Queen of the Mods: A Q&A with Dinah Lee
You are described as the Queen of the Mods, the original Mod girl — is that a label you love, and was it one you aimed to get?
No. Well, I didn’t set out to get it, anyway. The Mod look was sort of coming in in the UK, but it was quite unknown in Australia and New Zealand. In the UK, you had The Beatles, The Who . . . and it was becoming a look: the outfits all coordinated, you drove a scooter or a mini, that was all part of it. I was performing with a Jamaican singer, Millie Small, she was famous for the song My Boy Lollipop. We were performing for a television show, Bandstand, and we were at the Meyer Music Bowl in Melbourne. There were about 100,000 people there watching, and when I came on they started shouting “Dinah Lee, Queen of the Mods”, and whammo, that was that, really. It stuck.
So do you like the title, do you lean into it?
Well, once a Mod, always a Mod, I say. It was a bit of fun, so why not.
You are famous for so many songs, including Do The Blue Beat
and Don’t You Know Yockomo
you have a favourite one?
Not really. I mean, when you think I first sang Don’t You Know Yockomo59 years ago now, and I have been singing it ever since.
Tami Neilson has said she is so excited to sing with you — is the feeling mutual?
Oh, yes! And actually, I’m also a little bit nervous — she is just such a powerhouse. I am really looking forward to it, it’s going to be fab, but also yes, I’m nervous. She is so good.
Are there any particular artists, alive or dead, who would be your absolute dream to perform with?
I’ve been so lucky, I have performed with so many. I’ve performed with The Searchers, Gene Pitney, Peter and Gordon. Then in America, on Shindig!, there were amazing performers like The Righteous Brothers, so many people. The touring in Australia — so many great Aussie artists, too. I’ve really had so many amazing opportunities to perform with all these great singers.
What about now — what do you think about modern-day music and singers?
I love it. I’m a Mod, so I will always love modern. I do my own music on tour, but I love so many other musicians. There’s Pink, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, the fabulous Ed Sheeran . . . all are absolutely fabulous.
Today’s musicians often travel with quite an entourage — how different is it today to how you were doing it in the ’60s?
Oh, it’s very different now. We made our own image, picked our songs and outfits, even on tour you’d help load the sound [equipment]. At midnight, I would be out pasting posters on poles. That was the grounding we had, really. It’s a shame they don’t have to do it all now, maybe.
The ’60s were a time when women were really coming into their own, in a way. Did you have to fight harder because of your sex to get the success you did?
Of course you did. Back then, a girl singer was just a fill-in — she was a pretty thing who came on stage, sang a few songs and left. But when I happened, my songs, my look, the whole way I was on stage, I think men were a bit frightened of me. I was doing the same as the men, so I was accepted by them generally,
You have been hailed as a
fashion leader over the years — what do you think of today’s fashion?
Well, when you think of Lady Gaga wearing meat, then that’s a no. But other than that, go for it. Will I wear jeans ripped to pieces on the knee? No, but it’s fashion, and if that’s what turns you on, go for it, I say. Over the years, I’ve worn all sorts of things, and I’ve loved it all.
Yes, you have worn all sorts of things. In fact, you were mentioned in the Australian Parliament for one outfit choice, weren’t you?
Oh, yes. I bought an English flag, the Union Jack, from some shop somewhere, and I cut it up and wore it as a top. It got mentioned in the Australian Parliament — they wanted to deport me for it. The Australians were still conservative then, whereas Britain was less so. There was a real fuss, but I managed to stay. Now, of course, you see all sorts of things in fashion; the Union Jack as a dress. I wore gloves with that outfit too, actually, long before Michael Jackson made it a thing.
You are living in Wellington now, after a long time spent living over the ditch in Australia. Why the move back to New Zealand?
I moved to Australia at the end of 1965 and lived there until last year. Obviously I visited, and came on tour, but I was based in Australia. But last year, well, I am getting a little bit up there in years, and I thought, ‘A girl needs her family’, and my family are in Wellington now, so that’s where I moved. It’s great, but you don’t have hairdos in Wellington. It’s hard to have a bob happening in Wellington.
You are heading north from Wellington and coming to Taranaki for the Taranaki Arts
Festival Trust Reimagine festival, where you are performing in Tami Neilson’s Rock ’n’ Roll Revue. What can people expect from the show?
Of course, all my hits, but then there’s also Tami, and then the UpDoos, and we have the Hot Rockin’ Band of Rhythm. It’s going to be fun. Come along and have fun with us. That’s what people want, to go out and have fun.
Oh, and you’ll get Do The Blue Beat, of course.
There were about 100,000 people there watching, and when I came on they started shouting ‘Dinah Lee, Queen of the Mods’, and whammo, that was that, really. It stuck.