At cinema Cliff concert

Cliff Richard , there is a pportunity to look the sell out concert and the Shadows at Exeter Odeon tomorrow night.
The gig, at the 02 Arena recorded live in London last week, will be screened in the cinema in HD and digital 5.1 surround sound.
The reunion tour is a complete sell out, the album has spent the last three weeks in the top five and the single went top ten, so it is a great opportunity to see the concert.
The Exeter Odeon is one of only 20 cinemas throughout the country screening the show. It starts at 7pm prompt.

The Final Reunion-Win tickets to win tickets and DVD for Cliff Richard And The Shadows

IF YOU didn't manage to get tickets for the sell out Cliff Richard & The Shadows tour then this could be the next best thing.
At London's O2 Arena their performance last month was filmed live, and the Odeon in Festival Park is giving fans a opportunity to soak up the atmosphere with a particular viewing of the show on Thursday next week.
Cliff Richard first recorded and performed with The Shadows in 1959. Exactly 50 years later and 20 years since they last performed together in concert, they're together for this final national tour so this could be your only opportunity to look these music storys take to the stage together.
The exclusive screening will give local Cliff Richard & The Shadows fans the chance to enjoy all their favourite hits including Living Doll, The Young Ones, Apache and Bachelor Boy in stunning audio and visual quality.
Rachel Brown, general manager at the Odeon Stoke says: "With new technology we can now provide local cinemagoers with a complete range of screenings to suit all tastes – everything from music concerts to football.
"We're looking forward to welcoming Cliff Richard & The Shadows fans through our doors to enjoy a truly unique music experience."
For further information or ticket booking call the filmline on 0871 22 44 007 or head to the Festival Park Odeon Box Office. Cliff Richard and The Shadows, The Final Reunion will also be released on DVD from November 9 priced £19.56.
The Sentinel has teamed up with the Odeon to offer five lucky readers the opportunity to win a pair of tickets AND a Cliff Richard and The Shadows, The Final Reunion DVD.

curry house's praises, Cliff sings

Sir Cliff Richard and Hank Marvin. They have visited a Tyneside Indian restaurant following a Shadows reunion show.
Sir Cliff and guitarist Marvin popped into Raval Restaurant on Newcastle Gateshead Quayside after their show at the Newcastle Arena.
Sir Cliff, who was born in India, ate the Lucknow rogan josh - a dish typical to the area where he once lived.
The restaurant's owners said Sir Cliff told them it was the good he had tasted.
Manager Avi Malik said it was particular to get such praise from someone who knew so much about Indian cuisine.
Mr Malik said: "Sir Cliff said he eats in places all over the world but our Indian food was real Indian food, the best he had ever tasted, and it was a treat to be here."
Sir Cliff and Hank Marvin also tucked into lobster and mango, and dehi bela - lentil "doughnuts" in yoghurt and coriander.
The two were invited to look around the kitchen to watch food being prepared.
Hank Marvin, who is originally from Newcastle, but now lives in Australia, spoke to staff about the positive changes that had taken place in his home town.

Doing it by rote, Cliff Richard returns

Pop star Cliff Richard, it appeared like a good idea to catch Britain's evergreens he kicked off his big 50th anniversary reunion tour with his original band the Shadows, who went separate ways 20 years ago. But as Simone Signoret famously said, nostalgia ain't what it used to be.
I was a kid in England when Richard was among the crop of embarrassing British singers trying their best to emulate Elvis, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran and the rest. With names like Billy Fury, Marty Wilde and Vince Eager, they gyrated onto the BBC with lame cover versions of U.S. hits and rinky dink originals from London's fiercely anti rock Tin Pan Alley.
Richard and the Shadows at least wrote their own material, but hearing it all repeated with soulless efficiency in their O2 Arena concert Monday brought back those dog days when Elvis seemed so far away and the Beatles, Kinks and Stones hadn't arrived yet.
Extremely well preserved physically, Richard and the two leading Shadows, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, looked immaculate in their polished attire and did their unctuous best to please, but resembled the resident Stepford Band in the way they performed.
Richard sings in tune but with no character in his voice, and the songs are trite and repetitive, lacking wit, emotion or passion. The guitar players delivered their narcoleptic chords while taking two somnolent steps forward, two steps back.
They played all the hits that have long pleased their fans in the U.K., Australia and Europe but almost never in the United States, and the sold out auditorium was filled with glad smiling people.
It's odd that the crowd at the Led Zeppelin reunion looked pretty much the same, all white hair and wrinkly, but were so very, very change.

