Dinah Lee
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Dinah Lee (born Diane Marie Jacobs, Waimate, New Zealand, 19 August 1943) is a New Zealand-born singer who has been based in Australia for most of her career. She enjoyed her greatest success in the mid-1960s, when she was one of the first female performers in Australia to score simultaneous pop hits in both Australia and New Zealand. Dinah was also noted for powerful voice and her trend-setting "mod" clothes and hairstyles.
Dinah drew much of her early musical inspiration from black female singers of the early 60s, like England's "Little" Millie Small and America's Dee Dee Sharp, singers who pioneered a tough, rootsy sound for female pop singers, one that was based in blues and R&B rather than in the Tin Pan Alley or Broadway traditions. Millie Small is doubly significant influence -- her 1963 smash "My Boy Lollipop" was Island Records' first hit, and she was the first artist to have a hit in the so-called "bluebeat" style, the new music genre that had recently emerged from Jamaica and which was the direct ancestor of ska and reggae. Inspired by Mille Small, Dinah Lee was the only Antiopdean artist to pick up on the bluebeat craze and to record in that idiom at the time.
Dinah was also fortunate to have grown up in Christchurch, which has been described as "the Liverpool of the southern hemisphere". A key factor in making Christchurch a hotbed of pop music activity was the establishment of a large American base there in 1957 as part of "Operation Deep Freeze". Christchurch was (and still is) the main staging point for supplying the American Antarctic base that was being built at the time at McMurdo Sound.
The regular local dances were attended by many American servicemen and base staff, including many African-Americans. Their presence, their passion for blues and R&B -- and above all, their copies of the original recordings and the prized Fender guitars and amplifiers that they brought with them -- soon filtered through to the locals and began to exert a big influence on budding local musicians like Max Merritt, Dave Miller, Ray Columbus and Dinah.
Dinah Lee was born was Diane Marie Jacobs in Waimate, on New Zealand's South Island, on 19 August 1943. She was born into a musical family -- her father played sax, her uncle was a drummer and her two aunts played piano and violin. When her parents separated she was fostered with a family who owned a farm near Christchurch and she attended the newly-opened Cashmere High School, which is also the alma mater of NZ female vocalist Bic Runga and NZ pop band ZED.
Dinah's father worked in a local department store, but he also also ran and promoted teenage dances in his spare time. One night in 1958 he asked his daughter if she would like to sing some songs at The Country Club Cabaret. She was an immediate success and was soon appearing every Saturday night. Aged only fifteen, she made her professional debut with dance band Bobby Davis & The Dazzlers and she also began sitting in with a local rock 'n' roll band The Saints. This latter group, led by guitarist Pat Nehoneho, was fronted by singer Phil Garland, whom Dinah was dating at the time. In later years, Phil became a respected NZ folk artist.
In 1962 The Saints split and Phil and Diane put together their own group, The Playboys, bringing in the multi-talented Brian Ringrose, the recently departed lead guitarist from Ray Columbus & The Invaders, plus Graeme Miller, the drummer from local band The Numonics, who had been recommended to them by Pat. Completing the lineup was bassist John O'Neill and rhythm guitarist Mark Graham. Dinah became co-lead singer, alternating sets with Phil Garland. After meeting Jackie Holme, owner of a very 'with it' boutique in Christchurch, Dinah changed her look. Jackie gave Dinah a page-boy haircut and dressed her in wild op-art designs with white leather boots. She began modelling around this time, and her "mod" wardrobe, makeup and hairstyle soon became her trademark.
Dinah's break as a solo performer came in late 1962, courtesy of Max Merritt & The Meteors, who had already left Christchurch for New Zealand's biggest city, Auckland. After an abortive first trip to Sydney in 1963 The Meteors had returned to Auckland, where they were holding down a residency at the popular Top 20 Club. Late in the year the Meteors were offered a national tour, so Max contacted The Playboys and asked them to come up and fill in while the Meteors were away. Apparently, this was a common tactic by resident bands in the cut-throat Auckland scene -- out-of-town groups from Christchurch, Wellington and elsewhere could be brought in for the duration and then easily packed off home when the tours finished without posing a threat to the tenure of the resident group. It was during this time that Dinah heard "Don't You Know Yokomo?", which she had discovered on a Dee Dee Sharp album, and she immediately included it as part of her set.
