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Biography:
In a career that has lasted over thirty five years, Kiki Dee has established herself as one of the greatest female vocalists to come out of England. She has recorded several genres of music, including Phil Spector-ish '60s pop, Motown, country-pop, rock, dance, stage musicals, and world music. Despite her mid-70s success under the guidance of superstar Elton John, Kiki has never achieved the well deserved stardom and recognition that her critically-acclaimed recordings deserve.
Born Pauline Matthews on March 6, 1947, in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, "Kiki" was always a gifted performer. By the age of 10, "Kiki" was winning local talent contests and establishing herself as a local star in the Yorkshire province. By 16, "Kiki" left school to pursue her dream, and began singing in a dance band in Leeds. It was also during this time that she adopted her stage name of "Kiki Dee" by taking the style of the knee-high "kinky" boots that were famous at that time and mixing it with American actress Sandra Dee's last name. She was scouted by Philips/Fontana, who released her debut recording of Mitch Murray's "Early Night" in 1964.
Over the next four years, Kiki released a series of critically acclaimed, yet commercially unsuccessful, recordings for Philips/Fontana, including such magnificent recordings as "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am," "I," "Patterns," "On a Magic Carpet Ride," "Why Don't I Run Away from You?" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You." Kiki was often ranked critically among such females of the era as Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark, and Sandie Shaw, but she was never able to breakthrough on the charts. She released two albums during this era, "I Am Kiki Dee" and "Patterns," before retreating to the club circuit in 1968.
In 1969, Kiki's recording of Aretha Franklin's "Runnin' Out of Fools" landed her a major contract with Motown Records, becoming the first white female vocalist signed to the label. She recorded over twenty songs for the label, releasing the album "Great Expectations" in 1970. Once again, Kiki was lauded with accolades for the album, which included such tracks "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," "Jimmy," "The Day Will Come Between Sunday and Monday," and her first American chart hit, "Love Makes the World Go 'Round." Despite the hit single, the album was not promoted properly and failed to drum up the success it needed. Kiki returned to the cabaret circuit...
After a couple of years on the cabaret circuit, Kiki was contacted by Steve Brown and John Reid, both of whom she had met with her association from Philips and Motown, both of whom were establishing a new label with their current boss, Elton John. Elton had been a fan of Kiki's early recordings and was looking for a female vocalist to sign for his new label, Rocket Records. He took on Kiki as his protégée, prominently featuring her on his album "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," and producing her first album for the new label, "Loving & Free."
"Loving & Free" was very different from anything else Kiki had ever recorded, relying heavily on the established country-pop sound that had been set by such artists as Olivia Newton-John and the Eagles. The album was also the first to feature Kiki as a songwriter, with the title track and the now-standard "Sugar on the Floor" being the highlights. It also featured two new Elton John/Bernie Taupin compositions, "Supercool" and "Lonnie & Josie." "Loving & Free" was Kiki's first success, and her version of Veronique Sanson's "Amoureuse" became an international hit.
Kiki followed up "Loving & Free" with the top-10 smash "I've Got the Music In Me," taken from her second Rocket album of the same title. By this time, Kiki was an integral part of Elton's band and was establishing herself as a strong concert performer, opening for Elton as well as Steely Dan. "I've Got the Music in Me" was the first recording to be released as "The Kiki Dee Band," a name to show Kiki's recording as a group effort separate from the Elton John musicians. The album went gold in the U.S.
In 1976, Kiki returned to follow-up the hit album. She recorded the album "Cage the Songbird," featuring the John/Taupin title track based on the life of Edith Piaf. The album was to be a mix of Kiki's country and rock stylings, as featured on the previous Rocket discs, but was never released. She finished the year off by recording a duet with Elton, the international #1 smash "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart."
By the end of 1976, Elton John was at a turning point in his career. He released the double album "Blue Moves" and came out to RollingStone magazine as a bisexual. In America, this statement did much damage to his career, and effected everything Elton John related - including the status of Rocket Records and the career of Kiki Dee.
