Dinah Lee

Diane Marie Jacobs (born 19 August 1943) in Waimate, known as Dinah Lee, is a New Zealand singer who performed 1960s pop and adult contemporary music Early life Her father was a saxophonist who worked selling carpets in a Christchurch department store and, part-time, ran a teen dance club – The Country Club Cabaret. In 1958, Lee was asked to sing at the club on Saturdays and became popular with local patrons. As a 15-year-old, she had her first professional gig with Bobby Davis & the Dazzlers in a small hall, and they later worked in a coffee lounge.

Lee adopted the latest Mod fashions following advice from boutique owner, Jackie Holme – a page boy haircut, white make-up, op-art clothes and white boots.

Tour organiser, James Haddleton, became her manager, and she was signed with Viking Records, an independent label based in Wellington, and she was promoted as 'Queen of the Mods'.

1964-1965: New Zealand Dinah Lee's debut single, "Don't You Know Yockomo?", was released in August 1964 –under the name Diane Lee, chosen by Viking – and peaked at No. 1 in New Zealand. Viking used Merritt's band to back her in the studio, and after the first pressings had sold out, Viking changed the attribution to Dinah Lee. Lee's single, "Don't You Know Yockomo?" was issued there by EMI on their HMV label and reached No.1 in Brisbane and Melbourne.

Lee's second single, "Reet Petite", was a cover of Jackie Wilson's hit and had also been recorded with Merritt's band. When released in September, it reached No. 1 in New Zealand.

Her third single, Ray Rivera's "Do the Blue Beat", followed in October in New Zealand. "Reet Petitie" and Do The Blue Beat" were issued as a double A-sided single in Australia and reached No. 3 in Adelaide and No. 6 in Melbourne. Lee toured New Zealand and Australia on Starlift '64, promoted by Harry M. Miller, with a bill headed by The Searchers, Peter and Gordon and Del Shannon.

Backing Lee at some gigs were Ray Columbus & the Invaders and, in Sydney, a newly formed group – The Easybeats. With "Reet Petite" charting in Australia, rock'n'roller Johnny O'Keefe invited Lee to appear on his television series, Sing, Sing, Sing and join his Sydney club shows.

Upon return to Auckland, Lee issued her fourth Viking single, "Who Stole the Sugar?" in November. She featured on two half-hour specials on New Zealand TV, while "I'm Walking" was issued as her next Australian single by HMV. By year's end, Viking had also released two extended plays, Don't You Know... and Yeah, Yeah We Love Them All and her debut album, Introducing Dinah Lee.

In early 1965, Lee appeared on Australian TV shows Bandstand and Saturday Date.

Lee travelled to the United States to appear on Shindig! – She sang with Glen Campbell – and on other TV shows. Lee then went to the United Kingdom, where she released "I'll Forgive You Then Forget You" on Island Records' label Aladdin.

In August–September, Lee toured New Zealand and Australia with US pop sensation, P.J. Proby Lee won 'Entertainer of the Year' at New Zealand's inaugural NEBOA Awards in late September – soon after she decided to base herself in Australia. Late in the year, Viking released a string of singles, "He Can't Do the Blue Beat", "Nitty Gritty" and "That's it I Quit" in New Zealand. In November, they released her second studio album, The Sound of Dinah Lee.

1966-1979: Australia Late in 1965, Dinah Lee relocated to Sydney, and in March 1966, she undertook a second tour with Small. Lee's next single was "He Don't Want Your Love Anymore"

On 29 June 1966, the Australian teen newspaper, Go-Set, published "The Dinah Lee Story" and she appeared on their front cover. Her public popularity was still high – she was voted No. 2 'Female Vocal' in Go-Set's pop poll in October and was in the top 5 for 1967 and 1968.

Lee continued to release singles in 1966, with a third studio album, The Mod World of Dinah Lee, late that year.

In April 1967, she became the 'face' for Yardley Cosmetics' commercials on Australian TV.

Her July single for Viking and HMV was "Sorry Mama"

Lee spent most of the late 1960s on the nightclub circuit with occasional variety TV appearances.

"I Can See Clearly Now" was released in 1979 on Laser Records.

Lee entertained troops in Vietnam in the late 1960s on Australian Broadcasting Commission-sponsored tours (under her birth name, Diane Jacobs) and was awarded the Vietnam Logistic and Support Medal.

In the 1970s, she continued to release singles, including "Tell Him" in 1972 In 1974, she joined O'Keefe on his comeback show, The Good Old Days of Rock'n'Roll, at St. George Leagues Club. Her next single, "It Doesn't Matter Anymore", appeared in 1976 on Festival Records.

Lee featured on "Episode 2: Ten Pound Rocker 1963–1968" where she discussed the mod look and her appeal to rebellious teens, "I had this image, and it wasn't cute and pretty". The TV series inspired the Long Way to the Top national concert tour during August–September 2002, which featured a host of the best Australian acts of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

1980s onwards In 1982, a compilation, Best of Dinah Lee, was issued on Music World.

By 1984, she had become involved in bodybuilding, winning the 'Australian Female Body Builder of the Year' in the over-35s category.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Lee continued performing on the club circuit and became a motivational speaker.

ABC-TV series, Long Way to the Top, was broadcast in August 2001.

Lee's performances of "Yokomo" and "Reet Petite" at the final Sydney concert, as well as an interview with promoter Michael Chugg, feature on the associated DVD, Long Way to the Top: Live in Concert, released in 2002.

Learning of Lee’s return, Grant Gillanders, the music historian behind Frenzy Records (a label dedicated solely to reissuing Kiwi popular music), approached Lee about giving her back catalogue the kind of treatment it deserved.

Thus, October 2023 saw the release of The Collection, a single career-spanning CD, and The Complete Collection, a triple CD box-set with a 40-page colour booklet that gathers her entire 60s oeuvre (plus recordings from the 1970s on).

As Lee’s original 1960s 45s and LPs are now commanding high prices internationally, the Frenzy compilations are welcomed by those of us not wishing to lay out small fortunes on TradeMe or the used-records website Discogs In November 2025, Dinah was awarded the prestigious "Benny" for a lifetime achievement in the entertainment industry.