Sir Cliff Richard birthday thanks fans, CONGRATULATIONS

Sir Cliff Richard celebrated birthday at Sheffield Arena last night with a little help from The Star. We made a alone cake featuring edible montage of photos of him through his career. Lucky lifelong fans Angela Childs, 55, and husband Michael, 69, of Selly Oak Road, Jordanthorpe, won our prize to present it on behalf of all readers.And 69 year old Cliff was thrilled to make history as the first person to celebrate in the venue's new purpose built 150 seat SIS Arena Club restaurant and events room, where the cake was handed over. Cliff Richard, Sheffield Arena - REVIEW AND PICTURESAhead of last night's show, he thanked all their fans for 50 years of support: "Thank you for being so loyal for all these years. I can't live without you. And I hope I never have to."Thank you for all your birthday wishes and God bless you all."Housewife Angela and retired pipe fitter Michael handed Cliff a singing birthday card, featuring a version of Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday. In typical style Cliff joined in. Michael fought back tears of joy as he said: "We've always been fans and rock and roll has been my life. I can't believe we've met Cliff."Sir Cliff also gave the new SIS Arena Club his approval: "I've been in the main Arena before but I can't remember what it was like back here it's very good."Sponsored, designed, built and fitted by Sheffield building interiors company, SIS, the new venue replaces a former temporary marquee area, catering for themed pre show meals. Now with an extra 50 seats, a new air climate control and integrated sound system, it is available for private functions.Arena Commercial Manager Gillian Stainrod said: "We're honoured to have been able to welcome Sir Cliff. He's such a gentleman and a music story."

Cliff Richard and the Shadows

Cliff Richard and the Shadows, after 50 years of on off partnership they have reunited for one final hurrah in celebration of their golden anniversary, Glasgow in cluding two dates. While they could never hope to refootage the hunger and impact of their 1950s avatar, a bunch of silver they made a tight sound haired rock 'n' rollers. Sir Cliff, the showbiz trouper in his shocking pink jacket, was in fine expressive voice. The two hour plus set was divided between vintage rock 'n' roll and wholesome bobbysoxer pop, such as Lucky Lips and Livin' Doll, the latter introduced by Cliff with a speech deriding the short termism of modern pop vehicles such as The X Factor.During one dreamy interlude, the sight of Cliff, now in a pristine white suit, was too much for one fan, who shouted "I Love You". But that was a rare hot-under-the-collar moment in a cosy nostalgia trip culminating in Summer Holiday, the prophetic Bachelor Boy, Move It and a joyful Young Ones.

Sir Cliff Richard and The Shadows say goodbye at Echo Arena

THERE’S nothing like a final, last-to-chance-to-see, farewell tour and The Shadows enjoyed the first one so much a few years ago they decided to do it all over again.
But this time they had Sir Cliff along with them and after all, saying goodbye is never easy and if you’ve had a career as long as theirs it’s bound to take a little while to get round everyone.
A sold out ECHO Arena the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen there proved that the demand is still there for two acts who are old enough to be grandfathers to most of the acts recenttly in the charts.

