Phyllis Dillon, sometimes known as Shirley Kay, was born in 1948 in Linstead, St. Catherine, Jamaica. She was influenced by American singers Connie Francis, Patti Page and Dionne Warwick and like many of her contemporaries she began her singing career via entering talent contests. It was during one such contest at the Glass Bucket Club in Kingston, with the group The Vulcans, that Duke Reid's session guitarist Lynn Taitt first heard Dillon and recommended her to Reid for an audition.
Dillon was 18 when she recorded her first record; the self penned "Don’t Stay Away", for Duke Reid on his lucrative Treasure Isle record label in 1966. While most of Dillon’s subsequent recordings would be covers of popular and obscure American songs including Bettye Swann's "Make Me Yours", Perry Como's "Tulips and Heather," The Grass Roots' "Midnight Confessions," and Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With"; "Don't Stay Away" was an original composition featuring Tommy McCook and the Supersonics as the backing band. Another original song Dillon recorded was "It’s Rocking Time" but this was later turned into the Alton Ellis' hit "Rocksteady".
While these early recordings demonstrate Dillon's mastery of the rocksteady sound, a much slower, soulful, response to the sultry weather that made ska's upbeat rhythm and tempo undesirable even impracticable, it was no indication of her greatest performance, 1967’s "Perfidia". Popularized by the American surf rock band The Ventures, "Perfidia" is a 1940 song written by Alberto DomÃnguez and made popular by the Cuban bandleader, Xavier Cugat.
At the end of 1967, Dillon moved to New York and over following five years, she spent living a double life of a family and career in the United States while flying frequently back to Jamaica to continue recording for Reid.
After a number of singles and an album entitled 'Living in Love', Dillon decided to call a halt to her career in 1971 because of the effect incessant travelling and touring was having on her young family plus her growing discontent at the lack of financial reimbursement she was receiving for all this work. She was only 23 years old.
In 1991, Michael Bonnet, the entertainment director for the Oceanea Hotel in Kingston approached Dillon inviting her to sing. Her refusal at first was later rescinded and sparked a revitalized interest in performing and recording. In the years following, Dillon toured the UK, Germany and Japan. In 1998 she returned to the recording studio with Lynn Taitt, marked by re-interest in ska music in the United States. She remained active until illness took hold with her eventually passing away from cancer on 15th April 2004 in New York, at the age of 56.
Dillon was 18 when she recorded her first record; the self penned "Don’t Stay Away", for Duke Reid on his lucrative Treasure Isle record label in 1966. While most of Dillon’s subsequent recordings would be covers of popular and obscure American songs including Bettye Swann's "Make Me Yours", Perry Como's "Tulips and Heather," The Grass Roots' "Midnight Confessions," and Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With"; "Don't Stay Away" was an original composition featuring Tommy McCook and the Supersonics as the backing band. Another original song Dillon recorded was "It’s Rocking Time" but this was later turned into the Alton Ellis' hit "Rocksteady".
While these early recordings demonstrate Dillon's mastery of the rocksteady sound, a much slower, soulful, response to the sultry weather that made ska's upbeat rhythm and tempo undesirable even impracticable, it was no indication of her greatest performance, 1967’s "Perfidia". Popularized by the American surf rock band The Ventures, "Perfidia" is a 1940 song written by Alberto DomÃnguez and made popular by the Cuban bandleader, Xavier Cugat.
At the end of 1967, Dillon moved to New York and over following five years, she spent living a double life of a family and career in the United States while flying frequently back to Jamaica to continue recording for Reid.
After a number of singles and an album entitled 'Living in Love', Dillon decided to call a halt to her career in 1971 because of the effect incessant travelling and touring was having on her young family plus her growing discontent at the lack of financial reimbursement she was receiving for all this work. She was only 23 years old.In 1991, Michael Bonnet, the entertainment director for the Oceanea Hotel in Kingston approached Dillon inviting her to sing. Her refusal at first was later rescinded and sparked a revitalized interest in performing and recording. In the years following, Dillon toured the UK, Germany and Japan. In 1998 she returned to the recording studio with Lynn Taitt, marked by re-interest in ska music in the United States. She remained active until illness took hold with her eventually passing away from cancer on 15th April 2004 in New York, at the age of 56.
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