Jackie Lee

Jackie Lee was a British pop vocalist who enjoyed a long career in the music business, but received her greatest success for a pair of television theme songs. Born in North Dublin as Jacqueline Norah Flood on May 29, 1936, Jackie was raised in a household of music lovers — her mother played piano and her father was a trained baritone vocalist — and as a girl she won a scholarship to Dublin's Municipal School of Music, where she studied voice. By the age of 14, Flood was already singing professionally, appearing regularly with local dance bands and performing on Irish radio. In the early '50s, Flood relocated to London, England, to pursue her career and soon landed a prestigious gig as vocalist with Ronnie Aldrich's Squadronaires, a successful British dance band, where she took the professional name Jackie Lee. In 1955, Lee left the group to work as a solo act, and released her first single, "For So Long as I Live" b/w "I Was Wrong." In 1959, Lee and her manager Len Beadle (who was also her first husband) formed a vocal combo known as the Raindrops, who recorded for Parlophone/EMI, Oriole, and Philips, specializing in covers of American pop and rock hits. While the group made frequent radio and television appearances and can be seen in the film Just for You (aka Disk-O-Tek Holiday), they never scored a major hit, and the members parted company in 1965. That year, Lee relaunched her solo career with a new single for Decca, "I Cry Alone" b/w "Cause I Love Him," and over the next few years she remained busy as a session vocalist and singing commercial jingles. In 1968, Lee was hired to sing the theme song for a BBC television series for young people, White Horses, and when the show became a hit, Lee's recording of the signature tune became a major chart success, though it was credited simply to Jacky. Philips, who released the "White Horses" single, brought Lee back to cut an album, also called White Horses, which featured piano work from Dudley Moore. The album wasn't a major sales success, but Lee remained in demand, recording commercials and songs for film and television projects. In 1970, another one of Lee's television recordings brought her back to the pop charts when she sang the theme song for the children's show The Adventures of Rupert Bear, which became a Top Ten hit for Pye Records. Pye took Lee into the studio to cut an album to capitalize on "Rupert Bear"'s success, 1971's Jackie's Junior Choice, and a handful of fine singles followed. But Lee's busy recording and performance schedule took its toll, and she developed a throat condition that permanently changed the tone of her voice. In 1973, Lee retired from the music business, and after several years in the United States she settled in Canada. In the fall of 2007, Cherry Red Records released End of a Rainbow, an anthology of 26 sides Lee recorded for Pye between 1969 and 1973.