The Stage - 07/09/06

Geri Smith has added new dates for her one-woman show The  Dorothy Squires Story which she first performed at the Edinburgh Festival some while back, and has since repeated several times with great success. Geri will be performing at a matinee performance in Llwyn-y-Pia, Rhonda Valley, South Wales, on 4 June. More importantly for London (and Home Counties) based Dorothy Squires fans,, she will be taking the show to the annual Henley Fringe Festival, with matinee and evening performances at the Chamber Room in Henley scheduled for July 23, 24 and 25.

Welsh Legends

Dorothy Squires was the first featured name in the second BBC TV Wales series of Welsh Greats, which aired on 23 February 2009.  Produced by Dafydd O’Connor, and presented by Cerys Matthews of the best-selling Welsh band Catatonia, the programme was an excellent 30-minute overview of Dorothy’s long career and turbulent personal life, and included some footage previously unseen.  Radio Times (in its Welsh edition) billed it: “Cerys Matthews presents a profile of the glittering yet tragic life of Dorothy Squires, the Welsh diva who was one of the biggest stars of the 1940s but died a virtual recluse in 1998.”

Unlike many other programmes of this nature, the Welsh Legends programmes do not have ‘taking heads’ as such and much of the story was told by the featured subject via archive footage (other names in the series have included actress Rachel Roberts, Richard Burton, Wynford Vaughan Thomas and Sir Harry Secombe).  The Dorothy programme included some interview footage originally seen in the Rain Rain Go Away documentary (broadcast in early 1999, just before Dorothy‘s death), and also some not previously seen.  There were also a couple of clips in colour from the Stars In Their Eyes film, as well as an extract from The Big Time (which introduced Sheena Easton to fame and fortune) and film interview footage featuring Sir Roger Moore (previously seen).

The choice of Cerys Matthews (who had a Top 10 hit with Tom Jones on the oldie Baby It’s Cold Outside a while back) was particularly inspired as Cerys, like Dorothy, is also from Llanelli and it was interesting to see a contemporary pop artist presenting the programme, as opposed to an ’older’ name. Overall, the programme was fair and balanced, underlining Dorothy’s climb to success and how popular she was during her heyday. Naturally there was also much emphasis on the latter years when things began to go downhill, but that made for a gripping story.  Hopefully the programme will have helped to ignite further interest in Dorothy Squires, and it is only a pity that it could only be watched in Wales (although it could be viewed via the internet for a week after its transmission).

Thanks for an excellent programme, Dafydd.

Charlie Gracie

Charlie Gracie junior has been in touch with the website, with some fascinating memories of his father’s association (albeit briefly!) with Dorothy Squires.

Charlie wrote: “What a great site for Dorothy! She was indeed a great star who gave her all to her fans - whether on record, or in live performances. My father, whose hits included the number one Butterfly, Fabulous, Wandering Eyes and Nine-Nine Ways, almost got to work with her.

In 1957 Dad and Dot were supposed to have joint top billing at the London Hippodrome, but when Lew and Leslie Grade demoted Dorothy to ‘featured artist’ (not my Dad’s doing) she walked off the show.  Even though my Dad was a hot recording artist at the time, one could understand how Dorothy felt, having been a well-established artist for many a year in her homeland.  However there were never any hard feelings between my Dad and Dot. In fact Dad later attended one of her concerts and Dot introduced him from the stage and gave Dad a kiss on the cheek!

Your site brings back some great memories and I shared it with my father who, although now 72, is still playing all over the world. In November 2008 he completed a UK tour at the Liverpool Empire and was back for more concerts recently.”

Charlie forwarded a recent news item about the fact that The Hippodrome (which later became The Talk Of The Town before reverting back to The Hippodrome, albeit in its latest guise as a dance club) and its need for preservation (the latest talk is that it is to become a gambling casino).

The London Hippodrome has had a temporary reprieve as it has it has now re-opened as a nightclub for a limited period.  Here is an impassioned please from Charlie Gracie junior on the possible future demise of the venue.

“I was greatly distressed to hear that one of the great entertainment venues of the 20^th century, the London Hippodrome might be shut down - or demolished completely.  My father Charlie Gracie, the first solo rock ‘n’ roll star (after Bill Haley’s Comets) to bring the music to the UK (1957), was the last star to appear at the venue before its conversion into a cabaret house (The Talk Of The Town) in 1958.”

The article recalled: “Charlie Gracie created quite a stir when the Grade agency booked him on an exclusive tour in the late summer and fall of 1957.  Dorothy Squires, your ‘Bette Davis of Song’, refused to take second billing to my father at The Hippodrome. Claiming she ‘had never heard of him’ and the fact that he was an ambassador of this ‘new-fangled rock ‘n’ roll stuff), didn’t improve her opinion of him. 

