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Dear all

I wondered if anyone had an idea for an album they'd like to see released - as I've had a couple of thoughts.

For one I wondered why there was never a Cliff and the Shadows 'Numbers 1s'. It would be packed full of great numbers - and they could do it as a 60s album or include the later Cliff number ones. Of course they'd have to decide whether to use the originals or the remakes.

Or a Shadows Play the Beatles album - wonder if they have enough tracks for a full album.

I'd still like to see a full set of Cliff and Shads b sides in one collection.

Anyone else?

howarddobson wrote:For one I wondered why there was never a Cliff and the Shadows 'Numbers 1s'. It would be packed full of great numbers

It's not been done, the content would be :

The Shadows : Apache, Kon-Tiki, Wonderful land, Dance on, Foot tapper.

Cliff Richard & The Shadows : Living doll, I love you, Please don't tease, The young ones, Bachelor boy, The next time, Travellin light, Summer holiday.

Could be added number 2s and 3s :
Atlantis, The frightened city, Do you wanna dance, I could easily fall in love with you, Willie and the hand jive, Lucky lips, Nine time out of ten, A girl like you, It'll be me, A voice in the wilderness.

Of course, "Move it" was Number 2, but wasn't recorded with the Shadows.

Didier

Didier wrote:

howarddobson wrote:For one I wondered why there was never a Cliff and the Shadows 'Numbers 1s'. It would be packed full of great numbers

It's not been done, the content would be :
The Shadows : Apache, Kon-Tiki, Wonderful land, Dance on, Foot tapper.
Cliff Richard & The Shadows : Living doll, I love you, Please don't tease, The young ones, Bachelor boy, The next time, Travellin light, Summer holiday.
Could be added number 2s and 3s :
Atlantis, The frightened city, Do you wanna dance, I could easily fall in love with you, Willie and the hand jive, Lucky lips, Nine time out of ten, A girl like you, It'll be me, A voice in the wilderness.
Of course, "Move it" was Number 2, but wasn't recorded with the Shadows.
Didier

Willie And The Hand Jive was a 1960 B-side in the UK, coupled with Fall In Love With You. Did the B-side outsell the A-side?

And I've never really understood the "double A-side" concept anyway. Surely a particular record is a particular record, irrespective of how it is asked for across the counter?

I'm stretching to remember but I think the double A was a marketing ploy to encourage you to buy the single. It was normal in those days to put something on the B side that was thought worthy of release but not strong enough to make it on its own. So when they thought the B was of equivalent potential they'd market it as a double A. Value for money sort of thing.

I can't remember if sales for each song were recorded separately or not. Probably not because of the admin. Also, the A and B sides did not appear in separate chart positions, they'd be there together in the same slot. Chart shows would then play one side or the other but not both.

I'm sure the site historians can correct me on this.

Best wishes - Iain

To increase the tracklisting they could include European number 1s - Lucky Lips was a massive number 1 in a number of countries I think. Would show Shads weren't just a UK phenomenon.

That way the tracklisting could go up to, say, 16 tracks.

Others have done that - including US number 1s of number 1s from other countries.

It would really underline just how essential Cliff and the Shads were to the charts of the 60s, rivalling the number ones of the Beatles and Stones.

By the way - I've often thought it was a shame the Shads weren't credited on a lot of Cliff's compilations. They had the writing credits but the tracks were just marketed as Cliff Richard. When I became a proper Shads fans I was confused at first as to which tracks they'd played on. The compilations just focused on the Cliff factor. So a Cliff and the Shads number 1s album would emphasise just how huge the Shads were.

Iain_P wrote:I'm stretching to remember but I think the double A was a marketing ploy to encourage you to buy the single. It was normal in those days to put something on the B side that was thought worthy of release but not strong enough to make it on its own. So when they thought the B was of equivalent potential they'd market it as a double A. Value for money sort of thing.

I can't remember of sales for each song were recorded separately or not. Probably not because of the admin. Also, the A and B sides did not appear in separate chart positions, they'd be there together in the same slot. Chart shows would then play one side or the other but not both.

I'm sure the site historians can correct me on this.

Best wishes - Iain

In a very few cases both sides of a single were listed separately in the charts. For example Cliff's single I Love You bw "D" In Love and also the Shads Many Of Mystery bw The Stranger charted separately in the NME charts of 23. December 1960. The reason might have been that in those days radio plays and sheet music sales also influenced the chart positions.
Funnily the Shadows single The Dreams I Dream bw Scotch On The Socks was released as a double B-side! Did they think that both sides were to weak for a single release?
Ulrich

UlrichS wrote:Funnily the Shadows single The Dreams I Dream bw Scotch On The Socks was released as a double B-side! Did they think that both sides were too weak for a single release? Ulrich

Thanks for the revision Ulrich - and the laugh!

Hank and the Shadows play the westerns?

High Noon
Shane
The Big Country
Return to the Alamo
Song for Duke
The G,B & U
Mustang
Shotgun
Peace Pipe
Apache
Geronimo
Dakota
Wichita Lineman
The Saturday Western
Cowboy Cafe
Riders Of The Range
Riders In The Sky
Santa Ana

plus?

Of course the great thing here is that we can make these albums ourselves if we have the tracks. Burn a CD and you've got it for private listening.

There has been a Shadows compilation album by the name of "#1", released in May 2003 in Thailand. It does feature the five number ones from the UK singles: "Apache", "Kon-Tiki", "Wonderful Land", "Dance On" and "Foot Tapper", as well as tracks from two number one UK albums: "Theme From The Deer Hunter (Cavatina)", "Parisienne Walkways" and "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" from "String Of Hits" and "Perfidia" from "Out Of The Shadows".