Cilla Black

Cilla Black

Cilla Black OBE (born Priscilla Maria Veronica White on 27 May 1943) is an English singer-songwriter and television personality.

Biography

Music career

Cilla Black was born in Liverpool.

Priscilla White, as she was then, was discovered by Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager. His management and George Martin's production skills assisted Black to become one of the most successful British pop singers of the period.

Cilla was introduced to Brian Epstein by John Lennon, who persuaded him to audition her. Her first audition was a failure, partly because of nerves, and partly because the Beatles (who backed her) played the songs in their vocal key rather than re-pitching them for Cilla's voice. In her autobiography What's It All About? she writes:

I'd chosen to do "Summertime", but at the very last moment I wished I hadn't. I adored this song, and had sung it when I came to Birkenhead with the Big Three, but I hadn't rehearsed it with the Beatles and it had just occurred to me that they would play it in the wrong key. It was too late for second thoughts, though. With one last wicked wink at me, John set the group off playing. I'd been right to worry. The music was not in my key and any adjustments that the boys were now trying to make were too late to save me. My voice sounded awful. Destroyed — and wanting to die — I struggled on to the end.

Epstein introduced Cilla to George Martin who signed her to Parlophone Records and produced her debut single, "Love of the Loved" (written by Lennon and McCartney), which was released only three weeks after she signed with Epstein. The single peaked at a modest number 35, a failure compared to debut releases of Epstein's other artists.

Her second single, released at the beginning of 1964, was the Burt Bacharach-Hal David composition "Anyone Who Had a Heart". In the United States, it was a new single destined to be a hit for Dionne Warwick where it peaked at #8 while Cilla's version shot to #1 in Britain. Her second UK #1 hit, "You're My World", was an English-language rendition of the Italian popular song Il Mio Mondo. She also enjoyed chart success with the song in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, South Africa and Canada. This was followed by another Lennon-McCartney composition, It's For You.

Cilla Black recorded a great range of material during this time, including songs written by Phil Spector, Randy Newman, Tim Hardin, and Burt Bacharach. All were produced by George Martin at Abbey Road Studios.

In 1965, Cilla's version of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" went to no. 2 in the UK charts and was stopped from going to no. 1 by the original version of the same song, performed by The Righteous Brothers. This was the first of only three occasions in the history of the British Top 40 where the same song, recorded by two different artists, held the top 2 positions in the chart in the same week. Cilla also released her first album that year entitled "Cilla". The album peaked at #5 and uncommonly for the time did not feature any songs that were released as singles. Cilla's next single was by composer Randy Newman. The song "I've Been Wrong Before" peaked at #17. While it is by no means anywhere near one of Cilla's biggest sellers, it is praised by many as one of her very best vocal performances and the composer himself regards the recording as one of the best interpretations of his songs.

In 1966, Black recorded the Bacharach-David song "Alfie", inspired by the film, Alfie. While the song was not included on the UK film version, Cher sang "Alfie" on the closing credits of the US version. Also, Alfie later became a hit for Dionne Warwick in the States, but it was a major hit for Black in the UK, reaching #9 on the British charts. Cilla's version of "Alfie" was arranged and conducted by Bacharach himself at the recording session at Abbey Road. Bacharach insisted on several takes, and Black cited the Alfie recording session as one of the most demanding of her recording career. For Bacharach's part, he said "...there weren't too many white singers around which could convey the emotion that I felt in many of the songs I wrote but that changed with people like Cilla Black..."

Brian Epstein's attempts to move Cilla Black into films were less successful. A brief appearance in the beat film Ferry Cross the Mersey and a leading role alongside David Warner in the 1967 psychedelic comedy Work Is a Four-Letter Word were largely ignored by film critics. In a 1997 interview with Record Collector magazine, Black revealed she was asked to appear in the 1969 film The Italian Job, playing the part of Michael Caine's girlfriend, but negotiations fell through between producers and her management over her fee.

Further recording successes followed: Conversations, Surround Yourself With Sorrow, If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind (all 1969), Something Tells Me (Somethings Gonna Happen Tonight) (1971) and Baby We Can't Go Wrong (1974).

1993 saw Black releasing Through the Years, an album of new material featuring a number of duets with Dusty Springfield, Cliff Richard, and Barry Manilow. Ten years later she released the album Beginnings... Greatest Hits and New Songs.

In his 1969 study of pop history Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom, the rock journalist Nik Cohn wrote prophetically:

It’s true — the British don’t like their girl singers to be too good, they think it smacks of emancipation, and Cilla at least seemed safe. Obviously, she was quite a nice girl. Also, she was respectable and reliable, very clean and quite unsexy, and she played daughter or maybe kid sister, steady date or fiancée, but she played nobody’s mistress at all. She wasn’t like that. Everyone patronized her like hell, waiting for her to fall, but then she didn’t fall after all, she floated instead and she’s still up there now. She won’t ever come down either — she doesn't sing much, she still comes on like a schoolgirl but she’s liked like that and she can’t go wrong. Genuinely, she’s warm and she makes people glow. In her time, she will grow into a pop Gracie Fields, much loved entertainer, and she’ll become institutionalized.

