Dorothy Squires
| Dorothy Squires | |
|---|---|
Dorothy Squires
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edna May Squires |
| Born |
25 March 1915 Pontyberem, Carmarthenshire, Wales |
| Died | 14 April 1998 (aged 83) Llwynypia, Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales |
| Genres | Traditional pop music, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocalist |
| Years active | 1936–1990 |
| Labels | Parlophone Records, Columbia Records, Polygon Records |
Dorothy Squires (25 March 1915 – 14 April 1998) was a Welsh singer. Among her recordings were versions of "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening", "I'm in the Mood for Love", "Anytime", "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)" and "And So to Sleep Again".
She is also notorious as a vexatious litigant, filing numerous frivolous lawsuits that led to her bankruptcy.
Born as Edna May Squires in her parents' carnival caravan in Pontyberem (about 12 miles from Llanelli), Carmarthenshire, Wales, to a steelworker, Archibald James Squires and his wife, Emily, she wanted a piano as a child. Her mother bought her a ukulele. While working in a tin plate factory, she began to perform professionally as a singer at the age of 16 in the working men's club of Pontyberem.
Squires decided to pursue her dream in London, so while working as a nurse she would audition unsuccessfully for various jobs, during which she met agent Joe Kay, who got her night time work in various clubs. While working in the East End, Squires worked at a club which gave her the name Dorothy, which she liked and used on stage after that time. Squires did most of her work with the orchestra of Billy Reid, who was her partner for many years. After she joined his orchestra in 1936, he began to write songs for her to perform.
In the immediate post-war, she worked on the BBC radio show Variety Bandbox, which subsequently made her the highest paid female singer in the UK. Squires and Reid bought a 16-bedroom house in Bexhill on Sea, and working with Reid recorded the original version of Reid's composition, "A Tree in the Meadow", best known in the United States for the recording by Margaret Whiting, which reached No.1 on the US pop chart.
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