“However all this created a big publicity circus for my father and garnered him a wealth of press coverage. He was a smash at The Hippodrome and later in the provinces, and he returned for another extensive tour in the spring of 1958. Ms Squires later apologised and they met at some other venue.  This is such fun stuff to look back upon, and it is one of the many great stories surrounding The Hippodrome, I’m sure.”

Many thanks to Charlie for sharing this with us.  The late George Harrison, Cliff Richard, Van Morrison and Graham Nash have all credited Charlie senior’s singing and guitar style on their own careers, and Sir Paul McCartney covered Charlie’s Fabulous in 1999. For further information about Charlie’s career and activities, check out his website www.charliegracie.com.

   In incidentally, as a footnote to Charlie junior’s story, this was when Dorothy subsequently did a ‘Palladium’, hiring the Edgware Road Metropolitan Theatre for a week from 26 August 1957 - and packed the place out. Her support bill included an up-and-coming Russ Conway and The Ramblers, an Irish harmony outfit whose line-up included Val Doonican, but who had to wait another eight years before he hit the big time in his own right!

Jean Campbell

Glasgow-born popular singer Jean Campbell died in 2003 after a long career as a recording artist and stage performer.  Jean recorded many songs for Embassy Records, the Woolworth low-price label (aah, memories!), covering many of the current hits of the day such as Brenda Lee’s Sweet Nuthins, Connie Francis’ Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool, and Helen Shapiro’s Don’t Treat Me Like A Child (Jean was 34 at the time!).  Jean also sang on many still-remembered TV commercials including for Fairy Liquid (Hands that do dishes can be as soft as your face), Beanz Meanz Heinz, and Keep Going Well, Keep Going Shell. Her obituary in The Independent recalled that Jean had replaced Pearl Carr as the female vocalist with Cyril Stapleton and his Orchestra.  “Encouraged by the singer Dorothy Squires, Campbell made solo recordings for Parophone, although she often found herself competing against major artists who had recorded the same songs such as Frankie Laine and Pat Boone.”

Many thanks to Mark Wallace for bringing this brief item to the website’s attention.

Mark Speight

The late children’s TV presenter Mark Speight died under tragic circumstances in April 2008.  Mark Willerton came across the following news story:

“It’s nearly a year since the death of TV presenter Mark Speight, who committed suicide after not being able to cope with the death of his girlfriend Natasha Collins in January of 2008. Mark was a fan of Dorothy Squires and a friend stated in the Sunday Express soon after his death: “Mark had very eclectic tastes and he loved the Dorothy Squires song We Clowns, which had the lyric ‘We clowns who choose to entertain, with painted smiles that hide the pain’. He would often listen to that and it did get me thinking about why it seemed to resonate with him.”

Mark Willerton, official curator of the website for the late Lita Roza (www.litaroza.co.uk), who died in 2008, as well as for Kathy Kirby (www.KathyKirby.org.uk), with whom he is a close friend), and who also runs the fascinating Burtey Fenn Collection near Spalding in Lincolnshire, has kindly supplied these two cuttings from Lita’s own private collection.  One picture shows Lita arriving with Dorothy at the High Court in London, when Dorothy was suing her former professional partner Billy Reid for permission to re-record some of the many songs that Reid had composed for her.  Dorothy won the case and subsequently recorded the Dorothy Squires Sings Billy Reid album.  The second picture shows Lita, Harry Secombe and Dorothy in party mood.

Avid Records has released The Unforgettable Pat Kirkwood (cat. No. Avid Easy AMSC 966, price £7.99) and it will be of interest to Dorothy Squires fans as it features several recordings that featured in the Fifties film Stars In Your Eyes in which the late Miss Kirkwood co-starred with Dorothy. The songs are I’d Pick Piccadilly, Stars In My Eyes and The Man That Wakes The Man That Blows Reveille. This excellent set has been compiled by the renowned music archivist Hugh Palmer and the extensive line notes have been notated by the highly respected author and newspaper writer Michael Thornton. Spanning 56 years, from the leading role in her first film at the age of 17, to her final stage performance in 1994 at the age of 73, this historic compilation features 66 songs, 29 of which have never been released on CD before.

