Cliff Richard - Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile

Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile came out in '79, and I remember the song "Carrie" being played on the radio, and then being somewhat confused when a very similar version by Cano singing with an audible French Canadian accent actually outperformed the original here in Canada.

When he released "Devil Woman" in 1976 I was hooked. It was a song I really liked but I never picked up any of his albums. It wasn't until I saw a buddy of mine at the mall holding a copy of Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile in the early '80s and I must have given him a little goofy look (which is honestly just my resting face) and he got all defensive and went on about how good the record was and that I shouldn't be a snob about his choice in records.

Well, I liked the aforementioned "Devil Woman" and I did like "Carrie" and I really liked "We Don't Talk Anymore" and had recently gotten into The Tarney/Spencer Band and at the time songs from I'm No Hero were on the radio. So I figured, "Why Not?"

So I did.

Right out of the gate I was hooked with the harder edged "Monday Thru' Friday" and then Cliff and Terry Britten, who played guitar, co-wrote most of the songs with B.A. Robertson and co-produced the album, took me on a musical journey that would be at time rock, soft rock, new wave, and some points in between. Then came the title track, and that was it. The slide solo by Bryn Haworth was awesome. I can't remember if this was before or after I picked up The Gap it was likely close, but it was cool to see his name in the credits. I've always thought of the title track as a nod to Larry Norman's "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music" maybe it was, maybe it wasn't.

The second side kicks off with "Sci-Fi" a song I always liked, and seemed like a nod to ELO, but oddly their album Time wouldn't be out until 1981. Cliff then proceeded to deliver one decent pop song after another. The best of which were the incredibly moody "Carrie" a song that doesn't sound of feel like a song from 1979, the only song that I never liked as much was "Fallin In Luv" - hey you can't win 'em all. Regardless, all of the songs throughout the album are really cohesive and I still really like the album. Oddly the only song that didn't really fit was "We Don't Talk Anymore" by Alan Tarney, and I'm glad it's here as it would signal where Cliff was going, and the next two albums featuring Tarney/Spenser are among my favourites.

The rhythm section here was amazing, from Graham Jarvis would infused all of the tracks with a steady beat and a palpable sense of energy and was locked in the pocket with Herbie Flowers' foundational bass playing. It's a fun read through the album insert as his name is mangled throughout the credits.

Hard to imagine this was Cliff's 22 release, and he wasn't 40 yet. The drive and work ethic Cliff has was hard to fathom.

It would be years later when Red Dwarf would skewer Cliff's never ending career when in the episode Marooned when Lister and Rimmer are reminiscing,

Lister: Come on Rimmer. Everybody remembers when they lost their virginity. It's just one of those things you remember. Like everybody knows where they were the day Cliff Richard was shot; or when the first woman landed on Pluto; or when they put a massive toupee over the Earth to cover the hole in the ozone layer.