Cilla Black

Cunt, of Erna-like proportions.

The acceptable face of Liverpool in the 1980s. Closet Tory. Less talented than Dionne Warwick. Presented 'Blind Date' throughout its entire run.

Who?

There was a thread on an aircrew forum, years ago, where cabin crew from multiple.airlines recounted her awful, entitled behaviour in flight.

I got that hussy's number!

She sure got herself into every picture of every musician in the '60s. I was always wondering, who's that? And it was always her. As an American, I still have no real idea of her music.

R1 is right. I honestly have lost count of how many accounts I've heard of how much of a cunt she was. That said, when I was a kid in the 90s we watched terrestrial TV and she was a feature with 'Blind Date' which I did enjoy at the time. (Gladiators, Blind Date, Michael Barrymore, Michael Parkinson, etc.)

R6 You must be familiar with "Anyone Who Had a Heart".

That cunt sure as fuck lacked a heart.

The Cilla series with Sheridan Smith was amazing. Her singing was even better than Cilla's. I became obsessed with Cilla in the first says of the Liverpool bands, the Beatles and Brian Epstein when I was a kid. I remember seeing her in a movie singing "My World". Gerry and the Pacemakers were also big favorites for me. We lost Gerry and few months ago. It wasn't until a few years ago that I got to hear her later recordings, which I am not a fan of. She died alone in Spain.

She fell over and died in her villa at age 74. Guest starred on "Benidorm" as a swinger

R8 - no, actually, I wasn't. But I just listened to it and it was great! She has a very strong voice.

Google Cilla Black and British Airways. Let’s just say she was not a favourite of the cabin crew.

Typical example of a common lower class scrubber who makes good and therefore feels she's entitled to treat everyone terribly, classless bitch. There was a great passive aggressive article written about her by a journalist who had to interview her, it was hilarious, and she deserved it

She was a cunt.

This thread is all you really need.

I don't care what she was like, her voice was amazing!

Cilla had quality songs and productions under George Martin. Agnetha of ABBA was a fan.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

I just sprayed a mixture of bleach and vinegar on it and it went away.

"Something Tells Me" is charming

Her version of Ashford & Simpson's "Silly Wasn't I" is quite good.

[quote]You must be familiar with "Anyone Who Had a Heart".

Americans associate the song with Dionne.

Cilla Black never had a hit in the US.

The 1960s British darling in the US was Petula Clark.

[Quote] Cilla Black never had a hit in the US.

"You're My World" was a hit. Dionne even covered it.

The article at R19 is such a hatchet job I have to imagine the writer's mother was somehow disemboweled by Cilla as an infant. For fuck's sake, she's a typical cornball UK sleb. What did the twat writing this thing expect?

Yes, the journalist came off worse than Black in that piece.

Elvis had Cilla on his personal jukebox at Graceland.

Cilla's worldwide hit, "You're My World."

With DL fave Burt Bacharach.

[quote]"You're My World" was a hit.

It did not even reach the top 20.

Americans are more likely to associate that song with Helen Reddy.

Say the name Cilla Black and Americans will respond: "Who?"

One of her most distinctive orchestrations.

[Quote] Americans are more likely to associate that song with Helen Reddy.

And are we to care that Americans might associate "Track of My Tears" with Linda Ronstadt? I know I don't.

Cilla's "You're My World" peaked at #26 on the Hot 100.

Ugly bird-like woman who had a nasal thin voice and stole other people’s songs.

I like how assertive she was (1:05, 2:03).

Quit trying to make Cilla Black happen in the US. Or trying to rewrite history. No one in the US knows who she is.

I found her 1960s coiffure to be quite masculine-looking.

Oh, yes. Datalounge is where people try to make deceased singers happen. Bless your heart.

Low-talent imitation bitch - failed actress, killer of Brian Epstein who took to drugs sponsoring her, singer of covers, took 35 takes to sing "Alfie" with Burt tearing his hair out, sadly out of control with the trifles (Moo.), Thatcherite, singer who didn't get a number one until after she died.

