Serious Charge (EP)

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Serious Charge
Serious Charge (Cliff Richard EP).jpg
EP by
Cliff Richard and the Drifters
ReleasedMay 1959
Recorded28 April 1959
Studio EMI Studios, London
Genre Rock and roll
Length8:44
Label Columbia
Producer Norrie Paramor
Cliff Richard chronology
Serious Charge
(1959)		Cliff No. 1
(1959)

Serious Charge is the first EP by Cliff Richard and the Drifters, released in the UK in May 1959 as the soundtrack for the film of the same name. [1]

Contents

Background and recording

Following the success of "Move It" and his television appearances on Oh Boy! , Richard was cast in his first film Serious Charge , with the film's producer and co-writer Mickey Delamar wanting to cast a British Elvis . [2] The film was directed by Terence Young, who later said that Richard "seemed terribly self-assured and had a very good stage act. I thought if he could do that, then he could act". [3] Filming started in late October 1958, [4] with Richard having a minor role playing an amateur rock and roll singer. Richard was only initially going to sing one song in the film, but apparently the film company were so impressed with his performance that two further songs were added after filming had begun. [5]

The three songs sung by Richard ("Living Doll", "No Turning Back" and Mad About You") were written by Lionel Bart. The versions of the songs on the EP are different to the film versions due to a rule by the Musicians' Union where film and commercial versions had to be different. [6] Notably, "Living Doll" was re-recorded as a slow ballad compared to the faster rock and roll version in the film. Richard and the Drifters performed the song in the style that Bart had written it; however, they did not like the song, deeming it "pseudo-rock". The contract with the film company stated that a single would have to be released from the film so when rhythm guitarist Bruce Welch suggested singing the song in a country and western style they did so, and its popularity led Richard and the Drifters to switch from rock and roll to the ballads. [7] [3] The versions of "No Turning Back" are also quite different, with a rock version in the film and a swing jazz arrangement on the EP. [8]

The Drifters also recorded their first instrumental, "Chinchilla", for the film, which features as the final track on the EP. The instrumental is a cover, originally performed by American band the X-Rays. [9]

Whilst the original recording dates are not known for the film versions of the tracks, all four tracks on the EP were recorded on 28 April 1959 at EMI Studios. [1] [10]

The EP was released in mono by Columbia in May 1959, around the same time as the release of the film. [1] The EP did not initially chart upon release, though it is worth noting that it was released prior to the UK's first EP chart in November 1959. On the back on the success of Richard's subsequent soundtrack EP Expresso Bongo , Serious Charge did enter the Melody Maker Top Ten EP chart in January 1960, peaking at number 9. [11] "Living Doll" was also released as a single in July 1959, becoming a number one hit and selling over a million copies worldwide. [12]

Track listing

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Living Doll" Lionel Bart 2:35
2."No Turning Back"Bart2:30
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
3."Mad About You"Bart1:45
4."Chinchilla" (by the Drifters)
1:54
Total length:8:44

Personnel

References

  1. 1 2 3 Read, Mike; Lewry, Peter; Goodall, Nigel (1993). Cliff Richard – The Complete Chronicle. London: Hamlyn. pp. 19, 300. ISBN   0600578976 . Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  2. ↑ At the Movies 1959–1974 (booklet). EMI. 1996. CD EMD 1096.
  3. 1 2 Glynn, Stephen (7 May 2013). The British Pop Music Film: The Beatles and Beyond. Springer. pp. 33–39. ISBN   978-0-230-39223-6.
  4. ↑ "Disker's Weekly Review". Liverpool Echo . 1 November 1958. p. 5.
  5. ↑ "Cliff Richard in "Serious Charge"". Birmingham Weekly Post and Midland Pictorial . 6 February 1959. p. 13.
  6. ↑ At the Movies 1959–1974 (booklet). EMI. 1996. CD EMD 1096.
  7. ↑ Richard, Cliff (26 December 1998). "Musikbutikken (Denmark) - Interview with Cliff Richard". 1998. Season 1. Episode 13. Copenhagen. Retrieved 22 June 2014. Yes, well [the producers of Serious Charge] were doing a movie and they wanted somebody who was a new pop singer. And I guess they wanted a new pop singer because then they would be very cheap. And I was! I was really cheap. I mean, I was so happy to be asked to be in the movie, I would have done it for nothing. and that's what they paid me. [...] We didn't really like [Living Doll] very much. It's just a song. But we recorded it the way Lionel Bart had written it, which was... [Imitates original beat] And it was a sort of pseudo-rock. It didn't sound like real, American rock 'n' roll to us. And we didn't realize that in the contract, there was some small writing and it said there must be a single. And we said, 'Look, we can't release this record like this.' And one day, while we were on tour, Bruce Welch... Well, look, he was sitting by these two big, stone lions in a place called the Sheffield City Hall. And he was just going... [strums acoustic guitar] And he said, 'Why don't we do it like a country and western song?' And yeah, so we just went... [sings song].
  8. ↑ "Cliff Richard Song Database - Song Details". www.cliffrichardsongs.com. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
  9. ↑ "45cat - The X-Rays - Chinchilla / Out Of Control - Kapp - USA - K-241X". www.45cat.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
  10. ↑ "Instrumentation On Shadows Recordings V: Cliff Richard Releases" (PDF). www.malcolmcampbell.me.uk. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
  11. ↑ "Top Ten EPs". Melody Maker . 23 January 1960. p. 2.
  12. ↑ "CLIFF RICHARD". Official Charts. 18 September 1958. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
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