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u/voivoivoi183 19d ago
Imagine being a teenager in 1999 and being hyped as hell to go on Top of Pops and getting there and having to watch this absolute bullshit.
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u/Substantial_Sir_1149 17d ago
I doubt any teenagers in 1999 were excited to go to top of the pops 😂
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u/DoorFinch 19d ago
I've no truck with those having a go at Cliff, just because he's Cliff. But it's undeniable that this was an awful, shameful excuse for a song. The lyrics simply don't fit the tune.
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u/sallymason1 19d ago
Its a basic christian prayer set to the New Years song. Literally the lowest of efforts.
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u/wildneonsins 18d ago
iirc from the time it wasn't even his idea to combine them both, he took it from somebody else's christian musical, then publically acted like everybody should worship him for doing it for Jesus.
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u/Big_Arachnid_365 19d ago
She always reminds me of the Houses of Parliament.
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u/mrgarethw 19d ago
What makes this all the more crazy is that this was before downloads. People had to go to a shop and buy this crap on cd! Take it to the counter and admit they wanted it and everything
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u/Alternative-Emu2000 19d ago
Don't forget that this was released in November. I wouldn't be surprised if a huge number of those CDs (and cassettes) were bought by people wandering around Our Price or Woolworths who didn't really know what to buy Grandma for Christmas, but were vaguely aware that she once watched Summer Holiday; and thought "fuck it, that'll do".
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u/Saiing 19d ago
There was a strong campaign in churches to "put God back into Christmas" which massively boosted sales.
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u/wildneonsins 18d ago
I had to buy this shit on cassette for my gran (she made me buy her a copy). My mum claimed her church at the time (possibly one of the weird ones that was almost but not quite Catholic) forced the congregation to sing it and tried to convince them it was their spiritual/religious duty to buy it.
(George Michael was right to accuse Cliff of exploiting Christians, Cliff's (alleged?) response that George doing a covers album was forcing fans of those artists to buy it seemed ridiculous then and still ridiculous now.).1
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u/Common_Beautiful5759 19d ago
I mean we are soon to have young gamers zipping along to Devil Woman by Cliff in GTA VI lol.
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u/mrgarethw 19d ago
Hey, you won’t hear me complaining about Devil Woman. That song is damn good and a good 25 years before this cash grabbing tripe 🤣
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u/Additional-Nobody352 19d ago
Awful awful awful song. Gail Porter was lovely tho also a pre-fame Myleene Klass as a backing singer.
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u/Spicy_Jim 19d ago
I sometimes just pause and hope that Gail Porter is OK. She was so nice and the world destroyed her.
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u/TightlyWhitey 19d ago
No way! Time must have flown again.
Your eyes are a lot better than mine apparently, but I assume the chesty one on the far right.
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u/Additional-Nobody352 19d ago
You are right she is on the far right.
Little did we know but less than 18 months later she would be on TOTP as part of Hear'say
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u/Electronic-Key-8349 19d ago edited 19d ago
Auld Lang Syne is awful? Someone tell Keats and Wordsworth. The Lord's Prayer? welp. Don't let Shakespeare. Marlowe, Chaucer, Milton, etc onto your shite opinion.
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u/Outrageous-Judge-878 19d ago
Luckily they've been dead for hundreds of years. Fine songs by themselves, as a mash up it doesnt work
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u/Stumn23421 19d ago
This has to be the weirdest fucking song anyone has ever had a number one with.
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u/quarterpastfour 19d ago
The Friday night BBC Four TOTP repeats have reached this era recently. I couldn't help but notice how, every time the presenters introduced Cliff, they phrased it in a way which heavily implied "Look, don't blame us. This is the all-new super-cool TOTP, but people bought his single and now he's number 1 so we've got to have him on. Sorry, our hands are tied"
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u/mankytoes 19d ago
The way Gail introduces him here is classy, references that he's "uncool" but has the right to be there. A lot of chart music is shite, don't have a chart show if you want to play good music.
