541 Goodbye Little Richard - Operator

Chart entered  :  25  October  1986

Chart  peak : 67

We  now  say  goodbye  to  another  fifties  survivor.

Little  Richard  had  already  made  quite  a  few  comebacks  since  originally  forswearing  rock  and  roll  for  a  life  in  the  ministry  way  back  in  1957. He  had  a  couple  of  hits  in  the  early  sixties  when  he  toured  Britain  with  both  the  Beatles  and  Rolling  Stones  as  support  band  then  fell  into  decline  at  least  as  far  as  recording  went. He  spent  most  of  the  seventies  as  a  session  musician  although  he  chalked  up  another  hit  in  the  UK  in  1977  with  a  single  featuring  re-recordings  of  "Good  Golly  Miss  Molly"  and  "Rip  It  Up". His  eighties  comeback  was  fuelled  by  an  authorised  biography  in  1985  which  led  to  a  lot  of  TV  appearances. Now  comfortable  with  the  idea  that  he  could  preach  and  rock  simultaneously,  he  made  a  big  impression  on  chat  shows  with  his  humour  and   larger  than  life  personality. He  got  a  part  in  the  film  "Down  And  Out  In  Beverley  Hills "  and  scored  a  number  62  hit  with  the  song  "Great  Gosh  A  Mighty"  earlier  in  1986.

That  gave  some  impetus  to  his  new  album  "Lifetime  Friend" mixing  secular  music  with  religious  lyrics. "Operator "  was  the  next  single.  It's  an  effective  piece  of  pop  evangelism with  Richard's  still powerful  vocals  boosted  by  gospel  backing  voices  as  he  asks  to  be  put  in  touch  with  the  Man  Upstairs.  It  was  recorded  in  London  with  traditionalist  Stuart  Colman  producing  and  so  avoids  the  usual  80s  trademarks  relying  instead  on  scorching  sax  and  piano  solos  rather  than  synth  washes. If  you  ignore  the  message  it's  still  a  decent  R &B  workout  but  it  fell  foul  of  radio's  usual  avoidance  of  religious  singles.

On  the  next  single  "Somebody's  Comin'", Colman  took  the  exact  opposite  approach  with  a  backing  track  straight  from  a  Paul  Young  album. It's  a  bland  and  boring  song  and  Richard  sounds  like  he's  singing  it  in  a  key  that  he  can  no  longer  manage. His  sincerity  is  obvious  but  it's  not  a  comfortable  listen.

For  the  next  few  years  Richard  concentrated  mainly  on  his  acting  career  his  only  recording  being  the  title  song  for  Twins  (  he  wasn't  in  the  film )  , an  ugly, tuneless  piece  of   Fairlight  bombast  in  1988.  In  1990  he  contributed  a  rap  to  the  Living  Colour  song  Elvis  Is  Dead  and  in  1991 was  part  of   the  charity  ensemble  Voices  That  Care  with  their  eponymous  Gulf  War  single, a  number  11  hit  in  the  US  but  not  a  hit  here. In  1992  he  accepted  a  commission  to  do  an  album  rocking  up  children's  songs  "Shake  It  All  About"  which  sort  of  counts  as  his  last  album  of  new  material.

The  acting  work  tailed  off  towards  the  end  of  the  nineties  and  Richard  has  spent  his  time  doing  guest  appearances  on  other  people's  records  and  one  off  live  showcases. In  the  last  decade  his  health  has  declined . He  has  had  problems  with  sciatica in  his  left  leg  and  his  hip  and  his  heart. Earlier  this  year  there  were  rumours  that  he  was  on  his  deathbed  forcing  him  to  put  out  a statement  refuting  that. Having  not  performed  since  2013  I  think  it's  safe  to  say  his  career  has  come  to  a  close.