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29 October 2014
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Although your contribution has been huge in the past, there may be some that have overlooked you and jumped straight to Marley. How does that make you feel?
Again, it's just one of those things. Marley was great, but I don't think you can ignore what I did, what Peter Tush did, Yellow man... People will always look at a star that shone the brightest at a point in time, but at the same time history is history. You can't take that away. What is yours will always be yours and I believe we get in life what we deserve.

A lot of people know you more for films than music, again how does that make you feel?
That makes me feel good, I tell you the truth, it really does. The first love I really had was for acting. I took the singing route because it was the easier one to take. It takes many thousands of pounds to make a movie, but nothing like as much to make a record. But if you look back at my career the thing that really launched me to the world was when I combined the two. Film and music together. People recognising me for that is great, it's something I love to do.

When you did 'The Harder They Come' did you think it would have the long lasting impact that it's had?
I am an optimistic person. Because of the conditions in which I grew up, I had to be like that to survive. It's become a part of me. I went into that movie with a positive mind, not really having any idea of the impact that it would have, but I did have high hopes. It seemed as though some of my subconscious dreams really did come true. But there was some dissatisfaction with it too. My character protrayed an innocent guy from the country that came into the city to experience the hard ways of the city. He found himself having to do things that were not really pretty. I wanted to show more of the positive stuff that goes on in the ghetto too. I wanted to be able to show that you can really survive in the ghetto without having to take up a gun or becoming violent. So, we're in the process of making a sequel to the movie. Again, I don't know if it'll all be positive, but Dave Stewart and I are planning to start production next year.

Have you had anyone express an interest so far?
In terms of cast, we've not really reached that stage yet. At one point Wyclef Jean did show some interest. Wherever I go though, people are still always asking me about 'part 2', after all these years people are still expecting it.

Have you had any ideas as to who could play certain parts though?
Well, my character is supposed to be dead, but we ressurrected him, [laughs]. So, someone like Wyclef could possibly play my son, or someone like Lauryn Hill or Ms Dynamite could play a part. Those are the people I have my eyes on, but we'll see how it goes.

You're obviously very positive about musicians appearing in films, but what do you think of Samuel L Jackson's recent criticism of musicians doing too many films?
I have to be positive about it as I was already an actor. I'm not sure how good some of the rappers are, I haven't seen them all. But it's an art that someone has to respect, that needs training and study. Some of us have it naturally, but you always have to learn things as well.

Has there ever been any points in your career when you've thought you'd had enough?
Many, many times I've thought that you know. I don't know anyone that hasn't gone through that period in their life, when you just don't know whether you're coming or going. But when you come to that point and you think you want to pack it in, you say to yourself 'and do what?' [laughs] You just have to wake up and move on.

If you could chose your own TOTP lineup who would they be?
Some are alive, some have passed away. Definitely Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Simon andbGarfunkel, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley. I like these people because they were innovators, pioneers and they opened the way, They took the chance and did something new and I like people like that.

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Visit Jimmy Cliff's official web site.
  Simply Red  
  "That's a bit supermarket, isn't it. I'm not making that many bottles. "  
  Robin Gibb  
  "There's been great moments both as a songwriter and as a performer."  
  Paul Roberts - The Stranglers  
  "We certainly weren't going to call ourselves The Bay City Rollers."  
  Lisa Stansfield  
  "I just thought, how many times do I have to sing this song?"  
  Soft Cell  
  "I think it's the only time that a banjo's been played in the Ministry of Sound."  
  Erasure  
  "Agnetha said she liked it. If I met them I would curtsey."  
  INXS  
  "We really surprised lots of people by simply hanging in there."  
  Kim Wilde  
  "I used to be really jealous of Claire Grogan...I thought she was gorgeous."  
  Dollar  
  "Failure was not an option, we were materialistic and greed was good."  
  Human League  
  "We did a US tour with Culture Club and Howard Jones...solely for the cash."  
  Altered Images  
  "Women were treated as a bit of a novelty in the music business in 1981."  
  Belle Stars  
  "The pop music lark just seems like a lifetime away now."  
  Steve Strange  
  "Look, you’re playing me like a bitchy queen and I’m not like that."  
  Five Star  
  "We all grew up wanting to be famous and we lived our dream..."  
  Phillip from Ruby Flipper  
  "At my age, I'd find it difficult to get my legs where they used to go..."  
  Glen Campbell  
  "I got to work with literally everyone in the business; Nat King Cole, Sinatra..."  
  David Gray  
  "Lots of tension in the camp. We're battling Gareth Gates for the No.1 spot"  
  Robert Palmer  
  "There's this homegenised force feeding of what is hip."  
  Marilyn  
  "I think George manipulated our relationship for publicity"  
  Tom Jones  
  "I'm pulling all my old jewellery out now and comparing my rings with Wyclef"  
  Ruth From Pan's People  
  "I could show you dozens of times I forgot the moves..."  
  Badly Drawn Boy  
  "Everybody has to do what everybody else does in order to have a hit single"  
  John Otway  
  "I think the music business is probably not happy with what we've done..."  
  Jimmy Cliff  
  "I look at someone like Ms Dynamite, I come away with a positive feeling."  
  Human League  
  "We wouldn't trust anyone that didn't wear eyeliner."  
  Status Quo  
  "I probably went about four or five years with a pair of stage jeans"  
  Gary Numan  
  "There are so many things in my past that you could make fun of."  
  McAlmont and Butler  
  "We were big enough to get over any-thing that may have been exchanged."  
  Primal Scream  
  "The producer at the time told us we'd never work again."  
  Oasis  
  "I prefer miming, I prefer if we weren’t playing live."  


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