Cliff and the shadows are back after 20 years

UNTIL last month, in 20 years they hadn’t performed together, but when Cliff Richard and The Cardiff tonight shadoes recevie, it’s sure to be a night to remember, writes Lydia Whitfield.
Fifty years on from when they first recorded and performed, this reunion and final tour lasts four months and takes them to Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Grandparents their original fans, but they will be sure to be going wild in the aisles when the band takes to the stage at the CIA tonight.
Cliff remains the only UK artist to have reached No 1 with a single in five consecutive decades.
And his reunion with the band Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett promises to be a suitably impressive send off tour. Fellow original Shadow, Jet Harris, left the group in 1962 after a row and now lives on the Isle of Wight, but is not joining the tour.
They are still surprised that half a century ago, rock bible, the New Musical Express, criticised Cliff for his ‘violent hip swinging exhibitionism’ under a headline asking ‘Is this new boy singer too sexy for Britain?’
And Manchester’s Chief Constable drafted in extra police for a Cliff gig ‘because we all know the trouble that this wild young man can incite’.
“The tour is going rather brilliantly,” says Cliff, who is entering his 70th year he will be 69 on October 14.
“I wasn’t actually worried about it as we’ve been around a long time. These guys wrote most of the stuff, so they know it and I’ve been singing it since the day I was born. So I feel confident and quite rightly it’s turned out how I expected. It’s not easy, but it’s been good.”
Cliff and The Shadows dominated British pop in the late ’50s and early ’60s, enjoying solo and joint success, and starred together in feelgood flicks ‘Summer Holiday’ and ‘The Young Ones’.
In 1959, The Shadows (then still going by their original name, The Drifters) landed an EMI recording contract of their own, and throughout the ’70s and ’80s toured regularly, enjoying Top 10 successes, and often competing with Cliff for the No 1 spot.
Between them they achieved no less than 19 No 1 hits, including; ‘Living Doll’, ‘It’s All In The Game’, ‘Travellin’ Light’, ‘Bachelor Boy’ and ‘Apache’.
They were taken aback at how 250,000 tickets for this Reunited tour sold out immediately and their new album Reunited leapt into the Top 10 within a week of release.
Known as the Peter Pan of Pop since rocketing up the charts aged 17, baby faced Cliff experimented with Botox when he hit 60, but wasn’t keen on the way his eyebrows drooped.
He isn’t worried that many of their lyrics are about being young, but for the tour has changed the lyric of A Girl Like You, to ‘a girl like you, a guy like me’ instead of ‘Boy like me’.
But he says, “I don’t worry about it at all. The Young Ones, for instance, is a state of mind.”
Cliff Richard and The Shadows perform at the CIA tonight and on Tuesday, October 20. All tickets are sold out. Ring 029 2022 4488 for returns

GEEKY DAVE AND CLIFF RICHARD TV'S

David Cameron faces embarrassment during the Tory audience as he is portrayed on TV as a geeky cross between Cliff Richard and David Brent.
More 4's When Boris Met Dave is to be shown on Wednesday, the same day the Conservative leader is due to deliver his key speech. It documents the time he was at Oxford with London Mayor Boris Johnson and both were in the notorious Bullingdon Club.
A tennisobsessed it also show nerd desperately trying, and failing, to be cool.

Doing it by rote, Cliff Richard returns

LONDON (Hollywood Reporter) – It seemed like a good idea to catch Britain's evergreen pop star Cliff Richard as he kicked off his big 50th anniversary reunion tour with his original band the Shadows, who went separate ways 20 years ago. But as Simone Signoret famously said, nostalgia ain't what it used to be.
I was a kid in England when Richard was among the crop of embarrassing British singers trying their best to emulate Elvis, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran and the rest. With names like Billy Fury, Marty Wilde and Vince Eager, they gyrated onto the BBC with lame cover versions of U.S. hits and rinky-dink originals from London's fiercely anti rock Tin Pan Alley.
Richard and the Shadows at least wrote their own material, but hearing it all repeated with soulless efficiency in their O2 Arena concert Monday brought back those dog days when Elvis looked so far away and the Beatles, Kinks and Stones hadn't arrived yet.
Extremely well preserved physically, Richard and the two leading Shadows, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, looked immaculate in their polished attire and did their unctuous best to please, but resembled the resident Stepford Band in the way they performed.
Richard sings in tune but with no character in his voice, and the songs are trite and repetitive, lacking wit, emotion or passion. The guitar players delivered their narcoleptic chords while taking two somnolent steps forward, two steps back.
They played all the hits that have long pleased their fans in the U.K., Australia and Europe but almost never in the United States, and the sold out auditorium was filled with glad smiling people.
It's odd that the crowd at the Led Zeppelin reunion looked pretty much the same, all white hair and wrinkly, but were so very, very change.

