Kathy Kirby

Kathy Kirby (actually Catherine Ethel O'Rourke ; born October 20, 1938 in Ilford , Essex , England , † May 19, 2011 in London , England) was a British singer . She became known in her home country in the 1960s with various titles and participation in the Eurovision Song Contest .

Life

Early years

When her soprano voice became recognizable in her early years, Kathy Kirby made the decision to become an opera singer . After meeting British band leader Bert Ambrose at the Ilford Palais , the foundation stone for her career was laid. She joined his band and was to stay there for three years. Ambrose was Kirby's manager and mentor until he died in 1971.

Over the years, her looks became one of her trademarks; because of her bleached hair and bright red painted lips, she was often compared to Marilyn Monroe , which earned her the nickname Blonde Bombshell . In 1963 and 1964 she had four hits in the UK charts that reached the top 20. The most successful was her cover version of the Doris Day title Secret Love .

Participation in the Eurovision Song Contest

In 1965, Kathy Kirby was selected by the BBC to represent Great Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest . As was common in the 1960s and 1970s, the selected candidate presented six titles on a television program called Song for Europe; then the audience was asked to vote on the winner by postcard . All six tracks were also recorded by Kathy Kirby and released together on an EP under the title Song for Europe. I belong (composed by Peter Lee Sterling , texted by Phil Peters ) was the clear winner of the preliminary decision.

All titles with results

No.	title	Postcards	space
1.	I'll try not to cry	96,252	2
2.	Sometimes	?	6th
3.	My only love	61.993	3
4th	I won't let you go	?	5
5.	One day	?	4th
6th	I belong	110,945	1

At the contest in Naples, Kathy Kirby achieved a second place behind the representative for Luxembourg France Gall with 26 points. Remarkably, this was the best position that a participant could ever achieve from starting number two. She also recorded an Italian version of her contribution in memory of the host country Italy .

Later years

I Belong was Kirby's last single to hit the UK sales charts. Between 1967 and 1973 she recorded twelve other singles and one more album , which, however, could not build on earlier successes. In the 70s she still had various television appearances.

In the 1970s, financial and health problems became known, but this did not prevent her from appearing on television. In the early 1980s she announced her retirement from show business and lived in London until her death.

In 2005, Kathy Kirby came back publicly when her biography Secrets, Loves and Lip Gloss was published along with her official website, which is themed My thanks to you .

Discography

Studio albums

year	title
1963	16 hits from Stars and Garters
1965	Make someone happy
1968	My thanks to you

Various EPs, CDs and compilations have also been released.

Singles

year	title	B side	UK charts
1960	Love can be	Crush me	-
1961	Danny	Now you're crying	-
1962	Big man	Slowly	-
1963	Dance on	playboy	11
1963	Secret love	You have to want to love him	4th
1964	Let me go lover	The sweetest sounds	10
1964	You're the one	Love me baby	17th
1964	Don't walk away	No regrets	-
1965	I belong	I'll try not to cry	36
1965	The way of love	Oh darling, how I miss you	-
1965	Where in the world	That wonderful feeling of love	-
1966	Spanish flea	Till the end of time	-
1966	Adam Adament	I will never learn	-
1967	No one's gonny hurt you	My yiddish momma	-
1967	In all the world	Time	-
1967	Turn around	Golden days	-
1968	I almost called your name	Let the music start	-
1968	Come back here with my heart	Antonio	-
1969	I'll catch the sun	Please help me, I'm falling	-
1969	Is that all there is	Knowing when to leave	-
1970	My way	Little green apples	-
1970	Wheel of fortune	Lucky	-
1971	So here I go	Yes - I've got	-
1972	Do you really have a heart	Dream on, dreamer	-
1973	Here, there and everywhere	Little song for you	-
1973	Singer with the band	Hello morning	-
1976	My prayer	Nobody loves me like you do	-
1976	Hey	Nobody loves me like you do	-

Web links

Commons : Kathy Kirby  - collection of images

• Official website
• English fansite
• Literature by and about Kathy Kirby in the catalog of the German National Library
• Kathy Kirby in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [1]
2. ↑ Singer Kathy Kirby dies aged 72. Retrieved May 20, 2011 . 
3. ↑ geocities.ws
4. ↑ kathykirby.me.uk ( Memento of the original from October 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.