Sir Roger Moore’s autobiography My Word Is My Bond has been published by Michael O’Mara Books and, as one would expect, Dorothy who was married to the former Saint and James Bond star, and was very influential in helping his career during the Fifties, features extensively.  Sir Roger writes about his marriage to Dorothy with considerable affection, despite the fact that it all ended so acrimoniously, with Dorothy refusing him a divorce for several years after their much-publicised break-up in 1961.  The book includes one photo of the Moores arriving back in Britain from the United States around 1960.  Interestingly his third wife Louisa is also featured just once photographically while his fourth and latest wife Kristina naturally takes top honours with five photos!  Dorothy aside, My Word Is My Bond is a highly enjoyable read for Sir Roger’s many admirers, and underlines his reputation for being a thoroughly decent man (although his ex-wives would probably disagree!). Sir Roger promoted the book with press and TV interviews - frequently mentioning Dorothy - and he did several booking signings in Britain, as well as in the United States and Australia.

 Incidentally, Dorothy is mentioned briefly in composer Leslie Briccuse’s excellent and very entertaining 2006 memoirs The Music Man, published by Metro.  Bricusse of course wrote several stage musicals with the late Anthony Newley, including Stop The World I Want To Get Off and The Roar Of The Greasepaint - The Smell Of The Crowd, as well as the music for the movie hit Doctor Doolittle and Scrooge, while his many hits include Who Can I Turn To?, What Kind Of Fool Am I?, Gonna Build A Mountain, Portrait Of My Love, Goldfinger, You And I (from Goodbye Mr. Chips) and so many more. 

 Recalling the first night of Stop The World In Want To Get Off at the Queen’s Theatre in London’s Shaftesbury Avenue in 1961, Bricusse recalls how nervous he was about the opening:

“The first 20 minutes of the opening night performance seemed to my cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof mind to be interminably dull and boring, and my heart stopped when four people in the middle of Row E got up and walked out, arguing volubly about what I assumed was their disgust with the show. I sank further into my seat, waiting for the rest of the audience to follow them.  They didn’t, and three minutes later Newley brought the house down with Gonna Build A Mountain.”

 A little later in the book, Bricusse remembers Roger Moore introducing his new Italian girlfriend Luisa Matteoli at Maxim’s restaurant. “Roger was still married to, but recently separated from, his second wife, a famous and tempestuous Welsh songstress called Dorothy Squires.  Early in the evening, clearly wishing to get it off his chest, Roger confessed to me that it was one of his many contretemps with Madame Squires that had caused the precipitous departure of his party of four from Row E of the Queen’s Theatre on the first night of Stop The World for which he now wished to apologise profusely and hope that one day I would find it in my heart to forgive him profusely.  I said I was glad he wasn’t a critic.”

 Bricusse adds: “Luisa spoke hilarious Chico Marx English, was deliciously and paralysingly funny, and seemed likely to become a worthy successor to her Welsh forerunner in the tempestuous department.”

 And later in his memoirs: “Back In Denham Roger Moore, after several arduous years of trying, had finally achieved his bitterly fought divorce with the Welsh singing star Dorothy Squires, and was now free to marry the lovely Luisa Matteoli which he promptly did, because the lovely Luisa would have killed him if he hadn’t.”

Finally the 2003 Anthony Newley biography Stop The World by Garth Bardsley (published by Oberon Books) briefly mentions Dorothy. Recalling Newley’s early years, Bardsley writes: “One evening, after a show in Newcastle, Newley was introduced to Ian Fraser who was on contract with Tony’s record label Decca.  A classically trained pianist and phenomenally talented musician, Fraser had already recorded with Jess Conrad and Dorothy Squires as well as recording two albums of his own.”

Ian Fraser went on to working with Newley and Bricusse in particular for many years, and has arranged the scores for many top films and theatre shows.  For the record, he arranged Dorothy’s July 1960 single This Place Called Home/Trust In Me on Decca Records

Gerri Smith reprised her excellent play-with-music The Dorothy Squires Story with two performances at the Arts Wing of Swansea Grand on February 18 2009.  Once again, Gerri captured the essence of Dorothy’s dramatic lifestyle and also reprised several of the songs that Dorothy performed at her 1970 London Palladium comeback concert.  Many of Dorothy’s fans were in attendance and Gerri’s rousing version of My Way brought many members of the audience to their feet.  She was rewarded with armfuls of flowers including a bouquet from the ever-loyal John Lloyd who had travelled all the way from London.

Peter Jones was for many years the editor of the popular pop music magazine Record Mirror and got to know many of the big names of the Sixties and the early Seventies.  Two of his particular favourites were Dorothy Squires and Dusty Springfield who he met and interviewed on many occasions. Peter first met Dorothy when she was performing in Portsmouth at the local Press Ball in the Fifties.  Peter asked Dorothy if she would perform at a charity event to be held on the Clarence Pier in Southsea.

