Summer Holiday
Summer Holiday is a soundtrack album by Cliff Richard and The Shadows to the film of the same name. It is their second film soundtrack album and Richard’s eighth album overall. The album topped the UK Albums Chart for 14 weeks. Three singles from the album were released. Before the album release both “The Next Time” and “Bachelor Boy” (A- and B-side respectively) had already been hits. This was followed by “Summer Holiday” and lastly “Foot Tapper” (by the Shadows). All three singles topped the UK Singles Chart.
“Summer Holiday” is a song recorded by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, written by rhythm guitarist Bruce Welch and drummer Brian Bennett. It is taken from the film of the same name and was released as the second single from the film in February 1963. It went to number one in the UK Singles Chart for a total of two weeks. After that, the Shadows’ instrumental “Foot Tapper”—also from the same film—took over the top spot for one week, before “Summer Holiday” returned to the top spot for one further week. The track is one of Richard’s best-known titles and it remains a staple of his live shows. It was one of six hits Richard performed at his spontaneous gig at the 1996 Wimbledon Championships when rain stopped the tennis.
The melody of the song is used in the chorus of the 1986 rap tune “Holiday Rap”, by the Dutch duo MC Miker G & DJ Sven.
In 2019, the UK Government’s Drinkaware campaign parodied Summer Holiday for a string of radio adverts and videos for the “No Alcohol Day” initiative to encourage people to have drink-free days.
