Kaye Sisters

The UK pop trio featured Sheila Jones (born 21 October 1936 in Lewisham, London, England), Shirley ‘Shan’ Palmer (born 15 August 1938 in Hull, England) and Carol Young (born Carol Mayall on 12 April 1930 in Oldham, Lancashire, England; died August 2006 in Brighton, Sussex, England). Carmen Kaye assembled the act in 1954, at which point it operated under the name the Three Kayes. An appearance on the television programme In Town Tonight in 1956 supplied their breakthrough. A two-week residency at the London Palladium followed, and their first single—a cover of the Charms’ ‘Ivory Tower’ released on HMV Records—entered the UK Top 20. After moving to Philips Records in 1957 they scored their opening pair of Top 10 hits in partnership with Frankie Vaughan, both of them covers: Bob Jaxon’s ‘Gotta Have Something In The Bank Frank’, whose royalties were donated to the Boys Clubs with which Vaughan had long been associated, and the Fleetwoods’ ‘Come Softly To Me’. Of all the singles they issued, the only one to reach the Top 10 without Vaughan was their 1960 reading of Anita Bryant’s US hit ‘Paper Roses’. Philips also put out three EPs—Presenting The Kaye Sisters in 1958, The Kayes At The Colony in 1959 and Kaye Sisters Favourites in 1960. Jones stepped down in the late 1960s and Gilly took her place. The group kept working, frequently as support for Max Bygraves. Young exited in the late 1970s to launch an acting career that included roles in the ITV series Albion Market and the soap opera Coronation Street. ‘Shan and Gilly Kaye’ took part in the 1978 Royal Command Performance and performed together in theatres and cabaret throughout the 1980s. The original members regrouped in 1992 and 1993 to sing Andrews Sisters numbers on UK tours of In The Mood, a tribute to Glenn Miller.