We Don't Talk Anymore (Cliff Richard song)

"We Don't Talk Anymore"
Single by Cliff Richard
from the album Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile
B-side"Count Me Out"
Released6 July 1979 (1979-07-06)[1]
Recorded29 May 1979[1]
StudioRG Jones, London, UK
Genre
Length
  • 4:13
  • 3:40 (US 7-inch version)
  • 6:54 (European 12-inch version)
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Alan Tarney
Producer(s)Bruce Welch
Cliff Richard singles chronology
"Green Light"
(1979) 		"We Don't Talk Anymore"
(1979) 		"Hot Shot"
(1979)
Cliff Richard (US/Europe/Australia) singles chronology
"Green Light"
(1979) 		"We Don't Talk Anymore"
(1979) 		"Carrie"
(1980)
Music video
"We Don't Talk Anymore" on YouTube

"We Don't Talk Anymore" is a song recorded by Cliff Richard, written by Alan Tarney and produced by the Shadows' rhythm guitarist, Bruce Welch. It was released in 1979 as a single and reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in August 1979, remaining there for four weeks,[4] Richard's tenth UK number one and his first since "Congratulations" in 1968.

Background

Tarney wrote the song in 1979, planning to use it on an album with the Tarney/Spencer Band. However, Tarney played a demo of the song to Welch during a break in recording sessions for Where to Now by Charlie Dore (which the two were producing). Welch instantly knew it was going to be a hit and phoned up Richard's manager Peter Gormley, as he believed "there was only one person who could record it — Cliff Richard". It was then quickly recorded in May 1979 at RG Jones Recording Studios in Wimbledon.[1]

It was released as a stop-gap single between the albums Green Light and Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile. However, it wasn't meant to be included on Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile, as Richard didn't think it was appropriate for "an energy packed album of progressive rock 'n' roll". However, record label EMI were insistent on including it after it became a massive hit and Richard reluctantly conceded.[1] Due to the single's success, Tarney was brought in to produce Richard's next two albums I'm No Hero and Wired for Sound and has said that "'We Don't Talk Anymore' should really have been on I'm No Hero".[1]

The single release featured the B-side "Count Me Out", which was written by Terry Britten and Welch and was taken from Green Light. In several European countries a 12-inch single was released, featuring an extended slightly remixed version of the song that runs to seven minutes long.[5] This version has never been released on CD. The US release of the single features an edited version of "We Don't Talk Anymore", which fades over half a minute early.[6]

In December 1990, a remixed version of "We Don't Talk Anymore" was released as a single in continental Europe and in Australasia in November 1991.[7] Taken from the live album From a Distance: The Event, it was remixed by Ian Curnow and Phil Harding at the PWL Studios.[8] The single failed to chart.

Commercial reception

Coming just before his 39th birthday, and just when it was announced that he was to receive the OBE for services to music, the record cemented his comeback, which continued well into the 1980s and 1990s. The single was his biggest worldwide seller; it was number one in Germany for five weeks (his only English-language German chart-topper, though he had two German-language number ones there in the 1960s), and reached number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States. The fact that its chart run extended beyond the end of 1979 meant Richard became the first act to reach the Hot 100's top 40 in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.[9]

The single sold over 4 million copies worldwide, topping the charts in the UK, Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Finland, West Germany, Ireland, Norway and Switzerland. The song spent 4 weeks atop the Irish Singles Chart in September 1979.[10] The song was certified Gold in both the UK and West Germany.[11][12]

During the single's run at the Number 1 position on the UK Singles Chart, Norrie Paramor, Richard's original producer who guided his early career in the late 1950s and 1960s, died on 9 September 1979.[13]

The song was the sixth video aired on MTV on its launch on 1 August 1981.

Track listings

1979 releases

7"

  1. "We Don't Talk Anymore" – 4:13
  2. "Count Me Out" – 4:15

7" (US)

  1. "We Don't Talk Anymore" – 3:40
  2. "Count Me Out" – 4:13

12"

  1. "We Don't Talk Anymore" – 6:54
  2. "Count Me Out" – 4:11

1990 releases

7" & Cassette

  1. "We Don't Talk Anymore" – 4:38
  2. "From a Distance" – 4:41

12" & CD

  1. "We Don't Talk Anymore" – 8:13
  2. "From a Distance" – 4:41
  3. "We Don't Talk Anymore" – 4:38

Personnel

Charts and certifications

Other versions

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Cliff Richard Song Database – Song Details (We Don't Talk Anymore)". www.cliffrichardsongs.com.
  2. ^ Stanley, Bob (13 September 2013). "Young Love: Weenyboppers and Boy Bands". Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. Faber & Faber. p. 383. ISBN 978-0-571-28198-5.
  3. ^ a b Burke, Ken (1 January 1998). "Cliff Richard". In Knopper, Steve (ed.). MusicHound Lounge: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 401.
  4. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 371–2. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  5. ^ Cliff Richard (1979). We Don't Talk Anymore (12"). Germany: EMI / Electrola.
  6. ^ "Cliff Richard – We Don't Talk Anymore". Discogs. 1979. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Cliff Richard – We Don't Talk Anymore", Discogs, 1990, retrieved 22 February 2022
  8. ^ "Cliff Richard Song Database – Song Details". www.cliffrichardsongs.com. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  9. ^ Casey Kasem, American Top 40, 12 April 1980
  10. ^ "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". www.irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  11. ^ "UK certification Database". BPI. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  12. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Cliff Richard)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  13. ^ Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 198. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  14. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  15. ^ "Cliff Richard – We Don't Talk Anymore" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  16. ^ "Cliff Richard – We Don't Talk Anymore" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  17. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 9463a." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  18. ^ "B.T.". B.T. 23 November 1979.
  19. ^ Pennanen, Timo (1979). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 9789511210535.
  20. ^ "The Europarade - 1976 to 1979". www.ukmix.org. 8 August 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  21. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – We Don't Talk Anymore". Irish Singles Chart.
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  23. ^ Spinetoli, John Joseph. Artisti in Classifica: I Singoli: 1960–1999. Milano: Musica e dischi, 2000
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  26. ^ "Cliff Richard – We Don't Talk Anymore". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
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  28. ^ "South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (H)". Rock.co.za. John Samson. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  29. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 1979). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
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  34. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 200.
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  38. ^ "Kent Music Report No 288 – 31 December 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1979". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 10 January 2023 – via Imgur.com.
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  40. ^ "B.T.". B.T. 28 December 1979.
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  42. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1979". www.dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  43. ^ "Top Selling Singles of 1979 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
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  48. ^ The 1980 Top 100 Singles chart is identified by the RPM Year-End article "Top 100 Singles (1980)". RPM. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
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  52. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Cliff Richard; 'We Don't Talk Anymore')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  53. ^ "Dutch single certifications – Cliff Richard – We Don't Talk Anymore" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 16 July 2022. Enter We Don't Talk Anymore in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1979 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
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