Valerie Masters | |
|---|---|
 Valerie Masters in 1960 | |
| Born | 24 April 1940 Stepney Green, London, England |
Valerie Masters (born 24 April 1940) [1] is a British former singer, television and radio presenter and actress, who recorded and performed in the late 1950s and 1960s.
She was born in Stepney Green, East London, the daughter of Jacob Muster and Sarah "Sally" Sassienie. [2] She started work as a typist and personal secretary for the mayor of Stepney before, at the age of 17, being introduced to Ray Ellington and shortly afterwards joining his band as featured vocalist, to replace Marion Ryan. [3] She remained with Ellington's band until 1959, and also recorded as a solo singer. [1] Her first record, "The Secret of Happiness", was released on the Fontana label in April 1958. She continued to record a series of singles for Fontana through to 1961; none made the official UK Singles Chart although her 1960 single "Banjo Boy" made the lower reaches of the New Musical Express's own chart. [1] Between 1959 and 1961 she had her own show on Radio Luxembourg, Valerie and her Boyfriends, and in 1960 she represented Britain in the European Song Contest (unrelated to the Eurovision Song Contest ), following which she became popular in Scandinavia, Germany and the Netherlands. [3] In 1961, she failed in her attempt to represent the UK at Eurovision, finishing seventh in the A Song for Europe competition with the song "Too Late For Tears". Masters also appeared frequently on BBC radio and on television, as well as performing live in cabaret and clubs, often with Ellington's former pianist Dick Katz (1916-1981); they married in 1961. [4]
In May 1960, she co-hosted, with Jimmy Savile, a short series of teen-oriented programmes, Young at Heart , for Tyne Tees Television; these were Savile's first television appearances. [4] [5] She also worked for Border Television. She sang the theme song for the 1961 film The Hellions , and also recorded commercials and worked as a backing singer. In 1963, she recorded for the His Master's Voice label, [1] and in 1964 issued the single "Christmas Calling", produced by Joe Meek and featuring session guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. She later recorded for Polydor and Columbia, [1] her last record being released in 1969. [3] She appeared, acting the role of a singer, in the 1979 television drama series Secret Army , and in the early 1980s made appearances in Russ Abbot's Saturday Madhouse . [6]
She later ran her own bridal wear business with her daughter, in Guildford, Surrey. [4]
The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 with the song "Long Live Love", written by Valerie Avon and Harold Spiro, and performed by Olivia Newton-John. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a national final, after having previously selected the performer internally. In addition, the BBC was also the host broadcaster and staged the event at the Dome in Brighton, after the winner of the previous edition, the Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT) from Luxembourg, opted not to host the event.
Pearl Lavinia Carr and Edward Victor "Teddy" Johnson were English husband-and-wife entertainers who were best-known during the 1950s and early 1960s. They were the UK's Eurovision entrants at the 1959 contest with "Sing, Little Birdie", which came second.
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE, also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, he was a music educator and also her music director.
The Avons were a British pop vocal group. Originally composed of Valerie Murtagh and Elaine Murtagh, and known as 'The Avon Sisters', they added Raymond S. Adams, and changed their name to 'The Avons'.
Rita Maria Stroud, known professionally as Cheryl Baker, is an English singer and television presenter. She was a member of pop group Bucks Fizz, which won the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest and, following legal disputes, now performs under the name the Fizz. Bucks Fizz had 20 singles reach the UK top 60 between 1981 and 1988, including three number one hits with "Making Your Mind Up" (1981), "The Land of Make Believe" (1981) and "My Camera Never Lies" (1982).
Norma Jean Beasler is an American country music singer who was a member of The Porter Wagoner Show from 1961–1967. She had 13 country singles in Billboard's Country Top 40 between 1963 and 1968, recorded twenty albums for RCA Victor between 1964 and 1973, received two Grammy nominations, and was a Grand Ole Opry member for several years.
Marion Mitchell, better known by her stage name Janie Jones, is a former English singer. She became renowned for holding sex parties at her home during the 1970s, and was jailed for her involvement in 'controlling prostitutes'. She first achieved notoriety in August 1964, when she attended the film premiere of London in the Raw, wearing a topless dress.
Hildur Alice Nilson, known by her stage name Alice Babs, was a Swedish singer. She worked in a wide number of genres – Swedish folklore, Elizabethan songs and opera. While she was best known internationally as a jazz singer, Babs also competed as Sweden's first annual competition entrant in the Eurovision Song Contest 1958. In 1972 she was named Sweden's Royal Court Singer, the first non-opera singer as such.
Linda Martin is a Northern Irish singer and television presenter. She is best known as the winner of the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest during which she represented Ireland with the song "Why Me?", the first of a record three consecutive wins by Ireland. She is also known within Ireland as a member of the band Chips.
Michael William Sammes was an English musician and vocal session arranger, performing backing vocals on pop music recorded in the UK from 1955 to the 1970s.
David Spencer, known professionally as Ricky Valance, was a Welsh pop singer. He was best known for the UK number one single "Tell Laura I Love Her", which sold more than a million copies in 1960. He was the first male Welsh singer to have a UK number one single hit.
Bryan Johnson was an English singer and actor.
Leslie David Reed was an English songwriter, arranger, musician and light-orchestra leader. His major songwriting partners were Gordon Mills, Barry Mason, and Geoff Stephens, although he wrote songs with many others such as Roger Greenaway, Roger Cook, Peter Callander, and Johnny Worth.
Valerie Murtagh is an English singer and songwriter, who was a member of The Avons.
Polly Brown is an English singer from Birmingham. A member of Pickettywitch and Sweet Dreams - and with each group lead singer on a Top Ten hit, respectively "That Same Old Feeling" and "Honey Honey" - Brown had an international solo hit in 1975 with "Up in a Puff of Smoke".
"Long Live Love" is a song by Australian singer, songwriter, and actress Olivia Newton-John composed and written by Valerie Avon and Harold Spiro. It represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 held in Brighton.
Sandra Ann Goodrich, known by her stage name Sandie Shaw, is a retired English pop singer. One of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s, she had three UK number one singles with "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" (1964), "Long Live Love" (1965) and "Puppet on a String" (1967). With the latter, she became the first British entry to win the Eurovision Song Contest. She returned to the UK Top 40, for the first time in 15 years, with her 1984 cover of the Smiths song "Hand in Glove". Shaw retired from the music industry in 2013.
Young at Heart was a British television music programme presented by DJ Jimmy Savile and Valerie Masters. Produced by Tyne Tees Television in Newcastle upon Tyne for ITV, the show was launched in May 1960 and ran for eight episodes.
Brad Newman was an English singer-songwriter and pianist who, in 1962, reached number 47 in the UK Singles Chart with the song "Somebody to Love".
Ria Valk is a Dutch singer, presenter, actress, lyricist and painter. She is best known as a singer of cheerful and comical songs. She acted in the TV series Zeg 'ns Aaa and paints figurative art.
