''Wired for Sound'' is the 24th studio album by

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

, released in September 1981. The album peaked at number 4 in the

UK album charts The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

upon release, and spent a total of 25 weeks on the chart in 1981–82. The album was certified Platinum by the BPI, and achieved global sales of over one million. The title track was released as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

of the album, and was followed up by a cover of

Shep and the Limelites Shep and the Limelites was an American doo-wop trio of the early 1960s, composed of James "Shep" Sheppard (September 24, 1935 – January 24, 1970), Clarence Bassett (March 13, 1936 – January 25, 2005) and Charles Baskerville (July 6, 1936 – J ...

1961 US doo-wop hit, " Daddy's Home". The singles peaked at numbers 4 and 2 respectively on the

UK singles chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. "Daddy's Home" was held off number 1 for four consecutive weeks by the

Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...

's "Don't You Want Me", but earned gold certification from the BPI for sales over half a million. The track was recorded live at the

Hammersmith Odeon The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ha ...

on 1 May 1981, for a

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

special to be broadcast later by BBC Television. "Broken Doll" is a cover of a

Wreckless Eric Eric Goulden (born 18 May 1954), known as Wreckless Eric, is an English rock/ new wave singer-songwriter, best known for his 1977 single " Whole Wide World" on Stiff Records. More than two decades after its release, the song was included in ''M ...

single from 1980. Reportedly, Richard also wanted to record Eric's " (I'd Go The) Whole Wide World" too, but only if he could change some of the lyrics – which Eric refused. "Young Love" was given new lyrics and retitled "The Last Kiss" for a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge, the son of Shirley Partridge (played by his stepmother, Shirley Jones), in t ...

featuring George Michael. It was released as the lead single for Cassidy's 1985 album ''

Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

'', becoming a top ten hit in the UK and Germany. "Once in a While" was originally recorded by

Leo Sayer Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...

on his 1980 album ''

Living in a Fantasy ''Living in a Fantasy'' is the eighth album by the English singer-songwriter Leo Sayer. It was released on 22 August 1980. Although the album was not a huge commercial success, the single that it spawned, a cover version of Bobby Vee's "More Tha ...

'' and released as a single in the UK and Australia. The promotional video for the title track is one of Richard's best-known, and was filmed around the centre of Milton Keynes, the new town in Buckinghamshire that was developed after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. It features Richard walking around and on rollerskates, while listening to music on a

Walkman Walkman, stylised as , is a brand of portable audio players manufactured and marketed by Japanese technology company Sony since 1979. The original Walkman was a portable cassette player and its popularity made "walkman" an unofficial term for p ...

cassette player; such devices were then newly available in the UK. A

remastered Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used. Mastering A ...

version of the album was issued in July 2001, with the

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

of both singles included as bonus tracks.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by

Alan Tarney Alan Tarney (born 19 November 1945) is an English record producer and musician. He was born in Northside, Workington, Cumberland, but spent his teenage years in Adelaide, Australia, where he met his songwriting and musical partner Trevor Spence ...

except where indicated. ;Side one # " Wired for Sound" (Tarney,

B. A. Robertson Brian Alexander Robertson (born 12 September 1956) is a Scottish musician, composer and songwriter. He had a string of hits in the late 1970s and early 1980s characterised by catchy pop tunes and jaunty humorous lyrics, including " Knocked It ...

) – 3:36 # "Once in a While" – 4:38 # "Better Than I Know Myself" (Dave Cooke, Judy MacKenzie) – 3:39 # "Oh No, Don't Let Go" – 3:37 # "'Cos I Love That Rock 'n' Roll" – 4:10 ;Side two

"Broken Doll" ( Eric Goulden, Walter Hacon) – 4:15
"Lost in a Lonely World" ( Chris Eaton) – 4:01
"Summer Rain" (Eaton) – 4:15
"Young Love" – 4:03
"Say You Don't Mind" (does not appear on the US release) – 4:01
" Daddy's Home" (live) ( James Sheppard, William Miller) – 2:56

;2001 reissue bonus tracks:

"
Shakin' All Over "Shakin' All Over" is a song originally performed by Johnny Kidd & the Pirates. It was written by leader Johnny Kidd, and his original recording reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1960. The song is sometimes credited to Frederick ...
" (live) ( Frederick Heath) (B-side of "Daddy's Home") – 2:43
"Hold On" (B-side of "Wired for Sound") – 3:43

Personnel

– vocals and backing vocals *John Clark – guitar on "Lost in a Lonely World" *

Nick Glennie-Smith Nickolas Glennie-Smith is an English film score composer, conductor, and musician who is a frequent collaborator with Hans Zimmer, contributing to scores including '' The Rock'' (nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound), the 2006 histori ...

– piano on "Young Love", engineer *Graham Jarvis – drums on all tracks except "Once in a While", "Summer Rain" and "Young Love" *

Trevor Spencer Trevor Spencer (born 1947 in Adelaide, Australia) is an Australian songwriter, record producer and drummer. He studied drums and percussion from the age of 10. By the age of 14, he was playing professionally in bands in Adelaide and Melbourne, w ...

– drums on "Once in a While", "Summer Rain" and "Young Love" *

– all instruments except those listed in credits, backing vocals, arrangements, production *Rebecca Swearingen - photography

Charts and certifications

Charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1981 albums Cliff Richard albums EMI Records albums Albums produced by Alan Tarney