Comments: 12

• Padraig from Nowhere In ParticularIt was the end of the 1970s, and Cliff Richard, verging on 40 after more than 20 years in the business, had a concept, and it was called Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile. It was the time when pop music had gone full circle for the first time, harking back to its 1950s origins with the retro musical Grease and the back-to-the-basics Punk movement as catalysts. It was only consequential then that Richard, a first generation Rock 'n' Roller, decided to go back to his own origins and record his own 1950s-inspired album. Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile was set out to be a tight, coherent affair and return him to the top in a new role as the leader of retro.
  
  However, harking back to the 1950s was not the only thing that was going on at the time. Technology delivered another aspect to the anyone-can-do-it Punk ideology, as the synthesizer had finally been developed into something basically everyone could use to produce pop music - synth pop music, later called New Wave. One of the emerging synth-pop tunes, We don't talk anymore, was offered to Cliff Richard at exactly the time he was working on Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile, and he accepted, seeing it as a stop-gap single, a quick recording to stay in the public eye before the onslaught of the album.
  
  Little did he anticipate that We don't talk anymore would turn out to be a smash hit, outperforming everything he had done before (or since) and finally, if temporarily, breaking him into the US. Due to its success, it was even put on the Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile album, a foreshadowing of the 1980s that managed to completely overshadow the otherwise 1950s-retro tunes the album's concept demanded. Turned out that, in this case, a small glimpse of the future was more exciting than a large glimpse of the past.
  
  We don't talk anymore was, arguably, the last time that Cliff Richard found success as a serious contemporary musician rather than a timeless, not entirely serious icon - his next UK No1 after this would already be the self-deprecating Young Ones version of his old tune Living Doll. The song marked the start of his transformation from artist to his own kind of national treasure. Did he need We don't talk anymore for this transformation? No. But if it had to happen, better it happened with a bang rather than a whimper.
• Lisa from Fort Worth, TexasCliff has been my favorite singer for decades. What a fantastic song this is, and what an amazing singer and artist. His longevity and success are phenomenal.
• Keving from Melbourne, Australia There is a bird here in Australia (sorry but I don’t know the type of bird) whose call is the same first four notes of We Don’t Talk Anymore. As Alan Tarney was brought up in Adelaide I’m wondering if he was inspired by this. I would love to hear his thoughts. Fantastic song!
• Don from Sevierville, TnKen, I have read that the reason Cliff isn't as popular here in the USA as he is in England and Europe is because he doesn't want to be, so he can visit here without being mobbed. He's quite content with his local and continental success in the UK and Europe, along with Australia, some African countries, and I don't know where else.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn January 13th 1980, "We Don't Talk Anymore" by Cliff Richard peaked at #7 (for 2 weeks) on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; it had entered the chart on October 14th, 1979 and spent 20 weeks on the Top 100...
  And on August 25th, 1979 it reached #1 (for 4 weeks) on the United Kingdom's Singles chart...
  In the U.S.A. he has had two other Top 10 hits ("Devil Woman" #6 in 1976 and "Dreaming" #10 in 1980); and in his native U.K. between 1958 and 2008 he had fourteen #1 records and an amazing sixty-nine Top 10 hits...
  Mr. Richard, born Harry Rodger Webb, celebrated his 73rd birthday three months ago on October 14th (2013).
• Jennifer Harris from Grand Blanc, MiI just love We don't talk anymore and the video. He's almost 70 years old! Wow!
• Reuben from Amsterdam, NetherlandsThe sound of We Don't Talk Anymore is alike to Dreamin' and Wired for Sound, all produced by Alan Tarny. I wonder what techniques Tarny was using to get this distinctive, flying feeling synth sound. He also produced Barbara Dickson's hit 'January February', which strongly sounds alike to songs by Cliff in that era. My wife and I made love to 'We don't talk anymore' (22 yrs after it was issued) - indeed at that moment we didn't talk a lot.
• Joann from Portsmouth, VaHappy 69th BIrthday Cliff, (11-14) always loved this song.
• Mark from Dublin, IrelandWe dont talk anymore,cliffs biggest hit out of over 130 singles released,this was cliffs 75th hit and it reached number one the same year as cliffs long-term producer and father figure norrie paramour passed away,one of the last things cliff said to him was "we're number one, the song itself has gone on to be one of the highlights of cliffs concerts,was written by the man responable for "some people" "dreamin" and dozens of other big hits for cliff. Alan Tarney
• Ken from Los Angeles, CaCliff Richard is a very talented and successful artist and, sadly, proper recognition has eluded him. This is a great song - to me at least, it feels like a transition from the 70s to the 80s.
• Jake from Spencer, NyI've got facts here, not comments, but anyway... Here is some chart info. for "We Don't Talk Anymore": In The U.S., it peaked at #7 for 2 weeks (1/19/80 and 1/26/80), and its Top 40 chart progression (14 weeks total, from the week ending 11/17/1979 to the week ending 2/16/1980) is 40-32-20-17-14-13-13-10-9-7-7-13-23-32. It was the
  "greatest mover" within the Top 40 for the w/e Dec. 1, 1979 (32-20). It spent a total of 20 weeks on the entire Billboard Hot 100 (from w/e 10/20/1979 to w/e 3/1/1980). To this date it is Cliff's second-highest charting single in the U.S. (bested only by the classic "Devil Woman," which reached #6 in 1976). In the United Kingdom, "We Don't Talk Anymore" was #1 for 4 weeks from the w/e August 25, 1979, to the w/e September 15, 1979. In Canada, the song spent two weeks at #2 behind Led Zeppelin's "Fool In The Rain" (another great song) during the exact same weeks that it peaked at #7 here in the U.S. (1/19 and 1/26 of 1980).
• Jake from Spencer, NyCliff Richard's 1979 hit "We Don't Talk Anymore" is a very enjoyable pop tune, with great synthesizers, drums/handclaps, bass line, and key changes, and Cliff's lead and harmony vocals are pleasant as always. All that makes for a really catchy, toe-tapping, and hummable song. Easily one of the best late '70s/early '80s radio-pop type singles.

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