Kathy Kirby

Biography

Kathy Kirby was born Kathleen O'Rourke in Ilford, Essex on the East London borders on the 20th October 1940 and was once dubbed "The Golden Girl Of Pop" in the mid 1960s although her fall from fame into obscurity was almost instantaneous and complete as the international singing star who had appeared at the Royal Variety Performance and was Britain's entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest, earning millions, was declared bankrupt and found her life in ruins, sleeping in a shop doorway. She was a child prodigy, winning her first talent contest at the age of just three. She had an operatic singing voice and was a member of the school choir, looking forward to a potential career in opera and she was recruited as the featured singer for Bert Ambrose and his Orchestra, one of Britain's leading wartime big bands. The link with Ambrose remained long after she had departed firstly to sing with other bandleaders and then struck out as a solo singer, signing a contract with Decca Records. It was the medium of television that gave her her big break, when she appeared in 1962 as a guest on the The Arthur Haynes Show and The Morecambe and Wise Show but it was the TV series, Stars & Garters, a variety show based in a traditional British pub setting that made her a star. Appearing as a sort of Marilyn Monroe figure, blonde and youthful, appealing to both teenagers and their fathers, always wearing the most glossiest lipstick that earned her a nickname of "Wetlips", Kirby was a regular on the show throughout 1963 and 1964 and was undoubtedly billed as the star, releasing an album featuring songs that had been sung on the program called 16 Hits From Stars And Garters which just failed to reach the top 10 early in 1964. 1963 was her peak year, just as teenagers were turning to the sounds of Merseybeat, she was voted the Top British Female Singer in the New Musical Express Poll and had several hit singles beginning with a vocal version of The Shadows former instrumental no.1 hit Dance On which was followed by two bouncy cover version top 10 singles, Secret Love and Let Me Go Lover. Further TV appearances followed including Ready Steady Go, Thank Your Lucky Stars and Sunday Night At The London Palladium. In 1965 she was chosen to represent Great Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest, singing I Belong which came second. Although she also appeared that year at the Royal Command Variety Performance and even had her own BBC TV series Kathy Kirby Sings, by 1965 the hits had dried up, Kathy Kirby completely swamped by the tide of Merseybeat and other new British pop music that dominated the mid 1960s. By 1967 she had left Decca for Columbia but none of the singles, albums or EPs released on that label were hits. Just as she was negotiating a change of direction and a role in the movies in 1971, her long term friend and mentor, Bert Ambrose died and the slow descent to bankruptcy and obscurity began. Having finally got her life back on track during the 1980s, she has lived at her home in Kensington, West London, effectively retired from show business but with the occasional TV appearance and even less frequent recording. ~ Sharon Mawer, All Music Guide