81-521: The London Opera Centre , a school for the training of opera singers and other opera professionals, existed in England between 1963 and 1978. It was located in the former Troxy Cinema on Commercial Road in London's East End Borough of Stepney (now Tower Hamlets ). The Troxy, with 3,520 seats, opened in 1933 and was one of England's largest cinemas. As a result of wartime damage and the general decline of
162-510: A Brits Icon concert fronted by Robbie Williams . A new truss had to be installed above the circle to house the incoming production. This involved working with a structural engineer to test the weight load of the ceiling to make sure it could be done safely. As well as a TV audience of 2.35 million, the BRITS Icon event raised Troxy's profile in the UK music media. In 2017, Troxy was used as
243-631: A Shadows instrumental replaced a Richard song at the top of the British charts. Richard's fifth single "Living Doll" triggered a softer, more relaxed, sound. Subsequent hits, the No. 1s " Travellin' Light " and " I Love You " and also " A Voice in the Wilderness ", lifted from his film Expresso Bongo , and " Theme for a Dream " cemented Richard's status as a mainstream pop entertainer along with contemporaries such as Adam Faith and Billy Fury . Throughout
324-479: A live album titled From a Distance: The Event was released. It compiled highlights of the previous year's The Event show, and provided two live tracks as singles, " Silhouettes " (UK No. 10) and " From a Distance " (No. 11). However, it was with the Christmas single " Saviour's Day " that Richard scored his 13th UK No. 1 single and his 100th top 40 hit. The album itself reached No. 3 over the Christmas period and
405-460: A more middle-of-the-road image, and he sometimes ventured into contemporary Christian music . In a career spanning over 65 years, Richard has amassed several gold and platinum discs and awards, including two Ivor Novello Awards and three Brit Awards . More than 130 of his singles, albums, and EPs have reached the UK Top 20, more than any other artist. Richard has had 67 UK top ten singles,
486-513: A popular music, film, and television personality at home in the UK as well as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Northern Europe and Asia, and retains a following in other countries. When not touring, he divides his time between Barbados and Portugal. In 2019, he relocated to New York. Cliff Richard was born Harry Rodger Webb on 14 October 1940 at King George's Hospital (now King George's Medical University ), Victoria Street, in Lucknow , which
567-624: A record number of consecutive top ten UK hits for a male artist. Richard continued having international hits, including 1967's "The Day I Met Marie", which reached No. 10 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 5 in the Australian charts. Richard acted in the 1967 film Two a Penny , released by Billy Graham's World Wide Pictures , in which he played Jamie Hopkins, a young man who gets involved in drug dealing while questioning his life after his girlfriend changes her attitude. He released
648-575: A revival of the popular Italian hit "L'edera". In 1965, sessions under the direction of Billy Sherrill in Nashville, Tennessee were particularly successful, yielding " The Minute You're Gone ", which topped the UK singles chart, and "Wind Me Up (Let Me Go)", which made No. 2. Richard, and the Shadows in particular, however, never achieved star status in the United States. In 1960 they toured
729-484: A rocker's sense of speed and passion, and Lionel Bart 's " Living Doll ". It was on "Living Doll" that the Drifters began to back Richard on record. It was his fifth record and became his first No. 1 single. By that time, the group's line-up had changed with the arrival of Jet Harris , Tony Meehan , Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch . The group was obliged to change its name to "The Shadows" after legal complications with
810-470: A spectacular titled The Event in front of a combined audience of 144,000 people. On 30 June 1990, Richard performed to an estimated 120,000 people at England's Knebworth Park as part of an all-star concert line-up that also included Paul McCartney , Phil Collins , Elton John and Tears for Fears . The concert in aid of charity was televised around the world and helped to raise $ 10.5 million for disabled children and young musicians. Later in 1990,