Oh, and he family members miss her.

Glad to help. I'm always glad to give a little light to forgotten niche personalities.

I've got plenty.

[Quote] singer who didn't get a number one until after she died.

She had two #1s in 1964.

"Miss Warwick," you need to study your subject better. Dionne would never throw drug use in anyone's face, not with the Drinkards...

'People are on the phone all the time. Gordon Ramsay phoned me up to do The F Word but I thought I'd be embarrassed if he swore.

like that working class scrubber would have be offended by swearing! And she didn't want to This Is Your Life because they'd bring up her humble origins.

Cilla reminds me of a drag queen, a parody swallowed by the product that is herself.

I don't know what this means?

Cilla was 'icon with a common touch', says Tom Jones Sir Tom Jones paid tribute to his friend Cilla Black saying her 'common touch' kept her in the hearts of the British public.

no, she was just common

[Quote] she didn't want to This Is Your Life because they'd bring up her humble origins.

This makes no sense. Her accent was integral to her persona. (Hint: Her accent reflected those humble origins.)

There’s a reason why the orchestra played so loudly when they accompanied her.

She didn’t have Dionne’s finesse. She sounds like a girl who would get up in a pub and sing a song for fun.

I wish she and the other red head, Lucy, had done a show together. The stories y'all would have had about that clash would've been legendary.

Yesterday.

Is she on the spectrum?

When she was presenting 'Surprise, Surprise' she asked a runner for Salmon sandwiches.

He duly came back with some smoked salmon sandwiches. She took one bite, spat it out and threw the plate at the unfortunate guy screaming that she wanted fucking tinned (canned) Salmon.

The guy ended up quite senior at ITV and Cilla couldn't get a job as a toilet cleaner there for the last 10 years of her life.

Isn't Loose Women on ITV?

R51 I meant a real job in light entertainment, not just being a bitch for an hour for £1,000.

She was the highest paid woman on UK TV until 2000.

r45 Yes, but there are things a Liverpudlian accent won't reveal that a television researcher will find. (hint!)

I used to love her singing "Surprise, Surprise" at the end of her show. I taped it when I was about 5 years old and used to prance around the room to it!

Iconic.

r54 hun, you don't tell people those things

She got an ITV wardrobe person fired after that person got fed up and read her the house down: "If you ever speak to me that way again, I'll kick the shit out of you!"

[quote]Her accent was integral to her persona. (Hint: Her accent reflected those humble origins.)

According to the "Cilla Was a Cunt" thread linked above, she laid the Scouse on thick for TV but affected a posh accent off-camera.

Another gem from the other thread, in reply to someone who wondered if she ever cheated on her husband:

[quote]No other man would accept a blowjob from her for fear of having his todger snappered off.

I prefer Cilla Battersby-Brown.

Paul O'Grady was a great friend of hers. He seems to to be the kind of guy takes no shit from no one, and can't stand phony, pretentious nonsense. So, god knows what was going there. Cilla became a star through sheer force of will. She was almost talentless. She kind of rode the 60s zeitgeist for all thing Northern English and working class- The Beatles, Corrie, Albert Finney, Tom Courtney, Rita Tushingham etc.

And yet her career extended far past the 1960s. She was a British entertainment institution.

Liverpool is a very strange city. Incredibly sectarian and highly judgmental about its own.

Cilla spoke about the reaction from their families when she started dating Our Bobby - she was Catholic and he was Protestant and it was a big deal back then.

Paul O'Grady loathed her initially because she was a vocal Tory supporter and he was staunch Labour, but when he actually met her they became good friends.

His eulogy at her funeral was really lovely.

O'Grady's eulogy is here:

Her face resembled a potato.

Great head of hair.

R66 you mean hur?

Surprise Surprise chuck, it's Cilla's boobs!