 “Dorothy’s sister-in-law was of course Joyce Golding, who was also a very well known variety act, and she was married to Dorothy’s brother Fred Squires. The whole family used to stage and perform in pantomimes and variety shows, and Fred said that they were all coming down to perform at the charity event. I had to collect Dorothy on the day of the show and it was quite something to see how she got everybody organised!”

 Peter recalls that Dorothy said that her boyfriend was coming down from London on the last train that same evening.  “Apparently he was an up-and-coming actor.  It turned out to be Roger Moore of course who was tall and extremely handsome and who ideally complemented Dorothy’s blonde and petite looks and charismatic personality. Roger had a very warm personality and when I subsequently met him at an amateur boxing tournament he invited me to one of the famous parties that he and Dorothy held at the Bexley mansion, and it was the first of many that I went to. It was amazing the famous people who would be there, not just variety artists but actors as well.

 “Dorothy was always the perfect hostess and Roger was always very polite and courteous. Much later I frequently met Dorothy during my era with Record Mirror and she was always a great interview, providing good copy.  When she released her first President album Say It With Flowers in 1968 I remember championing it in the magazine, and the following year of course she returned to the pop charts with For Once In My Life. It was great to see her making a professional comeback and the icing on the cake was the London Palladium concert in 1970.  Dorothy remains to me one of the greatest female performers that this country has ever produced.”

Thanks for these memories Peter, who is pictured with Dorothy at the Portsmouth Press Ball.

PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORIES OF DOROTHY

My friend Dorothy Squires              

Bryan Yeubrey

I first went to see Dorothy Squires in 1970, when as a 19 year-old songwriter I took a new song to her, at her home in Bexley.  Being a teenager at the time, I guess I really had no idea just how big a star she was, having only become aware of her because she had then enjoyed two recent chart hits with ‘For once in my life’ and ‘Till’.  I had written a big ballad of a song called ‘No tears tonight’.  It was a strong song and in the same style, so I knew it would suit her perfectly.  The only problem was that Dorothy and I had never spoken or met and she certainly wasn’t expecting either me, or my song. 

My visit must have been around the time that she released ‘My Way’, because I recall it was a glorious summer’s day.  As I approached the house, on the sweeping driveway stood a white Rolls Royce and through a hedge I could see a brightly painted gypsy caravan, next to a swimming pool in the garden.  I didn't really do too well that day though, because the housekeeper answered the door and said, “I am afraid Miss Squires is resting… she can’t see you”  

However, through one of those strange but fortunate circumstances that life sometimes deals, I found myself being formally introduced to her three years later, when she was opening a large store in my hometown Wolverhampton.  We struck up an immediate friendship, a friendship that was to last for the rest of her life.  As many of her fans know, the beautiful house in Bexley was destroyed by fire in 1974, so she moved to a new house on the River Thames in Bray.  Over the years I stayed at the new house many times. 

Dot always said she looked upon me as the son that she never had.   Sometimes we would go out to dinner or to shows and when she was in the Midlands she would stay with my wife Ros and I.  One time in 1985 after Dot and I had returned from the ‘Ivor Novello Songwriter Awards’ at the Grosvenor Hotel, London, she insisted on transferring all of her copyrights to me…. but I refused to let her do this.

On another occasion in that same year, Dot came to Wolverhampton, to celebrate the 50^th birthday of a mutual friend Arthur Lewis.  In those days I had a recording studio built in my house.  When Dot called around, for some reason I decided that on this occasion I would play her ‘the song’ that I had taken to her house all those years earlier.  I had never mentioned or played the song to her before.  She listened intently before saying…. “Bloody Hell Bryan… that’s a hit record…  I wish I’d had that years ago.”  I never told her about my visit in 1970. I still wonder what she might have said had she known…  or whether it too would have become another hit for her.

From a musical perspective, Dot and I occasionally worked on songs together and I still have some co-written songs and part written pierces.  I also have some of her acetate demos of recordings that were never released.  For a time she had worked on a musical called ‘Old Roly’, based on the life of King Charles ll.  It was a wonderful story and Dot had performed several of the songs in her live shows, ‘Heart of the city’ etc but, the musical itself was never staged.

Dot loved to talk and would regularly call.  We would often call each other for guidance sometimes spending hours on the telephone.  As anyone who knew her will tell you, a call could come at almost any hour and would be a marathon, for she rarely stopped for breath… or to let you squeeze a word in.  She had a vibrant and wonderfully creative and incisive mind.  I had a great respect for her. 

