''Real as I Wanna Be'' is an 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 October 1998 by EMI Records. It peaked at number 10 on the

UK Albums Chart 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 ...

and was certified Silver in the UK and Gold in New Zealand.

overview

" Can't Keep this Feeling In" 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 ...

a week ahead of the album and peaked on debut at number 10 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 ...

. "The Miracle" was released in July the following year and peaked at number 23. "Vita Mia", a duet with

Vincenzo La Scola Vincenzo La Scola (26 January 1958 – 15 April 2011) was an Italian tenor who had a successful international opera career for more than 25 years. He was particularly admired for his portrayals in operas by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Gae ...

was intended to be the second single over the 1998 Christmas period. A video clip was recorded for it and artwork for a

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

was produced together with a

promo Promo or promos may refer to: Promotions and advertising *Promo (media), a form of commercial advertising used to promote television or radio programs *Promo (professional wrestling), a televised interview in which a wrestler's on-screen personali ...

CD single for radio. However, the record company

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

postponed its release until January, citing Richard's ill health as the reason (the ill health being a chest infection followed by laryngitis, which also prevented him from singing during rehearsals for concerts in November 1998). Relations between Richard and EMI at the time were also strained due to the lack of promotion and lack of sales of the album, and the single was further postponed until February before being abandoned altogether. " Butterfly Kisses" had also been slated to be the third single from the album and a video clip was recorded for it also, however, neither did it materialise.

Track listing

#"Real as I Wanna Be" ( Peter Zizzo) – 4:32 #"Even If It Breaks My Heart" (

Adam Gorgoni Adam Gorgoni (born 16 December 1963 in New York City) is a prolific composer of film and TV scores and has composed music for over 20 films, including '' Candyman: Day of the Dead'', '' Waiting...'', ''The Dead Girl'', ''Breakable You'', '' Sta ...

Phil Roy Phil Roy (born February 28, 1959) is an American singer and songwriter. Biography Early musical career Roy was born in Philadelphia and began playing the guitar at age nine. At age 17, attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Lo ...

, Shelly Peiken) – 3:45 #" Can't Keep this Feeling In" (Arnie Roman,

Dennis Lambert Dennis Earle Lambert (born 1947 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Career Lambert began his music career in 1960 when he signed to Capitol Records as a recording artist. By the mid-1960s, he was w ...

, Steve Skinner) – 3:49 #"Climbing Up Mount Everest" (Robin Lerner,

Tommy Lee James Tommy Lee James is an American country music songwriter and record producer with Still Working Music Group. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, he is originally from Roanoke, Virginia. He graduated from Northside High School then attended Radford Uni ...

) – 3:01 #"United for Evermore" (Dennis Morgan, John McLaughlin, Steve DuBerry) – 4:21 #"She Makes Me Feel Like a Man" (Cliff Richard, Michelle Wolf, Peter Wolf) – 5:38 #" Butterfly Kisses" (

Bob Carlisle Robert Mason "Bob" Carlisle (born September 29, 1956) is an American Contemporary Christian singer and songwriter. He performed with several bands, most notably Allies and Billy Thermal, before launching a solo career where he received a Grammy ...

, Randy Thomas) – 5:14 #"Snowfall on the Sahara" (Ina Wolf,

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...

, Peter Wolf) – 4:26 #"Woman and a Man" (

Noel McKoy Noel McKoy ( – 3 November 2022) was a British soul music singer. His music was a collection of soul, gospel, funk and Northern soul. McKoy created, produced and presented the Dutch Pot new artist nights in London – which ran for five year ...

, Michelle Wolf, Shelly Peiken) – 4:47 #"Till I'm Home Again" (Amy Sky, Andy Hill) – 5:15 #"Come Back to Me" (Michelle Wolf, Peter Wolf) – 4:47 #"The Miracle" (Brenda Lee Eugar) – 3:28 #"Vita Mia" (duet with

, tenor) (Lyrics by Michelle Wolf,

Zucchero Fornaciari Adelmo Fornaciari (; born 25 September 1955), more commonly known by his stage name Zucchero Fornaciari or simply Zucchero (), is an Italian singer, musician and songwriter. His stage name is the Italian word for "sugar", as his elementary teach ...

; music by Peter Wolf) – 4:18 US edition bonus track #

"Had to Be" (featuring

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

) (

John Farrar John Clifford Farrar ( ; born 8 November 1946) is an Australian music producer, songwriter, arranger, singer, and guitarist. As a musician, Farrar is a former member of several rock and roll groups including The Mustangs (1963–64), The Stra ...

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...

)

Personnel

Musicians

Adapted from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

. *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Cola ...

– drums *John Cushon – drums * Lynn Davis – background vocals *Kevin Dorsey – background vocals *

Siedah Garrett Deborah Christine "Siedah" Garrett (born June 24, 1960) is an American singer and songwriter who has written songs and performed backing vocals for many recording artists in the music industry, such as Michael Jackson, the Pointer Sisters, Brand N ...

– background vocals *

Everette Harp Everette Harp (born August 17, 1961, in Houston, Texas) is an American jazz saxophonist who has recorded for Blue Note, Capitol and Shanachie Records. His album ''Jazz Funk Soul'', a collaboration with Chuck Loeb and Jeff Lorber, received his fi ...

– alto sax *

James Ingram James Edward Ingram (February 16, 1952 – January 29, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a two-time Grammy Award-winner and a two-time Academy Award nominee for Best Original Song. After beginning his career ...

– background vocals *

Matthias Jabs Matthias Jabs (born 25 October 1955) is a German guitarist and songwriter. He is best known for being the lead guitarist in the hard rock band Scorpions. He has played on all but the first five Scorpions studio albums starting with '' Lovedri ...

– guitar * Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar, sitar *

Ricky Lawson William Riser III (November 8, 1954 – December 23, 2013), better known as Ricky Lawson, was an American drummer and composer. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he worked extensively as a session musician, collaborating with Stevie Wonder, Mich ...

– drums *Anastasios Panos – drums *

– primary artist, background vocals *Jeff Richman – guitar *Michelle Wolf – background vocals

Production

*Marketing / Distribution / Manufacturing EMI *Phonographic copyright – EMI Records Ltd. / Copyright – EMI Records Ltd. *Recorded at Little America Recording Studios / Ocean Studios / Arco Studios / R.G. Jones Studios / The Pierce Room *Mixed at Little America Recording Studios *Mastered at Precision Mastering *Design – The Attik *Engineers – Chris Heil, Christian Leitgeb, Keith Bessey, Paul Ericksen *Mastered by

Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California, United States. He has been mastering music since 1979. Biography Marcussen's introduction to music recording happened in 1976 when, at ...

*Mixed by

Julian Mendelsohn Julian Mendelsohn is an Australian record producer, audio engineer and mixer. Early life After completing school in Australia, Mendelsohn moved to the United Kingdom. He secured his first job in 1974 at Milner Sound Fulham Rd. Chelsea, run b ...

(tracks 10–12), Peter Wolf *Produced and arranged by Peter Wolf

Charts and certifications

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1998 albums Cliff Richard albums Albums produced by Peter Wolf EMI Records albums