I knew who Cilla Black was ever since 1964 (I am American) thanks to the Beatles. Lennon and McCartney wrote her first three hit songs: It's For You, Love of the Loved and Step Inside Love. They gave her these songs..any one of which could have been a hit song for the Beatles. Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, also managed Cilla.

[Quote] And she didn't want to This Is Your Life because they'd bring up her humble origins.

There was a big TV tribute on ITV before Cilla's death. Paul O'Grady hosted. Katie Melua and Alison Moyet sang a Cilla hit each. Cilla sang "Liverpool Lullaby." You're talking shite.

Cilla was very open about her roots.

Morrissey's fave is "Work Is a Four Letter Word."

She was regarded as a British national treasure but there were so many stories of what an absolute cunt she was to people off-camera. A thoroughly nasty piece of work by all accounts. When someone is only nice to fellow celebrities (like Ellen allegedly is) and treat us 'normals' like shit - fuck them and may they rot in hell.

Well, here's another person's experience from the "Has Died" thread:

[Quote] I met her once about 10 years ago at a gathering; Petula Clark was there as well. Cilla was much nicer than I thought she'd be, but Petula was absolutely lovely, down to earth and genuine.

She was working class and had to fight for everything she had. Nobody did her any favors. she should have lost it all when Brian died (as others did) but she worked hard to reestablish herself as a BBC celebrity. She was very lucky to have her husband who stood behind her. I don't know if she ever did drugs like the Beatles did, maybe she didn't have the money they did. One can look at the path she took versus the Beatles, who were her friends. Look at Brian - Cilla must have thanked God everyday that she had a job and survived.

Did her husband help anyone else become a star?

R75 she was lucky to continue but you're wrong about her not having help. Brian wouldn't even have met with her if it weren't for A Beatle giving her a shout out.

Doubtful. Epstein's family owned a shop in Liverpool.

It's comical that some people are so desperate to suggest that she had nothing but luck on her side. You can't build and maintain a decades long career on sheer luck. Her husband gained power through her. She wasn't Pia Zadora.

Brian was not impressed the first time he saw her perform, but eventually she improved and he saw her potential. Remember, she was the only female performer Brian took on.

She was no Lulu...

Both bottle redheads...

R41, Cilla is fair game, and her clan's "habits" took more than my medicaments ever did. In fact, I am a better person thanks to health products.

And you, sis. What's your dog in this fight? Are you lonely or just a nag.

Shove your quotation marks some place that doesn't get any action.

Sorry to be so late in cheering you on. I don't have much free time now summer's moving along here in Rio.

Cilla Black. Christ. What a porker.

No one has done more drugs than your extended family, Marie D.

I didn't realize she had a part in "Gosford Park". At least that's what the Gosford thread says.

It would be interestingto compare the top British female singers and their success at home and in the U.S. Why was Petula so popular in America, but Cilla wasn't? Where did Mary Hopkin rank?

Cilla had a thick accent.

Wasn't Petula a tax exile? None of the other Brit Girls moved to America in their prime. Dusty moved there after her chart career began to tank.

I think Petula was surprised by her own success. She was a better singer than Cilla. Petula lived in France and sang in French, too.

And she sung in German and Italian.

Dionne missed a trick not getting signed up to Duolingo.

I wonder whether Hal approved of the translations

Petula didn't stay in France. She took full advantage of opportunities in America.

Petula Clark is leagues ahead of Cilla.

Petula had the song “Downtown.” Nothing in Cilla’s repertoire came close to that infectious song. Plus Petula was glamorous. You wanted to go out on the town and have a good time with Petula. Cilla was like the little hunchbacked sister you had to babysit.

Petula Clark is also a decade older than Cilla and had a fairly successful acting career, she started on radio in 1942.

Comparing a 'Professional Scouser' like Cilla with someone who has talent is weird.

Cilla was an ugly, hatchet faced bitch who was nasty to everyone.

