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Coda
Less than five feet tall, Brenda Lee belied her small frame thanks to a vocal power that rocked concert halls to their foundations – and when she came to these shores she was most certainly in fine voice. It was 60 years ago, on 4 April 1959, that Brenda finally appeared on UK TV, beamed into living rooms via Jack Good’s iconic British music show Oh Boy!, filmed live from the Hackney Empire in East London every Saturday night. Prior to filming, Lee took to the Hackney streets to rehearse with her band and bemused locals looked on while photographers took the opportunity to snap the pint-sized newcomer in action. As evening fell, the stage lights lit up a lineup of homegrown stars including Dickie Pride, Tony Sheridan, Don Lang and The Vernons Girls, before compère Tony Hall introduced the show’s ‘sensational’ top billing. With storming house band Lord Rockingham’s XI in support, Brenda eased into Humming The Blues Over You, the swaying flipside of her latest 45, before upping the tempo to close out the show with a fiery, full-throttle run through A-side, Bill Bailey Won’t You Please Come Home. As the credits roll, Brenda can been seen clapping her hands to what must have been spine-tinglingly brilliant to witness in the studio. By the close of the year Brenda would be a household name thanks to her Ronnie Self-penned hit single, Sweet Nothin’s…