Saturday 20 November 2010

Not a dawn is greeted with a bird song

It's 1971, and Cliff Richard hasn't had a big hit for ages, despite trying to keep up with the hairy zeitgeist by releasing a series of singles that nibble at the edges of the counter culture. Eager to appear on 'Top Of The Pops' again he calls up Hank Marvin and secures 'Silvery Rain', a big song with a big message: indiscriminate use of pesticides is killing the countryside. It only reaches number 27 and the furry back bees are doomed.


Not content with being both ten years ahead of his time and five years out of date, Cliff is also road testing the 'thinking about every word whilst employing elaborate story telling hand gestures' performance style that would later reach a pinnacle with 'the young wear their freedom like cheap perfume' line from 'Carrie Doesn't Live Here Anymore'.

Unmann-Wittering.

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