May 13, 1963 (3 weeks)
As for the rest of the world, we're somewhere in between when it comes to the former Harry Webb. I think he can be rightly described as a star in Australia given that he has two dozen Top 10's, even if only one managed to make it to the very top. The same goes for New Zealand where he managed to have several chart toppers. But what about Canada? We're a country that has always been almost literally in between the US and UK (you know, if not for Greenland, Iceland, Ireland and the Atlantic Ocean being in the way). If Cliff was going to be treated as an afterthought south of the border, than he was hardly going to be getting much attention north of it either. The 1959 UK number one smash "Living Doll" gave him a minor hit in North America but that's all there was for the first few years of his imperial period. That said, the ties that bind were still strong especially in Canada during the early sixties when the Red Ensign was still being flown.
In 1962, Cliff's musical film The Young Ones came out. It proved to be an enormous hit, as was the single of the same name. Once again, interest in the US was minimal but Canadians were more receptive to it to the tune of a Top 5 hit on the CHUM charts. He went on to have two more Top 20 entries with "It'll Be Me" and the North America-only 45 "Wonderful to Be Young". An upward trend for sure but they couldn't have guessed what would have taken place the following spring.
The film Summer Holiday was released in Britain in February of 1963. As Tom Ewing notes, it would have been a "canny release date" to see a group of English lads basking in the Grecian sun in the midst of a rotten winter. It wouldn't come out in the United States — and possibly Canada, more on that point below — until November 13, just two days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Yet, goodwill towards Cliff in Canada was such that not only did the "Summer Holiday" single start climbing the charts in the spring of '63 but it was hot on the heels of another single of his which came from the same movie.
"Bachelor Boy" entered the CHUM charts at number forty-one on April 1 and then quickly moved into the Top 20 the following week. Just seven days later, as it was on the cusp of that big Top 10, it was joined, also at forty-one, by "Summer Holiday", paired with "Dancing Shoes". Its ascension was even swifter, getting to number four just a fortnight after its debut. At the same time, "Bachelor Boy" was at number two. A week later they were in the silver and bronze spots respectively and a week after that "Summer Holiday" was at number one. All told, the two competing singles spent sixteen weeks in the Canadian Top 10 from April to June. (Notably, "Bachelor Boy" had this chart run about two months' prior to Cliff's appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show)
(Which leads me to wonder, had the Summer Holiday film managed to come out in Canada approximately six months prior to its ill-fated US release? As I mentioned above, he had made a name for himself the previous year so it's possible that his latest motion picture would have been made available at an earlier date than down south. Given that he doesn't appear to have done any other forms of promotional work in Canada at around this time, it seems likely. Whatsmore, the soundtrack managed to top the CHUM Albums Index at around this same time. The only problem is, I can't find any evidence to confirm when this film came out)
With two Cliff Richard singles to choose from, the question must be asked: did Canadians make the right choice in sending "Summer Holiday"/"Dancing Shoes" to the top over "Bachelor Boy"? I think they did. For one thing, the latter is a bit wet, a childish throwaway, albeit one that Cliff has perhaps grown into over the years as a performer. Being still in his early twenties, few would've guessed that he would go on to live that very bachelor life over all these many years. But now that he is well into the back half of his career, it has more resonance since that is indeed what he has become. What likely didn't have much meaning to him at the time has come to practically define him.
"Summer Holiday" at first seems naive and generic but now I think those might be among its strengths. As someone who has visited a few countries over the years, the song's narrative reads like a bland postcard but it's meant to be sung from the perspective of a group of young mates who've never been anywhere and are embarking on an exciting European road trip. "We've seen it in the movies, now let's see if it's true". That is the thing about idealizing a trip to Europe in particular: we tend to over romanticize the Continent which typically leads to severe disappointment. Perhaps Cliff and his chums were as let down as the gang in the 2004 sex comedy Eurotrip (a movie which happened to include a scene featuring characters traveling Europe on a double decker bus, possible as a nod to Summer Holiday).
On its own "Summer Holiday" might be a tad underwhelming but its enhanced by its flip side "Dancing Shoes". Having not actually seen the film since the early nineties (and I'm not even sure I saw the whole thing then), I had imagined that Cliff would be singing it in a dance hall or on a patio by the sea in the moonlight. Instead, he used the song to cheer up a peasant woman in the fields of what I think was the former Yugoslavia. (Just an old musical trick of inserting a tune into any old scene regardless of whether it makes sense to do so) Though Cliff sings it as immaculately as ever, the real stars are The Shadows with guitarist Hank Marvin in particularly fine form. Is it any wonder he was idolized by a whole generation of young guitarists, some of whom went on to be far more famous than their hero. I've heard talk that Cliff Richard and his longtime backing group released some first rate B sides during their heyday and I think this is my cue to investigate further.
As many already know, Cliff Richard can be a salty individual at times — and that's probably an understatement. He has expressed bitterness towards the press, The Beatles, plenty of other pop stars, Eurovision Song Contest judges for denying him the victory he felt he had been entitled to and young fans for booing sleazy politicians at award ceremonies but one that really gets his goat is his relative lack of success in the US. (The man likes to think of himself as an innovator so perhaps he should take pride in being the first in a long line of Brits who failed to make it in America) Does he at least appreciate the fact that Canadians took to him when their neighbours to the south failed to do so? I don't imagine he's aware of it — he last did a tour of Canada back '81 during his renaissance — so someone ought to let him know.
Score: 7
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Can Con
Ronnie Hawkins: "Bo Diddley"
Another Ronnie Hawkins Top 10 hit so another Can Con write up it is! There aren't many left so I might as well keep 'em going. By now residing in the Toronto area, Rompin' Ronnie had formed The Hawks with a drummer from Arkansas by the name of Levon Helm and some young local musicians including Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson. Imagine being on the verge of making history and not knowing you're doing so. (That's always the way though) Fascinating as all this is, "Bo Diddley" isn't one of his better efforts. I suppose it probably sounded better in some of those rough bars in Ontario towns like Cornwall, North Bay and Sudbury but there's not much to recommend in its 45 state. That trademark Bo Diddley shuffle isn't even all that prominent. Had they replaced this sound with something else of note then it would be fine but that's not the case at all. Just rugged rock 'n' roll which goes through the motions: Cliff Richard at his most depressingly dire would've struggled to be this piss poor.
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