Sir Cliff Richard's fans make his Birmingham visit special

He may be 71, but the crowds still go wild for Sir Cliff Richard. MARK ANDREWS caught up with him during a visit to the West Midlands - and learned about his love for a Black Country delicacy

No wonder Sir Cliff Richard loves the West Midlands. It is hard to imagine a warmer welcome than the one he received from the waiting throng outside the HMV store in Birmingham.

"I've been waiting for 32 years for this," says Trisha Black, proudly clutching her signed copy of the singer's latest DVD.

Click on the image on the right to see more pictures.

"I'm 42 now, I've been a fan since I was 10, but I never thought I would get to meet him." But there is something else that makes this region special for Sir Cliff. As far as the evergreen rock'n'roll star is concerned, you can't beat Black Country bangers.

The singer was introduced to the delicacy by his close friend of more than 30 years, Dudley charity worker Dave Pope. And whenever he visits his old friend, Sir Cliff makes sure he gets a taste of the Black Country delicacy.

"David introduced me to this fantastic butchers, it was in Lower Gornal," he says.

"They did these fantastic sausages, some of them were made with things I never imagined you could make sausages from."

The tale provides a telling insight into why Cliff is so loved by his fans after an amazing 53 years in the music industry.

While most stars will profess to love whatever area they are visiting, you get the impression with Cliff that it really does come from the heart. "A lot of us go to all of his concerts, and he does recognise us," says Sandra Nicholls, aged 64, from Smethwick. "He just loves his fans, and his fans love him."

Pc Nicola McShane, the first to volunteer for security duty when she heard the star was coming, has another tale to tell.

"I gave him a red rose, I said it was wilting a little, and he said 'that's a bit like me'."

Sitting in a small, modestly furnished back room at the Pavilions shopping centre, it seems a world away from the hundreds of cheering fans who had all been jostling for a glimpse of their hero a short while earlier.

One young fan, a 17-year-old boy, had been queuing outside the shop since 5am yesterday, so eager was he to make sure he was first in line when the singer arrived seven hours later.

"I love Cliff and I love his music," says Annette Vale, from South Yardley. "I have been going to his concerts for at least 35 years. He always puts on a full show, not like some of the other singers who don't come on until the second half."

But Sir Cliff is modest about the number of people wanting to meet him, although he admits is does make him feel good.

"It would be the same for a lot of other singers, be it George Michael or Elton John, their fans would also be queuing up, I know it's not just me," he says.

Cliff's friendship with Dave Pope, founder of the Dudley-based Saltmine Trust charity, goes back to a time when they were both performing in a Gospel tour in the 1970s.

"I've been to his house a few times for a cup of tea," he says. "He loves his garden, and he always wants to show me what's new there." Dave also introduced him to ex-Sedgley schoolboy Chris Eaton, who went on to write Sir Cliff's 1990 Christmas No 1 Saviour's Day.

Cliff does admit that as a young rocker – when he was condemned for his "violent hip-swinging and crude exhibitionism" in the New Musical Express – it never crossed his mind that he would have such a huge fan base more than half a century on.

"We used to sing Rock 'n' Roll is Here To Stay, but we didn't really think it would stay, we were thinking maybe it would be around for another 10 years. The first three or four years of my career seemed to go on forever, it was a very exciting time, but to say that I have now been doing this for 53 years, I don't know where the years have gone."

Cliff says that such longevity does not come without hard work. "I'm not sure there is a secret, but you have to give the fans what they want. You can try a new song, something different to what you have done before, but you have to respect that the fans want to be entertained."

And the old fans have also stayed remarkably loyal. Sandra Nicholls proudly explains how she saw him not once but twice during last month's Soulicious tour, at Nottingham and Birmingham.

But for all his youthful looks, does he not find the constant travelling and the late nights of tours a little bit tiring? "Whenever I do a tour, I have to do promotional work, interviews with TV, the radio and the Press," he says with a cheeky smile. "I find that more tiring than doing concerts."

* Sir Cliff Richard's Soulicious DVD, featuring him live at the O2 Arena, is on sale now priced £19.99.