text:
Family Fortunes

Family Fortunes is a British television game show based on the American game show Family Feud. The programme ran on ITV from 6 January 1980 to 30 December 2002. A celebrity version, All Star Family Fortunes, followed from 2006 to 2015. In 2020, the original version of the show returned after 18 years with Gino D'Acampo as host.

The game involves two families providing answers to 'everyday questions' that were surveyed by 100 members of the British public before the show to win prizes (mainly cash). The top answers to the surveys are displayed on a large electronic board, christened by Bob Monkhouse as "Mr. Babbage".

Monkhouse was responsible for changing the name of the show to Family Fortunes as he felt that "feud" sounded too aggressive.

Hosts and presentation
Family Fortunes was first hosted by comedian Bob Monkhouse (1980–83), followed by singer and entertainer Max Bygraves (1983–85). The show returned on 27 June 1987 with Les Dennis as presenter and remained on air for the next 15 years. It was then moved to a daily daytime slot, hosted by Andy Collins.

The most well-known aspects of the show are the large computer screen (named "Mr Babbage" by original host Bob Monkhouse) and the famous computerised sound used when wrong answers are given. The computer screen name, "Mr Babbage", was in recognition of the English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer Charles Babbage, who originated the concept of a programmable computer. During the Monkhouse and Bygraves era, the board was also used to show the closing credits at the end of the episode. In 1987, a completely different board was used for the first Dennis series, however a board similar to the original Mr Babbage one (using flip discs instead) was used from the following year until its end in 2002. Both the All-Star and 2020 versions use a video wall for the board.

Format
Two family teams, each consisting of five members, are asked to guess the results of surveys in which 100 people would be asked open-ended questions (e.g., "We asked 100 people to name something associated with the country Wales" or "We asked 100 people to name a breed of dog"). Although rarely acknowledged during the programme, the 100 people surveyed are invariably audience members who have volunteered before the show or the families themselves who would be asked questions for the next series.

Each round begins with a member of each family (in rotation, meaning all players do this at least once) approaching the podium. As the question is read, the first of the two nominees to hit the buzzer gives an answer. If it is not the most popular answer, the other nominee is asked. If both nominees fail to give an answer that is on the board, the next members of each family are chosen to answer the question, starting in the same order as the first two nominees. The family with the more popular answer then chooses whether to "play" the question or "pass" control to the other family.

The host then passes down the line of the controlling team, asking for an answer from each member. After each answer, the board reveals whether it features. If not or if they can not come up with an answer in time, the family is charged with a strike (marked with an X), losing control of the board upon their third strike (officially known as striking out in the official rules) in the round. If a family manages to come up with all the answers before striking out, they win the amount in pounds of the total number of people who had given the answers.

If a family strikes out, the opponent is given the chance to "steal" by coming up with an answer that may be amongst those missing. Only the head family member (the first family member or the designated captain) may give the answer after consultation. If the answer is present, this family wins the round and is said to have "stolen" the money. Otherwise, the family that plays the board keeps the money.

On celebrity specials, each top answer adds a bonus of £200 (later £250) to that family's charity.

Double Money
Following three rounds before a commercial break (two rounds in series 1), "Double Money" is played. Gameplay is the same as in the first rounds, but each answer is now worth £2 for each person who said it, and there are generally fewer possible answers. The family who passed £300 (£200 in series 1) first goes through to play "Big Money" (known in some overseas versions as "Fast Money") for the jackpot. On the 2020 revival, the fifth and sixth questions score double points (for the sixth question, each family nominates one person to answer the question from the podium) and the losing family receives £2 per point and a "Family Fortunes buzzer" doorbell. The winning family would be guaranteed ten times their winning score.

Big Money
This involves two contestants (out of the five in the family team) answering five questions that fit with those given by the 100 people surveyed each within a narrow time limit. The first contestant answers the five questions within 15 seconds (20 in the revival). Then the second contestant (who was out of earshot) answers within 20 seconds (25 in the revival), the extra time being to allow for the likelihood of them repeating the first contestant's answer. If this happens, they are asked for another one. Each point gives the family £2 (£10 per point in the revival), up to £398 (£1,990 in the revival), and those points would be added to their earlier winnings. If they get 200 points or more from the ten answers, they then win the top cash prize.

From 1994 onwards, a bonus star prize was available for naming all five "top" (most popular) answers and scoring 200 points.

In the 2020 revival, the top answers were not revealed until after the second contestant gave their answers and their point values were shown, an element that was previously seen in the All-Stars version of the show.

Cash and prizes
The top cash prize in "Big Money" during the first series (1980) was £1,000. From the second series (1981), the prize started at £1,000, then rose by £500 weekly if no one won, to a limit of £3,000 (£2,500 from 1981 to 1982), which it could stay at for more than one week if it still was not won. Once the prize was won, it reverted to £1,000 for the next edition. In the 1987 series, it started at £1,000 and, if not won, rose by £1,000 per week to a maximum of £3,000. From the 1988 series, the prize was fixed at £3,000. After the abolition of the IBA's prize limits, the top prize rose to £5,000 from 1996. The money had to be shared out between contestants.

The bonus star prize was always a family car between 1994 and 1998. From 1998 to 2002, contestants had the choice of either a car or a holiday for up to twelve people. The car suppliers were Honda in 1994, SEAT in 1995 and Daewoo between 1996 and 2002. On the all-star specials, 200 points along with all five top responses donated £5,000 to both teams.

During the programme's brief daytime run in 2002, the prize values were reduced significantly. If the contestants scored over 200 points, they won £1,000 and if they found five top answers, it was increased to £3,000. As with the previous prizes, the £3,000 could only be won if the family scored 200+ points.

In the 2020 revival, the top cash prize is £10,000, which would be tripled to £30,000 if one or both contestants named all of the top answers.

From the second series in 1981 onward, spot prizes were available in the main game, turning up seemingly at random when certain answers were found.

All Star Family Fortunes
A celebrity revival of the show presented by Vernon Kay began airing on 28 October 2006 and ended on 14 June 2015 after its eleventh series.

Format
In this version, the game ends after four rounds (five during the hour-long series with two or three Single and two Double), ignoring the 'first to 300 points' rule that the previous incarnations employed, and the losing family receives a consolation prize of the greater of £1,000 or £10 times their score (£3 per point in series 1). Also in Big Money, the celebrity automatically plays the final, meaning that only one other member needs to be picked. If they get 200 points or more from the ten answers, they win £10,000 for their chosen charity, which would be tripled if they get all five top answers, and if they score less than 200 points, those points plus their earlier score would be multiplied by £10 (£3 per point in series 1).

title: Family Fortunes


text:
Cilla Black

Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer and television presenter.

Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her singles "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "You're My World" both reached number one in the UK in 1964. She had 11 top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart between then and 1971 and an additional eight hits that made the top 40. In May 2010, new research published by BBC Radio 2 showed that her version of "Anyone Who Had a Heart" was the UK's biggest-selling single by a female artist in the 1960s. "You're My World" reached No. 14 in Canada and was also a modest hit in the U.S., peaking at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Along with a successful recording career in the 1960s and early 1970s, Black hosted her own BBC variety show, Cilla (1968–1976). After a brief time as a comedy actress, she became a prominent television presenter in the 1980s and 1990s, hosting hit entertainment shows such as Blind Date (1985–2003), Surprise Surprise (1984–2001) and The Moment of Truth (1998–2001). In 2013, Black celebrated 50 years in show business. ITV honoured this milestone with a one-off entertainment special which aired on 16 October 2013, The One and Only Cilla Black, featuring Black herself and hosted by Paul O'Grady.

Black died on 1 August 2015 at the age of 72, after a fall in her holiday villa in Estepona, a town in Spain. The day after her funeral, the compilation album The Very Best of Cilla Black (2013) went to number one on the UK Albums Chart and the New Zealand Albums Chart; it was her first number one album. In 2017, a statue of Black commissioned by her sons was unveiled outside the Cavern Club's original entrance.