The Shadows at the 02 arena and Cliff Richard

No one goes to a Cliff Richard show expecting to be confronted by hint of mortality. And yet there was no mistaking the subtext of the posters dotted around the 02 arena that announced the 68 year old singer’s reunion tour with The Shadows. “Reunited for the very last time!” they trumpeted.
Speaking in a current interview, Sir Cliff ventured that “all we have to do now is try and stay alive”. He was referring to the possibility of future reunions with his old backing band although at times during this three hour gig, you felt it would be no mean feat if they made it to the intermission.
But the audience gave more cause for concern. “Please sit down you’ll only get tired,” implored Sir Cliff, as the opening chords of We Say Yeah prompted several hundred fans to their feet.
Exciting? Well, this being a concert by Cliff Richard and not, say, Metallica, you adjusted your definitions of such words accordingly.
The “violent hip swinging exhibitionism” against which the New Musical Express once rail has been replaced by a gaudy fuschia jacket and, on Do You Want To Dance?, outbreaks of random leg-wobbling. For all of that, however, there were brief moments Dynamite, the nocturnal tomcat rattle of Move It – where the God-fearing, abstemious star momentarily took leave of himself and succumbed to the earthier impulses that, presumably, made him want to be a pop idol in the first place.
On High Class Baby he was almost believable rejecting the advances of the song’s posh protagonist in favour of rock’n’roll. Almost, but not quite.
However much he enjoyed the opporitunity to prove that he could cut it as a rock’n’roll singer, Sir Cliff’s soft vanilla tones seemed more suited to bucolic postwar pop postcards such as Summer Holiday and Living Doll.
Judging from the gusto with which the throng sang along, it was this Cliff Richard that most of his fans had come to see, blithely synching with Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch on their trademark triangular dance.
While singer and band were on stage together, the bonhomie was unmistakable. However, for the brief period which saw The Shadows fire off a mixture of their own hits and a brace of lesser-known album tracks, they sounded like a band with a point to prove.
FBI and Greatful Land, in particular, evinced a space-age modernity that defied the passing of the years. At a stroke, you understood why they inspired guitarists such as Jimmy Page and Brian May to learn their instruments in the first place.
For most of those present, scholarly admiration of The Shadows’ collective chops couldn’t have been further from the point. This was an altogether more celebratory occasion. Indeed, the ease with which these old chums occupied the same stage made you wonder why they had allowed 24 years to pass since their last tour together.
Without a hint of irony, an encore of The Young Ones saw Sir Cliff trilling, “the best time is to sing while we’re young”. Should they leave it this long again, he’ll be 92. This may indeed be the last time, then but in a month that has just seen 92 year old Dame Vera Lynn scale the charts, who would bet against us reconvening here in 2022?

Sir Cliff Richard, Piers Morgan loses tennis match to veteran

Spare a thought for TV's Piers Morgan. He was thrashed on the tennis court by 69 year old Sir Cliff Richard as they filmed for Saturday's ITV1 interview in Barbados.
Sir Cliff whispers: "I beat him. He turned to the camera and said he couldn't believe he'd just been beaten by someone 25 years older than him." Ouch.

RICHARD SHOCKED BY YOUNG FOLLOWING

Veteran singer SIR CLIFF RICHARD is stunned when young people buy tickets for his live gigs he can't understand why they would need to look him perform.The Devil Woman singer has currently reunited with his pair The Shadows for a set of gigs, more than 40 years after they split. The 68 year old has enjoyed six decades of pop success, but he's shocked he's still attracting new audiences, because he doesn't think he's "hip" enough. Richard says, "Every now and then on a tour you'll see in amongst the crowd... and you'll see people, (aged) maybe 25 or 30. You can see that they're a younger element and how they would even know about us, I don't know, because, you know, radio is not too rock and roll frankly anymore... There seems to be a kind of ageism thing and we're not considered 'hip' or 'in' and so I don't know how those young folks could ever possibly want to even come."

Cliff Richard feted in ‘tír na n-óg’ at start of 50th anniversary tour

LEGENDARY entertainer Cliff Richard, looking relaxed and willing to give an impromptu bar of a song, was feted in Killarney last night.
The 68-year-old, who has been rehearsing at the INEC, Killarney, for his 50th anniversary tour with his band The Shadows was accorded a civic reception by the local town council. Pencil slim, fit and relaxed, he said he was enjoying his first visit to the tourist haven. "I’ve been to Dublin many times and have visited Daniel O’Donnell up in Donegal and am surprised that I’ve never visited such a beautiful place as Killarney before," said a smiling Richard, dressed in denim jeans and casual striped jacket. Deputy mayor Michael Courtney struck an apt note when told the remarkably youthful 50s icon Killarney was sometimes known as "tir na n-óg", or land of eternal youth. Richard, who posed for photographs and signed autographs for councillors and anyone that approached him, also endeared himself to the local tidy towns committee and hard-pressed tourism industry. "We’ve been working hard at rehearsals, but I’ve been into the town a couple of times. It looked brilliant, like it had been swept every day," he remarked. Now living in Portugal, he and the band members – Brian Bennett, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch – are savouring one of their now infrequent reunions. The opening concert of the world tour will be in the INEC, on Saturday night. This will be followed by performances in Dublin, Belfast and several cities in Britain. They will then move to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa before finishing at the end of March. At the civic reception, Richard signed the Killarney distinguished visitors’ book. He was also presented with a tie emblazoned with the Killarney crest and a pen made of arbutus wood from the Killarney lakeshore.

Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Reunited

In the recent hubbub over the Beatles, the reunion of Cliff and the Shadows may have been overlooked, contempt representing an even more venerable anniversary of 50 years since their first chart appearance.
It's a valedictory affair, the impending arena tour representing their last appearances together so these revisitings of their finest moments are the final studio recordings of an notable alliance, best captured in an exuberant "Do You Wanna Dance" and a rustic "Bachelor Boy". As you'd expect from rockers pushing 70, it's a sedate affair: there's no curled lip delinquency about "Move It", which has lost its youthful snarl but gained a verse in the intervening years. Hank Marvin's orderly picking, however, has lost none of its sparkle, recalling the work of James Burton which divine this most influential of guitarists. Coincidentally, Burton's old boss Ricky Nelson is the closest equivalence to Cliff's clean-cut charm on "Travelling Light" and "Living Doll", while less well-known songs such as "On the Beach" and "I Could Easily Fall" are (with hindsight) reminiscent of early Beatles album tracks, suggesting the Fab Four's subverter impact was built on similar foundations to their most imposing predecessors. Finally, though, it's a soft-centred souvenir.
Download this: 'Bachelor Boy', 'Do You Wanna Dance'

Cliff Richard: The Shadows sell out Perth gig

There are plenty of passionate Cliff Richard fans in this town, with the musical legend's Burswood Dome concert alongside The Shadows sold out.
Fans have been starved of the chance to see the band live since 1961, resulting in unprecedented demand.
Today, a second concert was announced. The band will be playing again on Sunday February 7.
Legendary guitarist Hank Marvin, who plays in The Shadows, lives a mostly quiet beingness in East Perth, but will certainly bust out some hot tunes during the tour.
It is 50 years since Cliff Richard and The Shadows got together. This Australian tour, billed as their Final Reunion, will bring them back to Oz for the first time since 1961.
Promoter Paul Dainty said there had been "unprecedented need for tickets for this tour. Cliff Richard and the Shadows have not been to Australia since 1961 so it's been a long wait to look this legendary band".
Tickets for the Sunday February 7 show go on sale on September 17, from midday.

Cliff Richard Show Announced

Second Auckland Cliff Richard Show Announced.

Cliff Richard and The Shadows Auckland show at Vector Arena have sold out and a second Auckland show has been announced on Wednesday 24 February 2010. This second Auckland show takes the total number of New Zealand shows in the tour to five.
Tickets for this second Auckland show will be on sale Thursday 10 September through Ticketmaster.
Australian promoter Paul Dainty said: “We have knowledgeable unprecedented demand for tickets for this tour. Cliff Richard and the Shadows have not been to New Zealand since 1961 so it’s been a big wait to watch this legendary band and we envision tickets for the second Auckland show to sell quickly as well.”

SECOND AUCKLAND SHOWWEDNESDAY 24 FEBRUARY @ VECTOR ARENA AUCKLANDTICKETS ON SALE THURSDAY 10 SEPTEMBERTHROUGH TICKETMASTER
CLIFF RICHARD AND THE SHADOWS NATIONAL TOUR DATES
AUCKLANDWednesday 24 February @ Vector Arena, Auckland – ON SALE 10 SEPTEMBERThursday 25 February @ Vector Arena, Auckland – SOLD OUTBook at www.ticketmaster.co.nz or phone 09 970 9700 09 970 9700
NEW PLYMOUTHSaturday 27 February @ TSB Bowl of Brooklands, New PlymouthBook at www.ticketek.co.nz or phone 0800 TICKETEK
CHRISTCHURCHMonday 1 March @ Westpac Arena, Christchurch – SOLD OUTTuesday 2 March @ Westpac Arena, ChristchurchBook at www.ticketek.co.nz or phone 0800 TICKETEK

