Living Doll by Cliff Richard

Album: 30 Years Of Hits (1959)

Charted: 1 30

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Songfacts®:

This song was from the soundtrack to the film Serious Charge, which was Cliff Richard's movie debut. It was written by Lionel Bart who also wrote the West End and Broadway musical Oliver. It was originally intended for the singer Duffy Power before it was included in Serious Charge.
This was originally a rock song, and as both Cliff and his backing band thought that a song about a blow-up doll was uncool, they originally weren't planning to record it. One of his backing musicians, Bruce Welch, suggested a slower tempo like a country song would work better, so they rearranged it into the now familiar form.
According to 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh, Lionel Bart said, "I had taken it from one of those ads in the Sunday papers for a doll that did everything and I wrote it in 10 minutes flat."
In the UK, this was the biggest-selling single of 1959.
In 1986 Cliff did a humorous, anarchic re-recording of this for BBC's charity appeal Comic Relief. It featured the cast of BBC's comedy Young Ones series, which were Rik Mayall (Rick), Adrian Edmonson (Vyvyan), Nigel Planer (Neil) and Christopher Ryan (Mike). When it topped the UK chart Cliff became the first artist to have the same song in two different versions at number one.
This was the first of Cliff Richard 14 UK chart-toppers. He is the only act in the UK to achieve a #1 single in each of the first five decades since the inception of the UK singles chart in 1952.

Comments: 5

Baby Boomer from East Coast Australiawhy did they censor the Cliff Richard song living doll?
Brian Mcgowan from GreenockIt's not about a blow up doll. This was 1959.
Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn October 21st 1962, Cliff Richard performed "Living Doll"* on the CBS-TV program 'The Ed Sullivan Show'...
More than three years earlier on September 22nd, 1959 it entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #80; and on November 23rd, 1959 it peaked at #30 {for 1 week} and spent 13 weeks on the Top 100...
And on July 31st, 1959 it reached #1 {for 6 weeks} on the British NME Singles chart...
At the time of this 'Sullivan' appearance his "The Next Time" b/w "Bachelor Boy" was on the British Singles chart, and on December 29th, 1962 it would peaked at #1 for 1 week {The record did not make the Top 100}...
Sir Cliff Richard OBE, born Harry Rodger Webb, celebrated his 74th birthday one week ago today on October 14th {2014}...
* Also in 1959 a singer named David Hill released his version of the song, it stayed on the Top 100 for two weeks, peaking at #92.
Dave from Cardiff, WalesThe Lightning Seeds also achieved the feat in 1996 with "Three Lions" (England's Euro '96 anthem) and then in 1998 with "Three Lions '98" (England's 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem)
Mark from Dublin, IrelandNumber one twice with a 27 year gap in the middle,living doll is a cliff richard classic,cliff has prob sang this one more times than any of his other hits and is always garanteed to have his adoring fans singing along,at the last cliff concert i was at most of the women were wearing living doll t-shirts,well that is the nice ones were,the naughty ones were wearing devil woman ones....

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