According to NZ rock historian John Dix, Diane was "discovered" almost immediately after The Playboys' arrival in Auckland by leading solo guitarist Peter Posa. He was impressed by her look, personality and powerhouse performance and he returned the next night with Ron Dalton, the head of New Zealand's leading independent label Viking Records. Suitably impressed, Dalton offered both Phil and Diane solo contracts and even before the Top 20 gig had finished the two singers had announced their intention to leave the band.
Dalton arranged an audition and Diane recorded demos of two songs by The Exciters, "Tell Him" and "He's Got The Power". Viking's head office in Wellington approved them and a recording contract was signed. In February 1964 promoter Jim Haddleton put together the "Startime Spectacular" for a North Island tour. It was headlined by Bill & Boyd, with Max and the Meteors and singer Lyn Barnett. At the last moment Lyn had to cancel, so Max suggested Diane as a replacement. For the three week tour, Diane took to the stage every night doing a thirty minute slot backed by The Meteors. Seeing her obvious talent on the tour, Haddleton signed her up to a management deal (and giving himself a 25% commission). For the next five years Haddleton exerted total control over her income and the direction of her career.
Dinah was now becoming established, and she had a residency at the Top 20. Mid-year, she went into the studio, backed by the label's house band, her old Christchurch buddies Max Merritt & The Meteors. The tracks they cut included her own distinctive versions of two R&B songs she had picked up from Dee Dee Sharp records -- Huey "Piano" Smith’s "Don’t You Know Yokomo" and Jackie Wilson’s classic "Reet Petite". Both songs made #1 in New Zealand.
In just four frantic months, in the latter half of 1964, Dinah released four hit singles, two EP's and her debut album, selling a total of more than 100,000 units. She was constantly on tour and making promotional appearances on TV on both sides of the Tasman. Originally credited to Diane Lee, "Don’t You Know Yokomo" was released in August 1964 and kicked off her run of chart success. The first pressing sold out within days and made the NZ Top 20 within two weeks. By the time the second pressing hit the streets, Viking had renamed her Dinah Lee (presumably an amalgam of Dinah Washington and Brenda Lee).
In mid-1964 Ray Columbus and The Invaders broke into the Australian charts, becoming the first New Zealanders to score a #1 record in Australia with "She's A Mod". Only weeks later, Dinah followed them, smashing into the top spot with "Don’t You Know Yokomo", making her the first NZ female pop artist to score a #1 Australian single. An EP including the hit single was also issued, entitled "Don't You Know...Dinah Lee".
"Reet Petite" became Dinah's second single, released in September. In NZ it was backed by "Yea Yea We Love Them All", a novelty tribute to The Beatles, who had taken Australia and New Zealand by storm on their world tour only a few months earlier, but this single wasn't released in Australia. Viking issued a second EP also titled "Yea Yea We Love ... Dinah Lee". She followed up with a third huge NZ hit, "Do The Blue Beat (The Jamaican Ska)" in October 1964. The A-side was the very first bluebeat recording made 'downunder', and it was the hit that took her to the top on both sides of the Tasman.
Dinah's third NZ single was "Do The Blue Beat" b/w "Kansas City" and it was another huge success. However, HMV Australia hadn't picked up either the second or the third Viking single in their original form. Seeing her huge success in NZ and anxious for a follow-up, they combined the A-sides from each to make the double-A-sided "Reet Petite" / "Do The Blue Beat" Dinah's second Aussie single. It was another huge seller and chart success for her in Australia.
Dinah was now a bona fide pop sensation, the first major local female star to emerge from the Beat Boom. She easily surpassed all the other female singers of the day – Maria Dallas, Sandy Edmonds and Allison Durbin, Little Pattie and Judy Stone -- in both image and performance. As rock historian Ed Nimmervol suggests, "She’s A Mod" could well have been written about Dinah herself. The fashion sense she brought to her pop career made Dinah the 'Queen of the Mods' and Australasia’s most imitated female performer. Not everyone liked her new look, however. She was frequently heckled on country dates during the Startime Spectacular tour, and Dinah recalls her mother bursting into tears when they met at the airport late in 1964:
- "She couldn't recognise me in my pale make-up and big black eyes, these kiss curls around my cheeks. In those days you still wore hats to town with little white gloves. She was speechless."
When "Do The Blue Beat" hit the top of the charts, Dinah was touring on the Peter Posa Farewell Tour. Her performance on the Posa tour was recorded and four Dinah tracks were included on the "Live On The Peter Posa Show" album in 1964. When "Reet Petite" hit in Australia, Australia’s king of rock Johnny O'Keefe recognised that there was nothing like Dinah in Australia so he invited her over specially to appear on his new show Sing Sing Sing. She rushed to Australia, taped the show and flew back to meet commitments in Auckland.
