"Wonderful World" | ||||
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Single by Cliff Richard | ||||
from the EP Congratulations: Cliff Sings 6 Songs for Europe | ||||
B-side | "I'll Love You Forever Today" | |||
Released | August 1968 | |||
Recorded | 2 February 1968 [1] | |||
Studio | EMI Studios, London | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 2:35 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Norrie Paramor | |||
Cliff Richard singles chronology | ||||
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"Wonderful World" is a song written by Guy Fletcher and Doug Flett and first recorded and released by British singer Cliff Richard.
"Wonderful World" was recorded by Richard as a potential song for the Eurovision Song Contest 1968. It was first performed on 5 March 1968 on A Song for Europe , the UK national selection television programme for the Contest. The song came third in the vote, losing out to "Congratulations" and "High 'n' Dry". [2] "Congratulations" backed with "High 'n' Dry" was then released as a single in March 1968. [3] "Wonderful World" was first released in May 1968 on the EP Congratulations: Cliff Sings 6 Songs for Europe, which included all six shortlisted songs sung by Richard for the Eurovision national selection process.
"Wonderful World" was only released as a single in Belgium and Japan. It was first released in Belgium in August 1968 with the B-side "I'll Love You Forever Today", which had been released as a single in the UK. [4] It was released in Japan several months later with the B-side "Little Rag Doll", written by Mike Leander, and which was also recorded as a potential Eurovision song. [5] "Wonderful World" was also released as the B-side to the French release of "I'll Love You Forever Tomorrow". [6]
Richard also recorded a German-language version in October 1968, also titled "Wonderful World" (the song features the lyrics "Wonderful World", but the rest are in German). It was released in March 1969 as the B-side to "Zärtliche Sekunden", the German-language version of "Don't Forget to Catch Me". [7]
7": Columbia / DCB 121 (Belgium)
7": Odeon / OR-2110 (Japan)
Chart (1968) | Peak position |
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Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [8] | 20 |
"Wonderful World" | |
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Song by Elvis Presley | |
Recorded | March 7, 1968 [9] |
Studio | Western Recorders Studio 1, Hollywood, California |
Genre | Pop |
Length | 2:14 |
Songwriter(s) | |
Producer(s) | Billy Strange |
"Wonderful World" was recorded by Elvis Presley in March 1968 for the film Live a Little, Love a Little , in which Presley also starred and which was released in October 1968. It was not released as a single and no soundtrack album or EP was released to promote the film. However, Presley's version of "Wonderful World" was released at the beginning of October (several weeks before the film's release) on the budget compilation album Singer Presents Elvis Singing Flaming Star and Others , which was a promotional release only available at certain stores. This album was given a full release in March 1969 under the title Elvis Sings Flaming Star. [10]
"Wonderful World" became the first song by British writers to be recorded by Presley. However, the lyrics on Presley's version are completely different to the original version as Fletcher and Flett were asked to rewrite them for the film. After Presley recorded the song, Fletcher and Flett were asked to write another song for Presley. They wrote "The Fair's Moving On", which was released as the B-side to "Clean Up Your Own Backyard". [11]
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1968.
Live a Little, Love a Little is a 1968 American musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley. It was directed by Norman Taurog, who had directed several previous Presley films. This was to be Taurog's final film, as he went blind shortly after production ended. Presley shares the screen with fellow legendary singing idol Rudy Vallee, whose career dated to the 1920s, but Vallee, in his late 60s, did not sing in the film.
"Marianne" was the Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968, performed in Italian by Sergio Endrigo.
"Pledging My Love" is a blues ballad. It was written by Ferdinand Washington and Don Robey and published in 1954.
Mervyn Guy Fletcher is an English record producer, singer and songwriter who, in partnership with Doug Flett, wrote several hits for other artists. As a singer, he had a small hit in the Netherlands and other European countries with the song "Mary in the Morning" (1971).
"Congratulations" is a song recorded by British singer Cliff Richard written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. It represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968, held in London placing second behind the Spanish entry, "La, la, la".
"Flying Machine" is a song by British singer Cliff Richard, released as a single in June 1971. It peaked at number 37 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Richard's first UK single to not make the Top 30.
Singer Presents Elvis Singing Flaming Star and Others is a compilation album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released by RCA Records on October 1, 1968. It spent five months available only at select retail stores featuring products by the Singer Sewing Machine Company as a promotional tie-in with Presley's upcoming Christmas television special on the NBC network, which Singer had sponsored. It was reissued for normal retail channels as Elvis Sings Flaming Star in April 1969, becoming the first Elvis Presley budget album on the RCA Camden label, catalogue CAS 2304. The 1969 release peaked at number 96 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It was certified Gold on July 15, 1999, and Platinum on January 6, 2004, by the Recording Industry Association of America.
"Sing a Song of Freedom" is a song by British singer Cliff Richard, released as a single in October 1971. It peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Big Ship" is a song by Cliff Richard, released as a single in May 1969. It peaked at number 8 on the UK Singles Chart.
"I Could Easily Fall (In Love with You)" is a song by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, released as a single in November 1964 from their album Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp. It peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart and received a silver disc for 250,000 sales.
"Help It Along" is a song by British singer Cliff Richard, released as a four-track maxi single. It peaked at number 29 on the UK Singles Chart.
"With the Eyes of a Child" is a song by British singer Cliff Richard, released as a single in November 1969. It peaked at number 20 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Don't Forget to Catch Me" is a song by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, released as a single in November 1968 from their album Established 1958. It peaked at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart.
"I'll Love You Forever Today" is a song by British singer Cliff Richard released as a single in June 1968. It peaked at number 27 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Angel" is a song by Elvis Presley from the film Follow That Dream and was released on the soundtrack EP of the same name in April 1962.
"Wonderful to Be Young" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and released as a single by Cliff Richard and the Shadows in September 1962, from their album Wonderful to Be Young.
"Lessons in Love" is a song written by Sy Soloway and Shirley Wolfe and was first recorded by American teenage singer Jeri Lynne Fraser and released as a single in May 1961. The song has had chart success with covers by Cliff Richard and the Shadows and the Allisons.
"Dynamite" is a song by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, first released in October 1959 as the B-side to the number one hit "Travellin' Light".
Expresso Bongo is an EP by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, released in January 1960. It contains all the songs by the group sung in the film of the same name in which Richard also stars.