Dinah Lee

Dinah Lee - RockWiz Salutes The Decades (60s) Episode ob SBS june 6, 2015 (with The Bull Sisters)

Born Diane Marie Jacobs on August 19th, 1943 in Waimate, she attended Cashmere High School in Christchurch.  Her career began in 1960 with Bobby Davis and The Dazzlers and led on to involvements with The Saints and The Playboys.  She recorded on Viking Records, her first single being Don't You Know Yokomo // Reet Petite with backing by Max Merritt and The Meteors.  She appeared on a multitude of TV Shows in Australasia including Bandstand, Saturday Date and The Tonight Show as well as touring with PJ Proby and Millie Small.  She was awarded the NEBOA Entertainer of the Year in 1965.

Dinah Lee, 1960s Pop Queen

Dinah Lee in the mid/early 1960s

The Mod World of Dinah Lee

Dinah Lee in concert

Dinah Lee was probably the most significant Auckland based singer to burst onto the local scene and is the first female Kiwi artist to top the Australian charts.  Dinah was just another pop singer until she was introduced to a fashion model from England who transformed her into a mod, which was all the rage in London.  People then began to take notice of this ball of energy and her first single release Don't You Know Yockomo, was soon hit-bound with Dinah given the title, "Queen Of The Mods".  1964 saw Yockomo followed onto the charts by two more winners, Reet Petite and Do The Bluebeat (The Jamaican Ska), followed by an EP and her first album, Introducing Dinah Lee.  1965 provided more hits, success in Australia, and an award for Entertainer Of The Year, followed by a second album, The Mod World Of Dinah Lee.  She started her singing career at local dances and made her professional debut in 1960 singing at a dance in Christchurch with Bobby Davis and the Dazzlers.  She began singing regularly with them in a local coffee lounge.  Diane soon met up with Phil Garland, a member of The Saints band and started singing with them.  When The Saints came to an end, Phil Garland formed The Playboys and Diane joined them singing in the new band.  In 1962, The Playboys were invited by Max Merritt to play at the Top 20 Club to cover for his band while on tour.  Diane and The Playboys went to Auckland and played 7 nights a week for the month.

Dinah Lee at ROCKONZ 2007

Dinah Lee performing at the first ROCKONZ Concert in The Christchurch Town Hall in 2007

First Album Cover Shot

Viking Records were not entirely happy with Diane's family name Jacobs, and so came up with the professional name for her of "Dinah Lee".  Her first two records, which were released in 1964 were Don't You Know Yockomo and Reet Petite.  Max Merritt and the Meteors were the session musicians.  Within two weeks the single was in the Top 40 and before long had peaked in the Top 20.  It generated a lot of interest from the media and suddenly Dinah was Queen of the Mods.  Britain was in the throes of the Mods and Rockers craze at this time.  The single was also released in Australia by HMV and quickly reached a place in the Top 10 on many of the regional charts.  A second record was released in September, Reet Petite // Yea Yea We Love Them All was another hit.  The third release in October 1964, was the one that truly established her reputation.  Do The Blue Beat // Kansas City was a huge hit.  HMV decided to release Reet Petite // Do The Blue Beat which was another huge success.  1964 was Dinah's best year and she was constantly on tour with shows such as the Lou and Simon Spectacular, the Jimmie Rodgers Show with The Crystals and Terry Stafford.  Her first international tour through Australia was Starlift '64, which included Del Shannon, The Searchers, Peter and Gordon, and Eden Kane.  Dinah gained the best reviews of the night.  Her song Do The Blue Beat hit the top of the charts soon after and Johnny O'Keefe invited Dinah to sing on his Sing Sing Sing show.  She rushed to Australia, recorded the show and flew back to meet commitments in Auckland.  Viking issued her fourth single, Who Stole The Sugar // Rock Around The Clock in November 1964.  In total, during that time, she had sold over 100,000 records.  In recent years Dinah has undertaken very successful tours of the east coast of Australia as part of Max Merritt and the Meteors with Dinah Lee and was part of a reunion concert of the 1970's stars including Ray Columbus, which had sold - out audiences of 10's of thousands.  In March of 2007, Dinah toured with Max and the Meteors in the North Island before coming back to Christchurch to take part in the ROCKONZ Rock and Roll Festival and the ROCKONZ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inauguration.

Additional Dinah Lee information is available on the Audio Culture website .....

www.audioculture.co.nz/people/dinah-lee