Helen McKay

Helen McKay, born Ruby Ellen Northover on 15 April 1910 in Woolwich, London, was a dance band singer and Broadway performer whose career spanned several decades. The daughter of Ellen May Edwards, a tailoress from Deptford, and Albert William Northover, a lance corporal in the Royal Engineers from Surrey, McKay died on 29 August 2008 in Maidenhead at the age of 98.

Before entering show business, McKay worked at Marshall & Snelgrove's department store on Oxford Street in London. Her initial theatrical ambition was to become a ballerina, a goal she pursued after taking twelve dancing lessons. She performed with a touring ballet company before transitioning into chorus work, including C. B. Cochran's production One Damn Thing After Another. Her path into band singing came through a chance encounter: bandleader Lew Stone noticed her in a publisher's office and offered her a contract as a vocalist. Stone disliked her given name and assigned her the stage name Helen McKay. Following her time with Stone's band, McKay worked as a freelance vocalist with bands led by Sydney Baynes, Oscar Rabin, and Bram Martin.

In 1928, McKay appeared on Broadway in the play Night Hostess, marking her sole credited Broadway appearance.

McKay holds a notable place in broadcasting history as the first person to sing on the 405-line high-definition standard during BBC test transmissions for the RadiOlympia Exhibition, which ran from 26 August to 5 September 1936. On 26 August, she performed using the Baird 240-line system, accompanied only by piano due to the technical constraints of that system. For that transmission, she was required to wear yellow face paint with purple lips and eye makeup to provide sufficient contrast for the cameras. The following day, the EMI 405-line system was used, enabling her to perform with the BBC Television Orchestra. On both occasions she sang Here's Looking At You, a song written specifically for the test transmissions by Ronnie Hill. In 1986, McKay gave an interview to the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television recounting her experiences during those broadcasts, noting that at the time she had not expected television to amount to much.

In 1939, McKay joined a new ensemble called the London Fire Forces Dance Band, directed by singer, musician, and songwriter Ernest W. Winnette, born in 1913. She and Winnette married in April 1940 and settled in Maidenhead. During the 1940s, McKay contributed to the war effort through ENSA concerts and appearances on the BBC Forces Programme. By 1942, the London Fire Forces Dance Band had a new director, and Winnette, who adopted the name Bob, formed a quartet called the Debonaires, comprising McKay, Alex Dore, Nadia Dore, and Harry Brooker. The Debonaires performed with the Ambrose Orchestra, Felix Mendelssohn's Hawaiian Serenaders, and Eric Winstone and his band, and also hosted a late-night radio programme. In the 1950s the group's lineup shifted to include Nadia Dore, Bob Brown, McKay, and Bob Winnette, after which McKay and Winnette formed another ensemble, The Song Pedlars quartet. Bob Winnette predeceased his wife, dying in May 2000.