All of Cilla Black’s UK hits from 1963-1971

Cilla Black, who passed away in August at the age of 72, was a lifelong star in her native Britain. In the US she scored a Top 40 hit with 1964’s “You’re My World” (a chart topper in the UK), and landed two more in the bottom half of the Top 100. Back at home she was a major recording star into the early 1970s, and a favorite television personality for decades afterwards. Black’s career began with an introduction to Brian Epstein by her fellow Liverpool musician, John Lennon. In turn Black was introduced to George Martin and signed to Parlophone, home of the Beatles, as well as another Epstein act, Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas.

Like Kramer, Black was seeded with Lennon & McCartney material, and her first single, “Love of the Loved” cracked the Top 40. Additional L&M material was threaded into her run of hits, including “It’s For You” (which includes a verbal introduction from John Lennon on this set) and “Step Inside Love.” But unlike Billy J. Kramer, Black’s biggest hits came from other songwriters. Her second single, a cover of Bacharach & David’s “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” shot to #1, and was followed the same year by a chart-topping cover of Umberto Bindi’s 1963 single “Il Mio Mondo,” translated into English as “You’re My World.” She continued to land singles in the Top 10 through 1971’s “Something Tells Me (Something’s Gonna Happen Tonight),” which closes this collection.

Black drew material from Brill Building writers Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil and Mort Shuman, hall-of-fame British songsmiths Cook & Greenway, and an early work by Randy Newman (“I’ve Been Wrong Before”). She sang several more English translations of Italian songs, and was gifted “Alfie” by Burt Bacharach himself. Varese’s eighteen track set includes all of Black’s UK hits from 1963 through 1971, omitting the minor US-only single “Is it Love?” (also the title track of her 1965 U.S. LP), the Australian chart entry “Only Forever Will Do,” her 1974 UK hit, “Baby We Can’t Go Wrong,” and a pair of comeback sides from 1993. The tracks are all stereo, and the CD comes with a 12-page booklet featuring liner notes by Jerry McCulley. [©2015 Hyperbolium]

Cilla Black’s Home Page