Early life
Black was born Priscilla Maria Veronica White in the Vauxhall district of Liverpool on 27 May 1943, the daughter of Priscilla Blythen (1911–1996) and John Patrick White (1904–1971). She grew up in the Scotland Road area of Vauxhall. Her maternal grandfather, Joseph Henry Blythen (1883–1966), was born to Irish parents in the Welsh town of Wrexham; all of Black's great-grandparents were also Irish. She was raised in a Roman Catholic household and attended St Anthony's School in Scotland Road. She later attended Anfield Commercial College, where she learned office skills. Determined to become an entertainer, Black gained a part-time job as a cloakroom attendant at Liverpool's Cavern Club, best known for its connection with the Beatles. Her impromptu performances impressed the Beatles and others. She was encouraged to begin singing by a Liverpool promoter, Sam Leach, who booked her first gig at the Zodiac Club on Duke Street, where she appeared as Swinging Cilla, backed by the Big Three. She later also became a guest singer with the Merseybeat bands Rory Storm and the Hurricanes and Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes. Meanwhile, she worked as a waitress at the Zodiac coffee lounge, where she met her future husband Bobby Willis. She was featured in an article in the first edition of the local music newspaper Mersey Beat by the paper's publisher, Bill Harry, who mistakenly referred to her as "Cilla Black" rather than her real name. She subsequently decided to keep the name.

Early fame - the Brian Epstein years
Black signed her first contract with longtime friend and neighbour Terry McCann, but this contract was never honoured as it was made when she was underage (the age of majority was then 21) and her father subsequently signed her with Brian Epstein.

She was introduced to Epstein by John Lennon, who persuaded him to audition her. Lennon was encouraged by his Aunt Mimi to introduce Black to Epstein. Epstein had a portfolio of local artists but initially showed little interest in her. Her first audition was a failure, partly because of nerves, and partly because the Beatles (who supported her) played the songs in their usual vocal key rather than re-pitching them for Black's voice.

In her autobiography What's It All About? she wrote: "I'd chosen to do 'Summertime', but at the very last moment I wished I hadn't. I adored this song, and had sung it when I came to Birkenhead with the Big Three, but I hadn't rehearsed it with the Beatles and it had just occurred to me that they would play it in the wrong key. It was too late for second thoughts, though. With one last wicked wink at me, John set the group off playing. I'd been right to worry. The music was not in my key and any adjustments that the boys were now trying to make were too late to save me. My voice sounded awful. Destroyed—and wanting to die—I struggled on to the end."But after seeing her another day, at the Blue Angel jazz club, Epstein contracted with Black as his only female client on 6 September 1963. Epstein introduced Black to George Martin who signed her to Parlophone Records and produced her début single, "Love of the Loved" (written by Lennon and McCartney), which was released only three weeks after she joined Epstein. Despite an appearance on ABC Weekend TV's popular Thank Your Lucky Stars, the single peaked at a modest No. 35 in the UK, a relative failure compared to the débuts of Epstein's most successful artists (the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers and Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas). Black's second single, released at the beginning of 1964, was a cover of the Burt Bacharach–Hal David composition "Anyone Who Had a Heart", which had been written for Dionne Warwick. The single beat Warwick's recording into the UK charts and rose to No. 1 in Britain in February 1964 (spending three weeks there), selling 800,000 UK copies in the process. Her second UK No. 1 success, "You're My World", was an English-language rendition of the Italian popular song "Il Mio Mondo" by composer Umberto Bindi. She also enjoyed chart success with the song in America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, South Africa and Canada. Both songs sold over one million copies worldwide, and were awarded gold discs.

Black's two No. 1 successes were followed by the release of another Lennon–McCartney composition, "It's for You", as her fourth UK single. Paul McCartney played piano at the recording session, and the song proved to be another success for Black, peaking at No. 7 on the UK charts. In Canada it reached No. 39.

Black belonged to a generation of British female singers which included Dusty Springfield, Helen Shapiro, Petula Clark, Sandie Shaw, Marianne Faithfull, and Lulu. Other than Clark, these artists were not singer-songwriters but interpreters of 1960s contemporary popular music by songwriters and producers. Black recorded much material during this time, including songs written by Phil Spector, Tim Hardin and Burt Bacharach. All were produced by George Martin at Abbey Road Studios. Randy Newman, writer and composer of "I've Been Wrong Before" which Cilla Black recorded in 1965, was quoted as saying: "Cilla Black's "I've Been Wrong Before" is about the best cover record anyone has ever done of my songs."

Black's version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (1965) reached No. 2 on the UK charts. A week later the Righteous Brothers' original version of the same song went to No. 1 while Black's version dropped to No. 5. The single wasn't critically well received, however; the Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham took out an advert in the Melody Maker to deride Black's efforts compared with the original.

Being so closely associated with the Beatles, Black became one of a select group of artists in the 1964–65 period (the others being Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas and Peter and Gordon) to record more than one Lennon–McCartney composition. Black continued to record Lennon–McCartney compositions throughout her time with Parlophone (1963–1973) and her recordings of "Yesterday", "For No One" and "Across the Universe" became radio favourites. McCartney said Black's 1972 interpretation of "The Long and Winding Road" was the definitive version of the song.

Black's career in the United States, although enthusiastically supported by Epstein and his PR team, was limited to a few television appearances (The Ed Sullivan Show among them), a 1965 cabaret season at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, and success with "You're My World", which made it to No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was to be her only American Top 30 chart success, and Elvis Presley had a copy on his personal jukebox at his Graceland home. Black recognised that to achieve popular status in the USA she would need to devote much time to touring there. But she was plagued by homesickness and a sense of loneliness and returned to the UK.

In 1966 Black recorded the Bacharach-David song "Alfie", written as the signature song to the 1966 feature film of the same name. While Cher sang "Alfie" on the closing credits of the American release of the film and Black on the UK version, Black was the only artist to have a hit with the song in the UK (No. 9). The next year, "Alfie" would become a success for Dionne Warwick in the US. Black's version of "Alfie" was arranged and conducted by Bacharach himself at the recording session at Abbey Road. Bacharach insisted on 31 separate takes, and Black cited the session as one of the most demanding of her recording career. For Bacharach's part, he said "... there weren't too many white singers around, who could convey the emotion that I felt in many of the songs I wrote but that changed with people like Cilla Black".

By the end of 1966, Black had been a guest on Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's show Not Only... But Also, had appeared on The Eamonn Andrews Show, and in a Ray Galton–Alan Simpson revue in London's West End—Way Out in Piccadilly—alongside Frankie Howerd, and had starred in the television special Cilla at the Savoy, which was one of the most watched music specials of the 1960s.

Epstein's attempts to make Black a film actress were less successful. A brief appearance in the beat film Ferry 'Cross the Mersey (1965) and a leading role alongside David Warner in the psychedelic comedy Work Is a Four-Letter Word (1968) were largely ignored by film critics. In a 1997 interview with Record Collector magazine, Black revealed she was asked to appear in the film The Italian Job (1969), playing the part of Michael Caine's girlfriend, but negotiations fell through between producers and her management over her fee.

Epstein died of an accidental drug overdose in August 1967, not long after negotiating a contract with the BBC for Black to appear in a television series of her own. Relations between Epstein and Black had somewhat soured during the year prior to his death, largely because she felt he was not paying her career enough attention and the fact that her singles "A Fool Am I" (UK No. 13, 1966) and "What Good Am I?" (UK No. 24, 1967) were not big successes.

In her autobiography, Black said that Epstein had tried to pacify her by negotiating a deal that would see her representing the UK in the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest. However, Black refused on the basis that Sandie Shaw had won the previous year's contest and that the chances of another British female artist winning were few.

After Epstein
Black's boyfriend and songwriter Bobby Willis assumed management responsibilities after Epstein died. After the relatively disappointing performance of "I Only Live to Love You" (UK No. 26, 1967), Black hit a new purple patch in her recording career, starting with "Step Inside Love" in 1968 (UK No. 8), which McCartney wrote especially for her as the theme for her new weekly BBC television variety series. Other successes followed in 1969: "Conversations" (UK No. 7), "Surround Yourself with Sorrow" (written by Bill Martin, Phil Coulter, UK No. 3), "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" (No. 20). Black had a further big hit with "Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)" (UK No. 3) in 1971.

Black's association with the Beatles continued. At the 1971 Cannes Film Festival she joined George Harrison, Ringo Starr and singer Marc Bolan to attend a screening of the John Lennon–Yoko Ono experimental film Erection. She also holidayed with Harrison and Starr on a trip aboard a yacht chartered by Starr. "Photograph" was written on this trip—originally intended for Black—but Starr decided to record it himself. George Harrison also wrote two songs for Black: "The Light that has Lighted the World" and "I'll Still Love You (When Every Song is Sung)". The latter she recorded during 1974 with her then-producer David Mackay, but it was not heard publicly until 2003 when it was included on a retrospective collection entitled Cilla: The Best of 1963–78.

Writing in 1969, the rock music journalist Nik Cohn wrote: "...she makes people glow. In her time, she will grow into a pop Gracie Fields, much loved entertainer, and she'll become institutionalised."