As I am sure many people know, Dot had embarked on a series of litigations in the 1970’s and 80’s, the enormous costs of which led to the bailiffs finally seizing her fabulous home Langtry House, Fishery Road, Bray in January of 1987.  What a wonderful house that was.  It was built around 1880 by the future King Edward Vll, for his mistress Lillie Langtry.  Located on the River Thames, these days it would sell for several million pounds and her neighbours included Rolf Harris, Michael Parkinson, Sheila Ferguson and many other celebrities. 

Then one dreadful day in 1987 I received an unexpected phone call from Dot and everything changed forever.  I will never forget her trembling voice that morning when I heard her say, “What do you think Bryan…  they have taken my home? They have put me out into the street.”  So I immediately jumped in my car and drove to Bray  

On arrival, Dot was in a distressed state.  Not only had they seized her home, but also its entire contents, including precious love letters from her husband Roger Moore, her fabulous stage gowns and a considerable number of other treasures and items of memorabilia.  Fortunately I was able to quickly find accommodation for her nearby at the Thames Riviera Hotel, in Maidenhead.  I covered the costs for many months and she rewarded me with the gift of a specially designed gold ring that she had kept back, and which had once belonged to ‘James Bond’.  I still wear the ring today.

At this time though Dot retreated to the privacy of her own world, accepting visits only from her closest friends such as her dear friend’s Des and Peter from Port Talbot, or the trusted journalist John Lloyd and from myself.  These were dark times, but we all thought that it would be just one more hiccup in her extraordinary but often topsy turvy life.  We could not have foreseen then that Dot would never again fully enjoy her precious independence, and would spend the remaining 11 years of her life staying with kind friends and fans such as Doris Joyce in Ackworth.

Following a career that had spanned and incredible seven decades, Dot made her final stage appearance in March 1990, at the Brighton Dome.  The show was promoted by impresario Brian Ralfe and was a great success.  All 2000 seats quickly sold out.  Also on the bill was her dear friend, the pianist Mike Terry.  My wife and I sat three rows from the stage, amongst an audience that included a number of stars.  You see Dorothy was a ‘star’s star’ and they always turned out to support her.   That night she enthralled us all and despite fluffing a few lyrics, which she so often did and yet which only ever seemed to endear her, she received several standing ovations.  You see a Dorothy Squires concert was no ordinary concert… it was always ‘an event’.

Throughout her life Dot was proud to have had a loyal following and was always eager to point out that many of her fans were gay.  She loved them all and they worshipped and adored her.  I guess they identified with her struggles and admired her immense courage and spirit.  The floral tributes at a Dorothy Squires concert were always a sight to behold. 

Also numbering amongst her celebrity fans was, Elvis Presley, who often went to her concerts in the US.  In fact it is said that in the late1950’s he took his mom Gladys to her concerts five nights in a row.  The great Frank Sinatra once said of her, “That gal has balls.”  In his own inimitable way, he was of course referring to her glitzy grit, determination and unbounded talent.

As we all know, Dot took her final curtain on the 14^th April 1998, but as ever she closed the show in style, with not one, but two funeral services.  The first was in Port Talbot, so that her many fans from her beloved Wales could say their farewells. They attended in their droves and I went with my young son James.  The second service, a few days later, was her burial service, which was held at Streatham Cemetery in South London, which I attended with my wife Ros. 

Amongst the many celebrity mourners was Russ Conway, with whom Dot had shared the huge hit ‘Say it with flowers’ in 1961.  Russ played the melody on piano in the chapel.   On that day I was proud to be invited to carry her coffin along with Harry, one of her dearest fans.  Following the service, four of us carried ‘our Dot’ shoulder high some 400 yards to her final resting place, next to her brother who had died a few years earlier.  

Dot was just marvellous, a real star in the true sense of the word.  Moreover (a word she used a lot) she was the sweetest person once she knew she could trust you.  She was my friend.  I was honoured and privileged to have known her and to have enjoyed her confidence and trust for a quarter of a century. 

  © Bryan Yeubrey 2008

ASTORIA THEATRE - LLANELLI

Alec Jones from Llanelli’s local Heritage Society has contacted the website to say that the town’s Astoria Theatre - which was at one time jointly owned  and managed by Dorothy Squires and Billy Reid - has been demolished.

“I’m sending a couple of photos of the demolition.  It would appear that although it wasn’t a classic building it definitely had its merits, including an arched ceiling suspended from trusses, elaborate plaster work and original mouldings, as well as an upper level.  I would suspect that the stage area had more elaborate decorations but this was the first section to be demolished.”