She was basically the closest thing to a British Bonnie Franklin.

R96 No, Cilla's singing was much, much better than Bonnie's.

I’ve always thought of Cilla as more an ITV star than a BBC one

She was a big ITV star,

[quote]Why was Petula so popular in America, but Cilla wasn't?

Just guessing but maybe it was because Petula was attractive, had a winning personality and sung catchy well-written pop tunes?

Cilla's material was very strong. It's not like most of Dusty's songs became hits in America...

My grandfather hated both Cilla Black AND ITV.

He was a former Labour councillor.

She was a good host

I agree, R103

Merseyside Merman.

Doesn't some old lady on the tv series "As Time Goes By" confuse Judi Dench's character with Cilla Black and think it's her? It got a big laugh, though not being British, I'm not too familiar with Cilla.

A cute hit that Baby Spice remade a decade or so ago.

Still a thieving, off-note drunken cunt, amid the fucking ashes and oblivion and obscurity.

And, for the record, she don' have no heart no mo'.

[Quote] she don' have no heart no mo'.

You need to work on your Miss Warwick, honky.

Bambi sings Cilla!

Paul O’Grady toured the circuit as his alter ego Lily Savage for many years. A stint on Channel 4’s breakfast show broke him into mainline tv. I recall one of his live shows where he spent the first twenty minutes going off on a riff about Cilla and ripping into her - it was truly hilarious and utterly brutal. As his star grew and presumably his bank account his views changed drastically and suddenly he and Cilla were inseparable friends. I can only guess she never witnessed the Lily Savage demolition job on her.

I find O’Grady now unpalatably “show biz” - everything he once loathed. If you ever get the chance to hear his tales of Lily and her sister Vera at Lourdes have a listen. It might help to be Catholic. The man is now a pale shadow of his former self which is a shame. There again he’s now extremely wealthy so at least he can point at what his soul cost.

Most Angry Young Men get less angry with age, especially if they've achieved a lot.

There's several outtakes from Paul O'Gradys' various tv shows as Lily on YouTube. Very, very funny, There's some technical glitch, hold up and he just goes off on one. As off the cuff, unscripted comedy it's fantastic.

I guess the world of British tv is pretty small and chummy. He retired Lily long ago, maybe he got tired of being permanently bitter (but very funny) bitter cunt.

R111 I totally agree. As Lily Savage, Paul O’Grady was probably one of the best stand-ups of the 1990s. Utterly hilarious and equally as funny ad-libbing on The Big Breakfast. Then he gets in with Cilla (who he had always detested with a passion) and starts to become this bland, unfunny, pet loving ‘family entertainer’.

His autobiographies are also excellent. The books ‘The Devil Rides Out’ and ‘Open The Cage Murphy’ are brilliant insights into gay life in the 1980s. O’Grady’s experiences in London during the initial AIDS crisis are actually worse than the story shown in ‘It’s a sin’. He pretty much lost nearly his whole circle of friends. His former partner and then manager Murphy also later died (but of a brain tumour). He (himself) has had quite a few near fatal heart attacks and it’s a miracle he’s still alive!

I think he maybe just wanted an easy life and high paying ‘nice’ jobs, rather than touring and going out on stage. But what’s so sad is his MoJo that made him so funny has absolutely gone. I wonder if it would return if he reincarnated back as Lily?

For those who have never seen it, watch the below 1995 live show. O’Grady was at his peak here and I think this show is his Carnegie Hall moment!

I was disappointed with that short film adaptation of part of his memoirs. Alison Steadman was not right as his mother.

Lily Savage - Barbara Windsor - Cilla Black - GYPSY

R46 I laughed when, at 3:01 of the video, some woman in the back lights up a cigarette while Cilla was finishing her song. It must've been a Datalounger who couldn't even be bothered to wait until the song was over.

Paul Old Lady. His new Drag persona

Our Cilla