Later music career
In 1993 she released Through the Years, an album of new material featuring duets with Dusty Springfield, Cliff Richard and Barry Manilow. Ten years later, in 2003, she released the album Beginnings ... Greatest Hits and New Songs.

During 2006–07, Black's 1971 single "Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)" was used as the soundtrack to a new British advertising campaign for Ferrero Rocher chocolates. During the 2008–09 pantomime season, Black returned to live musical performance in the pantomime Cinderella, appearing as the Fairy Godmother. Black was part of an all-Scouse cast assembled in this three-hour stage spectacular to mark the end of Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture. The show incorporated a number of Black's successes, which she performed live, including "You're My World", "Something Tells Me", "Step Inside Love" and "I Can Sing a Rainbow". Black received rave reviews for her singing and overall performance.

On 7 September 2009, a total of 13 original studio albums (the first seven produced by George Martin) recorded by Black between 1963 and 2003 were released for digital download. These albums featured an array of musical genres. Also released by EMI at the same time was a double album and DVD set, The Definitive Collection (A Life in Music), featuring rare BBC video footage; a digital download album of specially commissioned re-mixes Cilla All Mixed Up; a remixed single on digital download of "Something Tells Me".

For the 2010 winter pantomime season, Black appeared in Cinderella at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

In October 2013, Parlophone (the record label which launched her career in 1963) released the career-spanning CD The Very Best of Cilla Black—containing all 19 of her UK Top 40 singles, new club remixes plus a bonus DVD of her 1966 TV music special Cilla at the Savoy.

Black was the best-selling British female recording artist in the UK during the 1960s, releasing a total of 15 studio albums and 37 singles.

On 14 February 2020, a previously unreleased Black track titled "You're Sensational" was released via Warner Music.

Cilla (BBC TV series)
Black was offered her own show on the BBC by Bill Cotton, then assistant head of light entertainment. The show would simply be titled Cilla and aired from January 1968 to April 1976. Cotton considered Black to take over from Bruce Forsyth as host of The Generation Game in 1978, but after a brief conversation, Cotton learned that Black wanted to maintain her singing career and was not ready to change course so drastically to light entertainment hostess. Cotton believed she would have been "perfect" for the show.

Comedy
On 15 January 1975 Black performed as the main entertainer of the first of six half-hour situation comedy plays. The series, broadcast by ITV, was entitled Cilla's Comedy Six and was written by Ronnie Taylor. During May 1975 the Writers' Guild of Great Britain named Black as Britain's Top Female Comedy Star. The following year, ATV was commissioned to film six more plays as the initial series had accrued healthy viewing figures and remained constantly among the highest-scoring three shows of the week. During August 1976 Black reprised her role as a comedy actress in Cilla's World of Comedy which featured her theme song and new single "Easy in Your Company".

In 2013 it was announced that Black was set to co-star in a new BBC sitcom Led Astray, alongside her friend Paul O'Grady — the pilot episode was recorded on 31 October 2013. However, the show was shelved because the pair were unable to cope with the long hours of filming.

LWT
By the beginning of the 1980s Black was performing mainly in cabaret and concerts; television appearances were rare. She sang the Gracie Fields song Walter, Walter (Lead Me to the Altar) on The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog, which was recorded in 1982, and broadcast by Channel 4 in 1983.

According to Christopher Biggins's autobiography she "stormed back into the public consciousness with a barnstorming performance as a guest on Wogan in 1983, proving that we can all have second chances" and after her appearance, people were "desperately trying to find her the right comeback vehicle". She presented Cilla Black's Christmas (1983), performing a comedy-duet with Frankie Howerd.

Black signed a contract with London Weekend Television, becoming the host of two of the most popular and long-running evening entertainment shows of the 1980s and 1990s—Blind Date (1985–2003) and Surprise Surprise (1984–2001). She also presented the game show The Moment of Truth (1998–2001). All programmes were mainstream ratings winners and consolidated her position as the highest-paid female performer on British television.

Her TV appearances made her spoken mannerisms ("Lorra lorra laughs", for example) and her habit of referring familiarly to her fellow presenters ("Our Graham") well known.

Later television work
Black's most notable television performances after her resignation from LWT included Parkinson, So Graham Norton, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Room 101 twice (once with Paul Merton and once with his successor as host, Frank Skinner), and a one-off show titled Cilla Live! for Living TV. Black was a judge on the first series of the reality TV series Soapstar Superstar, featured in an episode of the series Eating with... and guest-presented editions of The Paul O'Grady Show in 2006 and The Friday Night Project for Channel 4 in 2007.

In 2006, Black took part in the BBC Wales programme Coming Home about her Welsh family history, with roots in Wrexham and Holywell.

In 2008 Black recorded a pilot for the Sky 1 dating show Loveland. The show was to be a 10-part "21st-century" dating programme for the following year. Unlike Blind Date, contestants would not sit in front of a studio audience, but would be 'hidden' behind real-time animations as they dated each other. Each episode would conclude with the contestant picking their preferred animated character before meeting the real-life person. Production costs, however, were too high and the show was pulled.

In October 2009 Black guest-anchored Loose Women and on 28 November 2009 appeared on Sky 1 to present TV's Greatest Endings.

Between September 2010 and June 2011 she made guest panellist appearances and in 2011 also appeared, as herself, in the first episode of series 4 of ITV's Benidorm.

50 years in showbusiness
ITV honoured Black's 50 years in show business with a one-off entertainment special which aired on 16 October 2013. The show, called The One and Only Cilla Black, starred Black alongside Paul O'Grady, who hosted the show. The show celebrated Black's career and included a special trip back to her home city of Liverpool, a host of celebrity friends and some surprise music guests. Black paid homage to Blind Date with the return of its most popular contestants and saw her star in a special edition of Coronation Street.

TV biopic
In 2014, Black was the subject of a three-part television drama series, Cilla, focusing especially on her rise to fame in 1960s Liverpool and her relationship with Bobby Willis. ITV aired the first instalment on 15 September 2014, starring actress Sheridan Smith as Black.

The Lost Tapes
A documentary titled Cilla – The Lost Tapes aired on Wednesday 19 February 2020 on ITV, featuring previously unseen career and private family film. Celebrity friends such as Cliff Richard and Christopher Biggins also featured in it.

Politics
Black was at one time a staunch supporter of the Conservative Party and publicly voiced her admiration for Margaret Thatcher, stating in 1993 that Thatcher had "put the 'great' back into Great Britain" during her 11 years as prime minister from 1979 until 1990—despite the widespread unpopularity of Thatcher and her government in Black's native Liverpool. In April 1992, she appeared on stage at a Conservative Party rally and made prominent calls for the party's re-election under the leadership of Thatcher's successor John Major, who went on to win the election. However, in a 2004 interview with The Guardian, Black said that she was "apolitical". The Liverpool Echo also quoted her as saying, "As for the politics thing, I'm not a Conservative."

In August 2014, Black was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.

Personal life
Black married her manager, Bobby Willis, at Marylebone Town Hall in January 1969; they were married for 30 years until he died from cancer on 23 October 1999. They had three sons together: Robert (born 1970), Ben (born 1974), and Jack (born 1980). Their daughter Ellen (born 1975) lived for only two hours.

Death
On 1 August 2015, at the age of 72, Cilla Black died at her holiday home in the Spanish town of Estepona. A spokesperson for the High Court of Justice in Andalusia suggested that an accident may have been a contributing factor in Black's death. Following the results of an autopsy, her sons confirmed that she had died from a stroke following a fall in her home. A pathologist's report confirmed that Black had suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage after falling backwards and hitting her head, presumably on a terrace wall. It was believed she had not been found for at least four hours.

In 2014, she had stated that she wanted to die when she reached 75, as her mother, who suffered from progressive osteoporosis, had lived to 84 and her final years were difficult. According to a friend, she had recently said that she was approaching death, complaining of failing eyesight and hearing as well as arthritis. Black had been suffering with rheumatoid arthritis for years and was in "considerable agony" towards the end of her life.

In the days following her death, a book of condolence was opened at the Liverpool Town Hall. Then-Prime Minister David Cameron stated, "Cilla Black was a huge talent who made a significant contribution to public life in Britain. My thoughts are with her family." Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sheridan Smith, Holly Johnson, Cliff Richard, and Paul O'Grady were among friends and colleagues in the entertainment industry who expressed their sorrow at Black's death. Comedian Jimmy Tarbuck, who had been a friend for decades, said, "She was the girl next door that everybody loved and would have loved as a daughter, a daughter-in-law." Songwriter Burt Bacharach said, "It will always be a most special memory for me of recording her on Alfie in Abbey Road Studios in 1965." Broadcaster Noel Edmonds said that she "captured the hearts of the British people" because "she was our Cilla—there were no airs and graces".