Thanks for the information and the photos, Alec, about the Astoria which had been derelict for some time.  Situated alongside Llanelli’s railway station, the theatre was bought by Billy Reid and Dorothy in the late Forties.  Dorothy, naturally, took centre stage at its opening performance, which was attended by the Mayor and Mayoress and other civic dignitaries.  Following the break-up of their professional and personal partnership Reid retained ownership of the theatre, while Dorothy kept their home at St. Mary’s Mount in Bexley, Kent.

THE DOROTHY SQUIRES STORY - JULY 4th, 2008

The Dorothy Squires Story - Hungerford Arts Festival July 2008

Gary Wilkins has kindly supplied this review of Gerri Smith’s portrayal of Dorothy in this musical play which was originally staged at the Edinburgh Festival.

It was with some trepidation that I visited Hungerford in Berkshire to see The Dorothy Squires Story, a musical play which was being staged as part of the annual Arts Festival held there. I had on many occasions attended Dorothy’s concerts throughout the Seventies, meeting her several times back stage after the shows.  I had wondered if the play would be a true account of Dot’s life and could Gerri Smith’s portrayal capture the excitement and emotion of a Squires performance during the musical numbers.

I need not have worried as Gerri Smith’s musical play delivered on both counts.  The story was faithful to Dorothy’s own accounts of her life.  At the end of the play Gerri pays tribute to Dorothy’s famous ‘comeback’ concert at the London Palladium, singing several of the famous numbers from that show.  Without the benefit of a vast orchestra, Gerri gave a powerhouse vocal performance, accompanied only by her accomplished pianist Ian Michael Thomas (who she affectionately referred to as ‘Kenny’).

Seeing Gerri at the end of the show, clutching a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of champagne, and listening to the applause, brought back nostalgic echoes of Dot’s concerts.  To quote from John Lloyd, who for many years ran the Dorothy Squires Fan Club, and was at the performance: “Tonight the Palladium came to Hungerford.”

Gerri will be performing this show several more times this year, including performances in South Wales.  Ford older fans it will invoke memories of a great performer and for those who never got a chance to see her perform live it will give you an insight as to why Dorothy sustained a career lasting over fifty years and was known as ‘Miss Showbiz’.

Thanks for the review Gary, who is pictured with Geri after the Hungerford performance.  Also pictured with Geri is the indefatigable John Lloyd.

Gerri has confirmed that she will be performing The Dorothy Squires Story at the Riverfront Theatre, Newport, South Wales, on December 11 and Park & Dare Theatre, Rhondda on December 12, both performances starting at 7.30pm.  She is also optimistic that it will be staged in Swansea, although no date has yet been set.

DOROTHY PRESS...
Click on articles to enlarge

Dorothy with record producer Norrie Paramor, Matt Monro and Helen Shapiro

Above two articles courtesy of Mark Willerton and the Bertey Fen Collection

Thanks to Stephen Debell for sending in this cutting about Dorothy's notorious appearance on the Take Two TV programme

Chris Rogers has compiled for Hallmark Records an excellent collection of early Dorothy Squires recordings, some of which are making their first time appearance on a CD.  The Unforgettable Dorothy Squires (Original Recordings 1936-1953) includes some of Dorothy’s earliest recordings, including Little Drummer Boy, My Heaven In The Pines, Moonlight On The Waterfall, Are You Sincere, The Sweetest Sweetheart Of All and Rose Covered Shack.  The collection also includes favourites like The Gipsy, Mother’s Day, Coming Home, It’s A Pity To Say Goodnight, It’s The Talk Of The Town, If You Love Me, and I’m Walking Behind You.  Catalogue number is Hallmark 706792.

Chris says: “I have wanted to do a Dorothy Squires CD for ages and thought about doing something a bit different, so I went all the way back to the early years with Billy Reid and his accordion band.  I believe these had not been heard for many years, so to preserve these lovely recordings I had the idea of putting them on The Unforgettable Dorothy Squires for Hallmark/Pickwick. 

 “I had telephoned Dorothy in the Nineties and found her a nice person to speak to, so this was my little tribute to Dorothy who I am just one of the many fans.  My name is not credited on this title, as Dorothy is the star of the show.  I hope her fans can add this CD to their collections.”

Chris has also done other titles for Pickwick/Hallmark including Gracie Fields, and Dancebands.  Another of his compilations is Classic Female Vocals which features Dorothy’s Moonlight On The Waterfall, together with a host of female singers including Vera Lynn, Deanna Durbin, Gracie Fields, Kate Smith, Carmen Miranda, Irene Dunne, Judy Garland, Elsie Carlisle and Ann Shelton.  Many of the recordings have never appeared on CD before.

