Cliff's Hit Album is the first compilation album of Cliff Richard and was released in 1963. It reached #2 on the UK Albums Chart.
The album contains 14 songs from his 1958-1961 singles
Content
By mid-1962, Cliff Richard had racked up more U.K. hit singles than any artist outside of Elvis Presley. From "Move It" in August 1958, to "I'm Looking out the Window," in May, 1962, 20 singles had charted, a tally which included four number ones, 11 more Top Tens, and just one (1959's "Never Mind" which fell short of the Top 20. Oh, and soundtracks notwithstanding, only one of those hits had ever appeared on album. The CD age would have problems sorting out a genuinely pleasing greatest hits collection from that little lot -- imagine the problems when all you have to work with is two sides of long-playing vinyl. That was the challenge facing Cliff's Hit Album, and it is to the anonymous compiler's credit that neither success nor popularity was allowed to stand in the way of creating a supremely well-rounded summary of the story so far. All of the biggest hits are included, of course, but some astonishing gems, too, are resurrected. The delightfully twee "Theme for a Dream," all lilting melody, subtle backing, and overwhelmingly chirpy girlie backing vocals, is an oft-overlooked gem, while two cuts from The Young Ones movie score, the title track and "When the Girl in Your Arms is the Girl in Your Heart," reinforce that album's reputation among the most successful British soundtracks ever made. From Expresso Bongo, "A Voice in the Wilderness" is deliciously desolate, while two other tracks were among the handful of songs premiered to a specially invited panel of fans, who were then asked to choose Richard's next single from among them: "Please Don't Tease" was voted into first place, and duly rose to number one; the artist's own favorite, "Nine Times out of Ten" came third, and, released as the follow-up, it reached number three. Proof that sometimes fans really do know what they're talking about. Perhaps surprisingly, Cliff's Hit Album peaked no higher than number two on the chart, although its five-month run on the listings ensured that it was still there or thereabouts by the time his next new album, When in Spain, arrived later in 1963. Even more importantly, however, the album remains the finest single summary of Richard's early years yet released -- later collections, of course, include later material, while the Rock'n'Roll Years box set, which covers the same span as this set, is probably too vast for any but the most devoted palate. Here, 14 songs in a little more than 30 minutes offer the ideal introduction not only to this artist. So this is what people listened to before the Beatles came along.
Release
Cliff's Hit Album was released as an LP album on Columbia in the UK on July 1963 and compact disc in 1987
Track listing
|
|
| 1. |
"Move It" (released as a single (A-side), August 1958, #2) | Ian Samwell |
2:23 |
| 2. |
"Living Doll" (released as a single (A-side), July 1959, #1) | Lionel Bart |
2:38 |
| 3. |
"Travellin' Light" (released as a single (A-side), October 1959, #1) | Roy C. Bennett and Sid Tepper |
2:31 |
| 4. |
"A Voice In The Wilderness" (released as a single (A-side), January 1960, #2) | Norrie Paramor, Bunny Lewis |
2:36 |
| 5. |
"Fall In Love With You" (released as a single (A-side), March 1960, #2) | Ian Samwell |
2:30 |
| 6. |
"Please Don't Tease" (released as a single (A-side), June 1960, #1) | Bruce Welch, Peter Chester |
2:59 |
| 7. |
"Nine Times Out Of Ten" (released as a single (A-side), September 1960, #3) | Otis Blackwell, Waldense Hall |
2:07 |
|
|
| 1. |
"I Love You" (released as a single (A-side), December 1960, #1) | Bruce Welch |
2:02 |
| 2. |
"Theme for a Dream" (released as a single (A-side), February 1961, #3) | Mort Garson, Earl Shuman |
2:06 |
| 3. |
"A Girl Like You" (released as a single (A-side), June 1961, #3) | Jerry Lordan |
2:31 |
| 4. |
"When the Girl in Your Arms is the Girl in Your Heart" (released as a single (A-side), October 1961, #3) | Roy C. Bennett and Sid Tepper |
2:25 |
| 5. |
"The Young Ones" (released as a single (A-side), January 1962, #1) | Roy C. Bennett and Sid Tepper |
3:09 |
| 6. |
"I'm Looking Out the Window" (released as a single (A-side), May 1962, #2) | John Jacob Niles |
2:16 |
| 7. |
"Do You Wanna Dance" (released as a single (B-side), May 1962, #2) | Bobby Freeman |
2:16 |
Personnel
Chart performance
| Year |
Peak chart positions |
UK
[1] |
| 1963 |
2 |
|
References
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| | Albums (UK) |
| 1950s: | |
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| | 1960s: |
- Me and My Shadows (1960)
- 21 Today (1961)
- Listen to Cliff! (1961)
- 32 Minutes and 17 Seconds (1962)
- The Young Ones (1962, soundtrack)
- Summer Holiday (1963, soundtrack)
- When in Spain (1963)
- Wonderful Life (1964, soundtrack)
- Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp (1964, stage show album)
- Cliff Richard (1965)
- Love is Forever (1965)
- When in Rome (1965)
- Kinda Latin
- Finders Keepers (1966, soundtrack)
- Cinderella (1967, soundtrack)
- Don't Stop Me Now (1967)
- Good News (1967, gospel)
- Cliff in Japan (1968, live)
- Two a Penny (1968, soundtrack)
- Established 1958 (1968)
- Sincerely Cliff (1969)
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| | 1970s: | |
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| | 1980s: | |
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| | 1990s: |
- From a Distance: The Event (1990, live)
- Together with Cliff Richard (1991)
- The Album (1993)
- Songs from Heathcliff (1995, stage show album)
- Heathcliff Live (1996, stage show album, live)
- Real as I Wanna Be (1998)
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| | 2000s: | |
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| | 2010s: | |
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| | EPs (UK) |
- Serious Charge
- Expresso Bongo
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| | Compilations (UK) |
- Cliff's Hit Album (1963)
- More Hits by Cliff (1965)
- The Best of Cliff (1969)
- The Best of Cliff, Vol. 2 (1972)
- 40 Golden Greats (1977)
- Love Songs (1981)
- Walking in the Light (1984, Gospel)
- Private Collection: 1979-1988 (1988)
- My Kinda Life (1992)
- The Hit List (1994)
- At the Movies 1959-1974 (1996)
- Yesterday, Today, Forever (1997, Gospel)
- The Whole Story: His Greatest Hits (2000)
- The Platinum Collection (2005)
- And They Said It Wouldn't Last (My 50 Years in Music) (2008)
- The 50th Anniversary Album (2008)
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| | Filmography | |
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| | Related articles | |
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|
 Book:Cliff Richard |
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