Cilla Black was just as much as part of my childhood as the Beatles so I was saddened to learn she had died over the weekend at the age of 72.
In the 1960s my grandpa Sam Parker worked as a lighting technician at the BBC studios in White City on music programmes like Top of the Pops and its predecessor, Ready Steady Go. He collected autographs for me and Cilla’s was one of my prized possessions. I was always fascinated by her hair, clothes and teeth. As a Londoner I was intrigued by her Scouse accent too – she was also connected with John, Paul, George and Ringo so that was fine with me!
Born Priscilla White in Liverpool, 1943 Cilla’s long career in showbiz began as a hat check girl at the now famous Liverpool Cavern Club where she was discovered as a singer. Cilla sang with the Beatles and reached the top of the charts on more than one occasion. As well as the Beatles Cilla counted Morrissey as one of her famous fans and her song Work is a Four-Letter Word was covered by The Smiths.
Cilla went on to become an all-round entertainer and part of many households like mine where Blind Date and Surprise Surprise were an essential part of our Saturday night television viewing. I never thought of her as a ‘woman’ in the way that we do now with female presenters. She was every bit as big a star as her male contemporaries like Morcambe and Wise, Bruce Forsythe, Des O’Connor and more and she seemed accepted as such. Something I think we could learn from.
Cilla’s specialness was in her humility and connection with real people and not about her gender – may she rest in peace.
