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78-545: Michael William Sammes (19 February 1928 – 19 May 2001) was an English musician and vocal session arranger, performing backing vocals on pop music recorded in the UK from 1955 to the 1970s. Born in Reigate , Surrey , Sammes was the son of pioneer photographer and film-maker Rowland Sammes. He began his interest in music by learning the cello and played in the school orchestra at Reigate Grammar School . He then worked briefly for

156-631: 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

234-620: A brief demo song, or as long as several weeks if an album or film score is being recorded. Musicians' associations and unions often set out the remuneration terms. Some musicians may get the minimum scale rate set out by the union. Heavily in-demand session musicians may earn much more. The union rates may vary based on whether it is a music recording versus a film/television recording. While the film/television rates may be lower, there may also be residual payments to compensate them for reruns, DVD sales, streaming usage, and so on. Session musicians often have to bring their own instruments, such as in

312-452: 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, the second highest total for an artist (behind Presley). He holds the record, with Presley, as

390-633: 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 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

468-479: 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

546-601: 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 was of half Welsh and half Spanish descent, born of a Spanish great-great-grandmother named Emiline Joseph Rebeiro. The Webb family lived in

624-684: 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 , 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

702-532: A nuanced sense of the playing styles and idioms used in different genres. For example, a sax player who mainly plays jazz needs to know the R&;B style if they are asked to improvise a solo in an R&B song. Similarly, a bass player asked to improvise a walking bassline in a rockabilly song needs to know the stock lines and cliches used in this genre. Regardless of the styles of music session musicians play, some qualities are universal: punctuality in arriving at

780-519: A part to fill a last-minute time slot. In the 1960s, Los Angeles was considered the top recording destination in the United States — consequently studios were constantly booked around the clock, and session time was highly sought after and expensive. Songs had to be recorded quickly in the fewest possible takes. In this environment, Los Angeles producers and record executives had little patience for needless expense or wasted time and depended on

858-624: 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

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936-512: 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

1014-484: 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

1092-494: A song previously recorded by American Bobby Helms . Richard was permitted to record one of his own songs for 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

1170-470: 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,

1248-405: A sub-specialization within trumpet session players is "high note specialist." The working schedule for session musicians often depends on the terms set out by musicians' unions or associations, as these organizations typically set out rules on performance schedules (e.g., regarding the length of sessions and breaks). The length of employment may be as short as a single day, in the case of recording

1326-653: 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 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

1404-445: 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

1482-536: A wider range of musical situations, genres, and styles. Examples of "doubling" include double bass and electric bass , acoustic guitar and mandolin , piano and accordion , and saxophone and other woodwind instruments. Session musicians are used when musical skills are needed on a short-term basis. Typically, session musicians are used by recording studios to provide backing tracks for other musicians for recording sessions and live performances, recording music for advertising , film, television, and theatre . In

1560-482: 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 a more middle-of-the-road image, and he sometimes ventured into contemporary Christian music . In

1638-520: 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

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1716-486: 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

1794-607: 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

1872-571: 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

1950-613: The music publisher Chappell & Co. in London. He returned to music after national service in the RAF in the late 1940s, and in 1954 joined a vocal group called The Coronets at the urging of fellow musician Bill Shepherd. The Coronets did back-up work for the Big Ben Banjo Band and recorded for Columbia Records , releasing some covers of current hits . After Shepherd withdrew, Sammes persisted. By 1957, he had assembled

2028-488: 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

2106-529: The 1970s, producing recordings for television ( The Secret Service ) and appearing on the small screen (the Val Doonican Show , 1971). In 1974 the singers provided the backing vocals for Steve Harley's hit single " Mr. Soft ", and also contributed vocals on other tracks on his album The Psychomodo ." By the mid-1970s, though, the demand for backing vocals had faded considerably, due to the introduction of multi-tracking and synthesizers. On Last of

2184-450: The 2000s, the terms "session musician" and "studio musician" were synonymous, though in past decades, "studio musician" meant a musician associated with a single record company , recording studio or entertainment agency . Session musicians rarely achieve mainstream fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders . However, top session musicians are well-known within the music industry . Some have become publicly recognized, such as

2262-662: The A-side was replaced by the intended B-side. One is that Norrie Paramor's young daughter raved about 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

2340-538: 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,

2418-606: The Beatles ' song " I Am the Walrus ", which required them to do "all sorts of swoops and phonetic noises" and chant the phrases "ho ho ho, he he he, ha ha ha", "oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumper" and "everybody's got one". They also sang on the Beatles' " Good Night ", as well as on their last album, Let It Be , at the behest of Phil Spector . Sammes also provided the distinctive basso backing vocals on Olivia Newton-John 's early country crossover hits, including " Banks of

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2496-603: 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

2574-434: The M.G.'s . The benefit of having a regular group, an approach which typified Southern soul , is that the group has much more experience playing together, which enables them to get a better sense of ensemble. Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard OBE (born Harry Rodger Webb ; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012,

2652-702: The Ohio ", " Let Me Be There " and " If You Love Me (Let Me Know) ". Despite this productivity, his group, the Mike Sammes Singers, have only one entry in The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles , for " Somewhere My Love " in July 1967. Sammes rewrote the song " Marianne " with Bill Owen to provide Cliff Richard with a minor hit in September 1968. The Mike Sammes Singers remained active into

