Edinburgh Fringe Review: An Audience with Sir Cliff Richard and Gloria Hunniford
Fringe At Prestonfield, Prestonfield House Hotel ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
‘The young ones, Darling, we're the young ones, And young ones, Shouldn't be afraid, To live, love, While the flame is strong, 'Cause we may not be the young ones, Very long.’
Lyrics that, after attending An Audience with Sir Cliff Richard and Gloria Hunniford at Prestonfield on the Fringe, seem more poignant now than they ever could have when I first heard them, way back in 1974.
I remember the moment well, an old Dansette record player sitting in the shadows of the Games Room in St Mary’s Star of The Sea’s subterranean Boy’s Club, kept company by a stack of old sleeveless 7-inch singles.
The Young Ones, Summer Holiday and Bachelor Boy were three of those singles, and they were played constantly.
Ten years old at the time, I soon discovered they all featured in films and that Cliff Richard wasn’t just a pop star but a movie star, and those movies just happened to be showing on BBC 2 during the summer holidays. Makes sense.
Watching them had me hooked, but it wasn’t until many years later I finally saw Cliff live; the Summer Nights Tour at Edinburgh Castle in 2004.
Nineteen years later, back in Edinburgh with his pal and interviewer Gloria Hunniford, and it was a far more intimate setting in which I found myself as the singer, now Sir Cliff, made his Fringe debut at the age of 82.
An Audience with Sir Cliff Richard and Gloria Hunniford was an hour of light-hearted, good humoured banter with the UK’s answer to Elvis Presley in fine fettle.
From his early days discovering the music of The King, through to his time with The Shadows and appearances on Oh, Boy!.
From his ‘Blood diet’ (eating only foods dictated by his blood type to keep him trim) to discovering his faith (touched on briefly) as well as working with Barry Gibb and meeting Neil Diamond.
From his Knighthood and forthcoming book and annual calendars, Hunniford guided him through topics that kept his adoring audience laughing and entertained throughout.
In a packed hour, there was even an opportunity for him to give an a capella rendition of Move It, his 1958 hit with The Drifters, later The Shadows, much to the delight of the crowd who provided accompaniment, clapping along in time.
If that had them stirred, a quick, and hilarious, demonstration of how he has tempered his famous hip-shaking routine for life as an octogenarian raised roars of approval.
Admittedly still fiercely competitive, Cliff is a self-effacing interviewee, a man who takes his business seriously but not always himself.
It isn’t every day you get to sit in an audience with a capacity of just 500 to spend an hour in the company of such a iconic figure, and with hits over eight decades, there aren’t many legends who still shine as brightly as Sir Cliff Richard.
Which brings to mind a couple more lyrics from The Young Ones, ‘And some day, when the years have flown…’, although in Cliff’s case, he may just have proven to be the eternal Young One.
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Credit: Líam Rudden Media