Kiki Dee

Kiki Dee (right) at the Royal Albert Hall , 2009

Kiki Dee (born March 6, 1947 in Keighley near Bradford , Yorkshire ; actually Pauline Matthews ) is a British singer and songwriter .

Life

Kiki Dee's first single was released in 1963 ( Early Night by Mitch Murray ). The second single, Don't Put Your Heart in His Hands , was composed by Jackie DeShannon and Sharon Sheeley . In February 1964, she first appeared on the British music show Ready Steady Go . In the following years she mainly covered current American soul hits. Together with Madeline Bell and Lesley Duncan she supported Dusty Springfield with live performances and recordings. Springfield, who was a fan of Dee, could be heard in the background on some of her recordings.

In January 1965 she took part with the title Aspetta domani (text: Fred Bongusto ) at the Italian Sanremo Festival and reached the final. She then recorded this title in German and Spanish. Further recordings followed in Italian, German and French. In 1966 Dee had her first film role in the British musical film Dateline Diamonds . In the same year she sang the title song of the same name for the British comedy Doctor in Clover . Many of Dee's recordings from the second half of the 1960s became classics of the Northern soul genre, especially Excuse Me (1967), On a Magic Carpet Ride (1968) and Why Don't I Run Away from You (1966) , of which she also recorded a German version ( no, I no longer know what I'm doing ).

In 1968 her debut album I'm Kiki Dee was released by Fontana Records . She was the first European artist in 1969 and only the third white artist after Debbie Dean and Chris Clark to be signed to Motown Records . There she released her second album Great Expectations in May 1970 .

However, commercial success did not materialize until she switched to Elton John's label Rocket Records. In 1973 she reached number 13 in the British charts with the ballad Amoureuse . In the following year she again reached the top 20 with the "blacker" and more rhythmic record I've Got the Music in Me , which was also successful in the USA. The LP of the same name was the only one from Dee that appeared as The Kiki Dee Band .

The singer finally had her greatest success in 1976 with the song Don't Go Breaking My Heart , which she sang in a duet with Elton John and which became a number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic . In the same year she was able to achieve another solo hit with the ballad Loving and Free , which she wrote herself and which had appeared on her first album for Rocket three years earlier.

Another duet with Elton John was created in 1981 for Dee's album Perfect Timing . It is a cover of the Motown classic Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever from the Four Tops . The track was also released as a single in the UK but flopped. The album Perfect Timing was next to the 1977 released LP Kiki Dee the only one in Dee's career that reached the UK album charts.

From 1984 Dee also tried to gain a foothold as an actress and was seen in several musicals .

In 1993 she sang again in a duet with Elton John. Their version of True Love , the track that once made Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly an evergreen , was another hit in the UK (# 2).

Since 1995 she has been working musically with the guitarist, composer and producer Carmelo Luggeri ; the two have now released three CDs.

Discography

See also : The Crowd

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1974	I've Got the Music in Me	-	US28 (18 weeks) US	The Kiki Dee Band
1977	Kiki Dee	UK24 (5 weeks) UK	US159 (5 weeks) US
1981	Perfect timing	UK47 (4 weeks) UK	-

More albums

1968: I'm Kiki Dee (UK) / Patterns (US) 1970: Great Expectations 1973: Loving & Free 1979: Stay with Me 1987: Angel Eyes 1993: Blood Brothers

1995: Almost Naked 1998: Where Rivers Meet (with Carmelo Luggeri) 2005: The Walk of Faith (with Carmelo Luggeri) 2008: Almost Naked: Kiki Dee Live 2008: Cage the Songbird

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1994	The very best of	UK62 (2 weeks) UK	-
2019	gold	UK44 (1 week) UK	-

More compilations

1974: Patterns 1980: Kiki Dee's Greatest Hits 1980: The Very Best of Kiki Dee 1991: Spotlight on Kiki Dee - Greatest Hits 1996: Amoureuse

