Cliff Richard ~ Devil Woman 1976 Disco Purrfection Version

Harry Rodger Webb, better known as Cliff Richard, is the third top selling British pop star ever. Beginning in the mid 50's, he became a household name with his backing band The Shadows who adopted a rock style in the vein of Elvis Presley and Little Richard. They dominated the British charts until the arrival of the Beatles in 1964. After a run of 23 consecutive top ten British hits, the streak ended in 1965 with the #12 peak of "On My Word". The changing musical landscape led him to acting where he appeared in several films, in addition to his recording career. Never a musical force in the US until "Devil Woman", he performed several songs for the Eurovison music festival. Religion became a stabilizing force in his life, which led to his change of mind in releasing "Honky Tonk Angels" in 1976. The song was recorded and pressed, with about a 1000 copies released when Richard became aware that Honky Tonk Angels was a US euphemism for prostitutes and ordered the recall. He had even recorded a video to support the single, which you can see here    • Видео   Vinyl copies of the single are now collector's items. After that, his label sought to return him to his rock and roll roots and production began on "I'm Nearly Famous". Many US based rock and rollers were heralding his return to his roots and "Devil Woman" was released which peaked at #6. Finally arriving on the US charts he continued his streak with 1979's "We Don't Talk Anymore" and then into the 80's with "Carrie", "Dreamin", "A Little In Love" and a duet with Olivia Newton John "Suddenly" from "Xanadu", "Give A Little Bit More" and his final chart appearance, "Daddy's Home" in 1982. Throughout the 90's to date he has continued to record with artists like Percy Sledge, Ashford and Simpson, Roberta Flack, Freda Payne, Peabo Bryson, Brenda Holloway and Candi Staton. He has received numerous awards for his accomplishments, but has been snubbed by UK music programmers due to his "uncool" persona and music. This unfortunate situation would have him compared to various "beautiful music" vocalists, which is patently unfair and untrue. A trooper in the true sense of the word, he performed at his own 70th birthday bash on October 23, 2010. We may yet get another pop hit out of him, who knows? He has had more comebacks than a season of "Frasier". He just released his 100th album this year, "The Fabulous Rock & Roll Album", a return to his 50's persona. You can hear a sampling of the album here on YouTube    • Видео