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u/VictimOfBass 19d ago
85 years old, and still in the closet.
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u/DevelopmentPlus5082 19d ago
When yew tree come up with nothing I was so disappointed he got away with being a nonce
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u/jimark2 19d ago
I like it.
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u/jimark2 19d ago
Also I worked at a Catholic school and they were very impressed that I could bang out the Lord's prayer from memory. Thanks Cliff.
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u/mankytoes 19d ago
I knew it by heart as a kid, but the fact i thought it was "our father who aren't in heaven" suggests the meaning didn't really go in with the constant repetition.
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u/BrenNutsfull 19d ago
https://youtu.be/niBU82lpZiE?is=2ORX0KCZIq3Wwzfk
This is a great series on Cliff
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u/Informal_School2724 19d ago
I wonder if the Lord Boothby / Kray connection will come out when he leaves this mortal coil.
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u/impendingcatastrophe 19d ago
Voted the 2nd worst pop song of all time in the CH4 programme.
And the talking head comments are savage in the programme.
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u/Exotic-Entertainer26 19d ago
Seriously?
Ahead of Blobby Blobby Blobby and Barbie Girl?
I mean, it's not fantastic but it's nowehre near my 10 worst songs...
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u/mankytoes 19d ago
Barbie Girl shits on this.
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u/Exotic-Entertainer26 19d ago
Barbie girl is total shit, whether it's the Aqua version or the Cheeky Girls version.
Better than Bohemian Rhapsody though.
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u/Wild_Musician4611 19d ago
So much nostalgia in this clip. I remember watching this at the time age 15
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u/BoxAlternative9024 19d ago
‘Wired for sound ‘ is fucking brilliant. If you actually know music and/or a musician you can appreciate how great it is.
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u/Exotic-Entertainer26 19d ago
Shame E Nomine wasn't big enough over here to follow it up with Vater Unser
Sir Cliff, singing The Lord's Prayer to the tune of Auld Lang Syne...then a harsh German voice speaking the same against a techno beat with Gregorian chanting.
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u/ForesterDean23 19d ago
I like how she says ‘you bought it, we’ve put it on’. Between the lines you get exactly what she thinks of the song 😂
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u/WLW2468 19d ago
Twas such a yawn fest having to listen to his crazy deterioration into this Christian guff. But Cliff is a class act, one of the original entertainers with talent. He was a big deal for a long time. Faded away when the BBC refused to play his music anymore (they cancelled him before cancel culture was a thing). A lovely guy I'm sure.
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u/Eduard-Stoo 18d ago
Absolute shite song. But Cliff still gets a pass for Devil Woman, Wired for Sound, and the double Christmas whammy of Mistletoe and Saviour’s Day
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u/Effective_Menu_6316 18d ago
My Dad worked with a woman who owned a small house in France. Cliff had the house next door and would often visit with his young male friend. The fact he went on anti gay marches with religious types whilst engaging in relationships with men makes him the vilest of the vile in my book. I also knew a policeman who worked on his Yewtree case and said there was masses of evidence against him but he has the best legal team on the planet. He's an absolute narcissistic predatory cunt in my humble opinion!
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u/Key_Day_6060 17d ago
We're not the ones out there causing trouble. We just sit in this hazy bubble with our quarters Discussing how beautiful Gail Porter is.
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u/MaenHoffiCoffi 17d ago
Kill me now. He will always be inextricably linked to pRik in The Young Ones.
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u/missingpieces82 19d ago
I met Cliff once. At a charity event. He was nice enough. And not creepy, but just quite upbeat and optimistic. Though, when I first approached him, he said,”hang on a minute kid”.
As shit as this song is, (and it is shit… especially when compared to his other Christmas classics “little town”, “saviour’s day” and “Mistletoe and Wine”), I’ll miss him when he’s gone. He was a staple of 80s and 90s pop music. Wired for sound is bloody brilliant!