On her next visit to Australia she appeared on all the major Australian pop TV shows. Viking issued her fourth single "Who Stole The Sugar" b/w "Rock Around The Clock" in November 1964 and it was another big NZ hit. In New Zealand she starred in two half-hour TV specials, had another NZ hit with "Who Stole The Sugar". HMV Australia again took a different path with the release of the third Australian single, lifting "I'm Walkin'" from Dinah's first album and putting "Who Stole The Sugar" on the B-side. It sold very well and charted strongly.
In early 1965 Dinah returned to Australia and taped three performances for Australian Bandstand. She also appeared on Saturday Date and The Tonight Show. One of the Bandstand performances, which was a special thrill for Dinah, was a Myer Music Bowl concert where her heroine Millie Small was the headlining a bill that also included Kiwi rock pioneer Johnny Devlin. About this time Viking released her fifth NZ single, "Johnny" / "Let Me In" but again HMV Australia passed on it at the time. Viking also released the "Dance to the Blue Beat" EP and this is now one of the most sought-after Dinah Lee recordings, fetching upwards of AU$100 on the collector's market.
With such considerable success in such a short time, it was obvious that the next step for Dinah was to try her luck overseas. Significantly she went to America first, rather than to England, as was the standard procedure for most local acts in the 60s and early 70s. On her first US visit in mid-1965 Dinah gained the unique distinction of being the only Australasian performer ever to appear on the legendary American TV pop show Shindig. On this first appearance Dinah wanted to sing one of her hits, but the producers reportedly thought that audiences would have trouble relating to "Yockomo" or "Do The Blue Beat" so she ended up doing "I'm Walkin'", after which she joined music legends Ray Charles, The Righteous Brothers and Glen Campbell for a rendition of Ray’s classic song "Hit The Road Jack". Dinah also appeared on Hullaballoo, Hollywood A-Go-Go, Shebang and The Jimmie Rodgers Show.
American label Vee-Jay Records initially showed interest in releasing her material, but this fell through, and her only American release, "You Don't Talk About Love" / "Do The Blue Beat" crept out on Vee-Jay's subsidiary label, Interphon. With no promotion, it went nowhere.
From America she went on to London in late '65, where she hooked up with Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records and champion of Jamaican music. How this was arranged is unknown -- possibly it came about via her meeting with Millie Small in Melbourne. Dinah cut four tracks for Island's subsidiary label Aladdin, which released mainly slow soul songs by Jackie Edwards and Owen Gray. However as her first UK single in May 1965 Aladdin actually decided to go with songs recorded back in New Zealand -- "I'll forgive you then forget you" b/w "Nitty gritty". To promote the record she appeared on several major British TV shows including Thank Your Lucky Stars" and "Scene At 6:30. Aladdin Records released the combination of "I Can't Believe What You Say" / "That's It I Quit" as her second release in England, but it failed to sell.
Both Dinah's Aladdin singles are pretty obscure these days, but the latter single has recently generated interest with fans of the so-called 'Northern Soul' genre, which has undergone a major revival, especially in the UK (as have some of the UK recordings made by Lynne Randell).
Meanwhile back in New Zealand, Viking released "I'll Forgive You Then Forget You" / "What Did He Say". This new combination with a different B-side made it a stronger disc, and this time HMV followed Viking and released it the sameway as her fourth Australian single. It did well despite the fact that she was not in the country at the time to promote it.
Having tried the UK market without success, Dinah decided to head home, where she was still New Zealand's most popular female performer. For her fifth Australian single, HMV went with the second Aladdin release, and this put Dinah back on the Australian charts. Viking released three more singles in quick succession during late 1965 -- "He Can't Do The Blue Beat" / "The Birds And The Bees", "Nitty Gritty / Hey Chickie Baby" and "That's It I Quit" / "Pushing A Good Thing Too Far".
In September 1965, Dinah was booked for the Australian tour of pop singer P.J. Proby. To capitalise on this, HMV released its sixth single, the New Zealand release they passed up six months earlier, "Let Me In" / "Johnny". Following this tour, she flew to America to make another appearance on shindig and there was an attempt to line-up a more extensive tour, but it failed due to visa problems.
