"Living in Harmony"
Cover of the single released in Germany
Single by Cliff Richard
B-side"Empty Chairs"
Released28 July 1972 (1972-07-28)
Recorded4 July 1972[1]
StudioEMI Studios, London
GenrePop
Length3:21
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Norrie Paramor
Cliff Richard singles chronology
"Jesus"
(1972) 		"Living in Harmony"
(1972) 		"A Brand New Song"
(1972)

"Living in Harmony" is a song by British singer Cliff Richard, released as a single in July 1972. It peaked at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.[2]

Release

"Living in Harmony" was written by songwriting duo Alan Tarney and Trevor Spencer. Tarney would go on to write as well as produce numerous songs for Richard. It was released as single with the B-side "Empty Chairs", a song written by Don Mclean for his album American Pie. Both tracks were arranged by and feature the orchestra of Nick Ingman. Richard has described "Living in Harmony" as being "the end of times", as it was the last single of Richard's to be produced by Norrie Paramor (he did also produce "An Old Accordion", the B-side to the follow-up single "A Brand New Song").[1]

It was first recorded by Olivia Newton-John for her second album Olivia, released in August 1972.[3] Richard had heard her version and said to manager Peter Gormley, "It's a fabulous song, but I don't like the arrangement very much" and that "somehow or another, it seems to me a commercial song but it doesn't sound commercial". So, Richard has said, "we really worked on making it commercial. And in essence it was commercial, but I think somehow – I don't know what they did to their session, but it was too fast and everything. And we really got down and I think we came up – I mean, with all love, Olivia – I think we did a better version of it".[1]

Track listing

7": Columbia / DB 8917

  1. "Living in Harmony" – 3:21
  2. "Empty Chairs" – 3:24

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1972) Peak
position
Hong Kong (Radio Hong Kong)[4] 4
Ireland (IRMA)[5] 10
Malaysia (Rediffusion)[6] 8
South Africa (Springbok Radio)[7] 18
Thailand (Radio HSA)[4] 2
UK Singles (OCC)[2] 12

References

  1. ^ a b c "Cliff Richard Song Database – Song Details (Living In Harmony)". www.cliffrichardsongs.com.
  2. ^ a b "Cliff Richard: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  3. ^ "Olivia – Olivia Newton-John". Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. 28 October 1972. p. 62. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  5. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Living in Harmony". Irish Singles Chart.
  6. ^ "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. 18 November 1972. p. 86. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  7. ^ "SA Charts 1969–March 1989". Retrieved 18 October 2021.
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