891-445: A video for it. EMI agreed to his demand despite the fact the single was expected to sell well. About 1,000 copies are known to exist on vinyl. In 1976, the decision was made to repackage Richard as a rock artist. That year, Bruce Welch relaunched Cliff's career and produced the landmark album I'm Nearly Famous , which included the successful but controversial guitar-driven track " Devil Woman ", which became Richard's first true hit in
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#1732791254884972-587: Is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart history, behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley . Richard was originally marketed as a rebellious rock and roll singer in the style of Presley and Little Richard . With his backing group, the Shadows , he dominated
1053-535: Is housed in four separate rooms. It has four keyboards, one pedal board and 241 stop keys. The organ was originally in the Trocadero Cinema in Elephant and Castle, the sister theatre of Troxy, which opened in 1930. It was much larger than the original Wurlitzer at Troxy, which did not survive intact after the venue closed as cinema. The Trocadero was pulled down in 1963 but the organ had been purchased by
1134-531: Is in zone two, and sits between Shadwell and Westferry stations on the DLR. Troxy is located on the A13, also known as Commercial Road. The building is served by the following bus numbers; 15,115, 135, D3, N15, N550, N551 51°30′46″N 0°02′39″W / 51.5128°N 0.04405°W / 51.5128; -0.04405 Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard OBE (born Harry Rodger Webb ; 14 October 1940)
1215-540: The B-side ; this was "Move It", written and composed by the Drifters' Samwell while he was on board a number 715 Green Line bus on the way to Richard's house for a rehearsal. For the "Move It" session, Paramor used the session guitarist Ernie Shears on lead guitar and Frank Clark on bass. There are various stories about why the A-side was replaced by the intended B-side. One is that Norrie Paramor's young daughter raved about
1296-520: The Billy Graham crusades. As time progressed, Richard balanced his faith and work, enabling him to remain one of the most popular singers in Britain, as well as one of its best-known evangelical Christians. Richard's 1965 UK No. 12 hit "On My Word" ended a run of 23 consecutive top ten UK hits between "A Voice in the Wilderness" in 1960 to "The Minute You're Gone" in 1965, which, to date, is still
1377-708: The Blitz in World War II and the clearance of local slums robbed Troxy of much of its original audience as the giant cinema closed in 1960, with the last film shown on 19 November that year, featuring Donald Sinden in The Siege of Sidney Street . Between 1960 and 1963 Troxy stood empty until the Royal Opera House , Covent Garden, took over and created the London Opera Centre school for
1458-700: The Cinema Organ Society three years previously and escaped the demolition. It was announced it was being moved to Troxy in 2009, bringing the instrument back to the sort of venue it was originally designed for. Rated as one of the finest in the world, the Wurlitzer's console can be moved around inside Troxy depending on the occasion. The use of the Wurlitzer is offered to anyone using the venue for their function, and special events are held so people can hear it played. Troxy has won many awards over
1539-535: The Eurovision Song Contest Previews for the BBC in 1971 and 1972. In 1975, he released the single " Honky Tonk Angel ", produced by Hank Marvin and John Farrar, oblivious to its connotations or hidden meanings. As soon as he was notified that a "honky-tonk angel" was southern US slang for a prostitute, the horrified Richard ordered EMI to withdraw it and refused to promote it, despite making
1620-509: The NME Awards , with the magazine's editor Mike Williams describing the Troxy as one of London's "oldest, coolest and most iconic venues". The same year Google chose Troxy as the venue for its annual Christmas party for 1,500 guests. Troxy now hosts live concerts and gigs including some of the biggest bands to play in the capital. In June 2016 Troxy hosted the annual Kerrang! Awards for
1701-541: The UK Singles Chart . John Lennon credited "Move It" as being the first British rock record. In the early days, Richard was marketed as the British equivalent of Elvis. Like previous British rockers such as Tommy Steele and Marty Wilde , Richard adopted Elvis-like dress and hairstyle. In performance he struck a pose of rock attitude, rarely smiling or looking at the audience or camera. His late 1958 and early 1959 follow-up singles, " High Class Baby " and " Livin' Lovin' Doll ", were followed by " Mean Streak ", which carried
