The Christian music world, Madonna, and speaking in tongues. Just some of the topics touched on when Tony Cummings went to talk to CLIFF RICHARD.

Photo by Michelle Kloboucnik

Interviewing a man whose press cuttings would fill a small library is not an easy experience. Nor is writing an intro for a singer who has climbed the Everest of popular music success so often, that all one is left to do is trot out the latest statistics supplied from his office: 45 million singles worldwide, 8 million selling albums, 57 UK Top Ten hits, 28 Top Ten albums (only Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra have had more), the only artist to gain Top 30 hits with new material in the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s, the only ... but stop. - Such pop trivia can be read in one of his numerous biographies, or by joining his fan club, Cliff United.

Am I then to trot out all the stuff about The Peter Pan Of Pop even when, at 51 the tan doesn't hide all the wrinkles? Or do I go for Cliché Number One, and feign surprise at Cliff's thoroughly likeable persona? For despite mega stardom undreamed of by all save Imelda Marcos, Cliff is still patently in touch with reality. Ah, you may say, Cliffs emotional stability is the fruit of his deep Christian faith. That is, I believe, without question. Not that his faith hasn't brought its own problems. As well as the expected barbs from a humanistic media, Cliff has had to contend with the attentions of a church who, desperate for a way to unlock the mass media's closed doors, have striven to attach themselves leech-like to the fame and credibility of Britain's most successful pop star. The fact that Cliff has treated his elevation to Evangelical Icon with disdain, says much for his spiritual maturity.

He helps out Billy Graham, writes excellent devotional books for new believers, does gospel music tours and works for Tear Fund. Yet Cliff refuses to be used by naive or ambitious churches and organisations.

I spoke to the star in the Cliff Richard Organisation's office overlooking Sandown Racecourse. Here is what this most extraordinary musician said.

So, what have you been doing recently?

"I'm just about to embark on a new album. I'm working under the least pressure at all this year. They said if you haven't got the album ready by July it doesn't matter. Just try and get a couple of singles. I'm being very choosy of the songs I do; I'm only recording stuff that I really want to record. Sometimes when you're pushed into a corner you tend to think 'oh, I'll have a go at that', and in the end it's rejected anyway because it doesn't work out but in the meantime you've wasted studio time and a lot of money. Usually they say, 'we must have the tapes by the end of this month'. But if they're not going to do that to me, then I can afford to record the stuff I like, and if there's really no time pressure, then I'm going in with a really uncluttered mind. It's rather a nice feeling."

So, sometimes you don't know until you've finished matering a track whether it will achieve a release?

"Yeah, that's right. If in fact it's quite a good song, but not good enough, we'll maybe keep it, then use it as a 'B' side or something. I always feel sorry for the public who buy singles. I know singles are slowly dipping away anyway in terms of sales. But you do have to release them because that's what DJs play, and that's how people recognise what's on your album. But when you buy a single, it costs quite a lot, and if it's got two tracks from your album, when you buy the album there's only eight new tracks. If they release three singles, that means that there are six tracks on the album you've already got, leaving only four new tracks on the album. So I've tended to try most of the time to put completely off the wall 'B' sides that have nothing to do with the album. So when people buy the single at least they have got in their collection some singles that have songs on the 'B' side that they wouldn't have if they didn't have that single. So, whatever I record doesn't get wasted exactly, but it may not appear in the mainstream of my albums."

As far as Cross Rhythms readers go, they're probably rather familiar with your 'B' sides through the 'Walk In The Light' compilation album which, rather strangely, is your best known album in Christian bookshops?

"Yes it's funny. It's one of those things Word did. I think it's a difficult area, because I'm obviously tied lock stock and barrel with my contract to EMI. But now and then Word will release tracks. And it's really nice that they can have them because EMI have no knowledge really of how to work in the Christian world. I'm not even sure if they're aware of the market. It may not be a massive market, but it's a market worth chasing. So 'Walking In The Light' did sell really rather well in Christian bookshops and still does I guess."

Any plans for a new Christian-oriented album?

"The thing to do is to try and find new original Christian material, I don't write a lot myself, in fact very rarely. So I rely on other people who don't necessarily want to record their own material, writing stuff. The reason I haven't recorded a fresh, brand new Christian album for a while is because I haven't found any material good enough for it. Well, not good enough in my books anyway."

But there's mountains of good Christian songs coming out all the time.

"Yes, but they're all recorded by somebody else. I don't want to record somebody else's songs. I used to do that when there wasn't a gospel scene, so therefore I did anybody's music. It didn't really matter because the originals were not known here. But nowadays most of these albums you're talking about are actually available here. So there's no way I would want to record a song which is featured on someone else's album, unless I thought it was such a brilliant song, and maybe they didn't do it as well as I could, which is pretty rare, because most people do their songs the way they should be done."