Released November 1984 Artist Cliff Richard Label Parlophone | Recorded May 1980 - August 1984 Release date November 1984 | |
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Producer Cliff Richard
Keith Bessey
Craig Pruess
Stuart Colman
Alan Tarney
Rod Houison The Rock Connection
(1984) Always Guaranteed
(1987) Genres Rock music, Rock and roll, Pop rock, Hard rock Similar Cliff Richard albums, Rock music albums | ||
The rock connection make the west heavy again
The Rock Connection is the twenty-seventh solo studio album by Cliff Richard. Released in November 1984 on EMI, the album is a part studio, part compilation album. It includes seven studio tracks recorded exclusively for the album, five tracks from the previous year's limited release album Rock 'n' Roll Silver, one previously released single, and one B-side from 1980.
Contents
The album reached number 43 on the UK Albums Chart. Two singles were released to promote the album. "Shooting from the Heart" was released in October 1984 and only reached number 51 on the UK Singles Chart. "Heart User" was released in January 1985 and only reached number 46. Most notably, although released almost two years prior, the hit single "She Means Nothing to Me" - a duet with Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers featuring Mark Knopfler - was included. Originally released in January 1983 and lifted from Phil Everly's self-titled solo album, "She Means Nothing to Me" made it to number 9 on the UK Singles Chart.
Critical reception
Reviewing for AllMusic, critic Bruce Eder wrote of the album "The resulting album was decidedly uneven -- much of it came off as a loud, lean, crisp mix of rock & roll and power pop, Richard's voice surrounded by (and often immersed beneath) in-your-face electric guitars and synthesizers."
Track listing
- "Heart User" (Terry Britten, Sue Shifrin) - 3:40
- "Willie and the Hand Jive" (Johnny Otis) - 3:52
- "Lovers and Friends" (Jon Sweet, Rod Trott) - 4:32
- "Never Be Anyone Else But You" (Baker Knight) - 4:03
- "La Gonave" (Cliff Richard) - 3:57
- "Over You" (Dave Cooke, Richard) - 3:11
- "Shooting from the Heart" (Roger Greenaway) - 3:09
- "Learning How to Rock and Roll" (Zoe McCulloch) - 3:12
- "Lucille" (Albert Collins, Little Richard) - 3:37
- "Be-Bop-A-Lula" (Gene Vincent, Donald Graves, Bill "Sheriff Tex" Davis) - 3:15
- "Donna" (Ritchie Valens) - 4:21
- "Dynamite" (Ian Samwell) - 3:11
- "She Means Nothing to Me" (Sunny David) - 3:34
- "Makin' History" (Graham Lyle) - 3:47
Songs
1Heart User3:44
2Willie and the Hand Jive3:52
3Lovers and Friends4:35