Wired for Sound

This article is about the Cliff Richard album. For the title track, see Wired for Sound (song).

Wired for Sound
Studio album by
Cliff Richard
Released14 September 1981
Recorded
  • 1 May 1981 ("Daddy's Home")[1]
  • 27 May – 9 June 1981[2]
Venue
StudioGallery Studios, London
LabelEMI
Producer
Cliff Richard chronology
Love Songs
(1981) 		Wired for Sound
(1981) 		Now You See Me, Now You Don't
(1982)
Singles from Wired for Sound
  1. "Wired for Sound"
    Released: 17 August 1981
  2. "Daddy's Home"
    Released: 6 November 1981
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [3]

Wired for Sound is the 24th studio album by Cliff Richard, released in September 1981. The album peaked at number 4 in the UK album charts upon release, and spent a total of 25 weeks on the chart in 1981–82.[4] The album was certified Platinum by the BPI, and achieved global sales of over one million.[5][6]

The title track was released as the lead single of the album, and was followed up by a cover of Shep and the Limelites 1961 US doo-wop hit, "Daddy's Home". The singles peaked at numbers 4 and 2 respectively on the UK singles chart.[7] "Daddy's Home" was held off number 1 for four consecutive weeks by the Human League's "Don't You Want Me", but earned gold certification from the BPI for sales over half a million.[8][9] The track was recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon on 1 May 1981, for a rock 'n' roll special to be broadcast later by BBC Television.[5]

"Broken Doll" is a cover of a Wreckless Eric single from 1980. Reportedly, Richard also wanted to record Eric's "(I'd Go The) Whole Wide World" too, but only if he could change some of the lyrics – which Eric refused.[3] "Young Love" was given new lyrics and retitled "The Last Kiss" for a cover version by David Cassidy featuring George Michael. It was released as the lead single for Cassidy's 1985 album Romance, becoming a top ten hit in the UK and Germany.[10][11] "Once in a While" was originally recorded by Leo Sayer on his 1980 album Living in a Fantasy and released as a single in the UK and Australia.

The promotional video for the title track is one of Richard's best-known, and was filmed around the centre of Milton Keynes, the new town in Buckinghamshire that was developed after the Second World War. It features Richard walking around and on rollerskates, while listening to music on a Walkman cassette player; such devices were then newly available in the UK.[12]

A remastered version of the album was issued in July 2001, with the B-sides of both singles included as bonus tracks.

  1. ^ "Cliff Richard - Daddy's Home". www.cliffrichardsongs.com. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  2. ^ Lewry, Peter; Goodall, Nigel (1991). Cliff Richard: The Complete Recording Sessions, 1958–1990. London, England: Blandford Press. pp. 127–129, 156–157, 175. ISBN 978-0-71372-242-0.
  3. ^ a b Wired for Sound at AllMusic. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference OCC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Wired for Sound (CD liner). EMI Records. 2001.
  6. ^ "Cliff Richard - The Six Continental Man" (PDF). Billboard. 12 February 1994. p. 72. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  7. ^ Roberts, David, ed. (2001). British Hit Singles (14th ed.). London, England: Guinness World Records. p. 378. ISBN 978-0-85112-156-7.
  8. ^ "Cliff Richard's UK Chart positions". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  9. ^ "UK certification Database". BPI. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  10. ^ "David Cassidy's UK Chart positions". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  11. ^ "David Cassidy's Germany Chart positions". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 4 April 2015.[dead link‍]
  12. ^ Bromley, Tom (2012). Wired for Sound: Now That's What I Call an 80s Music Childhood. London, England: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-84983-393-6.