Cliff Richard rocked Sri Lanka when he toured Colombo for the first time on his ‘Here and Now Tour’ on 23rd February 2007. Cliff is enjoying the sights and sounds of Sri Lanka and has also spent some time on Sri Lanka’s wonderful beaches. He flies to the Maldives on 26th February 2007.
Sir Cliff Richard released his first British rock and roll single ‘Move It’ in 1958. Vernon Corea was an announcer with Radio Ceylon and he helped make ‘Move It’ a hit across South Asia when he featured Cliff Richard on his radio programs on the station’s All Asia beam.
Radio Ceylon ruled the airwaves in South Asia and it played hit after hit by Cliff Richard on the All Asia beam – thousands of listeners from the Indian sub-continent wrote into Radio Ceylon requesting Cliff Richard songs. People in India bought transistor radios to listen to Radio Ceylon. The station not only played Hindi film music they also played western popular music to their Asian audiences. Radio was King in the Indian sub-continent in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Hindu Newspaper quoted the celebrated 1970s Jazz Queen of India, Asha Puthli:
‘Asha Puthli was born and raised in Bombay. With a strong grounding in Indian classical music, she stepped forward to European opera. She learnt about Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole from “Voice of America” and about Dusty Springfield and Cliff Richard from Radio Ceylon……’
Vernon Corea never met Cliff Richard despite playing a role in popularising his music to millions of South Asian listeners. Vernon Corea was appointed Ethnic Minorities Adviser to the BBC in the 1970s. He was also a Lay Reader at Emmanuel Church in Wimbledon Village.He died in New Malden in Surrey in the United Kingdom in 2002.
Read the LANKA EVERYTHING News Report on Sir Cliff Richard rocking Sri Lanka:
http://wwww.lankaeverything.com/vinews/entertainment/20070222182626.php
Vernon Corea 1927-2002 