Eldergays, why wasn't Kiki Dee a bigger deal?

Look at me, I'm Kiki Dee. Lousy with virginity.

She is British and British women were never big in the US in that 70’s era. The page boy hair probably didn’t help.

The actual studio recording is a lot of fun. It's "bigger" than the live performances. I don't know if wall of sound is the right term to use here (I know this isn't a Phil Spector record), but the recording does have that big -- hitting you with everything we got -- sound that can be pretty thrilling when well executed, as it is here.

Star is one of my fave songs by her. She is one of my faves. Underrated and little known outside of her duet with Elton here in the US.

R2 you’re stupid….

Olivia Newton-John

R2 in the 80s - Sheena Easton

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

It made me FURIOUS when, in the video for “Wrap Her Up” George Michael and Elton John praise Nancy Reagan as a goddess then SLAM a pie in the face of KiKi Dee when she arrives for her cameo. I rose from my sofa with fists of rage and shrieked “FAGS!” Afterwards I had to settle down and evaluate my internalized homophobia, filled with shame. It’s only now that I’m able to enjoy “Wrap Her Up” as the pop classic that it is. It helps that Nancy and George are dead.

I'm a fairly recent Kiki Dee fan. I think I've been aware of her name and the duet "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" my whole life. Over the past couple of years, I've discovered her excellent catalog and have all of her albums on CD because of re-mastering and box sets. Here are SOME of my personal Kiki Dee Faves from my Kiki Dee faves playlist available to stream on Apple Music. The track titles below are in chronological order from her earliest to latest.

1. Loving and Free

2. Song For Adam

3. Amoureuse

4. I've Got The Music In Me

5. Water

6. You Need Help

7. First Thing In The Morning

8. Night Hours

9. Dark Side of Your Soul

10. Stay With Me

11. Star

12. Perfect Timing

13. Midnight Flyer

14. Another Break

15. I Fall In Love Too Easily

16. Knowing You Like I Do

17. Angel Eyes

18. I'll Build a Tower Over You

19. Pay

20. Africa

21. We Cry On

22. Lay Your Wisdom Down

She was no Toni Tenille.

r10 no she wasn't at all.

i see someone is extremely ignorant but thinks he's being clever.

OP here. After listening to more of her stuff I'm left a bit underwhelmed. Wish she'd recorded more songs like I've Got the Music In Me -- with swagger and that irresistible funk/soul/r&b/disco mash-up of 70s sounds -- not to mention her killer vocals. There's a lot of.... perfectly acceptable soft-rock in her repertoire, it seems.

i'm sorry you aren't more intrigued by her music catalog. the style of I've got the music in me was really not a formula she repeated. she's fantastic artist in my book. Something good on every release.

Water is a beautiful track from her first album, i believe. it's amazing.

Eh, she's sufficient.

I still wonder what Don't Go Breaking My Heart would have been like with the original duet partner - Dusty Springfield.

R13 / R9 - I definitely haven't heard all of the tracks on your list, so I'll be sure to give them a listen. It just seems like a missed opportunity that I've Got the Music In Me was such a one-off. Even on the album it came from that sound isn't repeated and it works SO well on that track. There are SEVERAL TV performances of doing the song in the UK and US so obviously she and her label thought they had something there. Shame she seemingly never went back to that well.

I wish Dusty had done the song. I can't remember why she didn't.

I hear you. 'I've Got The Music In Me" was promoted by Kiki on TV because it was a major hit single. She was varied and changeable throughout her career. In fact, she has a new album out with a frequent male collaborator. I really do not care for it at all. It's all acoustic.

r17 i like Dusty, Kiki Dee AND Sheena Easton. Sheena is a fan of Dusty Springfield AND Kiki Dee.

Those 3 artists were popular and changeable throughout their careers. It kept them interesting in my opinion.

Kiki's a lesbian, isn't she?

I've enjoyed a few of her solo, late-60s, pre-disco songs.

not a lesbian. she may be bisexual though. I'm not really familiar with her pre-70s stuff.

sexy!

One Hit Wonder ... happens

stupid name

The Rula Lenska of Rock

[quote]why wasn't Kiki Dee a bigger deal?

Nobody knows it.

She had some success. She had a hit with a song (a not very good one) called "I Got The Music In Me." And she had that duet with Elton John "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" which I thought was crap but was a huge hit. For a while she was Elton John's protege; she was on his record label (Rocket Records, I think). But she never got to be a big star, despite having a great voice. And who talked her into taking the stage name "Kiki Dee?" It was ridiculous. By the way, her real name was Pauline Matthews. Not a very exciting moniker but a hell of a lot more dignified than Kiki Dee.

love her!

Because there was room for only one big star with a mushroom hair cut in the mid 70s and that was ME!

What about me? My hair was like a mushroom and I had a number one song and several other big hits and I sang my number one "Love Will Keep Us Together" on every variety show on television!

She was not in any form of singing ability in the Elton John 'Farewell..." concert aired by Disney+. She could barely speak, let alone sing. Very sad.

That Elton John record she was on - it played non-stop in '74 or '75. And it was always announced as a song by "Elton John and Kiki Dee." And people were like "Who the fuck is Kiki Dee?"