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#17327912548841782-571: The concept album recorded for Time . In August 1986, Richard was involved in a five-car crash in torrential rain on the M4 motorway in West London. Richard's car was a write-off,as another car swerved and braked hard. Richard hurt his back in the accident, but was not seriously injured. Police called for a cab from the accident scene so that he was able to perform that night in the Time musical. After
1863-424: The "Cliff Richard musical", and led to Richard's being named the No. 1 cinema box office attraction in Britain for both 1962 and 1963, beating that of even James Bond . The title song of The Young Ones became his biggest-selling single in the United Kingdom, selling over one million copies in the UK. The irreverent 1980s TV sitcom The Young Ones took its name from Richard's 1962 film. In mid-1963, Cliff and
1944-435: The 1980s the building was used as a bingo hall, and the Troxy was converted to a live events space in 2006. The building is considered a vital part of East London 's history and was Grade II listed in 1990. It has a capacity of 3,100. Opened in 1933 on the site of an old brewery, Troxy cost £250,000 to build and when it first showed films had a capacity of 3,520, making it the largest cinema in England at that time. Inside
2025-538: The American group the Drifters as "Living Doll" entered the American top 40, licensed by ABC-Paramount . "Living Doll" was used in Richard's début film Serious Charge , but it was arranged as a country standard, rather than a rock and roll standard. The Shadows were not a typical backing group. They became contractually separate from Richard, and the group received no royalties for records backing Richard. In 1959,
2106-505: The B-side; another was that influential TV producer Jack Good , who used the act for his TV show Oh Boy! , wanted the only song on his show to be "Move It" as opposed to "Schoolboy Crush". Richard was quoted as saying: It's wonderful to be going on TV for the first time, but I feel so nervous that I don't know what to do. I shaved my sideburns off last night... Jack Good said it would make me look more original. The single went to No. 2 on
2187-603: The British Eurovision entry " Power to All Our Friends ;" the song finished third, close behind Luxembourg's " Tu Te Reconnaîtras " and Spain's " Eres Tú ". This time, Richard took Valium to overcome his nerves, and his manager was almost unable to wake him for the performance. Richard also hosted the BBC's qualifying heat for the Eurovision Song Contest , A Song for Europe , in 1970, 1971 and 1972 as part of his BBCTV variety series. He presented
2268-455: The British popular music scene in the pre-Beatles period of the late 1950s to early 1960s. His 1958 hit single " Move It " is often described as Britain's first authentic rock and roll song. In the early 1960s, he had a successful screen career with films including The Young Ones , Summer Holiday and Wonderful Life and his own television show at the BBC. Increased focus on his Christian faith and subsequent softening of his music led to
2349-653: The Centre's needs for its own student performances. While on the Board of the Centre, Joan Cross and others resigned a year later because they did not feel that the association with the Royal Opera House benefited the Centre. Gradually, several factors caused dissatisfaction with the Centre's activities, its high cost and remote location being the most important ones. By the time the lease came up for renewal in July 1977,
2430-533: The D'Oyly Carte's Kenneth Sandford .) By 1963, the Arts Council of Great Britain had provided a £27,900 grant to set up the London Opera Centre to provide musical and dramatic training to young voice students who were offered two-year scholarships. It was to be located in the Troxy and managed out of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as a rehearsal space as well as an opera school. Among
2511-869: The Live UK Music Business Awards. It was also crowned Best Awards Venue at the inaugural Awards Awards. Helping make 2016 a year to remember was being names the bronze winner for Use of Venue at the EVCOM Live Awards. In October 2017, Troxy was also crowned 'Best London Event Venue – 500 to 1,000 attendees' at the London Venue Awards. Troxy is close to Limehouse station which is served by Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and National Rail services. c2c trains, to and from Fenchurch Street Station , to Shoeburyness and Grays in Essex stop at Limehouse . Limehouse Station