2730-480: 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,

2808-474: 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

2886-530: 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

2964-559: 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

3042-537: 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

3120-1150: The Summer Wine , the singers contributed the "Summer Wine" song over the opening credits of the Christmas 1983 episode " Getting Sam Home ". Sammes died at the age of 73 in May 2001, several months after a fall from which he never fully recovered. Jonny Trunk, of Trunk Records , was able to recover a number of reel-to-reel tapes from Sammes' house (despite it having been ransacked by house clearance), which he went on to compile as Music for Biscuits , so-named because it featured 1960s/1970s advertising jingles for Tuc biscuits , etc. The Michael Sammes Singers members included: Mike Sammes, John O'Neill , Irene King, Enid Hurd (Enid Heard), Mike Redway, Ross Gilmour, Valerie Bain, Marion Gay and Mel Todd. Source Session musician Many session musicians specialize in playing common rhythm section instruments such as guitar , piano , bass , or drums . Others are specialists, and play brass , woodwinds , and strings . Many session musicians play multiple instruments, which lets them play in

3198-522: 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 was then part of British India . His parents were Rodger Oscar Webb,

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3276-565: 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

3354-765: 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

3432-685: 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

3510-439: 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

3588-489: 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

3666-490: 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

3744-587: The Wrecking Crew , the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and The Funk Brothers who worked with Motown Records . Session musicians may play in a wide range of genres or specialize in a specific genre (e.g., country music or jazz ). Some session musicians with a classical music background may focus on film score recordings. Even within a specific genre specialization, there may be even more focused sub-specializations. For example,

3822-434: 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 a popular music, film, and television personality at home in

3900-431: The case of guitar, bass, woodwinds, and brass. It is expected that studio musicians will have well-maintained professional-tier instruments. In some cases, larger or heavier instruments may be provided by the recording studio, such as a grand piano or Hammond organ and Leslie speaker . In certain cases, a session musicians may bring some instruments or musical gear and use them with larger instruments that are provided by

3978-718: 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

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4056-620: The core group that would form the Mike Sammes Singers - finding them steadily employed, for singers, soundtrack and radio jingles , working sometimes as many as four sessions in a day and up to six days a week. Mike Sammes was Mr Sowerberry on the 1960 soundtrack (World Record Club) of the Lionel Bart musical Oliver! and the Michael (sic) Sammes Singers also featured. They appeared on the Morecambe and Wise Show (on 29 January 1966) in

4134-489: 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,

4212-679: 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,

4290-678: The era, the two groups of musicians in Memphis, both the Memphis Boys and the musicians who backed Stax/Volt recordings, and the Funk Brothers in Detroit, who played on many Motown recordings. At the time, multi-tracking equipment, though common, was less elaborate, and instrumental backing tracks were often recorded "hot" with an ensemble playing live in the studio. Musicians had to be available "on call" when producers needed

4368-470: 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

4446-417: 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

4524-598: 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

4602-451: 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 the late-1990s, Richard had sold more than 250 million records worldwide, making him one of

4680-473: 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

4758-463: 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

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4836-647: 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

4914-427: The service of reliable standby musicians who could be counted on to record in a variety of styles with minimal practice or takes, and deliver hits on short order. A studio band is a musical ensemble that is in the employ of a recording studio for the purpose of accompanying recording artists who are customers of the studio. The use of studio bands was more common during the 1960s with groups such Booker T. &

4992-683: The session; rhythmic and intonation precision; ability to play with good ensemble and excellent blending with the other performers; willingness to take direction from bandleaders , music directors , and music producers ; and having good musical taste in regards to choices with musical ornaments and musical phrasing . During the 1950s and 1960s, session players were usually active in local recording scenes concentrated in places such as Los Angeles , New York City , Nashville , Memphis , Detroit , and Muscle Shoals . Each local scene had its circle of "A-list" session musicians, such as The Nashville A-Team that played on numerous country and rock hits of

5070-587: 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

5148-795: The sketch "The Ernie Wise Male Voice Choir". The Mike Sammes Singers performed the title themes for three of Gerry Anderson 's shows, Supercar , Stingray , and The Secret Service . The group recorded seven albums between 1962 and 1988. In addition, they performed on numerous albums for Disneyland Records . Among the many hit singles featuring the Mike Sammes Singers are " No Other Love " ( Ronnie Hilton ), "A Handful of Songs" ( Tommy Steele ), "Why?" and " Strawberry Fair " ( Anthony Newley ), " Walkin' Back to Happiness " ( Helen Shapiro ), " The Last Waltz " ( Engelbert Humperdinck ), " Green Green Grass of Home " and " Delilah " ( Tom Jones ) and " Tears " by Ken Dodd . The singers departed from their usual commercial style when they provided backing vocals for

5226-426: The stage name "Cliff Richard"), Ian Samwell on guitar, Terry Smart on drums and Norman Mitham on guitar. None of 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",

5304-428: The studio, such as a synthesizer player, who might bring rack-mounted synth modules and connect them to the studio's MIDI controller stage piano . Similarly, if the studio has a selection of well-known bass amplifiers , and speaker cabinets, a bass player may only have to bring basses and effect units . The requirement to read different types of music notation, improvise and/or " play by ear " varies according to

5382-495: 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

5460-529: 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

5538-441: 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

5616-570: The type of recording session and the genres of music being performed. Classical musicians and many jazz and popular music musicians are expected to read music notation and do sight-reading . In jazz, rock, and many popular music genres, performers may be expected to read chord charts and improvise accompaniment and solos. In country music, performers may be expected to read Nashville Number System charts and improvise accompaniment and solos. In many traditional and folk music styles, performers are expected to be able to play by ear. Session musicians need

5694-483: Was 16, his father bought him a guitar, and in 1957, he formed 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

5772-525: Was adopted as it sounded like "cliff face", which suggested "Rock". It 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

5850-564: 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

5928-661: 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

6006-404: 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 the British popular music scene in the pre-Beatles period of the late 1950s to early 1960s. His 1958 hit single " Move It "

6084-467: 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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