The 'Saga holiday couple,' spotted in Marbella to Cliff Richard and Cilla Black

Barely two months after I reported that the group had been looking at acreages together in Miami, they have been spotted in Marbella. They were dining at Polo House, a club in Marbella which is managed over by James Hewitt, the bygone lover of the late Diana, Princess of Wales."Cilla and Cliff looked like a pair on a Saga holiday," whispers my man in the Ray Bans. "Cilla has a place here and Cliff was staying with her.
"They appeared together and left together. They invited James to dine with them and seemed to have a great time. The talk was mainly about wine and it ended up with Cliff saying that he would send James some bottles from his vineyard in Portugal."Cilla has in the past been linked to John Madejski, the Reading Football Club chairman, but she has affected herself uninterested in remarrying after Bobby Willis, her beloved husband and agent, died of lung cancer in 1999. Still, one wonders: the abrupt number of sightings of her with Sir Cliff makes it hard not to.In July the pair were to be found sitting together in animated conversation in the Royal Box at Wimbledon. On Barbados, where they both own villas, the islanders have accustomed become to seeing them out and about together.At a lunch in honour of the "Bachelor Boy" at the Dorchester last year, Cilla said that she had accomplished to get under Sir Cliff's blue duvet.She had explained that she had been appointed to "outdo" a friend of hers who had been photographed in his bath. Sir Cliff was not in either the bath or the bed.

Rock of Ages:Cliff Richard and Drifters Living Doll 1959

BEFORE they became The Shadows, Cliff Richard’s backing band were known as The Drifters.And it was under this name that they recorded one of the Peter Pan of pop’s best-loved hits.Living Doll was penned by Oliver! author Lionel Bart, who won a coveted Ivor Novello award for the number.Cliff and The Drifters (they were at last forced to change their name to avoid confusion with the American group of the same name) had already had chart accomplishment with songs like Move It but Living Doll was to garner them their first number one aperture, a position they held for six weeks in the summer of 1959, selling a million records in the expension.It was also the teenage Cliff’s first US hit, reaching number 30 in the Billboard charts.Of course, 1959 wasn’t the last time Living Doll and Cliff Richard were to top the charts.The singer, together with Hank Marvin, paired up with The Young Ones in 1986 to record a new version of the track for Comic Relief, and it nextRock spent another three weeks at number one.

Cliff Richard and The Shadows upcoming underneath

One more historical rock outfit is skull to Perth, with the announcement that Cliff Richard and The Shadows will perform the Burs wood Dome on February 6.
Tickets to see The Final Reunion - Together Again show, go on sale August 14.
Fifty years after Richard first got together with The Shadows; they are touching the road again, with shows in all major Australian cities planned. They began the tour in Perth.

The tour will be the first Australian tour the band has done since 1961.

In their hey day, the 50s and 60s, Richard and The Shadows got 19 number one hit songs including It's All in the Game, Bachelor Boy and Wonderful Land.
But in 1968 they parted ways, with Richard going solo and getting a enormous number of top 10 and 20 hits.

All Cliff Richard Tickets are available on The Online Ticket Shop.

Early months of Cliff Richard

Cliff spent the early months of the year in Barbados, before moving Brazil in early March to visit Tearfund projects. He was accompanied by Penny Junor, gathering more material for the new book, plus a camera crew from the BBC's Songs of Praise

UK tour in September

Cliff Richard's protracted chart success undermines radio stations' claims that he does not enjoy the support of their target audiences. Cliff believes he is 'the most radical rock star there has ever been'. Richard's premise is that his decision not to adopt the 'sex, drugs and alcohol' image expected of rock stars, then and now, was the truly avant-garde choice.

Cliff Richard is going to perform in London, Glasgow, Liverpool and Birmingham. Get the Cliff Richard tickets at amazing prices.

BBC's secret war with the pirates

But the fear that the arrival of offshore pirate radio stations drove into the broadcasting establishment has only now become clear...

Measures included lobbying acts such as The Beatles, Cliff Richard and Ken Dodd to ban their records from being played by the stations and blacklisting pirate DJs such as Tony Blackburn and Simon Dee. The BBC banned its own presenters from broadcasting any reference to Radio Caroline, the most popular of the pirates, and suppressed audience research on the stations’ popularity. Bosses also put pressure on the Conservative Party not to support the pirates.

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Publish Date: 21 February