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talking about Chris Evans.... |
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Juke Box Fury |
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“When Evans took up arms against me, I think
he blew it for himself and he ended up looking like a stupid child. And the
public, though liberated, does have its limit. There is a distance that they
will come with you but only so far. It has happened to people before, and
unless they are clever they shoot themselves in the toot and end up hobbling
hack to the hovel. It is no coincidence that Zoe Ball took half of his
listeners away from him.”
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So does he enjoy the fact that
Chris Evans has fallen from fame’s slippery ladder? “In some respects he is
on his way down. But he has been very clever in his business dealings and he
is not down in terms of lifestyle. But I know that if I lost my career,
materialistically I would not have to worry but I am sure he must miss the
attention and the glory.”
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Cliff’s
career has been a constant focus of scrutiny. Tabloid editors seem to think
it is inconceivable to be a “bachelor boy” and celibate, especially if you
are famous. And being an evangelical Christian in the pop industry also
goes against the grain. “Funny that,” he says, “if people are safe within
their own belief system, why fear others who do not share your views? I am
quite happy to sit with anybody.”
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Ever since
he burst on to the music scene with Move it in 1958 his fans have taken his
lead and have not stopped gyrating every time a song by their idol is
played. And though he has always “moved” with the times, speculation about
his lifestyle has always filled gossip columns.
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At every new
stage of his profession it seems someone is out to discredit him. Never more
so than when he played Heathcliff. He was ridiculed for taking on the role,
yet he successfully played to sold-out theatres around the country. So is it
because he goes his own way that people try to trip him up?
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When I look
back in terms of rock and roll and pop, I see myself as a kind of radical. I
did not do what everyone else did. You can put the Stones, the Who and
others in the same category - they rebelled, trashed hotel rooms and threw
TV sets out of windows. I didn’t. It’s hard to be different. I mean, who was
being radical? I say this with tongue in cheek but think about it. OK, so I
drink but not a lot and I have never smoked or done drugs. And I can look
any of m contemporaries in the eye and say my last record sold a million
copies. They do not like to answer why their sales are not so good. It is a
shame. ‘l’he sex, drugs and rock and roll outlook is not broad enough, it’s
blinkered. The irony is they believe they are liberated but they are
chained." |
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