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2592-530: The Opera House was willing to abandon the Troxy in favour of a smaller National Opera Studio at the Opera House itself. This was set up in 1978 under the opera singer Michael Langdon . Troxy Troxy is a Grade II-listed Art Deco music venue on Commercial Road in Stepney , London . Built as a cinema in 1933, it closed in 1960 and became a training school for the London Opera Centre . In
2673-480: The Shadows (then still the Drifters) landed an EMI recording contract of their own, for independent recordings. That year, they released three singles, two of which featured double-sided vocals and one of which had instrumental A and B sides. They thereafter had several major hits, including five UK No. 1s. The band also continued to appear and record with Richard and wrote many of his hits. On more than one occasion,
2754-474: The Shadows and "Congratulations" solo. In 1972, he made a short BBC television comedy film called The Case with appearances from comedians and his first ever duets with a woman—Newton-John. He went on to release a double live album, Cliff Live in Japan 1972 , which featured Newton-John. His final acting role on the silver screen to date was in 1973, when he starred in the film Take Me High . In 1973, he sang
2835-530: The Shadows appeared for a season in Blackpool , where Richard had his portrait modelled by Victor Heyfron. As with the other contemporary rock acts in Britain, Richard's career was affected by the advent of the Beatles and the Mersey sound in 1963 and 1964. He continued to be popular, and have hits in the charts throughout the 1960s, though not at the level that he had enjoyed before. Nor did doors open to him in
2916-559: The Shadows closed the first half of the show with a 30-minute set of their own, then backed Richard on his show-closing 45-minute stint, as exemplified by the retrospective CD album release of Live at the ABC Kingston 1962 . Tony Meehan and Jet Harris left the group in 1961 and 1962 respectively, and later had their own chart successes for Decca . The Shadows added bass players Brian Locking (1962–63) and then John Rostill (1963–68) and took on Brian Bennett permanently on drums. In
2997-537: The Shadows split in 1968, Richard continued to record. During the 1970s, Richard took part in several television shows and fronted his own show It's Cliff Richard from 1970 to 1976. It starred Olivia Newton-John , Hank Marvin and Una Stubbs , and included A Song for Europe . He began 1970 by appearing live on the BBC 's review of the sixties music scene, Pop Go The Sixties , which was broadcast across Britain and Europe on 31 December 1969. He performed "Bachelor Boy" with
3078-565: The UK. It was also the lead single from the UK top ten album Stronger . Released along with the singles " I Just Don't Have the Heart " (UK No. 3), " Lean On You " (No. 17) and " Stronger Than That " (No. 14), the album become Richard's first studio album to amass four UK top twenty hits. Richard received the Brits highest honour, The Outstanding Contribution award", in 1989. In June that year, he filled London's Wembley Stadium for two nights with
3159-765: The US market; he was not considered part of the British Invasion , and despite four Hot 100 hits (including the top 25 "It's All in the Game") between August 1963 and August 1964, the American public had little awareness of him. Although baptised as an Anglican , Richard did not practise the faith in his early years. In 1964, he became an active evangelical Christian and his faith has become an important aspect of his life. Standing up publicly as an evangelical affected his career in several ways. Initially, he believed that he should quit rock 'n' roll, feeling he could no longer be
3240-685: The US through a cover version by Danish guitarist Jorgen Ingmann which was almost unchanged from their worldwide hit. Richard and the band appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show , which was crucial for the Beatles , but these performances did not help them gain sustained success in North America. Richard and the Shadows appeared in six feature films, including a debut in the 1959 film Serious Charge but most notably in The Young Ones , Summer Holiday , Wonderful Life , and Finders Keepers . These films created their own genre, known as
3321-439: The United States and were well-received, but lacklustre support and distribution from a revolving door of American record labels proved an obstacle to long-term success there, despite several chart records by Richard, including the aforementioned "It's All in the Game" on Epic, via a renewed linking of the worldwide Columbia labels after Philips ended its distribution deal with CBS. To the Shadows' chagrin, " Apache " reached No. 2 in
