Lita Roza

Published Friday 22 August 2008 at 14:00 by Patrick Newley

Big band singer Lita Roza was one of the most successful recording artists of her generation. Known as “the singer’s singer”, she made her name with the Ted Heath Band and remained in his star line-up, alongside Dickie Valentine and Dennis Lotis, until pursuing a solo career. Her many hits included Jimmy Unknown and To Young to Go Steady, and her original rendition of Allentown Jail is regarded by jazz musicians as the best recorded version of the ballad ever.

Voted by New Musical Express and Melody Maker as Britain’s top female vocalist of the fifties, her 1953 No 1 hit record (How Much is) that Doggie in the Window?, which she loathed, afforded her the priviledge of being the first British female singer to top the charts.

Born in Liverpool on March 14, 1926, she learnt the piano as a child, but had aspirations to be a dancer. She began her career in showbusiness as a juvenile dancer in pantomime and she was still in her teens when she got a job as a singer with the Harry Roy Band in London. She sang with several other bands and was also resident singer at the Embassy and Albany Clubs.

She became the lead singer with the Ted Heath Band in 1950 and, with her smouldering looks, immaculate gowns and trademark stiletto heels, became something of a pin-up for a generation of men. She signed with Decca Records and had hits with Allentown Jail and Blacksmith Bessie, both regarded as classics.

Her later hits included No Time for Tears, Tonight My Heart is Crying, Pretend You Don’t See Him and Let It Rain Let It Rain. She recorded several albums, including Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.

She toured internationally, often with the Ted Heath Band, to Australia, New Zealand (with Matt Monro), Spain and Cyprus, and she appeared in Las Vegas with Billy Eckstine.

Much admired by her peers, she numbered among her fans Elton John, who once said: “They just don’t make singers like Lita Roza anymore.”

In 2007, although in ill health, she was feted by fellow artists, including Dennis Lotis and Brian Dee, at a luncheon in her honour at the CAA in London. Asked about her favourite music, she said: “I love Queen, especially Freddie Mercury, Elton John and the Beatles. I have very catholic tastes as far as music is concerned. I love everything that makes me stop and listen. The sound is everything.”

Roza died in London on August 14, aged 82.