Cliff Richard responds to airplay snub
Written by admin on November 17, 2011 – 6:58 am - |
Sir Cliff Richard is furious that a specialist 1960s radio station has banned him from their playlist.
Absolute Radio will launch their 1960s channel next week and have declared that the likes of Cliff Richard and Gerry and the Pacemakers will not feature. Instead, the airwaves will be reserved for bands such as The Beatles, The Who and The Kinks who Absolute Radio believe better represent the era. |
Cliff has accused the station of attempting to rewrite history by ignoring an artist who had such enormous success in this era. He told the Daily Mail:
| “What they’re doing is they’re lying to themselves, and more importantly they’re lying to the public. You cannot count me out. I sold more singles in the UK than The Beatles did, and more singles than any other artist on the planet, in Britain. They can do that if they want to, there’s nothing I can do. But what they’re forgetting is that The Beatles didn’t start it here – I started five years before the Beatles. I don’t think that DJs should play only the things they like. They should play what the public like, and if you’ve got a Number One, it means your record is more popular than any other record in the charts, so you deserve airplay. So, as I say, I don’t expect airplay, but I deserve fair play.” |
It’s hard to disagree with Cliff’s reasoning. Yes, his career in the 1960s was more about entertainment than musical innovation, but so what? He made more classic pop records during the decade than most, including the number one hits “Please Don’t Tease,” “I Love You.” “The Young Ones,” “The Next Time,” “Summer Holiday,” “The Minute You’re Gone” and “Congratulations.” Admittedly, some of those have stood the test of time better than others. Then there were a number of high quality Top Ten hits, such as “Nine Times Out of Ten,” “Theme For a Dream,” “I’m Looking Out the Window,” “It’ll Be Me,” “It’s All in the Game,” “Don’t Talk To Him,” “I Could Easily Fall (In Love With You),” “Visions,” “In the Country” and “Throw Down a Line.”
Cliff also won the then prestigious NME Reader Polls UK Male Singer/UK Vocal Personality award every year from 1961 to 1969. In 1963 he was also voted Best World Male Singer.
Pete Mitchell will team up with former Virgin Radio breakfast co-host Geoff Lloyd to launch the Absolute Radio 1960s station. Mitchell says:
| “Yes, Cliff enjoyed chart success, but his songs don’t fit the ‘cool sound’ of The Swinging Sixties we’re trying to create on our new station. We believe timeless acts of the decade that remain relevant today are The Beatles, The Stones, The Doors and The Who, not Sir Cliff.” |
Should Cliff’s best music of the 1960s really be ignored on an oldies radio station because of an arbitrary rule about what what is “cool”? Of course Absolute Radio 1960s are well within their rights to play whatever they want to play, but the decision to ban such a successful artist does suggest that musical snobbery is alive and well at the station. Or does it? Perhaps what we have really seen over the last couple of days is a clever marketing tactic that has ensured the station gets lots of free publicity ahead of its launch. After all, Cliff’s battles over airplay have received lots of media coverage over the years and it was predictable that he would issue a response on this latest snub.
“Soulicious” DVD out now
Cliff Richard attended a West End screening of “The Soulicious Tour Live At The O2” on Tuesday night to celebrate the release of the DVD. The “Soulicious” tour included popular hits from Cliff’s long career, along with soul classics and brand new songs taken from his recent “Soulicious” duets album. Cliff was joined on stage by soul stars including Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr, Lamont Dozier, Jaki Graham, James Ingram, Freda Payne and Percy Sledge.
“The Soulicious Tour Live At The O2” DVD is available now:
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Cliff Richard – The Soulicious Tour |
N/A | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now |
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Soulicious |
Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now |
Tags: Absolute Radio 1960s, Cliff Richard, Cliff Richard Soulicious, Cliff Richard Soulicious DVD
Posted in 60s pop |