Black's funeral service was held on 20 August 2015 at St Mary's Church, Woolton. Tom Williams, the Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Liverpool, led the service; Cliff Richard sang at the service and Paul O'Grady gave a eulogy. Spoken tributes, prayers and readings were made by Black's sons Robert and Ben, Jimmy Tarbuck and Christopher Biggins. The Beatles song "The Long and Winding Road" was played as the coffin left the church. She was buried in a private ceremony at Allerton Cemetery in Allerton on the same day.

On 21 August 2015, the day after her funeral, The Very Best of Cilla Black (2013), a compilation album of her most popular songs in her career, went to number one on the UK Albums Chart. It was Black's first number one album.

Black's headstone has been the target of vandalism on several occasions. In 2015, thieves stole a bronze plaque inscribed with her name from the site, and in 2020, Black's gravestone was vandalised with graffiti.

Awards and honours
Black was appointed OBE for services to entertainment in the 1997 New Year Honours.

In 2014, Black was the recipient of the British Academy Television Awards' Special Award and the first Royal Television Society Legends Award in honour of her 50 years in entertainment.

In 2017, a statue of Black commissioned by her sons was unveiled outside the Cavern Club's original entrance as the venue celebrated its 60th anniversary. "The sculpture shows a young Cilla performing one of her early songs and the design of her dress on the statue features images of her legendary career." The statue divided Liverpudlians owing to Black's support of the Conservative Party and admiration for Margaret Thatcher.

Albums

 * Cilla (1965)
 * Cilla Sings a Rainbow (1966)
 * Sher-oo! (1968)
 * Surround Yourself with Cilla (1969)
 * Sweet Inspiration (1970)
 * Images (1971)
 * Day by Day with Cilla (1973)
 * In My Life (1974)
 * It Makes Me Feel Good (1976)
 * Modern Priscilla (1978)
 * Especially For You (1980)
 * Surprisingly Cilla (1985)
 * Cilla's World (1990)
 * Through The Years (1993)
 * Beginnings: Greatest Hits & New Songs (2003)
 * Cilla All Mixed Up (2009)

UK Top 10 singles

 * "Anyone Who Had a Heart" (1964)
 * "You're My World" (1964)
 * "It's for You" (1964)
 * "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin" (1965)
 * "Love's Just a Broken Heart" (1966)
 * "Alfie" (1966)
 * "Don't Answer Me" (1966)
 * "Step Inside Love" (1968)
 * "Surround Yourself with Sorrow" (1969)
 * "Conversations" (1969)
 * "Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)" (1971)

Autobiographies

 * Step Inside (1985), London: Dent; ISBN 0-460-04695-0
 * Through The Years (1993), London: Headline Book Publishing
 * What's It All About? (2003), London: Ebury Press; ISBN 0-09-189036-5

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Cilla Black


text:
Ash'arism

Ash'arism (الأشعرية) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (mujaddid), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on scriptural authority, rationality, and theological rationalism. It is one of the three main schools alongside Maturidism and Atharism.

Al-Ash'ari established a middle way between the doctrines of the Atharī and Muʿtazila schools of Islamic theology, based both on reliance on the sacred scriptures of Islam and theological rationalism concerning the agency and attributes of God. Ashʿarism eventually became the predominant school of theological thought within Sunnī Islam, and is regarded as the single most important school of Islamic theology in the history of Islam.

The disciples of the Ash'ari school are known as Ashʿarites, and the school is also referred to as the Ashʿarite school, which became one of the dominant theological schools within Sunnī Islam. Ash'ari theology is considered one of the orthodox creeds of Sunnī Islam, alongside the Atharī and Māturīdī.

Amongst the most famous Ashʿarite theologians are al-Nawawi, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Ghazali, al-Suyuti, Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Ibn 'Asakir, al-Subki, al-Taftazani, al-Baqillani, and al-Bayhaqi. Scholars and scientists who were affiliated with the Ash'ari school included al-Biruni, Ibn al-Haytham, Ibn al-Nafis, Ibn Battuta, and Ibn Khaldun.

Founder
Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī was born in Basra, Iraq, and was a descendant of Abū Mūsa al-Ashʿarī, which belonged to the first generation of Muhammad's closest companions (ṣaḥāba). As a young man he studied under al-Jubba'i, a renowned teacher of Muʿtazilite theology and philosophy. He was noted for his teachings on atomism, among the earliest Islamic philosophies, and for al-Ashʿarī this was the basis for propagating the view that God created every moment in time and every particle of matter. He nonetheless believed in free will and predestination, elaborating the thoughts of Dirar ibn 'Amr and Abu Hanifa into a "dual agent" or "acquisition" (iktisab) account of free will.

While Al-Ashʿarī opposed the views of the rival Muʿtazilite school, he was also opposed to the view which rejected all debate, held by certain schools such as the Zahiri ("literalist"), Mujassimite (anthropotheist), schools for their over-emphasis on taqlid (imitation) in his Istihsan al‑Khaud: But instead, Imam Al-Ash'ari affirmed the ambiguous verses in the Qur'an (such as those about the hand and eye's) without a "how" (modality) and without a meaning(meaning, he consigned the meaning to Allah(God)), which is called Tafweed. He also allowed another orthodox way of dealing with the ambiguous verses in the Qur'an called Ta'wil (interpretation based on the arabic language and revelation)..

"A section of the people (i.e., the Zahirites and others) made capital out of their own ignorance; discussions and rational thinking about matters of faith became a heavy burden for them, and, therefore, they became inclined to blind faith and blind following (taqlid). They condemned those who tried to rationalize the principles of religion as 'innovators'. They considered discussion about motion, rest, body, accident, colour, space, atom, the leaping of atoms, and Attributes of God, to be an innovation and a sin. They said that had such discussions been the right thing, the Prophet and his Companions would have definitely done so; they further pointed out that the Prophet, before his death, discussed and fully explained all those matters which were necessary from the religious point of view, leaving none of them to be discussed by his followers; and since he did not discuss the problems mentioned above, it was evident that to discuss them must be regarded as an innovation."

Development
Ashʿarism became the main school of early Islamic philosophy whereby it was initially based on the foundations laid down by al-Ashʿarī, who founded the Ashʿarite school in the 10th century based on the methodology taught to him by the Kullabi movement that used rational argumentation to defend Sunni creed. However, the Ashʿarite school underwent many developments throughout history, resulting in the term Ashʿarī being extremely broad in its modern usage (e.g., differences between Ibn Furak (d. AH 406) and al-Bayhaqi (d. AH 384)).

For example, the Ashʿarite view was that comprehension of the unique nature and characteristics of God were beyond human capability. The solution proposed by al-Ashʿarī to solve the problems of tashbih and ta'til concedes that the Supreme Being possesses in a real sense the divine attributes and names mentioned in the Quran. In so far as these names and attributes have a positive reality, they are distinct from the essence, but nevertheless they don't have either existence or reality apart from it.

The inspiration of al-Ashʿarī in this matter was on the one hand to distinguish essence and attribute as concepts, and on the other hand to see that the duality between essence and attribute should be situated not on the quantitative but on the qualitative level—something which Muʿtazilite thinking had failed to grasp. Ashʿarite theologians were referred to as the muthbita ("those who make firm") by the Muʿtazilites.

Beliefs
Two popular sources for Ash'ari creeds are Maqalat al-Islamiyyin and Ibana'an Usul al-Diyana.

God and God's attributes
Ashʿarites also hold beliefs about God's attributes that are unique to them, such as:
 * Existence;
 * Permanence without beginning;
 * Endurance without end;
 * Absoluteness and independence;
 * Dissimilarity to created things;
 * Oneness;
 * God is all-powerful, willful, knowing, living, seeing, hearing, and speaking (signifying attributes).