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3402-489: The United States to follow on from the success of "Devil Woman" in 1976. In 1980, " Carrie " broke into the US top 40, followed by " Dreamin' ", which reached No. 10. His 1980 duet " Suddenly " with Olivia Newton-John, from the film Xanadu , peaked at No. 20, followed by " A Little in Love " (No. 17) and " Daddy's Home " (No. 23) in 1981. After many years of limited success in the US, three of his singles simultaneously charted on
3483-490: The United States, and the ballad " Miss You Nights ". In reviewing the new album in Melody Maker , Geoff Brown heralded it the renaissance of Richard. Richard's fans were excited about this revival of a performer who had been a part of British rock from its early days. Many big names in music such as Jimmy Page , Eric Clapton and Elton John were seen sporting I'm Nearly Famous badges, pleased that their boyhood idol
3564-473: The architect of many art deco cinemas in London. The first film shown at the cinema was King Kong , which is now celebrated by graffiti on the side of the building. Big names from the film and music industry were regular sights at Troxy, with stars such as The Andrews Sisters , Gracie Fields , Petula Clark , Cliff Richard and Clark Gable visiting it. The damage inflicted on the East End of London by
3645-679: The area, the cinema closed in November 1960. The English singer Joan Cross , an important figure in British opera at Sadler's Wells , who guided the company through the Second World War, and others had formed the National School of Opera in 1948, but its impact was limited due to little or no language teaching or technical stagecraft. (Nonetheless, its alumni included many successful artists such as Ava June , Marie Collier , Inia Te Wiata , Johanna Peters , April Cantelo and
3726-547: The building earned Grade II Listed status with English Heritage . In the 1980s Mecca Bingo took over the venue and bingo sessions were held twice a day, seven days a week until 2005 when the rise of online gambling led to Mecca taking the decision to stop using the building. The venue was reborn as a live events space in 2006, and has continued to be used for concerts and other events ever since, hosting prestigious awards ceremonies, gigs, film screenings including Secret Cinema screenings and sporting events. In 2013 it hosted
3807-422: The building the cinema had luxurious seating, a revolving stage , mirror-lined restaurants and customers were served by staff wearing evening dress. To add to the sense of luxury, Troxy staff sprayed perfume during film showings. The cinema showed all the latest major releases and had a floodlit organ which rose from the orchestra pit during the interval, playing popular tunes. Troxy was designed by George Coles ,
3888-718: The charity Comic Relief . Along with the song, the recording contained comedy dialogue between Richard and the Young Ones. That same year, Richard opened in the West End as a rock musician called upon to defend Earth in a trial set in the Andromeda Galaxy in the multi-media Dave Clark musical Time . Three Richard singles, "She's So Beautiful", which reached No. 17 in the UK, "It's in Every One of Us" and "Born To Rock 'n Roll", were released over 1985 and 1986 from
3969-470: The credit control office of Thorn Electrical Industries , Enfield , and the family moved in with other relatives in Waltham Cross , Hertfordshire, where he attended Kings Road Junior Mixed Infants School, until a three-bedroom council house in nearby Cheshunt was allocated to them in 1950, at 12 Hargreaves Close. He then attended Cheshunt Secondary Modern School from 1952 to 1957. As a member of
4050-489: The early 1960s, his hits were consistently in the top five. In 1961, EMI records organised Richard's 21st birthday party at its London headquarters in Manchester Square led by his producer Norrie Paramor. Photographs of the celebrations were incorporated into Richard's next album, 21 Today , in which Tony Meehan joined in despite having very recently left the Shadows to be replaced by Brian Bennett. Typically,
4131-679: The early years, particularly on album and EP releases, Richard also recorded ballads backed by the Norrie Paramor Orchestra with Tony Meehan (and later Brian Bennett) as a session drummer. His first such single without the Shadows was " When the Girl in Your Arms Is the Girl in Your Heart " in 1961, and he continued to release one or two per year, including covers of " It's All in the Game " in 1963 and " Constantly " in 1964,
