Helen McKay (born Ruby Ellen Northover in Woolwich, London on 15 April 1910 - died ) was a dance band singer, active during the 1930s and 1940s. She was the first person to sing on the then high-definition standard (

405 lines The 405-line monochrome analogue television broadcasting system was the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting. The number of television lines influences the image resolution, or quality of the picture. It was ...

) in test transmissions by the BBC for the RadiOlympia Exhibition from 26 August to 5 September 1936.

Early life

Helen was born in Woolwich, London to Ellen May Edwards, a tailoress from Deptford, London and Albert William Northover, a lance corporal in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

from Surrey. McKay began work at

Marshall & Snelgrove Marshall & Snelgrove was a department store on the north side of Oxford Street, London, on the corner with Vere Street founded by James Marshall (b.1806 Yorkshire – d.22 November 1893). The company became part of the Debenhams group. Histor ...

's department store in Oxford Street, London but left to pursue a theatrical career. After 12 dancing lessons, her ambition was to become a ballerina. She danced with a touring ballet company but then started in chorus work, notably C. B. Cochran's production, "One Damn Thing After Another." She was noticed by band leader

Lew Stone Louis Stone known professionally as Lew Stone (28 June 1898 – 13 February 1969) was a British bandleader and arranger of the British dance band era, and was well known in Britain during the 1930s. He was known as a skillful, innovative an ...

while in a publisher's office and was offered a contract as a vocalist with his band. However, Lew did not like her name and so she was given the stage name of Helen McKay. After singing in Lew Stone's band, McKay freelanced with bands led by Sydney Baynes,

Oscar Rabin Oscar Rabin (26 April 1899 – 20 June 1958) was a Latvian-born English bandleader and musician. He was the musical director of his own big band. Rabin was born in Riga to a family of Jewish origin, and came to London, England as a child. A b ...

and Bram Martin.

RadiOlympia TV transmission in 1936

For the RadiOlympia transmissions, McKay sang ''Here's Looking At You'', written especially for the test transmissions by Ronnie Hill. On the 26 August transmission, using the Baird 240 line system, she was accompanied solely by piano due to the limitations of the Baird system. During the 27 August transmission, the EMI 405 line system was used, allowing McKay to be accompanied by the

BBC Television Orchestra The BBC Television Orchestra (1936–1939) was a broadcast orchestra founded in 1936 by conductor, violinist and composer Hyam Greenbaum and led by Boris Pecker. Hyam Greenbaum's wife Sidonie Goossens was the first solo harpist with the Orchestra ...

. In 1986, she gave an interview to The National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, in which she spoke about her experience. For the Baird transmission, in the flying spot scanning room, she had to wear yellow face paint with purple lips and eye make-up to ensure there was enough contrast so that she could be seen. At the time, she didn't think anything would come of television.

Later life

In 1939, Helen was invited to join a new dance band called the London Fire Forces Dance Band, which was directed by singer, musician and song writer Ernest W Winnette (born 1913). McKay and Winnette married in April 1940 and set up home in Maidenhead. In the 1940s McKay was a contributor to the war effort with ENSA concerts on the BBC Forces Programme. In 1942 the London Fire Forces Dance Band had taken on a new director and so on leaving the band Ernest changed his name to Bob and set up a quartet called the Debonaires, consisting of McKay, Alex Dore, Nadia Dore and Harry Brooker. The Debonaires sang with the Ambrose Orchestra,

Felix Mendelssohn's Hawaiian Serenaders Felix Mendelssohn's Hawaiian Serenaders was a popular Hawaiian music band started by British frontman Bartholdy Felix Mendelssohn (19 September 19114 February 1952). They are best known for making Hawaiian music popular in England and throughou ...

, Eric Winstone and his band, and also had a late night radio show. In the 1950s, the personnel of the Debonaires changed to Nadia Dore, Bob Brown, Helen McKay and Bob Winette. McKay and Winnette then formed The Song Pedlars quartet. Helen died in Maidenhead on . Her husband Bob had predeceased her (died May 2000).

References

1910 births 2008 deaths 20th-century British women singers British jazz singers {{UK-singer-stub