Pauline Matthews (born 6 March 1947),[1] better known by her stage nameKiki Dee, is an English pop singer. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records.[2][3][4]
Dee was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England.[1] At the age of 10 she won a local talent contest, and at 16 she had her first paid job in show business. "I realised when I sang at family parties and Christmases I'd suddenly get everyone's attention and, being the youngest of three, I thought what a brilliant attention-seeking ploy it was", stated Dee in a 2013 interview. She added: "My older brother had a lot of Elvis on vinyl and really that was my first introduction to music during the Fifties."[7]
Aged 16, Dee worked at Boots in Bradford during the day, while in the evenings she sang songs with a dance band in Leeds. A record scout liked her singing and invited her to London for an audition. There, in 1963, she signed as a solo artist to Fontana Records.[7]
Career
Musician
After singing with a local band in Bradford in the early 1960s, Dee began her recording career as a session singer. She sang backing vocals for Dusty Springfield, among others, but did not achieve solo success in the UK for many years. In 1963, Dee released her first single, "Early Night",[1] the first of eleven singles on Fontana, none of which reached the charts. Her 1966 release "Why Don't I Run Away From You" (a cover of Tami Lynn's "I'm Gonna Run Away From You")[1] was a big hit on Radio London and Radio Caroline, and she sang the B-side "Small Town" in her appearance in Dateline Diamonds the same year. Also in 1966, she achieved wider coverage by singing "Take a Look at Me" in the hit comedy, Doctor in Clover. She brought out an EP, Kiki In Clover – which included "Take a Look at Me" – at the same time as the film's release.[8][better source needed] She was one of the backing vocalists on Love Affair's 1968 UK number one single Everlasting Love.[9]
Dee in 1974.
She recorded her debut album, I'm Kiki Dee, in 1968 which included a series of Phil Spector-style tracks and covers.[3] Her 1968 release "On a Magic Carpet Ride", which was originally a B-side, has remained popular on the northern soul circuit. Much of her early recorded work for Fontana Records, was released on 24 January 2011, on the CD compilation I'm Kiki Dee.
Songwriter Mitch Murray created her stage name, and penned her first single, "Early Night".[10] In the United States she became the first white British artist to be signed by Motown,[4][5] releasing her first Motown single in 1970.
Her biggest hit came in 1976, a duet with John, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" (pseudonymously written by John and lyricist Bernie Taupin).[1] The single reached number 1 in both the UK and US, remaining at the top for six weeks in the UK.[11] At the end of the summer, she played as support act to Queen at their Hyde Park concert in front of a crowd of 150,000 people. Prior to the concert, in an interview for Record Mirror, she stated, "My confidence is at an all-time high."[12]
She performed at Live Aid in 1985, reprising "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with John, and performing backing vocals on the other songs in his set. After signing to Columbia, Dee released the album Angel Eyes in 1987. She contributed backing vocals to Elton John's 1992 album The One, and a year later recorded "True Love" with John for his 1993 album Duets.
Dee released the live album Almost Naked, a joint effort with Carmelo Luggeri in 1995, followed by the studio albums Where Rivers Meet (1998) and The Walk Of Faith (2005) with Luggeri. In September 2013, Dee and Luggeri released their third studio album, A Place Where I Can Go, on Spellbound Records. They have been touring together ever since[16][17] and have played alongside Roger Taylor, Jack Bruce, Fish, Paul Young, Tom Robinson, Graham Gouldman and Madeline Bell.[18]
In October 2009 she performed, with Luggeri, at London's Royal Albert Hall, in aid of the PRS for Music (formerly the Performing Right Society) for Music Members' Benevolent Fund.
Dee's single "Sidesteppin' with a Soul Man", released in October 2013, was her 40th single release.[19]
Dee and Luggeri's album Long Ride Home was released in April 2022.[20]
Musical theatre
Dee has appeared in musical theatre, including a leading role in Willy Russell's West End musical Blood Brothers,[5] in which she took on the role originally played by Barbara Dickson for the 1988 production and recording. She received an Olivier Award nomination in 1989 in the Best Actress in a Musical category.[4] In 1990, she contributed to the last recording studio collaboration between Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson, on the album Freudiana, performing "You're On Your Own" and part of "No One Can Love You Better Than Me".
In 2008, Dee's first DVD was released. Under The Night Sky was a collaboration with guitarist Carmelo Luggeri, filmed live at the Bray Studios in London; the music was produced by Ted Carfrae. That same year, several albums from her earlier 1970s–1980s Rocket catalogue were re-released by EMI Records, including an expanded edition of Almost Naked with extra tracks, such as a cover of Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" and a new take on "Sugar on the Floor". The same year, Demon Records (UK) issued a remastered edition of Perfect Timing, with several bonus tracks, including an alternate mix of "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever".
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