God and relationship with humans
The Ashʿarī school of Islamic theology holds that:
 * God is all-powerful (omnipotent).
 * Good is what God commands – as revealed in the Quran and the ḥadīth — and is by definition just; evil is what God forbids and is likewise unjust. Right and wrong are in no way determined intuitively or naturally, they are not objective realities. (Divine command theory)
 * Because of Divine omnipotence, there are no "natural laws" (of things like thermodynamics or gravity), because such laws would put limitations on His actions. There are, however, Divine "customs", whereby "certain so-called 'effects'" usually follow certain "causes" in the natural world.
 * Also because of Divine power, all human acts—even the decision to raise a finger—are created by God. This had caused controversy earlier in Islamic history because human acts are what humans are judged for when being sent to heaven (jannah) or hell (jahannam). Ashʿaris reconciled the doctrines of free will, justice, and divine omnipotence, with their own doctrine of kasb ("acquisition"), by which human beings "'acquire' responsibility for their actions, although these "actions are willed and created by God". Humans still possess free will (or, more accurately, freedom of intention) under this doctrine, although their freedom is limited to the power to decide between the given possibilities God has created. (This doctrine is now known in Western philosophy as occasionalism.)
 * The Quran is the uncreated word of God, that is, it was not created by God, but like God has always been. It can also be said to be created when it takes on a form in letters or sound.
 * The unique nature and attributes of God cannot be understood fully by human reason and the physical senses.
 * Reason is God-given and must be employed over the source of knowledge.
 * Intellectual inquiry is decreed by the Quran and the Islamic prophet Muhammad, therefore the interpretation (tafsīr) of the Quran and the ḥadīth should keep developing with the aid of older interpretations.
 * Only God knows the heart, who belongs to the faithful and who does not.
 * God has "absolute freedom" to "punish or reward as He wills", and so may forgive the sins of those in Hell.
 * Support of kalām (rationalistic Islamic theology).

Prophets and the unseen
Ashʿarites further affirm that Muslims beliefs include:
 * In all the prophets and messengers of Islam, from Adam to Muhammad.
 * Jesus will return to earth and defeat the Dajjal
 * Belief in the angels.
 * Including the angels of the grave (Munkar and Nakir).
 * That Satan tempts man, contrarily to the Mu'tazila and Jahmiyya (the mention of the latter two branches only appears in Ibana).
 * Paradise and hell.
 * That prayers for dead Muslims and almsgiving reach them.
 * During sleep, visions can be seen and they have an interpretation ("interpretation" only found in Ibana).
 * The existence of sorcerers and that magic is a reality in the world.
 * That jinn are real and able to physically possess people, although not mentioned in the works above, many Ash'arites consider this as part of the aqida.

Ashʿarism and reason
It is said that in the early period, Ash'arites followed a method that combined reason and revelation. This is in contrast to the assertation by some Ash'arites that those who believe without thinking (mukallid) cannot be true believers. This view indicates that believing in religion without using reason and thought is considered invalid according to them.

The later period some Ash'arites prioritized reason and relegated revelation to a secondary position, stating that revelation could never contradict reason. Examples of these include al-Juwayni, al-Ghazali, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, and Qadi Baydawi. The majority of the Ash'arites went further, stating that only reason provides certain knowledge, while revelation is merely a matter of conjecture and cannot provide knowledge or certainty. Because of these views, they were criticized by the Salafis.

Contrary to this, some within the school, such as al-Taftazani, have sometimes stated that revelation also represents knowledge, while Ibn al-Tilimsanī criticized al-Razī, asking what grounds legal rulings if all revelation were mere conjecture, stating that revelation cannot entirely be based on conjecture.

Later Ashʿarism
Nicholas Heer writes that later Ashʿarite theologians "increasingly attempted to rationalize Islamic doctrine" from about the 12th century onwards. Theologians such as al-Taftāzānī and al-Jurjānī argued that the Islamic sacred scriptures (the Quran and the ḥadīth) "must be proven to be true by rational arguments" before being "accepted as the basis of the religion". Educated Muslims "must be convinced on the basis of rational arguments". A series of rational proofs were developed by these Ashʿarite theologians, including proofs for "the following doctrines or propositions":
 * 1) The universe is originated;
 * 2) The universe has an originator or creator;
 * 3) The creator of the universe is knowing, powerful and willing;
 * 4) Prophecy is possible;
 * 5) Miracles are possible;
 * 6) Miracles indicate the truthfulness of one who claims to be a prophet;
 * 7) Muhammad claimed to be a prophet and performed miracles.

Criticism
The medieval Muslim scholar Ibn Taymiyyah criticised the Ashʿarī theology as (in the words of one historian, Jonathan A. C. Brown) "a Greek solution to Greek problems" that should "never" have concerned Muslims. Both Ibn Taymiyyah and Shah Waliullah Dehlawi rejected the lack of literalism in Ashʿarī "speculative theology" and advocated "literal acceptance of God's description of Himself".

In contrast, German orientalist scholar Eduard Sachau affirms that the Ashʿarī theology and its biggest defender, al-Ghazali, was too literal and responsible for the decline of Islamic science starting in the 10th century. Sachau stated that the two clerics were the only obstacle to the Muslim world becoming a nation of "Galileos, Keplers, and Newtons".

Ziauddin Sardar states that some of the greatest Muslim scientists of the Islamic Golden Age, such as Ibn al-Haytham and Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, who were pioneers of the scientific method, were themselves followers of the Ashʿarī school of Islamic theology. Like other Ashʿarites who believed that faith or taqlid should be applied only to Islam and not to any ancient Hellenistic authorities, Ibn al-Haytham's view that taqlid should be applied only to the prophets and messengers of Islam and not to any other authorities formed the basis for much of his scientific skepticism and criticism against Ptolemy and other ancient authorities in his Doubts Concerning Ptolemy and Book of Optics.

title: Ash'arism


text:
The Merseybeats

The Merseybeats (sometimes written as The Mersey Beats) are an English band that emerged from the Liverpool Merseybeat scene in the early 1960s, performing at the Cavern Club along with the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and other similar artists.

The group's original members were Tony Crane (vocals, lead guitar), John Banks (drums), Aaron Williams (rhythm guitar) and Billy Kinsley (vocals, bass). Kinsley left the group at the beginning of 1964 and was replaced by John Gustafson, though Kinsley returned at the end of that year. The group split in 1966, with Crane and Kinsley continuing as a duo dubbed The Merseys. The Merseys ended in 1969. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Merseybeats would stage several occasional reunions before reforming permanently in 1993.

The current line-up is Tony Crane and his son Adrian Crane on keyboards and lead guitar.

The Merseybeats
Originally called the Mavericks, the band was formed by singer/guitarist Tony Crane and singer/bassist Billy Kinsley in late 1960. They became the Pacifics in September 1961. They were renamed the Mersey Beats in February 1962 by Bob Wooler, MC at the Cavern Club. In April 1962, they became the Merseybeats. By now Crane and Kinsley had joined up with guitarist Aaron Williams and drummer John Banks. Pete Best was offered a position in the group by Brian Epstein after being dismissed from the Beatles, but turned it down.

They signed a recording contract with Fontana Records and had their first hit single in 1963 with "It's Love That Really Counts", followed in 1964 by their million-selling record "I Think of You", which gained them their first gold disc. They suffered a setback in February 1964 when Kinsley left to form his own band, the Kinsleys. He was temporarily replaced by Bob Garner (later of the Creation) and permanently by Johnny Gustafson, formerly of The Big Three.

With Gustafson they had two more major hits during 1964, "Don't Turn Around" and "Wishin' and Hopin', and released their only album in the latter part of that year. Kinsley returned to the group at the end of 1964.

The Merseybeats appeared regularly at Liverpool's Cavern Club, and they claim to have appeared there with the Beatles on more occasions than any other band from that era. They were also successful abroad, touring in Germany and the US in 1964, and having their own Merseybeats Show on Italian television.

The Merseys
During 1965 their initial success waned, and after a few more singles the band folded in early 1966. Crane and Kinsley continued as a vocal duo called the Merseys. They had a major hit with their first single, a cover of the McCoys' "Sorrow", which reached Number 4 in the UK Singles Chart. The introduction on the record featured a bowed bass played by Jack Bruce. A line from this song, "with your long blonde hair and eyes of blue," is included in the Beatles' "It's All Too Much", released in 1969 as part of the Yellow Submarine soundtrack album. David Bowie recorded a single version in 1973 which reached Number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. The duo split in 1969, with Crane and Kinsley both going on to front a number of other bands.

Tony Crane and The Merseybeats
During the 1970s Crane continued to tour and perform live as Tony Crane and the Merseybeats, with various line-ups.

Liverpool Express
See Liverpool Express

The Merseybeats re-formed
The Merseybeats' original drummer John Banks died on 20 April 1988, at the age of 44.

Kinsley and Crane re-formed the Merseybeats in 1993, and after celebrating 45 years in the music industry in 2006, they continued to tour and perform on the 'sixties circuit', and at venues in the UK, and across Europe. Kinsley departed in 2020, leaving the band in the hands of Crane and his son Adrian.

Former bassist and vocalist John Gustafson died on 12 September 2014, at the age of 72.