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#17327912548844212-642: The family embarked on a three-week sea voyage to Tilbury , Essex , England, aboard the SS ; Ranchi . The Webbs moved from comparative wealth in India, where they lived in a company-supplied flat at Howrah near Calcutta , to a semi-detached house in Carshalton , north Surrey . Harry Webb attended a local primary school, Stanley Park Juniors, in Carshalton. In 1949, his father obtained employment in
4293-543: The filming location for Sky One 's talent contest, Sing: Ultimate A Capella . DICE has been running its ticketing operations since 30 August 2018. One of the unique attractions of Troxy is its Wurlitzer organ, the largest Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ in Europe, which was restored to its original condition in 2015 as the culmination of a six-year project at a cost of £275,000. The Wurlitzer has 1,728 pipes measuring between 16 feet (4.9 m) to 1 inch (25 mm) and
4374-550: The first film it had showed in 1933. The venue has also hosted a number of prestigious award ceremonies and televised events with Plan B and Kylie Minogue both awarding accolades to their managers at the venue. Danny Boyle presented about the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony with The Times at Troxy and Channel 4 hosted its Brexit debate at the venue attended by a host of celebrities including Will Self , Sandie Shaw and Sheila Hancock . In November 2016, Troxy hosted
4455-541: The fourth consecutive year and is also regularly used for MMA fight nights. Since it reopened, Troxy has held concerts by bands such as the Jesus and Mary Chain , Flying Lotus , Jarvis Cocker , Beady Eye , Garbage , Morrissey , Doves , Pixies , City and Colour , Stereophonics , Patti Smith , Siouxsie , and The Cure . Great care was being taken to bring Troxy into the 21st century while preserving its history. The current owners have invested heavily in restoring
4536-470: The last Hot 100 of 1980 ("A Little in Love", "Dreamin'", and "Suddenly"). In the UK, meanwhile, "Carrie" reached No. 4 and "Dreamin'" peaked at No. 8. In a retrospective review of "Carrie", AllMusic journalist Dave Thompson praised "Carrie" as being "an enthrallingly atmospheric number. One of the most electrifying of all Cliff Richard's recordings." In 1980, Richard officially changed his name, by deed poll , from Harry Rodger Webb to Cliff Richard. At
4617-466: The late-1990s, Richard had sold more than 250 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time . He has never achieved the same popularity in the United States despite eight US Top 40 singles, including the million-selling " Devil Woman " and " We Don't Talk Anymore ". In Canada, he had a successful period in the early 1960s, the late 1970s and early 1980s, with some releases certified gold and platinum. He has remained
4698-417: The live album Cliff in Japan in 1967. In 1968, Richard sang the UK's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest , " Congratulations ", written and composed by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter ; it lost, however, by one point to Spain's " La La La ". According to John Kennedy O'Connor 's The Eurovision Song Contest—The Official History , this was the closest result yet in the contest, and Richard locked himself in
4779-598: The mid-1960s. He also was amassing a string of top ten albums, including I'm No Hero , Wired for Sound , Now You See Me, Now You Don't , a live album he recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra titled Dressed for the Occasion , and Silver , marking his 25th year in show business in 1983. In 1986, Richard reached No. 1 by teaming up with the case of the comedy series The Young Ones to re-record his smash hit " Living Doll " for
4860-518: The most famous of the former students was the soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa who was offered an opportunity to study there between 1966 and 1968 after winning a major vocal competition in New Zealand. In addition, the Centre was used for other aspects of stagecraft and technical training, scenery construction and storage. A 500-seat theatre was created in the balcony for occasional performances, although rehearsal needs tended to take precedence over
4941-423: The other three played with the later and better known Shadows , although Samwell wrote songs for Richard's later career. Agent George Ganjou saw the group perform in London, and recommended them to Norrie Paramor for an audition. For Richard's debut session, Paramor provided him with "Schoolboy Crush", a song previously recorded by American Bobby Helms . Richard was permitted to record one of his own songs for
