Cliff said himself, that over that half a decade there have been so many wonderful changes, one of which was the cd. He said that every time in the 1950s you went in and asked for a 45rpm record, it would notch up as a sale, then people started playing the flip side, and would then come and ask for the flip side tune, and indeed that to would notch up on the sales, someties the B side would overtake the A side in popularity, of course was the case with the A side "Schoolboy Crush" which was eclipsed by one of the most famous rock’n’roll tracks of today, the B side "Move It" this track alone launched Cliff and his band into the history books. "Move It" went to N0. 2 in the UK charts in September 1958.

During the first two years of Cliff and the Drifters, they notched up 41 hit singles, each one making it into the top 30 charts. This was an incredible and un equaled achievement, in fact it was pretty much un beatable.

The Drifters changed their name to The Shadows to avoid any confusion with the already established American band of the same name. By now the group featured Hank B. Marvin, (owner of the very first Fender Strat, in Britain) the line up then included Bruce Welch also on guitar, Jet Harris on bass and Tony Meehan on drums.

Over the five decades, of which Cliff has enjoyed chart success in all five, the band as parted to pursue individual careers, however remained good friends. The 50th Anniversary farewell tour, began on September 19th 2009 in Killarney , Ireland, toured around the UK throughout October and November, finally making there way overseas to Australia in February of this year. First stop was Hank’s home of Perth, for two nights at the Burswood Dome.
Onto Adelaide for the next two shows, where myself (Dave Gartland) was officially photographing, and Coast FM Presenter Christine was along to review the show. The show was amazing, and as it continues through Australia and New Zealand until the last night being 14th March in Johannesburg, here is that review, from that total sell out night at the Entertainment Centre in Adelaide South Australia.

Cliff in pink. (Foto: Dave Gartland)

"We Say Yeah!" The baby boomers began by showing their appreciation in quite a sedate fashion when Cliff Richard and The Shadows opened their show at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Wednesday February 10. "In The Country", "Gee Whizz It’s You" and then a ballad, "The Voice In The Wilderness", gave a thrill, and he had us all enthralled. Dressed in black shirt and trousers, gold tie and retro pink jacket, Cliff related how he did not have a number one hit until "Living Doll", well the crowd were warming up by this time, then "Put On Your Dancing Shoes", "The Lonely One", "Angel Face", "Do You Wanna Dance?"

Time out for a costume change, Cliff leaves the stage and The Shadows launched in to their best known hits and what a thrill. Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Brian Bennett and Mark Griffiths with Warren Bennett on keyboard, harmonica and cow bell. "Walk Don’t Run", "The Savage" from the movie, "The Young Ones", "Sleepwalk" and "Wonderful Land", all with the big screen and modern technology.

Black jacket with sparkles, black tie this time and Cliff is back and his voice is as fine as ever it was with "I Could Easily Fall In Love With You", "Willy And The Hand Jive", "Sea Cruise”, "C’mon Everybody", "Dynamite" and "Lucky Lips" and the audience were singing along. Another highlight was when the boys all sat together for an acoustic set, "Travelling Light", "Time Drags By" from the movie "Finders Keepers" and a tribute to Elvis, "All Shook Up". "Please Don’t Tease" and he had everyone in the palm of his hand as they say.

Just when everyone is relaxing, Hank Marvin and The Shadows play the instrumental that knocked Cliff out of his number one spot on the charts, "Apache". "Foot Tapper" from the movie "Summer Holiday" had everybody singing and up on their feet. Forget the big screen and the effects, the voices and instruments take over and are all you want. Then water flowing and a surfer fly across the big screen and The Shadows and Cliff are "Dancing On The Beach". "Summer Holiday", written by Brian and Bruce for the movie and "I’ll Be Lookin’ For You" were very special.

Looking like a teenager in his white suit, after a standing ovation, The Shadows and Cliff Richard came back on stage and sang a song not recorded by them before now, "Singing The Blues" followed by "The Young Ones" and it was as though thirty or more years fell away from a very happy crowd.

Dave Gartland and Christine

Photographs from the night are available from www.midnightrockers.co.uk

Gamle folk, ja, gammel musikk, ja, men det holder så det suser også i 2009. Det skiftet mellom åtte-ni låter lange sett med Cliff dansende foran på scenen, gjerne klassiske "Shadows-trinn" med resten av gutta, og tre-fire låter med The Shadows alene. Og selvsagt skiftet Cliff dress i hver pause. Enkel scene med en avansert storskjerm der konserten startet med hodet på en rød (selvsagt) Fender Stratocaster, kamera følger oppover halsen og kroppen og det virket som gitaren kom ut i salen.

Vi får låter vi kjenner hver tone i. "Living Doll", "Do You Wanna Dance", "Summer Holiday" osv før The Shadows til stor jubel gjør et sett alene. Vi fikk "Sleepwalk" i en enklere versjon enn vi er vant til fra Brian Setzer. Det står i stil med den enkle stilen til gitargud Hank Marvin og gruppa hans. Ikke en tone for mye og med Setzers versjon i bakhodet blir vi minnet på at musikkens verden er grenseløst mangfoldig.

Cliff kom utpå igjen til en feiende versjon av "Hand Jive" med gudekoringer fra Welch og Marvin før settet ble avsluttet med en ganske så sprek "Sea Cruise", mye bedre enn på "Reunited" (se lenger ned på denne siden), og gutta tok 25 minutter pause.

En litt traurig utgave av Eddie Cochrans "C’mon Everybody" fra samme plate åpnet etter pausen før det strømmer på med hits og publikum koser seg glugg. En litt unødvendig tre låter lang akustisk avdeling med Bruce Welch, Cliff og Hank Marvin sittende samlet midt på scenen følger. Vi får blant annet "All Shook Up" som en hyllest til Elvis. Cliff forteller hvor stolt han var over å ligge på samme hitliste som Elvis, en av mange småhistorier fra gamledager. Det var grøtete lyd i denne avdelingen og man ble liksom sittende og vente til de skulle bli ferdige.

Shadows regjerer igjen alene og vi får "F.B.I." og en nydelig "Apache", kanskje kveldens øyeblikk, med sylskarp gitar fra Hank.

Det drar seg mot slutten. "Bachelor Boy" husker vi godt og i ekstrasettet får vi en skuffende tam "Move It", en ganske så tøff "Singing The Blues" med imponerende vokal fra Cliff før "The Young Ones" avslutter en svært så trivelig aften.

Dag Bøgeberg - tekst og foto