On September 14 1965, Dinah Lee's tremendous success and popularity was recognised when she was named New Zealand's Entertainer Of The Year at the NEBOA Awards. In November Viking Records released her second album The Sound Of Dinah Lee which was another huge seller. A second Live On The Peter Posa Show" album was also released, with Dinah contributing a further four tracks. It was at this time that Dinah decided to base herself permanently herself in Australia, and after collecting her award she went on her own farewell tour. Two songs from that were released on the Live On The Dinah Lee Show album.
In March 1966 Dinah did a second Australia - New Zealand tour with Millie Small. To promote the tour she released a new single, "He Don't Want Your Love Anymore" / "Don't You Just Know It" (her seventh HMV single, her tenth for Viking). However, by this time Dinah's chart succeess was waning. The music scene was beginning to diversify from the generic "pop" label, and a range of different styles was emerging -- soul, blues, R&B, psychedelia. Groups were becoming the dominant format and solo singers were falling out of fashion.
By the end of the decade most of the first generation of pop solo singers were considered passé, and many mid-Sixties idols like Dinah and Normie Rowe faded from view. For female vocalists it was especially tough, since public taste and record companies interest had been radically reshaped by the new wave of soul/blues singers like Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin, and many former pop stars had to resort to the club circuit and variety TV shows simply to survive.
It's notable that the majority of solo artists who had any major chart success in the late 60s in Australia were men -- Johnny Farnham, Russell Morris and Ronnie Burns -- and it's no coincidence that both Morris and Burns were backed up by the so-called "Melbourne Mafia" including songwriter Johnny Young, producer Ian Meldrum and engineer John Sayers. It wasn't until the early '70s that the solo female singer made a comeback in popularity, through overseas-based artists like Olivia Newton-John and Helen Reddy, and local singers like Alison McCallum and Colleen Hewett.
Dinah had several more singles released during 1966 - "May's Night Time Is The Right Time" / "Not In This Whole World" followed in August by "He Sure Is The Boy I Love" / "Summertime". P.J. Proby returned for another tour in October, and Dinah was once again on the bill. Her third album was issued late in 1966 called The Mod World Of Dinah Lee.
Dinah released only two singles in the watershed year of 1967. The first, "98.6" / "Too Many People", came out in February 1967 on both labels. It was followed July 1967 by "Sorry Mama" / "I Keep Forgettin'" which sadly proved to be her last HMV/Viking release and effectively marked the end of her pop career. Despite three years at the top, massive sales and continuing popularity in both Australia and New Zealand, neither company renewed her recording contract.
But while Dinah's remarkable chart success had ended, her popularity remained high. She became a regular and perennially popular attraction on the Australian club circuit and continued to make regular TV appearances. In later years she also regained control of her career and finances and successfully sued her former manager James Haddleton in the Australian courts for the money she was owed.
Dinah released three other singles during the Seventies. The first in 1972 was on Polydor, "Tell Him" / "You Are The One", the second on Festival records in 1976, "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" / "Midnight Blue", and the third on Laser in 1979, "I Can See Clearly Now" / "Let It Take You".
In 1982, a "Best Of" album was released on Music World, the label run by Hoghton Hughes, an old friend from her Christchurch days. Two excellent compilation CD's have been released, containing the best of her Sixties material.
In 1974 she was part of Johnny O'Keefe's famous comeback show, "The Good Old Days of Rock'n'roll" which also featured Lonnie Lee, Laurel Lea, Johnny Devlin, and Jade Hurley, which broke attendance records nightly at Sydney's St George's Leagues Club.
During her long career, Dinah has received many accolades, including a special award from the Variety Club of Australia. In the '70s she was "The Face of Yardley" for the Yardley Cosmetic Company. She became passionately interested in body-building and in 1984 Dinah was voted the Australian Female Body Builder of the Year in the over-35s category, and she has written a book on the subject.
Now based in Sydney, she divides her time between regular performances here and overseas, and her work as a motivational speaker.
References
John Dix
Stranded In Paradise: New Zealand Rock 'N' Roll 1955-1988
(Paradise Publications, NZ, 1988)
Ian McFarlane
Encyclopedia of Australian Rock & Pop
(Allen & Unwin, 1999)
Howlspace website
http://www.howlspace.com.au/en/leedinah/leedinah.htm
New Zealand Music of the '60s and '70s website
http://www.sergent.com.au/dinahlee.html
Vernon Joyson
Dreams, Fantasies & Nightmares: Australia/New Zealand
http://www.borderlinebooks.com/dreams/dreams.html
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