I would actually say to him, Do whatever you're going to do because apparently it worked.
Presenter asks
3:14How have you managed to keep your fans with you through the ups and downs of your recording career and all of that time that's past?
Yes, it's been … better than I could ever have expected. I mean, first of all, I didn't think that … we would last that long. … And suddenly ten years have gone by and I thought, oh, I've still got fans, I'm still making records, I'm still having hits. … you have to get realistic as you get older and I realize now that I wouldn't be able to go and fill the Wembley Stadium as I did twice … So as long as there's one or two people that would come and see me, I can still perform.
The keepsakes
The book
Emily Brontë
Mothering Heights by Emily Bronte. Because it would put me in mind of school and a teacher that I had there, Jay Norris, and she kind of taught us all to understand and enjoy reading. And because I did the show Heathcliff and thoroughly enjoyed it, because for those moments on stage, for the first time ever in my life, I was not Cliff Richard. I had become this horrific book character.
The luxury
I would choose, if it's possible, my Gibson acoustic guitar. That's a beautiful guitar I bought it in 1959. And it's got a very, very gentle sound, and I'd love to have that as a luxury.
Presenter asks
5:07What do you remember about your early years in India?
Well, you know, I left there when I was still seven. I had my eighth birthday in England. So my it's childhood memories, but the ones I remember of, I mean, independence had come in 1947 and there was there was kind of civil war kicking off. So I can remember that, you know, being in bed and thinking, boy, there's a bang, bang.
Presenter asks
5:43Was there a side of your father that you were a little bit scared of as a kid?
Yes, I mean it bordered on being a bit fearful and I think sometimes if you're actually going to actually end up admiring someone it's because they're strong. So I was a bit afraid of upsetting him. … My mother I feel was a terrific balance. … So I thought there was a yin and yang thing going on with my mum and dad. … I loved the one thing he said to me. … he'd said to me you really want this and I said yeah I really want this he said well from now on you're gonna have to be the best at it that you can be you can never let up so I guess that's all part and parcel of … my being able to … focus so firmly on where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do and I guess I … know it came from my father.
Presenter asks
27:34What did those outcomes [of the police raid and court cases] mean to you?
Every now and then somebody might get the chance to perhaps change something, and I'd like to think that when I won that court case against the BBC, it means that they would have to think really hard if ever they wanted to do something like that again.
“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 sprinkled on it.”
“John Lennon thought I was cool, so I'll go with John, you know.”
“My father would have loved to have seen me benighted. I miss my dad still.”
“I can be a pop star and still be a Christian. And the two don't have to be at loggerheads with each other.”
“I saw that helicopter outside the apartment block. It was a horrible, horrible time. I can't begin to tell you. … I found myself absolutely weeping like a child. I was never suicidal, but I thought a couple of times I might die because I used to wake up with my pulses on your wrist, the head, the heart thumping like crazy. And I'm thinking, I don't want to kill myself, but this could kill me.”