Members of The Merseybeats (1961–1966, 1969–present)
Current
 * Tony Crane– lead guitar, lead vocals (1961–1966, 1969–present)
 * Adrian Crane - keyboards, lead guitar (2000–present)

Former
 * Billy Kinsley – bass, lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1961–1964, 1964–1965, 1969–2020)
 * David Elias – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1961–1962)
 * Frank Sloane – drums (1961–1962)
 * Aaron Williams – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1962–1966)
 * John Banks – drums (1962–1966)
 * Bob Garner – bass guitar, lead vocals (1964)
 * Johnny Gustafson – bass, lead vocals (1964)
 * Ken Mundye – drums (1969–1974, filled in for Banks for a few gigs during 1965)
 * Allan Cosgrove – drums (1974–2000)
 * Bob Packham – bass, backing vocals (1974–2021)
 * Rocking Johnny John Houghton – lead guitar, backing vocals (1979-1981)
 * Colin Drummond – keyboards, violin (1986–1993)
 * Dave Goldberg – keyboards (1993–2000, 2009–2011)
 * Lou Rosenthal – drums (2000–2021)
 * Chris Finley – keyboards (2011)
 * Toni Baker – keyboards (2011)
 * Alan Lovell – rhythm guitar, lead vocals (2011)

Members of The Merseys (1966–1969)

 * Tony Crane – lead vocals (1966–1969)
 * Billy Kinsley – lead vocals (1966–1969)

with backing group The Fruit Eating Bears:
 * Joey Molland – guitars
 * Chris Finley – keyboards
 * George Cassidy – bass
 * Kenny Goodlass – drums
 * Ken Mundye – drums

Albums

 * 1963: Oriole Records compilation – This Is Merseybeat Volume One (one track – "Our Day Will Come")
 * 1964 (June): Fontana Records – The Merseybeats – UK #12:
 * 1) Milkman
 * 2) Hello Young Lovers
 * 3) He Will Break Your Heart
 * 4) Funny Face
 * 5) Really Mystified
 * 6) The Girl That I Marry
 * 7) Fools Like Me
 * 8) My Heart and I
 * 9) Bring It on Home to Me
 * 10) Lavender Blue
 * 11) Jumping Jonah
 * 12) Don't Turn Around
 * 1990: Fontana Records – The Merseybeats – first CD release of the album with several of the group's non-album A- and B-sides added
 * 2002: Bear Family Records – I Think of You: The Complete Recordings – compiles the group's entire discography on one CD
 * 2003: Merseybeat Records – Anniversary Tour 2003 – live album
 * 2021: Cherry Red Records - The Merseybeats/The Merseys - I Stand Accused: The Complete Sixties Recordings – Double CD comprising the complete discography of the Merseybeats and the Merseys

EPs

 * 1963: Fontana Records – I Think of You:
 * 1) I Think Of You
 * 2) Mister Moonlight
 * 3) It's Love That Really Counts
 * 4) The Fortune Teller
 * 1964 (March): Fontana Records – The Merseybeats on Stage:
 * 1) Long Tall Sally
 * 2) I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry
 * 3) Shame
 * 4) You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover
 * 1964 (November): Fontana Records – Wishin' and Hopin':
 * 1) Wishin' and Hopin'
 * 2) Hello, Young Lovers
 * 3) Milkman
 * 4) Jumping Jonah

Videos

 * 1999: The Merseybeats in Concert

Albums

 * 2021: Cherry Red Records - The Merseybeats/The Merseys - I Stand Accused: The Complete Sixties Recordings – Double CD comprising the complete discography of the Merseybeats and the Merseys

title: The Merseybeats


text:
The Mojos

The Mojos were a British beat group from the 1960s, best known for their hit UK single, "Everything's Alright", with two other singles charting low in the UK Singles Chart in 1964.

Biography

The band formed under the name the Nomads as a duo in 1962 and originally consisted of bassist Keith Karlson (born Keith Alcock) and Jon "Bob" Conrad. After that the band was joined in September 1962 by lead singer, pianist Stu James (born Stuart Slater), rhythm guitarist, vocalist Adrian Lord (born Adrian Wilkinson). The band continued without a lead guitarist when Wood left. At the suggestion of Beatle George Harrison, pianist Terry O'Toole was added to the lineup in August 1963; Harrison having heard him play at the Blue Angel jazz club. The band also changed their name in August 1963 to the Mojos and Lord changed from rhythm guitarist to lead guitarist. This lineup recorded "My Whole Life Through", which was featured on the Oriole Records This is Merseybeat compilation album, and the debut single "They Say".

"They Say" achieved some popularity; amongst other things, it was used for the party scene in the 1964 film The Comedy Man.

Despite having written the single's b-side, Lord (Wilkinson) left the group soon after its release in October 1963 and was replaced by Nicky Crouch (formerly of Faron's Flamingos) (born Nicholas Crouch, Aintree). This was the line-up that was to continue until October 1964, recording the group's three charting singles - "Everything's Alright" (no. 9), "Why Not Tonight" (no. 25) and "Seven Daffodils" (no. 30) - as well as an EP. They appeared in the movie Every Day's a Holiday and like many of their contemporaries the group played at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany.

In October 1964, Karlson, Conrad and O'Toole left the group and James and Crouch were joined by drummer Aynsley Dunbar and bassist Lewis Collins (26 May 1946 – 27 November 2013). This line-up recorded the singles "Comin' On to Cry" and "Wait A Minute" (the latter released as by "Stu James and the Mojos"), for Decca - before disbanding in September 1966.

James and Crouch formed a new version with Birmingham bass player Deke Vernon and Southampton drummer Martin Smith and released a further single "Good-Bye, Dolly Gray" in February 1967 which also failed to chart. They then spent several months playing at a luxury hotel in the Ivory Coast later that year.

James moved back to Southampton and reformed the Mojos in late 1967 with local musicians Eddie Harnett on lead guitar, Duncan Campbell on bass and Tony House on drums, and recorded "Until My Baby Comes Home", for Liberty.

Collins became an actor, starring in The Professionals, and Dunbar became a noted session musician, playing with Frank Zappa, David Bowie and John Mayall, among others. Stu James stayed in the music business taking management roles at Bradley's Records and later Chrysalis Records. Crouch currently plays in a group called Nicky Crouch's Mojos, which features members of other 1960s Merseybeat acts, including the Swinging Blue Jeans, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes and Faron's Flamingos.

The Mojos were reformed as a touring band in the 1970s by the Hal Carter Organisation with various professional musicians including lead guitarist Antz Cowell (the Tornados, Billy Fury, Marty Wilde), bass guitarist Dave Cowell (Fusion Orchestra) and drummer Jon Werrell (the Tornados, Heinz, Dustin Gee, Carl Simmons). They supported Mud and Showaddywaddy on some UK tour dates. Whilst in Jersey during a break in touring, Jon Werrell loaned his silver Premier drumkit to John Bonham for Led Zeppelin's impromptu club gigs in St.Helier.

Lead singer Stu James died on 10 May 2023, at the age of 77.

Discography
A compilation entitled Everything's Alright: The Complete Recordings was released in 2009 by RPM Records. As its name suggests, it features all of the above (plus the 'This is Merseybeat' compilation album track "My Whole Life Through"), in chronological order by release date.

title: The Mojos


text:
Coxsone Dodd

Clement Seymour "Coxsone" Dodd (26 January 1932 – 4 May 2004) was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond.

He was nicknamed "Coxsone" at school due to his talent as a cricketer (his friends compared him to Alec Coxon, a member of the 1940s Yorkshire County Cricket Club team).

Biography
The Kingston-born Dodd used to play records to the customers in his parents' shop. During a spell in the American South he became familiar with the rhythm and blues music popular there at the time. In 1954, back in Jamaica, he set up the Downbeat Sound System, being the owner of an amplifier, a turntable, and some US records, which he would import from New Orleans and Miami.

With the success of his sound system, and in a competitive environment, Dodd would make trips through the US looking for new tunes to attract the Jamaican public. While he did, his mother Doris Darlington would run the sound system and play the tunes. Dodd opened five different sound systems, each playing every night. To run his sound systems, Dodd appointed people such as Lee "Scratch" Perry, who was Dodd's right-hand man during his early career, U-Roy and Prince Buster. Perry would later leave Dodd in 1966 due to Perry feeling disrespected by Dodd. This is documented in the 1966 song The Upsetter.

Recording career
When the R&B craze ended in the United States, Dodd and his rivals were forced to begin recording their own Jamaican music in order to meet the local demand for new music.