In 1977 Elton produced Kiki's long-awaited follow-up to "I've Got the Music In Me," simply titled "Kiki Dee." The album is a genuine masterpiece, featuring Kiki's strongest set of songs, including the hit single "Chicago," and the beautiful "Night Hours." Sadly, the album failed to generate the success it deserved and Rocket Records was sold by MCA.
In 1978, Kiki recorded her final disc for the newly RCA renovated Rocket, "Stay With Me." The album, featuring Kiki's strongest vocals, including an unbelievably fantastic cover of the Lorraine Ellison classic "Stay With Me, Baby," went unnoticed by the public. Rocket Records folded shortly afterwards.
In 1979, Kiki sung the theme songs to the movies "The Legacy" and "Stir Crazy," as well as took part in the "World Popular Song Festival" in Tokyo in 1980. In 1981 She had a hit with the song "Star" from her album "Perfect Timing," which also re-united her with Elton John on the cover of the old Motown hit "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever."
In the era of female vocalists covering standard torch songs from the 40s and 50s (Carly Simon's "Torch," Toni Tenille's "More than You Know" and Linda Ronstadt's Nelson Riddle albums), Kiki decided to put a different spin on the genre by producing an album of lushly orchestrated contemporary torch songs. The album, "Two Sides to Every Story," was recorded and turned into Ariola Records, who refused to release it. Kiki would not record another album for five years...
In 1983, Kiki made a prominent appearance in the video for Eurythmic's hit "Who's That Girl?" The appearance on the video re-united her with former label-mate, Eurythmic Dave Stewart, who was a member of the Rocket-signed group Longdancer. Stewart returned the favor by writing and producing Kiki's first dance hit, "Another Day Comes (Another Day Goes)," as well as played a part in the production of the comeback album, "Angel Eyes." Released in 1987 on Columbia Records, the much hyped "Angel Eyes" failed to sell to expectations, despite being a strong collection of well produced songs. Kiki retreated once again, this time to the stage...
Kiki made her West End debut in the initial production of "Pump Boys and Dinettes," and then received critical raves, and an Olivier nomination, for her performance as Mrs. Johnstone in the revival of the hit musical "Blood Brothers." The success of "Blood Brothers" generated a cast recording for RCA Records, one of the few Kiki recordings still in print.
Shortly after the West End run, Kiki returned to the studio with new vigour. A series of demos were recorded with former ELO leader Jeff Lynne, and discussions were set to record an album with Glen Ballard, with whom Kiki had previously worked on the album "Stay With Me." All plans were halted when Kiki was diagnosed with uterine cancer.
After several years out of the spotlight, Kiki returned to the charts in 1993 via a top ten duet with Elton John, a cover of the Cole Porter classic "True Love." She followed up the duet with an anthology of her career, including two new songs, "Love Is Everything" and "Any Way That You Want Me." The album was a big success and sparked a minor comeback.
Kiki has since gone on to produce two more very original recordings, both featuring guitarist and musical partner Carmelo Luggeri. The first, "Almost Naked: Kiki Dee Live" features Kiki in a cabaret setting, and shows that Kiki still has an amazing set of pipes. The highlights on this album include covers of Joni Mitchell's "Carey," Jane Siberry's "Miss Punta Blanca" and "Calling All Angels," new versions of"Amoureuse" and a solo "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," as well as the autobiographical "Here For All Time." The album also highlights two tracks which deal with her cancer, "See Me Through" and "Heal Me Now," both of which are prominently featured on the follow-up, "Where Rivers
Meet."
Kiki's newest recording, "Where Rivers Meet," is a concept album of original songs influenced by the instrumentation of the music of India and the Middle East. While Kiki was ill, she would often meditate to Middle Eastern influenced music, and wanted to explore the style in her own music. The album is unlike any other album out there - it is very much like Paul Simon's African excursion "Graceland," an album of amazing beauty which is deeply rooted in another culture in order to bring the sound to a new plateau. It is definitely one of the greatest achievements of Kiki's career, and a must for any lover of world music.
Kiki Dee is an artist who's music needs re-evaluated and explored again. She continues to produce some of the greatest music of the era, and with the right push, could easily land once again in the spotlight.
Written exclusively for ForFemmes by Todd Durnil
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