Cliff Richard – The nation’s top guilty pleasure

As Sir Cliff Richard kicks off his bid to bag a 15th number one single with his new ‘Thank you for a Lifetime’ release, over half of Brits (56%) have voted him as their favourite guilty music pleasure, according to a poll of over 1,800 music fans on MSN Music.

Aging rocker Rod Stewart came in second with 17% of votes, followed by drummer-turned-front man Phil Collins (15%) and Mum’s favourite Barry Manilow (7%). Just making it into the top five with 5% of the votes was ex-long-haired wonder-boy Michael Bolton.

Memorable moments

As well as taking the nation’s guilty pleasure crown, comeback Cliff had a surge of public support in his bid to top the charts this week. Almost nine in ten (88%) MSN music fans said that Cliff deserves one last shot with his latest single.

And should he make it to number one, Cliff will add to his most memorable moment of the last 60 years –two in five (40%) music fans claimed they’ll remember Cliff’s 14 number ones as his finest moment, edging out his impromptu sing-a-long at Wimbledon (26%), his OBE award (19%) and even his skimpy white trunks in Summer Holiday (4%).

Fans’ favourite

As far as the best Cliff songs of all time go, his 1979 hit ‘We Don’t Talk Anymore’ stands out with over a third (34%) of Brits voting it above all his other tracks. Other legendary classics came close behind with ‘Summer Holiday’ (19%), ‘Devil Woman’ (19%), ‘Living Doll’ (18%) and ‘Congratulations’ (10%) making up the list of Cliff’s top five hits.

Cliff’s Christmas collection

No Christmas soundtrack would be complete without a song by Cliff who has provided festive sing-a-long fodder for homes up and down the country. Over half (58%) of fans voted Cliff’s classic ‘Mistletoe and Wine’ as his best Christmas track coming in ahead of number two on the list ‘Saviour’s Day’ (23%) and ‘Millennium Prayer’ (12%) picking up third place.

Have a break, have a Cliff Chat

Cliff’s had many singing partners in his time, but if he’s going to do another duet, then music fans would love nothing more than to see him team up with pop sensation Leona Lewis. A third of respondents (34%) said they’d like to see Cliff sing with the X-Factor star, while a fifth (22%) voted for legend Lulu. And should he ever decide to give up singing all together, over a third (35%) claimed they’d love to see Cliff host his own chat show.

MSN Music Editor James Hurley says: “With hits in every decade since the 1950s, Cliff is a national treasure and a pop icon that is still regarded as one of the all-time greats by music fans everywhere.”

“We wanted to give our readers the chance to have their say on the pop legend’s best moments as he bids for an unprecedented 15th number one and we wish him well in his bid for chart dominance.’’

Check out news on Cliff’s bid to get a 15th number one at http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/music .