2005: Love Makes the World Go Round: The Motown Years 2009: The Best of Kiki Dee 2011: I'm Kiki Dee - The Fontana Years 1963–1968 2015: Loving & Free + I've Got the Music in Me (2 CDs)

Singles

solo

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		UK	US
1971	Love Makes the World Go Round Great Expectations	-	US87 (3 weeks) US	Author and original: Deon Jackson , 1965
1973	Amoureuse Loving and Free	UK13 (16 weeks) UK	-	Author and original: Véronique Sanson , 1972
1974	I've Got the Music in Me I've Got the Music in Me	UK19 (8 weeks) UK	US12 (20 weeks) US	The Kiki Dee Band Author: Bias Boshell
1975	(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am Kiki Dee's Greatest Hits	UK33 (4 weeks) UK	US74 (3 weeks) US	The Kiki Dee Band, Original: Nancy Wilson , 1964 Authors: Jimmy Williams, Larry Harrison
1976	Once a Fool Kiki Dee's Greatest Hits	-	US82 (4 weeks) US	Authors: Brian Potter, Dennis Lambert
	Loving and Free Loving and Free	UK13 (8 weeks) UK	-	Author: Kiki Dee
1977	First Thing in the Morning Kiki Dee	UK32 (5 weeks) UK	-	Author: Bias Boshell
	Chicago Kiki Dee	UK28 (4 weeks) UK	-	Authors: Don Goodman, Jack Conrad Original: The Bottom Line, 1976 split single , A-Side: Elton John - Bite Your Lip
1981	Star perfect timing	UK13 (10 weeks) UK	-	Author: Doreen Chanter
	Perfect timing Perfect timing	UK66 (3 weeks) UK	-	Author: Kit Hain

More singles

1963: Early Night 1963: Don't Put Your Heart in His Hand 1964: Miracles 1964: (You Don't Know) How Glad I Am 1965: Runnin 'Out of Fools 1966: I Dig You Baby 1966: Why Don't I Run Away from You? 1966: Johnny's Kuss (With a Kiss) 1967: I'm Going Out (The Same Way I Came In) 1967: 'I' 1967: Excuse Me 1968: Can't Take My Eyes off You 1968: Patterns 1968: Now the Flowers Cry 1970: The Day Will Come Between Sunday and Monday 1973: Lonnie and Josie 1974: Excuse Me

1974: Super cool 1974: Hard Luck Story (The Kiki Dee Band) 1975: Step by Step 1977: Night Hours 1977: Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance) 1978: Stay with Me Baby 1978: One Step 1979: One Jump Ahead of the Storm 1981: Midnight Flyer (The Kiki Dee Band) 1983: The Loser Gets to Win 1983: Cold as Christmas 1986: Another Day Comes (Another Day Goes) 1987: Stay Close to You 1987: I Fall in Love Too Easily 1987: Angel Eyes 2014: On a Magic Carpet Ride

Duets

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1976	Don't Go Breaking My Heart Elton John's Greatest Hits Volume II	DE5 (19 weeks) DE	AT8 (8 weeks) AT	CH4 (11 weeks) CH	UK1 Gold + gold (14 weeks)UK	US1 platinum (19 weeks)US	with Elton John Authors: Ann Orson, Carte Blanche
1993	True Love Duets	DE38 (10 weeks) DE	AT22 (6 weeks) AT	CH11 (11 weeks) CH	UK2 silver (10 weeks)UK	US56 (12 weeks) US	with Elton John, Author: Cole Porter Original: Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly , 1956

More duets

• 1981: Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever (with Elton John)
• 1987: Feel so Good (Tom Robinson with Kiki Dee)

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chart sources: Singles UK US
2. ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
3. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK US

Web links

• Works by and about Kiki Dee in the catalog of the German National Library
• Kiki Dee at Allmusic (English)
• Kiki Dee at Discogs (English)
• Kiki & Carmelo, official site
• Fansite
• Kiki Dee on Ready Steady Girls!