Record rush for Sir Cliff Richard

Sep 9 2008 By Edward Chadwick

THE rush for CD singles at a Birmingham record store wasn’t for the latest boy band sensation but 67-year-old Cliff Richard.

Devoted fans queued up at Woolworths in the Pallasades shopping centre to get their hands on the evergreen singer’s latest release as he bids to break a world record.

Hell-bent on firing the Peter Pan of Pop to the top of the charts in his sixth successive decade, one of the star’s most loyal supporters is said to have snapped up 400 copies of Thank You For A Lifetime for a cool £800, but did want to be interviewed.

Others bought up to ten copies as a nationwide campaign among Sir Cliff’s fan club members to give him his 15th Number 1 single gets under way.

Clutching ten singles, Marie Richards, aged 59, from Quinton, said: “We’ve just come to have a fun morning out and show some support for Cliff.

“We’re going to put him at Number 1 again and show just how popular he is.

“I’ve been following him for 50 years and we just love his honesty and sincerity.

“I once queued up for a fortnight to get front row tickets for the NEC.”

The store opened early to let about 40 eager fans inside.

Steve Kunciw, a 49-year-old DJ from Edgbaston, said it was not just women who followed Sir Cliff.

“It’s mainly women at the concerts but there’s a few blokes here this morning too,” he said.

“People love him because he has never forgotten about his fans.

Jo Blythin, market manager for the Pallasades, said: “The staff here have had their work cut out because many of the fans are buying multiple copies. Because of chart regulations, each has to be paid for in a single transaction so when the lady came in with 400 copies, it was quite a long job to get them.”