Shots of Willie And The Hand Jive from Cliff Richard's
ATV 'Saturday Spectacular' transmitted on 21 May 1960.
This Johnny Otis composition was originally a Top 10 American hit in 1958 and a perennial favourite which Cliff and his Shadows incorporated regularly into their live act from 1960 onwards. It was a visual masterpiece that proved to be a big winner with the audiences.
A memorable and visually stunning performance taken from the first of six shows Cliff produced for the ATV network on 16 February 1961 survives on film but remains unseen to this day. This song gave the boys the chance to do their "Shadow Walk" with Cliff joining in during the instrumental break. The arrangement here is tight and polished and well choreographed. A classic performance that should be officially released! Another excellent earlier version of this track is performed on 'The Cliff Richard Show' from 21st May 1960. Footage to both these shows still survives in the archives of Carlton International.
The quality of this summer 1960 take for the 'Me And My Shadows' shows at the Luxembourg studios is, sadly, fairly poor. Cliff had also recorded it for BBC Radio's 'Parade Of The Pops' broadcast on 1 February 1960.
MC: boomy and unstable, this prematurely faded piece is worth noting only for the (unsurprising) fact that it was aired on the Luxembourg airwaves.