Honorary Members

Rod Trott

"Ocean Deep" is a sentimental ballad written by Rod Trott and Jon Sweet and originally released in 1983 by British singer Cliff Richard on his album Silver. It was later released as a single in 1984 in the UK and South East Asia.

The song's release in the UK as the fourth single from Richard's Silver album was belated after initially being consigned to the B-side of the album's third single "Baby You're Dynamite". Although pressure was mounted from fans and disc-jockeys, it was only after "Baby You're Dynamite" had finished its chart run that the record company finally flipped the single, promoting "Ocean Deep" to the A-side. As the A-side, "Ocean Deep" only reached number 72 in a further 3 week run on the UK Singles Chart. Despite having little chart success, the song quickly became a phenomenon among Richard's fans the world over, with fans voting the song as their favourite, 25 times out of 26 in the annual "Cliff Poll" of fans' favourite songs between 1984 (when it first appeared) and the final poll in 2009.

The song broke through to the wider public in South East Asia, becoming very popular in the Philippines where it became one of the bigger hits of the 1980s and Richard's biggest hit in the region, and in Hong Kong where it was also adapted into Cantonese for Frances Yip in 1985. The Cantonese version was then covered by Prudence Liew in 1989 for the lead single of her Jokingly Saying album.

Cliff discussed how he came to record the song with an interviewer from the Philippines, “Ocean Deep was an unusual one because it came through the post from two writers who I didn’t know; they were amateurs. When something comes in like that, privately, usually they’re not very good. And then when I came home from a tour, I saw this tape and I said, ‘Okay, I’ll play it,’ and I exclaimed, ‘Oh, it’s fantastic!’ I love the song! I was so pleased that these two guys sent that to me. I'm very happy that "Ocean Deep" is very popular in Southeast Asia.

We posted some stills from a video of Cliff singing Ocean Deep on our facebook page, which came to Rod's attention.  He then posted in response 'So glad you all still like 'Ocean Deep' even after all these years. !! And thank you CLIFF , I can't thank you enough !!  Even now we are still amazed!' 

I was so pleased that one of the writers of this extremely popular song made contact, I had to ask him to become an honorary member of this club, which I am delighted to say, he graciously accepted.

Zoé Gates

To anyone who doesn’t know me, the best way to define myself would be to say I’m a mega Cliff fan, in my absolute element on a Cliff tour.

It’s not just about the music, I adore the complete package and think Cliff is such a special person. My respect for him and all his achievements continues to grow and like any fan, we are all immensely proud of him. I first saw Cliff ‘live’ in my teens and from that moment I was hooked. 26 years on and I haven’t looked back - I’ve realised with Cliff, there is always something to look forward to and every year he seems to keep us busy ….. and wanting more!

As I write this, Cliff has just completed his Great 80 tour and what a fab tour it was! I loved each and every minute and tried capturing some of those special moments in photographic form - I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them. He seriously can’t be in his 80's …. can he?!!

Tina Goldsmith

Congratulations for the most recent honorary members to our list and to Tina and her husband Paul, who have supported me adminstratively for years now. 

Without their support I'd be utterly lost, as they help me with each and every magazine release to you, their fans.  I should have given this honorary membership out a long time ago as they both deserve recognition for their support to me, and of course, their devotion to Cliff.

My sincere thanks to them both!  x

Leo's Den

Leo's Den is the BEST place to purchase your Cliff CD's and DVD's etc, as they dedicate themselves to Cliff and the Shadows in particular and often have rare and less available items, making them a great go to place for your collections.  Although they are a small business, they have been working closely with the CRO and also with The Shadows for over 24 years, they ARE very competitive on their prices and will often match the 'big boys' such as Amazon, or you may indeed find that they are actually slightly cheaper!  Their service is excellent, their communication is exemplary and it's actually reassuring to know that you are dealing with real people on the other end of the internet.  Your deliveries will equal (if not better) the service of other internet services and you will get any new releases on the day of release!

Juliette, one of the company owners is utterly charming.  Leo's Den distributed the 'Diamond' CD for our club in 2018 and very generously gave their time in doing this enormous task for free, aiding in the £10,000 Tearfund donation.  I wouldn't have been able to have completed the project without their help and I'm in their debt - they deserve to be our honorary club member.  This is absolutely the least we can do to thank Juliette and her team.  I can assure you that they should be your go to distributor particularly for anything Cliff related - CD's, DVD's books etc.  Please click on the logo above to visit their site and persue their stock.

Alan Tarney

Alan Tarney is an English songwriter (that we particularly associate with Cliff!), record producer (also producer of our song gift 'Diamond') and bass guitarist. He was born in Northside, Workington, Cumberland, England, but spent his teenage years in Adelaide, Australia, where he met his song writing and musical partner Trevor Spencer.

After a career as a musician,  Alan began the biggest period of his career when he wrote and arranged the Cliff Richard No. 1, "We Don't Talk Anymore" in 1979. This led to him becoming Cliff's record producer of his next two albums, I'm No Hero (1980) and Wired for Sound (1981). At this time he also wrote and produced Barbara Dickson and Leo Sayer – his distinctive sound being heard on the hit singles "January February" and "More Than I Can Say".

Alan went on to bigger success in the mid-1980s when he teamed up with Norwegian pop band A-ha. Producing the second version (after Tony Mansfield) of their first single "Take on Me" (1984), the song went on to become a worldwide hit. He worked on the bands biggest selling first three albums, He renewed his working relationship with the band in the production of their album release Cast in Steel (2015).

He produced David Cassidy's comeback 1985 album Romance, which included the top ten hit "The Last Kiss" co-written by Raymond Hoskins and David Cassidy. The song had previously been written for Cliff Richard for his 1981 album Wired for Sound. Cliff’s version however, contained different lyrics and was titled Young Love.

He returned again to write and produce for the Cliff Richard albums Always Guaranteed (1987) and Stronger (1989).

Alan was approached to help me with the gift of a song for Cliff and helped to produce ‘Diamond’.  As a result of his generous assistance, I asked him to become an honorary member of this club, to which he said yes and we are delighted to welcome him onboard!

Helen Hobson

The Cliff Richard Fan Club of London and Surrey wishes to welcome honorary member, Helen 'Cathy' Hobson, singer on our song gift 'Diamond'!  Any Cliff fan will remember Helen from Heathcliff, where she played along side Cliff as Cathy Earnshaw for many shows. She's not stopped working, perhaps only long enough to get married and have a family and I am delighted to introduce her as a new member of this club and share with you, her latest project