In 1959, he founded a record company called Worldisc. In 1962, he produced the jazz record "I Cover the Waterfront" on the Port-O-Jam label, two of the musicians who played on the album, Roland Alphonso and Don Drummond became founding members of the Skatalites one year later. In 1963, he opened Studio One on Brentford Road, Kingston. It was the first black-owned recording studio in Jamaica. He held regular Sunday evening auditions in search of new talent, and it was here that Dodd auditioned Bob Marley, singing as a part of The Wailers.

In the early 1960s, Dodd was producing ska hits by Toots and the Maytals, the Gaylads, and the Skatalites.

Dodd's "You're Wondering Now", was initially recorded in 1964 by Andy & Joey in Jamaica and later covered by The Skatalites, The Specials and Amy Winehouse; it was also used as the theme tune for the British-French crime drama television series Death in Paradise.

During the late 1960s and 1970s, the "Studio One sound" was synonymous with the sound of ska, rocksteady and reggae, and Dodd attracted some of the Jamaican new musicians, including Burning Spear, Ras Michael, Delroy Wilson, Horace Andy, Sound Dimension, and Sugar Minott.

In the mid-1980s, Dodd closed his studio and moved his base of operations to New York City.

Honours
In 2002 he was awarded a Gold Musgrave Medal by the Institute of Jamaica.

Last years and death
He continued to be active in the music industry into his seventies, and on 1 May 2004, Kingston's Brentford Road was renamed Studio One Boulevard in a ceremony which paid tribute to his accomplishments as a producer. He died suddenly of a heart attack three days later, aged 72, while working at Studio One. He was survived by his wife, Norma, who passed in 2010.

Dodd was posthumously awarded the Order of Distinction, in the rank of Commander on 15 October 2007, for service to the Jamaica music industry.

title: Coxsone Dodd


text:
Talk:Ash'arism

This Article needs to be taken down
I am an Islamicist at Yale University and would like to inform the powers-that-be at Wikipedia.org that this article is completely inaccurate and should be removed until an expert can rewrite it from scratch. I suggest looking at the Encyclopedia of Islam article on the Ash`arites for inspiration. I do not have the time to do this myself, unfortunately. I entered the article to correct a few mistakes that hit me in the first paragraph and then realized that the job required too much effort. My view changes may clash with the rest of the article because I quit after paragraph three (or so). Thanks for your attention.

I agree - unlike Mutazila article which is well researched, This one is full of misinformation and inaccuracies. abdulnr 01:37, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

I am not expert enough to recognize all the possible errors. One error that might be missed by an Muslim re-writer is the statement that Europe was not producing honest histories in the 13th century. There are a dozen counter-examples beginning with the Heimskringla. To judge by Ibn Khaldun's weird idea of Europe the Europeans knew more about the Muslims than vice versa. In the 13th century. In the 10th things might have been different.

As to the article. There should be a careful and accurate description as to what Ashari literature before al-Ghazzali has actually come down to us. Wolfson seems to be reduced to quoting Ibn Hazm (whomm, I imagine, must also be included) constantly. Kleinecke 05:55, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

This is really a terribly written and uninformed article. Why hasn't it been taken down? [User:dillis] 01:47, 21 September 2006

If you read Ibn Khaldun's muqadimmah you will see clearly that he was a genius who used avicennian logic which comes from aristotle (well kinda anyway), and invented many things. i reckon this one has been put up by people who want to lead muslims away from their history of intellectual engagement. Don't know why on earth anyone got the idea that ibn khaldun was anti-rational. [user:qirmat] 21:21, 15 Jan 2007 __________________________________________________________________

The article sucked, so I copied and pasted the Encyclopedia of Islam article. It's a bit outdated but can be added to. Please format the article if you know how. Mercy
 * You can't do that. See Copyright.

What the...?
I merely reorganized the article so that it is easier to be edited by those who have more expertise on the subject. I didn't check anything factual or conceptual about the article, but still I have to say it's a BIG MESS.

The eponymous guy changed his views from Mutazilite to the independent thought of his to the abandonment of kalam altogether. Now that may have caused confusion about who is to be called an Ash'arite.

Also, wasn't that same guy who talked about the concepts of khalq and kasb? What about that?

The lack of sources is yet another bad issue. I guess it isn't of Wikipedia's spirit to just cram opinions over opinions.

SOMEONE SHOULD LOOK AT IT! and that is CAREFULLY, falks! -- Wayunga 11:52, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

urgent editing needed
parts of this article are partial to the content.

this is an important topic and cannot be left like this. Either take it down or redo it properly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.194.22.147 (talk) 22:31, 31 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Could you maybe be more specific as to which parts of the article you feel should be changed? MezzoMezzo 05:00, 1 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I deleted the following, because it is speculative: "

Factors affecting the spread of the school of thought include a drastic shift in historical initiative, foreshadowing the later loss of Muslim Spain and Columbus' landing in the Western Hemisphere - both in 1492. But the decisive influence was most likely that of the new Ottoman Empire, which found the Asharite views politically useful, and were to a degree taking the advantages of Islamic technologies, sciences, and openness for granted. Which, for some centuries after as the Ottomans pushed forth into Europe, they were able to do - losing those advantages gradually up until The Enlightenment when European innovation finally surpassed and eventually overwhelmed that of the Muslims."
 * And the connection between Asharites and Ottoman Empire is definitely wrong. The Ottomans pushed Maturiditism.

NPOV
Concerning the (anti-)rationalism of the Asharites, the statements of the article "Is Ghazali really the Hulagu of science in Islam" are cited as the truth. Yet that article itself recognizes that its position is a minority one and that the position that it argues against is prevalent "in present-day literature". Thus, citing its position as the correct one is against WP:NPOV, specifically WP:NPOV.--91.148.159.4 (talk) 16:09, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

 * Yes, probably a true observation. A Jagged case (Cleanup) listed here near the top. Wikipedia articles regarding Islam is not very reliable yet. Rursus dixit. ( m bork3 !) 09:57, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

Asharis.com
I am against using polemical, biased and dishonest websites like Asharis.com. They often provide wrong translations and misunderstandings. Such a site should not be used without further examination. 86.52.55.254 (talk) 09:30, 24 March 2013 (UTC)
 * As someone who reads and speaks Arabic fluently, I have never, at any time, found inaccurate translations on the site. They have been academically honest in showing the texts and making some valid criticisms of the Ash'arite school which have already been made by earlier authorities in Islamic theology, in addition to showing that the early Ash'arites are quite different from modern Ash'arites (which isn't a controversial claim in academic Muslim circles). Now that being said, the site is polemical. Per WP:RS, the source doesn't need to be neutral but simply honest, and the site is honest. Neutrality per WP:NPOV applies to editors, not sources. The answer is simply for us to use the site sparingly and mention, very clearly, when Ash'aris.com is simply providing a translation - which again, they are both skilled and honest with - and when the site is making polemical, non-neutral claims. As a hobbyist in Islamic theology who also has access to physical copies of most of these texts in question, I will volunteer my time to verify any of their translations should a dispute arise. MezzoMezzo (talk) 12:36, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

Maturidi scholars jumbled with Ashari scholars
Why do a few famous Maturidi scholars categorized as "Ashari" in this article?

Abu Mansur Al-Maturidi, Al-Kawthari are Maturidi's, not Ashari. In fact, nearly all of the Shafi'ites of the classical eras were affiliated with the Ashari school of though, while the Hanafi's of the classical era were affiliated with the Maturidi school of thought. Of course, there are a few exceptions to this, such as Al-Alusi of Baghdad. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.195.203.90 (talk) 06:54, 23 October 2015 (UTC)

Deleted sock puppet edits
I've reverted them again - the IP restoring them was almost certainly another sock. Some of the material was directly copied without quotation marks from so was a copyright violation. There was other material copied from the same site in quotation marks but excessive quoting, ie anything much above 220 words, is considered a copyright violation by our policy, which is stricter than copyright law (note that in any case quotes form the same source are often used in many articles, which is technically a massive violation). Material added should be from reliable sources according to our criteria. It should not consist of large numbers of quotes, and particularly not large numbers of quotes from religious sources. Using primary sources in that way is basically what we call original research, editors deciding what quotes prove what points. In fact, nothing in our articles should be written to prove a point but rather to discuss the subject (WP:NPOV). I note the long list of scholars lacks sources and is apparently simply the belief of various editors as to what belongs. They should be sourced and if removed due to lack of sources shouldn't be replaced. Besides WP:RS editors might benefit from WP:VERIFY. Doug Weller talk 09:05, 24 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Since it's been repeatedly restored with the copyvio intact, I've rev/del'd the offending edits. This means that only Administrators can view them. Doug Weller  talk 10:38, 26 December 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 one external links on Ash'ari. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130216162405/http://www.shafiifiqh.com/imam-abu-bakr-al-bayhaqi/ to http://www.shafiifiqh.com/imam-abu-bakr-al-bayhaqi/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150701202626/http://hidayaresearch.com/the-correct-meaning-of-the-term-ahlus-sunnah-wal-jamaah/ to http://hidayaresearch.com/the-correct-meaning-of-the-term-ahlus-sunnah-wal-jamaah/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150617102111/http://www.alsunna.org/Table/Islamic-Beliefs/ to http://www.alsunna.org/Table/Islamic-Beliefs/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 12:15, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

