Cilla Black

Priscilla Maria Veronica White OBE (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), known by her stage name Cilla Black, was an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality. Championed by The Beatles, she began her career as a singer in 1963, and her singles "Anyone Who Had a Heart" (1964) and "You're My World" (1964) both reached number one. Black had eleven Top Ten hits on the British charts between 1964 and 1971. In May 2010 new research published by BBC Radio 2 showed that her version of "Anyone Who Had a Heart" was the UK's biggest selling single by a female artist in the 1960s. "You're My World" was also a modest hit in the US, peaking at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Along with a successful recording career in the 1960s and early 1970s, Black hosted her own eponymous variety show, Cilla, for the BBC between 1968 and 1976. After a brief time as a comedy actress in the mid-1970s, she became a prominent television presenter in the 1980s and 1990s, hosting hit entertainment shows such as Blind Date (1985–2003) and Surprise Surprise (1984–2001).
In 2013, Black celebrated her 50 years in show business. British television network ITV honoured this milestone with a one-off Entertainment special which aired on 16 October 2013. The show, called The One & Only Cilla Black, featured Black herself and was hosted by Paul O'Grady.
== Links To Peel ==
Although Cilla Black eventually became an icon of British show business, in her early career she was closely associated with the Beatles, being managed by Brian Epstein as one of his NEMS stable of mostly Liverpudlian artists. She never attained their level of US success, but some of her records were played on American radio. The "British Top Ten" of station KMEN, where Peel worked, has her "Love's Just A Broken Heart" at no. 6 in the listing dated 18 February 1966, and it remained in the chart for a further five weeks."Alfie", her version of the theme tune of the film starring Michael Caine entered KMEN's British Top Ten in the week ending April 22, 1966 and remained there for seven weeks. "Don't Answer Me" entered at no 3 in the week ending July 15 1966 but only had a two-week chart run; "A Fool Am I" appears in the chart for the week ending November 18, 1966 and remains in the listings for three more weeks.For links to charts by date, see Kmentertainer.
Yet when Peel returned to the UK and began working for Radio London, he was not known for playing Cilla Black records. In the Perfumed Garden era, one of Peel's favourite tracks, along with Simon and Garfunkel's "Sparrow" was "Liverpool Lullaby", a song credited to Stan Kelly (who later called himself Stan Kelly-Bootle). It was recorded by Judy Collins on her 1966 In My Life LP and had a clear personal resonance for him, as well as being an obvious choice for a late-night radio show like the PG. But the song was later recorded by Cilla Black, who also sang it on her BBC TV show, and thereby made it familiar to a mainstream British audience. In spite of Black's more authentic Liverpudlian credentials, Peel paid no attention to her version of the song.
To celebrate the 1000th episode of Top Of The Pops on 05 May 1983 (TOTP), the BBC choose John Peel and David Jensen to co-host the show, which featured a wide array of past hits, DJs and interviews, including an interview with Cilla Black and an old clip of her performance on Top Of The Pops in 1969.
The Smiths later covered a Cilla Black song called 'Work Is A Four Letter Word' as the B-side to 'Girlfriend In A Coma'. This song was the theme tune of a satirical comedy film of 1968, directed by Peter Hall and starring David Warner alongside Cilla in her only film role. The Smiths' cover version of the song was played on Peel's show in 1987.Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr was unhappy about recording 'Work Is A Four Letter Word' and the band split shortly afterwards. Marr later commented, "That was the last straw, really. I didn't form a group to perform Cilla Black songs." Peel also played a track from Vinyl Junkie called 'Anyone' in 1998, which was basically a Happy Hardcore version of 'Anyone Who Had A Heart', originally a US chart hit by Dionne Warwick and later covered by Cilla Black whose version topped the British charts.
== Shows Played ==
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;1983
* 05 May 1983 (TOTP): Surround Yourself With Sorrow (clip from 27 February 1969)
KMEN British Pop Top Ten
*18 Feb 1966: Love's Just A Broken Heart (6)
*25 Feb 1966: Love's Just A Broken Heart (5)
*04 Mar 1966: Love's Just A Broken Heart (6)
*11 Mar 1966: Love's Just A Broken Heart (8)
*18 Mar 1966: Love's Just A Broken Heart (10)
*22 Apr 1966: Alfie (10)
*29 Apr 1966: Alfie (10)
*06 May 1966: Alfie (7)
*13 May 1966: Alfie (8)
*20 May 1966: Alfie (5)
*27 May 1966: Alfie (4)
*03 Jun 1966: Alfie (8)
*10 Jun 1966: Alfie (6)
*15 Jul 1966: Don't Answer Me (3)
*22 Jul 1966: Don't Answer Me (6)
*11 Nov 1966: A Fool Am I (6)
*18 Nov 1966: A Fool Am I (6)
*25 Nov 1966: A Fool Am I (5)
*02 Dec 1966: A Fool Am I (4)
*10 Dec 1966: A Fool Am I (4)
*24 Dec 1966: A Fool Am I (9)
== Covered ==
(The list below was compiled only from the Cover Versions page of this site. Please add more information if known.)
Artist | Track | First Known Play
*Anfield Kop 1964: Anyone Who Had A Heart (08 January 1993)
* Smiths: Work Is A Four Letter Word (03 August 1987)
* Vinyl Junkie: Anyone (29 April 1998) (based on Anyone Who Had A Heart)
== See Also ==
*KMEN British Pop Top Ten
*Burt Bacharach
*Disc & Music Echo: Peel Columns
== External Links ==
* Wikipedia
* Discogs
* Official Website
* Arts Desk obituary
== Reference ==
Category:Artists