Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby - May 2011

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby - May 2011
From: GUEST,dophism
Date: 21 Jun 11 - 09:45 AM

There's plenty about S&G and about Julie Rayne on the internet. And, yes, she was a better performer and singer than KK and she is still
performing to a high standard.

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby - May 2011
From: wilbyhillbilly
Date: 31 May 11 - 06:22 AM

Sad news, I've always been a fan of hers and I remember the Eurovision well, totally different then.

R.I.P. Kathy xx

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby - May 2011
From: GUEST,Betsy
Date: 30 May 11 - 07:16 PM

Dear me - the whole point of my earlier posting was, that we, "The Mystics " aka "the Mistakes" did the warm up spot for her at her gig.
Vin on rhythm guitar - I was the singer.
As an aside she was reputedly paid £300 for her performance .
Doesn't sound much now but it was a phenomenal amount in those days , if you bear in mind that our group had 5 members , a manager and a van AND "we" got , £6 (yes six pounds) IN TOTAL for the group.
The manager told us, he took the booking as a prestige gig, and which he explained, meant that there wasn't a large fee involved ,but it was great exposure.
When Vin and I asked for our quid (£) each we were told by the manager that the van needed some sort of repair so we received nothing.
Oh happy days - wouldn't have missed the occasion - been there done it - wotta laugh.
RIP Kathy , for a superstar at the time, she was really pleasant to us daft young lads

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby - May 2011
From: Betsy
Date: 29 May 11 - 07:13 PM

Vin Garbutt and myself were in a "Beat" group - Jeez - it must have been 48 years ago ( we were about 15 years old ) at the Oak Leaf in South Bank near Middlesbrough.
We got to say "Howdo" and talk to her briefly afterwards and she was extremely pleasant and posed with our little band for photo's. The effect on 15 year olds being next to a beautiful superstar was fabulous and...... those shiny red lips .....
God bless ya Kathy

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby - May 2011
From: Jim Martin
Date: 29 May 11 - 08:24 AM

There was also an interesting item about her in Germany (some way down the article):

http://members.shaw.ca/athomas125/doxology.htm

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby - May 2011
From: GUEST,Jim Martin
Date: 29 May 11 - 08:19 AM

Julie Rayne was still around in 2009 if she is the same one (cabaret singer):

http://www.jigsaw4u.org.uk/files/news_articles/2009-10-30-jiggig-concert-review/

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby - May 2011
From: Bugsy
Date: 28 May 11 - 10:16 PM

Yes, I just googled Stars & Garters, but apart from a single mention of her, can find nothing on the net about her at all.

I prefered her to Kathy actually.

Cheers

Bugsy

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby - May 2011
From: BTNG
Date: 28 May 11 - 12:54 PM

The Resident singers on Stars and Garters were Kathy Kirby, Vince Hill, Tommy Bruce, Al Saxon, Clinton Ford and Julie Rayne, so it's probably Julie Rayne you're thinking of, Bugsy.

cheers!

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby - May 2011
From: Bugsy
Date: 28 May 11 - 02:34 AM

WHo was the other female singer whith her on the "Stars & Garters" show on BBC?

CHeers

Bugsy

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby - May 2011
From: goatfell
Date: 27 May 11 - 03:43 PM

so sad rip

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 27 May 11 - 11:56 AM

Part of my early teenage years too!
If you want to hear a whole lot of her recordings again, here they are (must be one of the longest blickies ever!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmkZ0ZpzRDY&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=AVGxdCwVVULXedjiXefXkkHcQG-HlVt18y

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby
From: C-flat
Date: 26 May 11 - 05:18 PM

I'm clearly in good company, having had a schoolboy crush on KK.
I remember,as a ten-year-old, cycling to a hotel in Middlesbrough, when she was appearing in the town, in the hope of catching a glimpse.
Apart from her curvacious figure and those red lips, she could belt out a tune.

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 26 May 11 - 10:42 AM

Sad to hear that Kathy Kirby has gone, I was only thinking about her recently as being one of those women who could belt out a song. I was very young so I don't remember her in the Eurovision Song Contest it would have been on far too late for me but I do remember 'Secret Love' and especially liked her version of 'Dance On' the Shadows did the instrumental version. She had a wonderful look with those vaseline slicked lips and saved me a fortune in lip gloss years later.

RIP

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby
From: Jim Martin
Date: 26 May 11 - 07:46 AM

The Guardian obit:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/may/20/kathy-kirby-obituary?INTCMP=SRCH

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby
From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser)
Date: 26 May 11 - 06:41 AM

My brother had the 45 of 'Secret Love'. He had a crush on her for years.

I've not been able to get it out of my head since I heard the news. How gay am I?

She was managed for most of her career by her bandleader and lover Bert Ambrose, who discovered her when she was 16. He was 64 at the time. Allegedly, he sabotaged her later career (including turning down offers from Hollywood) out of spite and jealousy following a brief affair she had with Bruce Forsyth (this despite the fact that Ambrose himself was married to someone else). He also gambled away about £5 million pounds of her money.

One of her nieces married Mark Thatcher. Another one married the present Lord Rothermere. That didn't prevent her spending her later years living on her own in straitened circumstances in her flat in Kensington (which was about the only thing of hers that Ambrose didn't manage to lose).

No business like show business.

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby
From: Bugsy
Date: 25 May 11 - 07:58 PM

I'm quite surprised to see this thread. I thought that Kathy Kirby had died many years ago. I thought she's suicided shortly after the death of her mentor Ambrose.

She was a great performer though

Cheers

Bugsy

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby
From: Richard Atkins
Date: 25 May 11 - 07:42 PM

Kitty pre teenager myself in 1963
In those days the Eurovision was worth watching!

So sorry that Kathy has left us but many memories will be revived by many for a special singer.

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 25 May 11 - 06:23 PM

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby
From: Gurney - PM
Date: 25 May 11 - 04:38 PM

I was in love with that voluptuous lady for years. Sad.

Ditto. The sexiest lips ever ....

R I P.

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby
From: Gurney
Date: 25 May 11 - 04:38 PM

I was in love with that voluptuous lady for years. Sad.

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 25 May 11 - 01:01 PM

Very different singing style from Marilyn Monroe though....

I'm sorry to hear that Kathy's passed on - and it's a shock to read that Secret Love was 1963, when I wasn't even a teenager yet!

Kitty

Subject: RE: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby
From: Musket
Date: 25 May 11 - 12:56 PM

For many years outside an old nightclub in Worksop, (I'm talking during the late '70s) there was a poster for a concert she did there in 1970 supported by an "up and coming" magician called Paul Daniels.

I was a volunteer on the local hospital radio at the time and was impressed by how often her songs were requested by patients. She wasn't as well known as her peer group (Lulu, Sandy Shaw, Dusty Springfield etc) but was requested more often. I used to joke that if she had recorded The Old Rugged Cross, we would have had every request ever collected rolled into one....

Subject: Obit: Singer Kathy Kirby
From: GUEST,Bridie Dolan
Date: 25 May 11 - 08:40 AM

Singer Kathy Kirby had died aged 72.

Kathy Kirby With her blonde good looks, Kirby was often compared to Marilyn Monroe

Singer Kathy Kirby, best known for her cover version of Secret Love in 1963, has died aged 72.

She will also be remembered for representing the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest with I Belong, coming second to Luxembourg.

During her career, Kirby had two top 10 hits and three other singles in the top 40.

Bless her and thank you