Say what you like about Cilla Black, but I think she's got quite an interesting voice.
To most, she's the dumpy ginger woman catterwauling her way through the Surprise! Surprise! theme tune.
But to me, she's the woman with a great range. Have you heard her Alfie? It's amazing. I'll admit that sometimes she is just the other side of ear-splitting, but when she really sings, there's nothing like it. She's unique.
I write this because I've just discovered Cilla's Love Of The Loved. It's always been there on the greatest hits I've got, but I've just never got round to listening to it. I should have - it's marvellous. Groovy as you like.
I went to interview her once at her penthouse, which has a lift which opens straight into her living room. I brought up some of her hits and she couldn't actually remember most of them. Love's Just A Broken Heart? No recollection. It reached number six for God's sake! She did talk about singing Life's A Gas with Marc Bolan though, and she knew all the Beatles! The woman's a legend.
She's too easily written off as a toothy, party-crazed, light entertainment professional Liverpudlian fag hag with a rubbish voice.
I beg to differ.
My top five Cilla songs:
1. Love's Just A Broken Heart
2. Conversations
3. You're My World
4. Anyone Who Had A Heart
5. Alfie
