Dinah Lee. Photo: album cover
The original 'Queen of the Mods' is living back in New Zealand - and she's set to bring back the Blue Beat on a Rock'n'Roll Revue with Tami Neilson this October.
Dinah Lee, who celebrates her 80th birthday today, became a household name in the 60s with her hit songs 'Do The Blue Beat', 'Don't You Know Yockomo' and 'Reet Petite'.
The trendsetter - known for her iconic bob hairstyle and unique fashions - has toured the wall and was inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame in 2020.
Dinah spoke to Music 101 about her long-lasting career, as she prepares to hit the road with Tami Neilson in October.
Previously living in Australia, Dinah decided to move back to Wellington to be around family - despite it being a place where "you can't keep a bob down".
And after a well-rated appearance on Seven Sharp, Dinah has found she's still appreciated in her home country - along with her hit song 'Do the Blue Beat'.
"Because it's come through the ages, plus I think at schools they do the Bluebeat and everything in schools for the young kids, so I'm sort of never getting old," she says. "Mind you, I'm slowing down a little bit but not too bad."
When she emerged as a performer in the 60s, Dinah's original fashions had a big influence on the teenagers who idolised her.
"Back in the 60s you had no image-maker you know like they have today, so we made our own images and we come up with anything, to really hit the press, make them sit up and of course the young teenagers, they loved it, they loved all that fashion," she says.
"I remember touring New Zealand and I bought a bushman's singlet and wore it as a miniskirt with boots.
"You came up with all these crazy ideas. I was young, you know, we were happening, it was the 60s, it was swinging so you did anything."
At the time, mod fashion - imported from the UK, along with the popularity of the Beatles - was all the rage in New Zealand, with Dinah Lee a pioneer of the scene, where "everything kind of matched" and driving a Vespa was hot.
"When we went out we had our little shifts on and the coat would match, the handbag would match, the little stockings would be cream and the shoes would be stack-heeled shoes, they'd match.
"And of course you had the bob and very pale makeup, heavy heavy eyes, maybe a couple of layers of false eyelashes and pale lipstick."
"And the boys wore their lovely suits and their pointed-toe shoes and of course the Beatles haircut."
While fashion and music would evolve over the 70s and 80s, Dinah says, "once a mod, you're always a mod" - but especially so when you're queen of the scene.
Dinah was given the illustrious title of 'Queen of the Mods' after performing to an enraptured young crowd in Melbourne.
"That's how I became the Queen of the Mods, because I was doing a show in Melbourne at the Myer Music Bowl, with 60,000 teenagers and there was another girl on the show called Little Millie, the Jamaican singer, she did My Boy Lollipop.
"And there were these thousands of kids there and they were holding them back with police on horseback, but they were all chanting 'Up Dinah, Queen of the Mods'
"So from then on, it was Dinah, Queen of the Mods."
Dinah Lee in 1965. Photo: Supplied
After last touring New Zealand in 2007 with Max Merritt and the Meteorites, Dinah Lee is set to join Tami Neilson's Rock 'n' Roll Revue this October, which she says she's nervous but also "chomping at the bit" for.
"Tami and I will do a duet together and hopefully she'll join in on the Blue Beat, who knows what's going to happen in this show," she says.
"It's going to be fantastic. And of course it's a rock n roll revue so look out, get your dancing shoes on."
Dates for Tami Neilson's Rock 'N' Roll Revue 2023
- October 5 (part of the Taranaki Reimagine Arts Festival)
- October 6 - St James Theatre, Wellington
- Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch
- The Civic, Auckland
