Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile

Background

Recording sessions for the album began on 18 July 1978, before his previous album had been released. Over the next few days, the backing tracks of many of the songs were recorded, while the vocals weren't begun until January 1979 and continued on sporadically for the next few months, with the final vocal to be completed being for "Falling in Love" on 30 June 1979 (almost a year after the backing track). The final song to be considered for inclusion was "We Don't Talk Anymore", which had been recorded completely in one day in May 1979.

The album was produced largely by Terry Britten, a regular songwriter for Richard, but this was his first production work with him. Richard himself was named as co-producer, while "We Don't Talk Anymore" was credited to Bruce Welch, although this had also been heavily worked upon by Alan Tarney, the song's composer and Richard's future producer.

In July 1979, "We Don't Talk Anymore" was the first single to be released. Its fresh and contemporary pop sound made it an obvious choice and the public response was highly enthusiastic. The single quickly hit the number one spot, becoming Richard's first chart topper for more than a decade. It remained at the top for four weeks and became his biggest selling single in the UK, with sales just short of one million. It also became a big hit worldwide, including a top 10 entry in America. It eventually sold three million copies.

With the failure of his previous studio album, Green Light, behind him, EMI released the new album in September 1979 and it was an immediate top 10 hit. The album reached a peak position of No. 3 and remained on the charts for 21 weeks, making it his most successful studio album since the early 1960s. In the US, where it was released under the title We Don't Talk Anymore with a slightly different track listing, the album only managed to reach No. 93.

A second single was released in October, the less commercial "Hot Shot". This only managed to chart at No. 46, but a third release, the poignant and haunting "Carrie" put Richard back into the top 10, reaching a high of No. 4 in March 1980. The latter single is one of his most highly regarded works, Allmusic calling it "one of the most electrifying of all Cliff Richard's recordings". It also became a hit in the US.

This album continued Richard's revival, which had begun in 1976 with the I'm Nearly Famous album and would now increase in strength for the next few years into the 1980s.

Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile was remastered and re-issued on compact disc in 2001.

Track listing

Side One

1. "Monday Thru' Friday" (Terry Britten) 3:47
2. "Doing Fine" (Terry Britten) 3:06
3. "Cities May Fall" (Terry Britten, B.A. Robertson) 4:17
4. "You Know that I Love You" (Terry Britten) 2:54
5. "My Luck Won't Change" (Terry Britten, B.A. Robertson) 4:13
6. "Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile" (Cliff Richard) 2:47

Side Two

1. "Sci-Fi" (Terry Britten, B.A. Robertson) 3:47
2. "Fallin' in Luv" (Terry Britten, B.A. Robertson) 3:11
3. "Carrie" (Terry Britten, B.A. Robertson) 3:43
4. "Hot Shot" (Terry Britten, B.A. Robertson) 3:23
5. "Language of Love" (Terry Britten, B.A. Robertson) 4:40
6. "We Don't Talk Anymore" (Alan Tarney) 4:18

Bonus tracks (2001 re-issue):

1. "Walking in the Light" (Terry Britten) 3:17
2. "Moving In" (Cliff Richard) 3:26

Personnel