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What a voice! Extraordinary British singer introduced to American audiences via glorious passionate hit single "The Way Of Love", a mid-sixties classic featured in this great collection of brilliant performances and anyone who love & appreciate great vocal artists will find this winning collection of amazing performances a completely thrilling vocal treasure. Opening strong with a huge UK hit, "Secret Love" is a stunning vocal tour-de-force making one wonder why this amazing singer didn't find greater success in the United States as many gems in this treasure of varied material are songs from America! "Dance On" is an exhuberant up-tempo winner, "I Wish You Love" a gorgeous heartfelt version of the classic standard showing Kathy Kirby can master any type of song and make it her very own. "Havah Nagilah" given a masterful powerful treatment while a delicate "I Want To Be Happy" show the tender side of this gifted singer who by now it is clear this incredible singer can sing anything. Billie Holiday standard "Body And Soul" is a hauntingly beautiful soul-deep performance and this classic has never sounded finer..."Ol' Man Mose" another fascinating exhuberant tour-de-force performance and "The Sweetest Sounds" sounds as fresh and exciting as it is uniquely original...spoken introduction highlight a gorgeous take on "Make Someone Happy" sung with tremendous depth of feeling and exquisite vocal beauty..."Slowly" is a fun sensual romp showing another of the many sides of Kathy Kirby while the closing "Where In The World" is simply a magnificient vocal timeless in it's beauty and a lovely way to end a collection of brilliant performances. Thank you Kathy Kirby!!!
Update May 2011; Sadly Kathy Kirby passed at 72yrs and RIP soulful Lady Of Song...

Kathy Kirby's music is so hard to find out about that I finally just had to buy a resold copy and give it a listen! No one selling the CD seems to have sound bytes available to preview and no one seems to carry it (to hear in a store's listening station)! I do love her reserved, but powerful style in this very ecclectic collection of songs. She fits in to the female vocal puzzle somewhere between Connie Francis and Teresa Brewer in my opinion. Not quite as "crying" as Connie but soulful. The arrangements that accompany her vocals are top-notch and she often does very amusing, delightful takes on standards. Examples: "Sweetest Sounds" with its zesty "Bobby Vinton" - like polka beat; "Love me Baby" (very Teresa Brewer delivery); also how peppy her version of the classic "Havah Nagilah" is so full of joy!

Kathy was a regular performer on British television during the sixties (and to a lesser extent subsequently) but her achievements on record were modest, with just five hit singles. Kathy's powerful voice is not to everybody's liking, especially on the up-tempo songs, but I enjoy her music.

Kathy's biggest hit was Secret love, with which she had her only UK top five hit. Kathy's version is more dramatic than Doris Day's original. I prefer the original but Kathy demonstrated that there is more than one way to sing this song. There is a line in the song about shouting from the highest heights and it seems that this inspired Kathy's interpretation of the song, which some people may find overpowering.

Kathy's other UK hits were Dance on (which just missed the top ten), Let me go lover (which just made the top ten), You're the one (a top twenty hit) and I belong (only a minor hit despite being the British entry in the 1965 Eurovision song contest).

While Kathy's powerful voice is given full rein on the up-tempo songs, she shows that she can sing ballads too (those that she doesn't change into up-tempo songs).

Despite her once high public profile, Kathy's music is limited to occasional compilation releases these days, usually on budget labels. This is a pity as Kathy had one of the most distinctive voices in the sixties. I'd love to see some record company release a double CD or a boxed set. Kathy's music deserves such treatment. But if you haven't heard Kathy before, listen to her sing before buying - just to be sure you enjoy her powerful voice.

Buy it and enjoy it. Anyone know what Kathy is up to these days? Let me know : nhannan@hotmail.com THANKS

Kathy has a terrific voice and fabulous good look, camparable with Marilyn Monroe. Anything by this artist is worth buying. She was Britain's highest paid femail artist in the 60's and hit after hit. Today she is in retirement sadly.

The very good news: There's no denying the infectious exuberance of Kathy Kirby's three biggest British top twenty hits - "Secret Love", "Let Me Go Lover" and especially "Dance On". These three hits, played one after the other, comprise perhaps one of the biggest collective female pop-singing surges produced in the British Isles in the 1960s. I dare anyone to Listen to "Dance On" and not feel the urge to dance. The production on this hit Trinity is superbly crisp and goose-bumpingly electrifying in impact. These three were deserved hits, enhanced by that booming bell-clear voice.
The not-so-good news: Beyond these three startling hits, there are relatively slim pickings to be had. In fact, listening to the other songs, it's hard to escape the feeling that, even in her heyday -1963 and 1964 - her big brassy sound was dated by the early sixties standards. It uneasily recalls the bright "pepsodent" female sounds of the mid-1950s. The CD, as a whole, succeeds in answering the question, "Why didn't Kathy Kirby have more hits than the total of five between 1963 and 1965 and only one mediocre US hit ("The Way Of Love")? The three hits mentioned above undeniably increase the wonder of what might have been. But the remaining tracks will adequately answer the question: Kathy Kirby was behind the times and quickly out of place, caught unfairly on the cusp of the British Invasion. Never mind. Just play one after the other "Secret Love", "Let Me Go Lover" and "Dance On" and relish the ten minutes of so of aural ecstasy - all the more prized because of their deliciously punchy brevity.