Description
Walking in the Light is a compilation album featuring contemporary gospel songs recorded by the British singer and songwriter Cliff Richard between 1976 and 1983, released on Myrrh Records in 1984, a division of Word. Also manufactured and distributed by A&M Records.
Similar to Cliff Richard’s gospel oriented studio albums Small Corners and Now You See Me, Now You Don’t (which were released in 1978 and 1982, respectively), most of the songs on this compilation album were written by Christian songwriters. “Thief In The Night” was written by Paul Field (formerly of Nutshell); “Better Than I Know Myself” was written by Dave Cooke and Judy MacKenzie (a duo that released a sole album on EMI Records in 1974, entitled Thinking It Over); “Under The Influence” was written by Garth Hewitt (originally featured on an album by the same title released by Hewitt in 1981); “Lost In A Lonely World” and “Summer Rain” were written by Chris Eaton of Mark Williamson Band; “Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music” was written by Larry Norman; while “You Me And Jesus” and “Love And A Helping Hand” were written by Cliff himself. “You Got Me Wondering” and “Walking In The Light” were actually written by Terry Britten, Cliff Richard’s long time session guitarist.
Walking in the Light is particularly notable as being one of the best selling contemporary Christian music albums in the UK during the 1980s. These tracks were all originally released during Cliff’s renaissance period of the late 1970s and early 1980s, pulled together from various Sources including studio albums, live albums, as well as B-Sides of his pop singles. The track selection wraps up most of the gospel tracks Cliff released in the period that were not included on his two contemporary gospel studio albums of the period, Small Corners (1978) and Now You See Me, Now You Don’t (1982).
CD re-issue
A reissue of a compilation that originally came out on Word in the early ’80s and is probably the best selling CCM album in the UK of that era. There are some true Cliff classics («Better Than I Know Myself», «Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music», «Thief In The Night»). Considering these tracks were originally pulled together from various sources, including flip sides, these songs of faith stand up very well. I suppose I should also mention the sleevenotes by one Tony Cummings, who, apparently, is the assistant editor of Buzz magazine. Doesn’t time fly? [Tony Cummings, Cross Rhythms, June 1995]
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Better Than I Know Myself”- 3:43 (from Wired for Sound, 1981)
A2. “Such Is The Mystery” – 5:10 (from I’m Nearly Famous, 1976)
A3. “Every Face Tells A Story”- 3:20 (from Every Face Tells a Story, 1977)
A4. “Love And A Helping Hand” – 3:06 (from the B-side of “Little Town”, 1982)
A5. “You Got Me Wondering” – 3:35 (from Every Face Tells a Story, 1977)
A6. “Walking In The Light” – 3:15 (from the B-side of “Hot Shot”, 1979)
Side Two
B1. “Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music” – 4:35 (live; from Thank You Very Much, 1979)
B2. “Under The Influence” – 2:49 (from the B-side of “The Only Way Out”, 1982)
B3. “Lost In A Lonely World” – 4:03 (from Wired for Sound, 1981)
B4. “You Me And Jesus” – 2:17 (from the B-side of “Little Town”, 1982)
B5. “Summer Rain” – 4:18 (from Wired for Sound, 1981)
B6. “Thief In The Night” – 3:56 (live with the London Philharmonic Orchestra; from Dressed for the Occasion, 1983)
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Myrrh Records in both Europe and the US (with the US edition featuring 10 tracks only, missing tracks B1 and B2). Re-issued on CD by Alliance Music in 1994.
“Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music,” Live on ITV’s Pop Gospel
“Walking In The Light,” The Tube, 25.01.1985
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