Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Back in the day when I did the Rimmerama Show on Cross Rhythms radio, the young whippersnappers who worked as sidekicks on the show used to tease me because I liked to play Cliff. Despite your feelings about his music, you can't argue with the fact that he is the single most successful British solo act. Back in 1994 this collection of 35 hits was released to celebrate 35 years of hit singles from the Cliffmeister. Most artists can only dream of having 35 top five hit singles but here are Sir Cliff's collected together. They come from two purple patches of success, initially from the late '50s rock'n'roll explosion of "Move It" and the pop hits that followed. They're all here - "Summer Holiday", "The Next Time", "Living Doll", "Bachelor Boy" - quite an impressive 'Hit List'! This selection includes his Eurovision songs "Congratulations" (which I will admit was excruciatingly corny when it came out and hasn't got any better with the passing of the years) and "Power To All Our Friends". The later string of hits stretched for years after the surprise number one "We Don't Talk Anymore" put him back at the top of the charts. Hits like "Carrie", "Wired For Sound" and "Some People" maintained him at pole position in the '80s. Christmas hits "Mistletoe & Wine" and "Saviour's Day" established him as a Christmas fixture for a few years. The album is completed by a fan favourite "Miss You Nights" which wasn't a top five, and one of Cliff's own favourites which should have been a bigger hit - "Green Light". This collection is an ideal introduction to his mainstream pop hits, gathered purely from the statistics of record sales. His style has changes as fashions have come and gone but you can't argue with the record books!

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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