She has released 15 studio albums and 37 singles (many of which have charted world-wide).

In 2006–2007, Cilla's 1971 single "Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)" was used as the soundtrack to a new British advertising campaign for Ferrero Rocher chocolates.

Over the 2008/09 Christmas/New Year pantomime season, Cilla Black returned to live musical performance in the pantomime "Cinderella", appearing as the Fairy Godmother. Cilla was part of an all Scouse cast assembled in this 3-hour stage spectacular to mark the end of Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture. The show incorporated a number of Cill's hits which she performed live, including "You're My World", "Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)", "Step Inside Love" and "Sing A Rainbow". Cilla received rave reviews for her singing and overall performance (examples: , , and .) It is not clear if/when Cilla will sing live again but her performance in this stage show demonstrated that she still has a commanding voice and stage presence and a large audience to make it worth her while should she ever desire to return to the concert stage.

Television career

The first series of Cilla was broadcast on Tuesday 30 January 1968. On the first show her guest was Tom Jones. The two pop stars sang a duet together. Paul McCartney (without Lennon) wrote the theme tune - another chart hit for Black - entitled "Step Inside Love". This song was later covered by Madeline Bell. Henry Mancini, Ringo Starr, Donovan, Georgie Fame and Dusty Springfield were among the artistes who appeared in the earlier series of Cilla, however many programmes were later wiped. Her BBC show was relatively successful and paved the way for a lengthy television career which continued intermittently until 2003.

Like so many of her contemporaries, during the 1970s her musical career was in decline, although she often toured. Increasingly thought of as a television "personality", she found herself experimenting with situation comedy for ITV in Cilla's World of Comedy and Cilla's Comedy Six. Her BBC series, Cilla, continued successfully until 1976, taking a break in 1970, 1972 and 1975. The theme songs from the Cilla series were also successful. "Step Inside Love" opened the series in both the 1968 and 1969 runs and reached number 8 in the UK singles chart on its release. Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight) was the theme for the 1971 and 1973 shows, reaching number 3 and becoming Cilla's last top ten hit. "Baby, We Can't Go Wrong" was used for the 1974 series and was a minor hit, reaching number 36, Cilla's last UK chart entry until 1993. "It's Now" was the final theme from the 1976 series and failed to reach the charts, albeit released as a "B" side.

The UK's Eurovision Song Contest entry selection process was part of the Cilla show in both 1968 and 1973, when her close friend Cliff Richard was the featured artist performing all the songs shortlisted in the A Song For Europe segment. Cilla herself was originally approached to sing for the UK in 1968 and was asked again for the 1970 contest, but declined; she was pregnant at the time.

By the beginning of the 1980s, Cilla Black was performing mainly in cabaret and concert, and had been absent from the small screen since a Thames Television special in 1978. In 1983 she appeared on the BBC's Wogan programme. Her appearance on this peak-time talk show was a major hit, and her career in television was resurrected. She signed a contract with London Weekend Television, which led to her becoming the host of Blind Date (1985–2003), Surprise, Surprise (1984–2001) and The Moment of Truth (1998–2001) . All programmes were mainstream ratings winners and consolidated her position as the highest paid female performer on British television.

Her TV appearances have made her spoken mannerisms ("Lorra lorra laughs" for example) and her habit of familiarly referring to her fellow presenters ("Our Graham") well known. Notable television appearances since her resignation from LWT have included Parkinson, So Graham Norton, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Room 101 and Cilla Live! for Living TV. Black was a judge on the first series of the Reality TV series Soapstar Superstar, has featured in an episode of the series Eating with... and has recently guest presented editions of The Paul O'Grady Show and The Friday Night Project for Channel 4.

Cilla Black is returning to TV screens in to front a new dating show for Sky One in 2009. Cilla will present Loveland, a ten-part dating "21st century" dating programme for the channel next year. Unlike on Blind Date, which Black hosted for 18 years, contestants will not sit in front of a studio audience but will be 'hidden' behind real-time animations as they date each other. Each episode concludes with the contestant picking their preferred animated character before meeting that person in real life. Black, 65, said she had been "captivated" by the "modern-day twist on the dating format" of the show, which brought "something new and exciting to the genre". "[The] unique animation may help couples find love and me the perfect hat," she added, referring to the collection of hats she amassed for the Blind Date weddings during her time on the ITV1 show. Richard Woolfe, director of programming for Sky One, Two and Three, said Black was "the undisputed queen of the dating show". "There's been many pretenders to her throne, but she remains in a class of her own," he added. "I'm thrilled she shares my passion for Loveland and for bringing the dating show kicking and screaming into the 21st Century."

Personal life

She attended St. Anthony's School, which was behind St. Anthony's Church in Scotland Road, and Anfield Commercial College.

She was married to her manager Bobby Willis (born 25 January, 1942) for over 30 years until his death from lung cancer on 23 October, 1999. They had three sons, Robert (now her manager, born in 1970), Ben (born in 1973), and Jack (born in 1980). After Willis's death, Black admitted to suffering a miscarriage in 1972. In 1975, while performing at the Coventry Theatre, she went into premature labour and was rushed to the Walsgrave Hospital where she gave birth to a daughter, Ellen, who died two hours later.

