Tony Cummings quizzed Steve Turner, author of the books Amazing Grace and Cliff Richard: The Biography.

Steve: The unusual thing about Amazing Grace is that it's so comprehensive in its theology and yet it avoids the big buzzwords of the time. I can't imagine a hit version of How Great Thou Art or Rock Of Ages because the language is too specific. Maybe the hymn can work on people in a deeper way because they will absorb the language and then later come to see the intended meaning.

Tony: What was behind the decision to update 1993's Cliff Richard The Biography? Was it purely a commercial one?

Steve: It had been updated once in (I think) 1998. My publisher decided to do this update because the book was still selling consistently and they had received other approaches by people wanting to do Cliff books. Their decision was to update what they thought was the definitive Cliff biography. There were almost seven years to catch up on and quite a few significant changes had happened during that period.

Tony: By your own admission Cliff is an enigma and a very private person. Do you believe you really know the man and understand him now?

Steve: I think I've got a pretty good handle on him but that's not to say there aren't huge areas which he keeps to himself and a few close friends. When you realise how difficult it is to know yourself you realise that you can never confidently say that you know and understand someone else.

Tony: Cliff is the UK's most famous Christian. Do you think that is a good or a bad thing?

Steve: I think it is too much of a burden for any lay person. People unfortunately expect a Christian in show business or sport to be all knowledgeable on Scripture, to be able to defend the faith and to live a Christ-like life. It's wrong to treat "famous" people who are Christians as if they were Christian leaders.

Tony: Why has Cliff found it so hard to get consistent radio play these last few years?

Steve: Because he's over 60 and he's not one of those older stars who people appreciate in an ironic way - like Tom Jones or Tony Bennett. I guess the brutal truth is that the people who buy Cliff records aren't the sort of people that advertisers place too highly on their lists.

Tony: The new sections that you've written include the revelation that Cliff's long-time Christian mentor became besotted by first a secretary then a German fan. Did you struggle about including such revelations in your update?

Steve: Bill Latham's affairs had become public so I didn't feel that I was breaking news. However, I did have to face the fact that if I was going to continue the book in the same spirit of trying to sort out the facts from the fantasy in which I had started it then I was going to have to present information that might be unsavoury. My only alternatives were a) To decline the invitation to update the book or b) To cover up facts that I knew to be true and which an increasing number of people in show business knew to be true. I didn't think I could justify these alternatives.

Tony: You write that in recent times Cliff has "privately admitted that he no longer has the spiritual certainties of his Crusader days." Do you mean that he is no longer an evangelical?

Steve: I don't think that Cliff has ever said that but it wouldn't surprise me to find him being evasive if he was asked that question directly. His connections with evangelical churches, organisations and individual evangelicals are at their weakest since the mid 1960s. I don't think that his private life centres on his evangelical friends and evangelical activities.

Tony: Do you think Cliff will ever receive the accolades of the rock 'n' roll world that he believes are his due?

Steve: No. Although he has produced some good and pleasant records he has never been an innovator. He has never broken new ground. Move It was a great record because it was a good imitation of what was coming out of America. His greatest achievement in show business will be his sheer professionalism and his ability to stay on top for so long.