The Unforgettable Dorothy Squires can be bought online via Amazon, or in major retail outlets like HMV.  Chris has downloaded three recordings from the CD and these can be heard on YouTube.

Obituaries - William 'Billy' Reid Junior & Jon Styler

William (Billy) Reid junior – the son of Billy Reid, who worked with and composed many of Dorothy Squires songs back in the 40s – died suddenly in October 2007 at his home in Southampton at the age of just 50.  Like his father, Billy was a musician and songwriter himself, and was very popular on the local live circuit.  His funeral at Southampton Crematorium attracted a large turn out of family, friends and colleagues.  Distinguished author and journalist Michael Thornton sent flowers, as did John Lloyd of the Dorothy Squires Appreciation Society who also attended the funeral.  During the service Billy’s own recording of Elton John’s Your Song was played, and the other music was Dinah Washington’s recording of his father’s classic song I’ll Close My Eyes, and Frank Sinatra’s My Way.

Sad also to report the death in August 2007 of pianist Jon Styler, who worked with Gerri Smith in The Dorothy Squires Story, which Gerri performed at the Edinburgh Festival and toured in 1999 including a performance at London’s Westminster Theatre.  Jon died on 14 August and Gerri says:  “Jon was an inspirational piano player and, without him, I would never have considered putting the show on.  We had a great time rehearsing and performing the show, and both of us had some truly eerie moments when we truly thought Dot was with us along the way.  Jon was at my birthday party of 16 July, and last New Year’s Eve we were together performing Say It With Flowers.  I will miss him always.” 

Obituary - Fraser O’Brien

The Dorothy Squires Official Website was saddened to receive the following e-mail:

“My name is Will and I am a friend of Fraser O’Brien.  I’m sorry to have to tell you that Fraser died suddenly on 25^th May (2007).  I’m not sure if you knew already so thought I had better e-mail and let you know, in case you have been trying to contact him and wondered where he had disappeared to.  I’m just trying to make sure everyone he was in touch with is aware of his death”.

Fraser O’Brien had been in contact with the Dorothy website on several occasions and had been very supportive of the efforts to keep Dorothy’s name and music alive.  In fact he had been involved with the release of several of Dorothy’s CDs and had also been very encouraging about the new EMI Records double-CD The Very Best Of Dorothy Squires, suggesting the inclusion of recordings that had never been available on CD before.

Fraser was a big Dusty Springfield fan and had been closely involved with the annual Dusty Day celebrations, usually held around the time of Dusty’s birthday (April 16).  He also produced several CDs of Dusty’s TV and radio live broadcasts from the Sixties and early Seventies, which were available to fans only, but always highly professional looking and sounding.

Our sincere condolences go to Fraser’s mother, and to his other family and large circle of friends and acquaintances.  As a tribute to Fraser we reproduce here Fraser’s original article for the Dorothy website.  For more information about Fraser, please go to Will’s website which can be found at http://web.mac.com/digitographer

From Fraser O’Brien

I’ve just found the website and am really pleased to see there is one dedicated to Dot.  I’ve been a fan for about 20 years, ever since I saw a drag act taking her off at the famous Vauxhall Tavern in south London.  Iwas totally blown away by her voice.

I wrote a long fan letter to Dorothy around 1991 and, a few weeks later, she called me up on the phone.  I nearly dropped the receiver when I realised it was her!  Dorothy was very nice and thanked me for my letter.

I told her that I had been in touch with someone (Hugh Palmer) who had prepared the Three Beautiful Words Of Love CD in 1989 and that we were planning to swap information we’d both collected, to try and put together a complete discography of her work.  A year or so later Dorothy called me again, and said that Hugh Palmer had been in contact with her about re-issuing the 1970 and 1971 London Palladium concerts on CD and cassette.  I told her that a lot of fans would love to see the concert recordings available on CD and that second-hand copies of the original albums were changing hands for up to £50 each.  The fans were basically being ripped off and at the same time Dorothy was seeing no financial benefit from the situation.

Dorothy agreed with me on this and I got a letter from Hugh afterwards, thanking me for saying what I did.  He even gave me a credit in the ‘thank you’ section of the CD inner booklet.  I also contacted Living Era around 2002/2003, asking why they didn’t issue a CD of Dorothy’s, particularly as they were part of the same group that owned the rights to the old Pye and Polygon catalogues, which of course Dorothy had recorded for in the 50s.