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#17327912548845022-473: The pop hit single " We Don't Talk Anymore ", written and composed by Alan Tarney , which hit No. 1 in the UK and No. 7 in the US. Bryan Ferry added hummed backing vocals to the song. The record made Richard the first act to reach the Hot 100's top 40 in the 1980s who had also been there in each of the three previous decades. The song was quickly added onto the end of his latest album Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile , which
5103-463: The rocker who had been called a "crude exhibitionist" and "too sexy for TV". Richard intended at first to "reform his ways" and become a teacher, but evangelical Christian friends advised him not to abandon his career. Soon after, Richard re-emerged, performing with Christian groups and recording some overtly Christian material. He still recorded secular songs with the Shadows, but devoted a lot of his time to Christian based work, including appearances with
5184-647: The same time, he received, from the Queen, the award of Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to music and charity. In 1981, the single " Wired for Sound " hit No. 4 in the UK and also became Richard's biggest hit in Australia since the early 1960s. To finish the year, "Daddy's Home" hit No. 2 in the UK. On the singles chart, Richard was having his most consistent period of top twenty hits since
5265-414: The school vocal harmony group The Quintones, before singing in the Dick Teague Skiffle Group. Harry Webb became lead singer of a rock and roll group, the Drifters (distinct from the US group of the same name ). The 1950s entrepreneur Harry Greatorex wanted the up-and-coming rock 'n' roll singer to change his name . The name Cliff was adopted as it sounded like "cliff face", which suggested "Rock". It
5346-455: The second highest total for an artist (behind Presley). He holds the record, with Presley, as the only act to make the UK singles charts in all of its first six decades (1950s–2000s). He has achieved 14 UK No. 1 singles, and is the only singer to have had a No. 1 single in the UK in each of five consecutive decades. He also had four UK Christmas No. 1 singles , two of which were as a solo artist; " Mistletoe and Wine " and " Saviour's Day ". By
5427-465: The show, Richard said: "I'm lucky to be here". He said that his seatbelt had prevented him from flying through the windscreen. In October 1986, " All I Ask of You ", a duet that Richard recorded with Sarah Brightman from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical version of The Phantom of the Opera reached No. 3 in the UK singles chart. 1987 saw the release of his Always Guaranteed album, which became his best-selling album of all-new material, and included
5508-440: The toilet to avoid the nerves of the voting. In May 2008, a Reuters news report claimed that voting in the competition had been fixed by the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco , to ensure that the Spanish entry won, thus allowing them to host the contest the following year (1969). It was claimed that Spanish TVE television executives offered to buy programmes in exchange for votes, as well as contract unknown-artists. The story
5589-425: The top of the chart. It was the best-selling UK single of 1988, shifting 750,000 copies. The album was certified quadruple platinum, becoming Richard's first to be certified multi-platinum by the BPI since it had introduced multi-platinum awards in February 1987. In May 1989, Richard released his 100th single, " The Best of Me ", becoming the first British artist to achieve the feat. The single peaked at No. 2 in
5670-412: The top stream, he stayed on beyond the minimum leaving age to take GCE Ordinary Level examinations and gained a pass in English literature . He then started work as a filing clerk for Atlas Lamps. A development of retirement flats, Cliff Richard Court, has been named after him in Cheshunt. Harry Webb became interested in skiffle . When he was 16, his father bought him a guitar, and in 1957, he formed
5751-434: The training of opera singers and professionals, which was based there from 1963 to 1977. Its purpose was a rehearsal space, using an extended stage to create exactly the same dimensions as the Royal Opera House stage. The team made changes to the internal and basement areas of Troxy, creating multiple rooms for the orchestras to use as well as the stage. The Royal Opera House continued to use Troxy until 1990. The following year
