Cliff

Jimmy Cliff has always occupied an odd position in reggae music, first of all because he predates it significantly, but also because for much of his career he merged his musical interests with international pop considerations to the extent that he managed to record frequently for such major labels as Warner, EMI, Universal, and Sony. Although his commercial success was spotty, it was recurrent; he first hit the charts internationally in 1969 and was still scoring occasionally in the mid-'90s. His label hopping had made it practically impossible to assemble a thorough compilation of his work until the release of Anthology. Universal's Hip-O reissue subsidiary specializes in putting together anthologies that span record labels, and the compilers had quite a task on their hands when it came to Cliff.

In October 1967, Cliff Richard and the Norrie Paramor Orchestra embarked upon a fabulously successful Japanese tour, climaxing with a solidly sold-out appearance at the Shibuya Public Hall in Tokyo, recorded for both domestic and international release the following year. It's a magnificent performance, spinning through highlights of Richard's entire career, all the way back to "Move It" and "Dynamite," but eschewing the easy route of simply piling hits upon hits, by concentrating as much on rocking covers as on the expected hits – "What'd I Say," "Shout," and "Twist and Shout" make it onto the album; left on the cutting room floor are equally powerful takes on "Good Golly Miss Molly" and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy."

Reunited is a 2009 studio album by British pop singer Cliff Richard and his original backing band The Shadows. The album celebrates the 50th anniversary of Cliff's first recordings and performances with The Shadows, and is their first collaboration in the recording studio for forty years…

Like the Lost and Found collection of unreleased material that was released alongside it, Rare B-Sides comes as both a blessing and a curse to the Cliff Richard collector – a blessing, because its 25 songs serve up a fine snapshot of his B-side activity between 1963 and 1973 (plus three flips from the '80s that do feel out of place); and a curse because anybody who bought the 50th anniversary box set on the strength of its quotient of rarities and unreleased material is probably feeling a little sore right now…