Kathy achieved national prominence in the U.K. as a resident singer, on
the British TV series,
Stars and Garters (1963)
. Signed to Decca records, she had
several hit singles, scoring her first Top 20 smash hit with Dance On,
a chart topper by the British Group,
The Shadows
from earlier that year.
Kathy's version also topped the single charts in Australia. An attempt
to create similar waves by adding lyrics to another instrumental, this
time the version by
The Spotnicks
of the traditional "Hava Nagila" was less
of a success, despite being given a similar Kirby treatment. Probably,
she is most remembered for her dramatic re-working of the
Doris Day
song,
'Secret Love' which reached the UK Top 5. That year (1963), she won Top
British Female Singer in the New Musical Express poll. Further hit
singles were provided in the form of a cover version of
Teresa Brewer
's "Let
me go lover," as well as "You're the One," and 1965's British
Eurovision Song Contest entry, "I Belong," which came a creditable
second. That year she also scored a hit single in the U.S. with the
song "The Way of Love."
Kathy became one of the biggest stars of the mid-sixties, especially
after her triumphant billing in 1965's Royal Command Variety
Performance and two series of her own BBC TV show Kathy Kirby Sings.
Her career started to go off the boil in 1967, and, remarkably, it was
not long before sadly she was all but forgotten.