Oops
I was adding some content and it went wrong, someone fix it please Azlanistani (talk) 08:52, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

I've fixed it now, it's fine Azlanistani (talk) 08:55, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 22:26, 22 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Matn Ibn Ashir المرشد المعين على الضروري من علوم الدين - متن ابن عاشر.jpg

title: Talk:Ash'arism


text:
Function word

In linguistics, function words (also called functors) are words that have little lexical meaning or have ambiguous meaning and express grammatical relationships among other words within a sentence, or specify the attitude or mood of the speaker. They signal the structural relationships that words have to one another and are the glue that holds sentences together. Thus they form important elements in the structures of sentences.

Words that are not function words are called content words (or open class words, lexical words, or autosemantic words) and include nouns, most verbs, adjectives, and most adverbs, although some adverbs are function words (like then and why). Dictionaries define the specific meanings of content words but can describe only the general usages of function words. By contrast, grammars describe the use of function words in detail but treat lexical words only in general terms.

Since it was first proposed in 1952 by C. C. Fries, the distinguishing of function/structure words from content/lexical words has been highly influential in the grammar used in second-language acquisition and English-language teaching.

Overview
Function words might be prepositions, pronouns, auxiliary verbs, conjunctions, grammatical articles or particles, all of which belong to the group of closed-class words. Interjections are sometimes considered function words but they belong to the group of open-class words. Function words might or might not be inflected or might have affixes.

Function words belong to the closed class of words in grammar because it is very uncommon to have new function words created in the course of speech. In the open class of words, i.e., nouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs, new words may be added readily, such as slang words, technical terms, and adoptions and adaptations of foreign words.

Each function word either: gives grammatical information about other words in a sentence or clause, and cannot be isolated from other words; or gives information about the speaker's mental model as to what is being said.

Grammatical words, as a class, can have distinct phonological properties from content words. For example, in some of the Khoisan languages, most content words begin with clicks, but very few function words do. In English, very few words other than function words begin with the voiced th voiced dental fricative. English function words may be spelled with fewer than three letters; e.g., 'I', 'an', 'in', while non-function words usually are spelled with three or more (e.g., 'eye', 'Ann', 'inn').

The following is a list of the kind of words considered to be function words with English examples. They are all uninflected in English unless marked otherwise:
 * articles — the and a. In some inflected languages, the articles may take on the case of the declension of the following noun.
 * pronouns — he :: him, she :: her, etc. — inflected in English
 * adpositions — in, under, towards, before, of, for, etc.
 * conjunctions — and and but
 * subordinating conjunctions — if, then, well, however, thus, etc.
 * auxiliary verbs — would, could, should, etc. — inflected in English
 * particles — up, on, down
 * interjections — oh, ah, eh, sometimes called "filled pauses"
 * expletives — take the place of sentences, among other functions.
 * pro-sentences — yes, no, okay, etc.

title: Function word


text:
Duke Reid

Arthur "Duke" Reid CD (21 July 1915 – 1 January 1975) was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and label owner.

He ran one of the most popular sound systems of the 1950s called Reid's Sound System, whilst Duke himself was known as The Trojan possibly named after the British-made trucks used to transport the equipment. In the 1960s, Reid founded record label Treasure Isle, named after his liquor store, that produced ska and rocksteady music. He was still active in the early 1970s, working with toaster U-Roy. He died in early 1975 after having suffered from a severe illness for the last year.

Biography
Reid was born in Portland, Jamaica. After serving ten years as a Jamaican police officer, Reid left the force to help his wife Lucille run the family business, The Treasure Isle Grocery and Liquor Store at 33 Bond Street in Kingston.

He made his way into the music industry first as a sound system (outdoor mobile discothèque) owner, promoter and disc jockey in 1953. He quickly overtook Tom the Great Sebastian and his sound system as the most popular sound system in Jamaica. Soon he was also sponsor and presenter of a radio show, Treasure Isle Time. A jazz and blues man at heart, Reid chose "My Mother's Eyes" by Tab Smith as his theme tune. Other favourites of his included Fats Domino, a noticeable influence on the early Reid sound.

He began producing recordings in the late 1950s. Early Reid productions were recorded in studios owned by others, but when the family business moved from Pink Lane, Kingston to Bond Street, Reid set up his own studio above the store. He became proprietor of a number of labels, chiefly Treasure Isle and Dutchess (his spelling). Much of his income derived from licensing agreements with companies in the UK, some of which set up specialist Duke Reid labels. He was known to carry his pistols and rifle with him in the studio and would sometimes fire them to celebrate a successful audition.

He dominated the Jamaican music scene of the 1960s, specialising in ska and rocksteady, though his love of American jazz, blues and soul was evident. Reid had several things going for him that helped him to rise to prominence. He made a concerted effort to be in the studio as much as possible, something his counterparts did not do. He was known as a perfectionist and had a knack for adding symphonic sounds to his recordings and producing dense arrangements. Furthermore, his records were considerably longer than those being produced by his rivals. His tunes often broke the four-minute barrier, while most ska songs were barely longer than two minutes. The material that Treasure Island issued exemplified the cool and elegant feel of the rocksteady era. In an interview for Kool 97 FM, Jackie Jackson along with Paul Douglas and Radcliffe "Dougie" Bryan were asked about the many recordings they did together as the rhythm section for Treasure Isle Records, and working with Sonia Pottinger and Duke Reid.

Duke Reid made an impact with his presence at toasting battles, trying to out play other DJs. He was dressed in a long ermine cloak and a gilt crown on his head, with a pair of Colt 45s in cowboy holsters, a cartridge belt strapped across his chest and a loaded shotgun over his shoulder. It was not uncommon for things to get out of hand and it was said that Duke Reid would bring the crowd under control by firing his shotgun in the air.

Reid initially disliked ska for being too simple and having too much focus on drums rather than on guitar. However, he eventually got behind ska and produced numerous hits. Reid's ska productions in the 1960s "epitomized the absolute peak of the style", according to music historian Colin Larkin. He had a long string of hits with performers like Stranger Cole, the Techniques, Justin Hinds and the Dominoes, Alton Ellis and the Flames, the Paragons, the Jamaicans, and the Melodians.

By the 1970s, Reid's poor health and the trend towards Rastafarian influenced roots reggae, noticeably reducing the number of releases from Treasure Isle. Reid forbade Rasta lyrics from being recorded in his studio and thus Coxsone Dodd was able to dominate the Jamaican recording industry. Reid maintained his high-profile largely by recording the "toasting" of DJs U-Roy and Dennis Alcapone as well as vaguely Rasta-influenced oddities such as Cynthia Richards' "Aily-I".

At around this time, Reid protégé Justin Hinds noticed his boss appeared unwell and recommended a doctor. Cancer was diagnosed and Reid decided to sell Treasure Isle to Sonia Pottinger, widow of his friend Lenford "Lennie the King" Pottinger and already owner of High Note Records, which was one of the largest record labels on the Island. He remained involved for a while acting as a Magistrate but died in 1975.

Reid was posthumously awarded the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander on 15 October 2007.

Partial discography

 * Various Artists – Soul To Soul DJ's Choice – 1973 – Trojan Records (1995)
 * Various Artists – Gems From Treasure Isle – 1966-1968 – Trojan Records (1982)
 * Various Artists – Ba Ba Boom Duke Reid – 1967-1972 – Trojan Records (1994)
 * Various Artists – Duke Reid's Treasure Chest – Heartbeat Records (1992)
 * Various Artists – Treasure Isle Dub Vol 01
 * Various Artists – Version Affair Vol 01 – Lagoon (1992)
 * Various Artists – Version Affair Vol 02 – Lagoon (1993)
 * Various Artists – Sir Coxsone & Duke Reid in Concert at Forresters Hall – Studio One
 * Various Artists – The Treasure Isle Story (4-CD box set) – Trojan Records (2017)

title: Duke Reid