In 2004, Black became a grandmother for the first time when her eldest son, Robert, and his wife, Fiona, had their first child. Black's second grandchild was born in 2007.

Black part owns a website and phone line that offers premium-rate "psychic" advice to callers.

Black has previously been a keen supporter of the British Conservative Party. In the run-up to the 1992 general election, she made prominent calls for the party's return to government.

Discography

Studio Albums

• Cilla (1965, No.4)
• Cilla Sings A Rainbow (1966, No. 4)
• Sher-oo! (1968, No. 7)
• Surround Yourself With Cilla (1969)
• Sweet Inspiration (1970, No. 42)
• Images (1971)
• Day By Day with Cilla (1973)
• In My Life (1974)
• It Makes Me Feel Good (1976)
• Modern Priscilla (1978)
• Especially For You (1980)
• Surprisingly Cilla (1985)
• Cilla's World (1990)
• Through The Years (1993, No. 41)
• Beginnings: Greatest Hits & New Songs (2003, No. 68)

Compilation albums

• The Best of Cilla Black (1968, No. 21)
• The Very Best Of Cilla Black (1983, No. 20)
• Love, Cilla (1993)
• The Abbey Road Decade 1963-1973 (3cds) (1997)
• The 35th Anniversary Collection (1998)
• The Best Of Cilla Black (Special Edition) (2002)
• Cilla: The Best Of 1963-78 (3cds) (2003)
• Cilla In The 60s (2005)
• Cilla In The 70s (2005)

UK Singles

• "Love of the Loved"/"Shy of Love" (1963, No. 35)
• "Anyone Who Had a Heart"/"Just for You" (1964, No. 1)
• "You're My World (Il Mio Mondo)"/"Suffer Now I Must" (1964, No. 1)
• "It's for You"/"He Won't Ask Me" (1964, No. 7)
• "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'"/"Is it Love?" (1965, No. 2)
• "I've Been Wrong Before"/"I Don't Want To Know" (1965, No. 17)
• "Love's Just a Broken Heart"/"Yesterday" (1966, No. 5)
• "Alfie"/"Night Time is Here" (1966, No. 9)
• "Don't Answer Me"/"The Right One is Left" (1966, No. 6)
• "A Fool Am I (Dimmelo Parlame)"/"For No-one" (1966, No. 13)
• "What Good Am I?"/"Over My Head" (1967, No. 24)
• "I Only Live to Love You"/"From Now On" (1967, No. 26)
• "Step Inside Love"/"I Couldn't Take My Eyes Off You" (1968, No. 8)
• "Where is Tomorrow"/"Work is a Four Letter Word" (1968, No. 39)
• "Surround Yourself With Sorrow"/"London Bridge" (1969, No. 3)
• "Conversations"/"Liverpool Lullaby" (1969, No. 7)
• "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind"/"It Feels so Good" (1969, No. 20)
• "Child of Mine"/"That's Why I Love You" (1970)
• "Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)"/"La La La Lu" (1971, No. 3)
• "The World I Wish for You"/"Down in the City" (1972)
• "You, You, You"/"Silly, Wasn't I?" (1972)
• "Baby We Can't Go Wrong"/"Someone" (1974, No. 36)
• "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song"/"Never Run Out (Of You)" (1974)
• "He was a Writer"/"Anything you Might Say" (1974)
• "Alfie Darling"/"Little Bit of Understanding" (1975)
• "I'll Take a Tango"/"To Know Him is to Love Him" (1975)
• "Little Things Mean a Lot"/"It's Now!" (1976)
• "Easy in Your Company"/"I Believe (When I Fall in Love, it Will be Forever" (1976)
• "I Wanted to Call it Off"/"Keep Your Mind on Love" (1977)
• "Silly Boy"/"I Couldn't Make my Mind Up" (1978)
• "The Other Woman"/"Opening Night" (1978)
• "There's a Need in Me"/"You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" (new recording) (1985)
• "Surprise, Surprise"/"Put Your Love Where Your Heart is" (1985)
• "Through the Years"/"Through the Years (Orchestral Version)" (1993, No. 54)
• "Heart and Soul" (with Dusty Springfield)/"Heart and Soul" (Accapella) (with Dusty Springfield) (1993, No. 75)
• "You'll Never Walk Alone" (with Barry Manilow)/"Through the years" (1993)
• "Step Inside Love" (new recording) (TS versus CB)/"Step Inside Love" (Vacation Dub) (TS versus CB) (2005)

All chart positions refer to the Official UK Charts.

Autobiography

• Step inside. London: Dent 1985. ISBN 0-460-04695-0
• What's It All About?. Ebury Press. ISBN 0-09-189036-5

External links

• Official website
• Conversations - The Cilla Black Forum
• The Girl From Abbey Road (Blogspot)
• Cilla Stops The 2007 Notting Hill Carnival (Youtube)
• Cilla Black at IMDb

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