Kiwi stars reflect on meeting Cilla Black

Cilla Black performing on stage at the Auckland Town Hall, New Zealand, 1971. Photo / NZH

Three support acts, a 20-piece orchestra and sundry support staff all lined up to meet the star.

"It was like meeting the Queen really," says Gerard Smith, then lead singer for chart topping New Zealand group, The Rumour.

The party had been arranged to mark the end of Cilla Black's 1971 New Zealand tour. Partly to celebrate an undertaking that, given the numbers involved, had required big money and military precision, but mostly so the underlings could finally meet the headline star.

Until then she had been a fleeting presence at best. Well, she was one of the biggest names in British entertainment, so her treatment was expected to be equal parts respect and deference. For each performance she would arrive as late as possible before being whisked to and from the stage behind a shield of minders.

As Smith remembers it, Tauranga's Bob "the Builder" Owens had organised a post-show pool party at his home in the hope she might attend, but there was no such luck. Until that final party the closest Smith had got to the Merseyside sensation was watching from the wings and a brief run-in with her husband and manager Bobby Willis, who didn't particularly enjoy his questions about her lack of success in America. It wasn't really what they had expected. Having already toured with the Beach Boys, Neil Sedaka and Lobo, the band were used to a fair degree of on-the-road camaraderie.

"So then we were finally introduced and allowed to curtsy and pay homage. You definitely knew she was a star, she had that aura. We even took the chance to hand her a copy of our album, which she accepted graciously, but the joke was that we'd go to the hotel the next day and find it in the rubbish bin. It didn't matter though, it'd had been a exciting time for us."

Cilla Black performing on stage at the Auckland Town Hall, New Zealand, 1971. Photo / NZH

John Rowles met her even more fleetingly in 1968 after his manager called to say he had been booked for the television show of a "famous singer". "Well I was quite young (21) and naive, so I don't think I fully appreciated it." He appreciated the consequences well enough though. Black's show was one of the most popular in the country and his performance of his new single If I Only Had Time saw it rocket up the British charts to number two, effectively kicking off his international career.

Frankie Stevens also remembers Black's regal presence. After winning Britain's Opportunity Knocks show six times he was also invited on to her show and impressed enough to be invited to perform at the singer's charity shows, including one for Nicaragua at the Royal Albert Hall. "She was always a lovely lady to me," says the former New Zealand Idol judge. "I mean her stature back then was fantastic, she was looked upon like the female Beatle, but she always seemed happy to talk to the young performers. It wasn't like we were mates or anything, just "Hi New Zealand" and then she would say something about how she'd enjoyed the country. It was more a professional courtesy, but yeah, it did feel like you were talking to royalty."