Valerie Masters was born on 24 April 1940 in Stepney Green, East London, and by the age of 17 she was working as a typist and personal secretary for the mayor of Stepney. It was while working there that she was introduced to band leader Ray Ellington, and shortly afterwards she joined his band as featured vocalist, replacing Marion Ryan. She remained with Ellington's band until 1959, while at the same time launching her career as a solo singer, with her first single 'Sharing'/'The Secret Of Happiness' appearing on the Fontana label in 1958. Three more singles quickly followed in 1958 and early 1959, before 'Jack O' Diamonds' was released in June 1959, followed by 'If There Are Stars In My Eyes' at the end of the year. As the 60's dawned, Fontana still had faith in her, releasing three singles in that year, and although none made the official UK Singles Chart, 'Banjo Boy' made the lower reaches of the New Musical Express's own chart. Between 1959 and 1961 she had her own show on Radio Luxembourg, Valerie and her Boyfriends, and in 1960 she represented Britain in the European Song Contest (unrelated to the Eurovision Song Contest), following which she became popular in Scandinavia, Germany and the Netherlands. In 1961, she failed in her attempt to represent the UK at Eurovision, finishing seventh in the 'A Song for Europe' competition with the song 'Too Late For Tears', but she did appear frequently on BBC radio and television. She also performed live in cabaret and clubs, often with Ellington's former pianist Dick Katz, who she married in 1961. In May 1960, she appeared on a short series of teen-oriented programmes, Young at Heart, for Tyne Tees Television, as well working for Border Television. Also in 1961 she sang the theme song for the film 'The Hellions', and also recorded commercials and worked as a backing singer. 1962 was a quiet year on the recording front, with just the one single, a cover of 'African Waltz', and the following year similarly yielded just the one single for the HMV label, while in 1964 she issued the single 'Christmas Calling', produced by Joe Meek and featuring session guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. After those two one-off deals she joined Polydor for two records in 1966, and then one last single in 1969 on the Columbia label rounded off her recording career. After leaving the music business, she stayed in entertainment, appearing in the role of a singer in the 1979 television drama series 'Secret Army', and in the early 1980's made appearances in 'Russ Abbot's Saturday Madhouse'. Some of her early singles are impossible to find now, but from late 1959 onwards they can be tracked down, and so here is a nice selection of some of her singles and b-sides from the early to mid-60's. I had to take 'Say Hello' from a poor quality TV appearance, and despite my best efforts at upgrading the sound, it does detract from the rest of the album, so if anyone has a better quality copy of it that I could have then it would finish off this album perfectly.
Track listing
01 Jack O' Diamonds (single 1959)
02 Say When (b-side of 'Jack O' Diamonds')
03 Banjo Boy (single 1960)
04 Cow Cow Boogie (b-side of 'Banjo Boy')
05 Too Late For Tears (single 1961)
06 Birmingham Rag (single 1961)
07 African Waltz (single 1962)
08 All Night Long (b-side of 'African Waltz')
09 Christmas Calling (single 1964)
10 He Didn't Fool Me (b-side of 'Christmas Calling')
11 It's Up To You (single 1966)
12 The Next Train Out (b-side of 'It's Up To You')
13 Don't Ever Go (single 1966)
14 Say Hello (b-side of 'Don't Ever Go')
