Cilla Black's Italian recordings

Our pick of the pops

Cilla Black was one of Britain’s biggest stars of the 1960s. She was less well known in Italy, though she relied on much Italian material for her domestic hits.

She recorded a few songs specifically for the Italian market, although she didn't find the phonetic subtleties of the language very easy to master.

She missed out on scoring the Italian hit with her first UK chart topper, Anyone who had a heart, as Petula Clark had already taken Quelli che hanno un cuore into the Italian top five before Cilla was able to record a version.

M’innamoro, a cover of her 1968 UK top ten hit Step inside love, was the first single Cilla released in Italian. For the B-side she recorded Non c’è domani, which she later released as a single in Britain as Where is tomorrow.

She also recorded a version of her 1969 UK hit Surround yourself with sorrow in Italian, as Quando si spezza un grande amore. The song was also released by Italy’s Anna Maria Izzo. Perhaps wishing to avoid a repeat of the sales war that had cost her a number one hit in the UK with You’ve lost that loving feeling, Cilla’s version remained unreleased for many years. (She needn’t have worried – Anna Maria’s 45 didn’t chart.)

She recorded more covers of Italian songs than any other British star of the 1960s. The first was You’re my world, a version of Umberto Bindi’s Il mio mondo, with which she topped the UK charts in 1964.

She also had big hits in 1966 with Don’t answer me, originally recorded by Donatella Moretti as Ti vedo uscire, and A fool am I, a cover of Dimmelo parlami, and in 1967 she charted with the gentle I only live to love you, a cover of Cosa si fa stasera.

M'innamoro

1968

Quando si spezza un grande amore

1969

Non c'è domani

1968

Cilla Black's UK career