Dinah Lee

Dinah Lee arrived in Australia from her home in New Zealand, where she was already a budding star, at the invitation of the King - none other than Johnny O’Keefe. With the blessing of the ‘Wild One’, Dinah soon became a hit on shows like Sing Sing Sing and Bandstand with her vibrant take on R&B. Her hits, “Don’t You Know Yockomo” and “Reet Petite” were national number ones plus fifteen top ten hits, were sexy, fun and very of the times. So much so that she became the face of Yardley Cosmetics. Her sound was bright and poppy with a gutsy sense of fun and fitted perfectly with the swinging spirit of the times. Dinah was the Queen of the Mods; that style, which combined sharp fashion with a love for obscure R&B. At the behest of Chris Blackwell (the founder of Island Records) she found herself in London on tour with a young mod called David Jones (who later changed his surname to Bowie) while also sharing a flat with Millie Small (who had the world’s first ska hit, ‘My Boy Lollipop). She has toured and performed with the giants of the music industry, including Ray Charles, the Bee Gees, Gene Pitney, PJ Proby and so impressed Glen Campbell that he requested they perform a duet on the American national television pop show Shindig - Dinah being the only performer from this part of the world to be flown twice to record this show in Hollywood. Dinah also appeared on other American TV music shows, plus Hollywood A-Go-Go and Thank Your Lucky Stars and Scene At 6.30 in the UK. Dinah returned to Australia and did two tours of Vietnam for the Australian Government playing to the ANZAC’s and was awarded the Logistics and Support Medal for her contribution to the Vietnam war. Since the 60’s she has been constantly on tour and recording, and was one of the headlining performers on the hugely successful LONG WAY TO THE TOP national tour 2002. https://od.lk/fl/NjlfNTk2MDAyXw