5832-441: The two top-10 hit singles " My Pretty One " and " Some People ". Richard concluded his thirtieth year in music by achieving a UK Christmas No. 1 single in 1988 with " Mistletoe and Wine ", while simultaneously holding the No. 1 positions on the album and video charts with the compilation Private Collection , which collected his biggest hits from 1979 to 1988. "Mistletoe and Wine" was Richard's 99th UK single and spent four weeks at
5913-532: The venue as much as possible to its original glory while making it suitable for modern audiences. Troxy was the first venue in EMEA to permanently install the JBL VTX A12 loudspeaker system. In 2009, Troxy screened its first film for more than 50 years, showing Secret Cinema's Bugsy Malone , complete with live music and custard pie fights. The venue marked its 80th birthday in 2013 by showing King Kong ,
5994-712: The years. In 2013 it was named Venue of the Year at the Eventex Awards and won bronze in the Unusual Venue category at the M&;IT Awards in the same year. 2014 was a busy year for awards as Troxy was overall winner of the Eventia Best Venue Team and was named overall winner of Best Venue Team at the Live UK Music Business Awards, which it repeated in the same category in 2016. Also in 2014 Troxy
6075-567: Was " Move It " writer Ian Samwell who suggested the surname "Richard" as a tribute to Webb's musical hero Little Richard . Before their first large-scale appearance, at the Regal Ballroom in Ripley, Derbyshire in 1958, they adopted the name "Cliff Richard and the Drifters". The four members were Harry Webb (by then going under the stage name "Cliff Richard"), Ian Samwell on guitar, Terry Smart on drums and Norman Mitham on guitar. None of
6156-564: Was getting back into the heavier rock in which he had begun his career. Notwithstanding this, Richard continued to release albums with contemporary Christian music content in parallel with his rock and pop albums, for example: Small Corners from 1978 contained the single "Yes He Lives". On 31 December 1976, he performed his latest single, "Hey, Mr. Dream Maker", on BBC1's A Jubilee of Music , celebrating British pop music for Queen Elizabeth II 's impending Silver Jubilee . In 1979, Richard teamed up once again with producer Bruce Welch for
6237-914: Was highly commended in the Best Venue Space category at the Event Magazine Awards, an event it hosted. Troxy was a finalist for Best Venue at the Evcom Live Awards 2015, and a finalist in the Best Venue Category at the Event Production Awards in the same year. In 2016 Troxy was awarded the Mark of Excellence in the London Venue Awards and named winners of the Best Venue Teamwork Theatre/Concert Hall at
6318-542: Was of half Welsh and half Spanish descent, born of a Spanish great-great-grandmother named Emiline Joseph Rebeiro. The Webb family lived in a modest home in Maqbara, near the main shopping centre of Hazratganj . Dorothy's mother served as the dormitory matron at the La Martiniere Girls' School . Richard had three sisters, Joan and Jacqui, plus Donna (1942–2016). In 1948, following Indian independence ,
6399-661: Was re-titled We Don't Talk Anymore for its release in the United States. It was his first time at the top of the UK singles chart in over ten years, and the song would become his biggest-selling single worldwide, selling almost five million copies throughout the world. Later in 1979, Richard performed with Kate Bush at the London Symphony Orchestra 's 75th anniversary celebration at the Royal Albert Hall . With "We Don't Talk Anymore" in 1979, Richard finally began to receive some extended success in
6480-527: Was then part of British India . His parents were Rodger Oscar Webb, a manager for a catering contractor that serviced the Indian Railways , and the former Dorothy Marie Dazely. His parents also spent some years in Howrah, West Bengal . After the violence of Direct Action Day , they decided to relocate to Britain permanently. Richard is primarily of English heritage, but he had one great-grandmother who
6561-467: Was widely covered and featured on UK's Channel 4 News as a main story on 7 May 2008, with Jon Snow interviewing author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor about the matter. However, the allegations turned out to be untrue, as it was a widely repeated rumour instigated by TVE. Nevertheless, "Congratulations" was a huge hit throughout Europe and Australia, and yet another UK No. 1 in April 1968. After
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