A presentation on the life/work of Sir Cliff Richard

1. Cliff Richard
By Philip Dalton

2. Early Years
• Born as Harry Webb in 1940 in India.
• Moved to England in 1948.
• Joined ‘Rock and Roll’ group ‘The Drifters’ in the
late 50’s and became a success.
• Changed name to Cliff Richard as advised by friends.
• Was marketed as the British equivalent to Elvis
Presley by adopting a similar appearance both dress
and hair style.
• As a result of this and his ‘Rock n Roll’ songs like
“High Class Baby”, “Mean Streak” and “Livin’ Lovin’
Doll” Cliff became very popular in the early 1960’s.
• Although they were well received. Richard and ‘The
Shadow’s (his backing group) didn't achieve much
success in America as ‘The Beetles’.
• In a further effort to market himself and his band,
Richard and ‘The Shadows’ appeared in 6
commercially successful feature films, notably,
‘Summer Holliday, and ‘The Young Ones’.

3. Mid Career
• From the mid 60’sto the mid 70’s, Richards
career was clearly affected by the
appearance of The Beetles and other such
bands. Though not Successful in America
he did continue with worldwide success,
though not on the same scale as the early
years.
• Outside music Richard became an active
Christian with the conversion becoming an
important aspect in his life.
• As a Christian he felt that he should quit
Rock ‘n’ Roll music as he felt he would be
“too sexy for TV” and “a threat to parents’
daughters”.
• After ‘The Shadows” split in 1968, Cliff
continued in a ‘middle of the road’ genre of
music much to the disappointment of his
fans.

4. Mid Career 2
•Cliff was rebranded as a ‘Rock’ artist in 1976 producing the album ‘I’m Nearly Famous’. This
proved to be one of his most famous achievements.
•Richard finally became a success in the USA towards the end of 1980 boosting his image.
•Richard won numerous awards as the Brits highest award ‘The Outstanding Achievement’
award.
•He was also given an OBE for services to music and Charity. The result of which again boosts
him public image.
•

5. Cliff Today
•Today, Cliff continues to tour the world
doing concerts as well as numerous activities.
•Cliff’s image has also changed as he
campaigns for many other charities.
•He campaigns for Christians and also for
same sex marraiges.
•In an attempt to venture away from music,
Richard has released a set of toiletries and
calenders.
•He has also ventured into social media with
a page on Facebook as a method of
communicating with fans.

6. Thanks For Listening!