Kiki Dee (Pauline Matthews) was the first female UK singer to sign with Tamla records and so also the first and perhaps only Yorkshire lass to have made it on to the Motown label. This should have signaled the start of a glittering career. Frustratingly Kiki Dee never really made an impact on popular culture until her duet with Elton John in 1976.
Kiki Dee started her musical career as a 16 year old singing in a local dance band in Bradford in the early 1960s. Moving on to providing backing vocals including for the legendary Dusty Springfield until she signed for Motown in 1963. She released 11 singles on Fontana – non of which had much impact on the popular market. However, several of these songs became firm Northern Soul favourites including “Magic Carpet Ride” and Dee’s stomping cover of the Tami Lynn track “Why Don’t I Run Away From You”.