They got back to me and suggested that I come up with a track listing, which I did and sent off.  Living Era specialise in issuing CDs of recordings that are more than 50 years old, and therefore out of copyright.  They got back to me and asked where they could get hold of a lot of the original recordings.  I advised them that I had most of them on 78s and arranged to take them to the guy who was preparing the CD, somewhere near Olympia.

They didn’t take the full track-listing that I suggested (which included the obvious hits, plus other tracks from the 1945-1953 period that had not yet been issued on CD.  They used most of them, but there were a couple of recordings that they didn’t use and which have yet to appear on a CD.  I also have a mention in the sleeve notes as co-compiler of the CD, along with Ray Crick who was working for Living Era.

I used to live in London – until 2003 – in Streatham and, when Dorothy called me the first time, she mentioned that she knew the area well – I think that she said her parents were buried there.  I went to the funeral at Streatham Vale Cemetery in April 1998.  I remember the day well - the only person I knew was John Lloyd – but I’m glad I went.  It would make sense that Dorothy’s parents were buried there, if that’s where she chose to be buried rather than back in Wales (webmaster’s note: Dorothy’s parents are, indeed, buried close to Dorothy’s grave, although to my knowledge there is no marker stone).

I hope that EMI Records will consider commemorating Dorothy’s career in someway, perhaps with a 3CD box set, as they have done for Alma Cogan, Ruby Murray and Michael Holliday.  Hopefully they will also release the 1972 Palladium concert on CD too, and they’ll also find the complete master tapes and restore the album CD to the full concert, rather than the heavily edited version that was released back in 1973.

I have to say that I was slightly disappointed with the Drury Lane CD.  I had hoped that they’d be able to restore the Nobody Does It Like Me opening number to the CD – I was never quite sure what the problem about that was, whether it was down to copyright problems with the change of lyrics, or whether it was deemed to be in contempt of court (webmaster: Dorothy was awaiting trial at the Old Bailey at the time, in the infamous BBC payola court case) and had to be withdrawn for that reason (webmaster: it was due to copyright problems, Dorothy had changed the original Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields lyrics, making references to her own life and current predicament!).  I was also hopeful that they’d restore the hits to the concert – I know we have got versions of them on the 1970 and 1971 CDs but I was hopeful of ‘new’ versions to listen to!  Hopefully Pye (or whoever owns the rights to the recordings these days) can be prevailed upon to issue a similar, complete CD set of everything they own (in the correct chronological order – including the complete Sings Billy Reid album from 1958.

One thing I did notice is that I Tunes has an album listed called Our Song by Dorothy.  It’s just a plain cover and the released date is 5^th July 2006.  I’m not sure if it’s an actual album that can be purchased, as I can’t find it listed anywhere else, or whether it is an album just to be downloaded.  The snippet I could play of Waiting seems to be a lot better than the one on the If You Love Me CD (webmaster: this has certainly not materialised as an official CD release to date, October 2006).

I am a Dusty fan as well and I’ve been involved with a few things to do with Dusty during the past five or six years, mainly with the organisation of the Dusty Day in Henley – where she lived towards the end of her life – around the time of what would have been her birthday (April 16).  It’s usually the Sunday closest to it.  As far as I know, Dot and Dusty never met – they probably inhabited different worlds in the 60s and 70s.  I do know of someone who once asked Dot what she thought of Dusty and she said she really liked her – really admired her for having her own mind and having so much control over the material she recorded – and Dot thought that she exercised that control very well.

I’m not sure what Dusty would have thought of Dot – my guess is that, as Dot was British, Dusty probably wouldn’t have been that big a fan.  Most of her influences from that period were American, and Dusty (and her parents) didn’t really seem to seriously rate British singers of the era – Anne Shelton, Vera Lynn, and so on – and Dot would have been in the same bracket as them back in the 40s and 50s.

Webmaster: Thanks Fraser for this long and interesting e-mail. It’s particularly interesting to read about Dorothy’s thoughts of the great Dusty.  Not only did they share the same initials (DS), but also the same couturier company – Doug Darnell designed Dorothy’s stage gowns and his partner Eric Darnell made many of Dust’s.  In fact, back in the early 70s Dusty used to joke in her stage performances: “Do you like the frock?  I’ve borrowed it from Dorothy Squires; only she has to have it back by midnight because she’s hired the Vatican for a one-night stand!”

Incidentally it’s not inconceivable that Dorothy and Dusty may have met – they could well have bumped into each at the Darnels’ premises, and of course both Dusty and Dorothy were both big friends of Danny La Rue who regularly held lavish show business parties.  It would be interesting to hear from anyone who can cast light on this.

MEMORIES ARCHIVE

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