Polly Brown

Polly Brown (née Browne; born 18 April 1947) is an English singer from Birmingham. A member of Pickettywitch and Sweet Dreams – and with each group lead singer on a Top Ten hit, respectively "That Same Old Feeling" and "Honey Honey" – Brown had an international solo hit in 1975 with "Up in a Puff of Smoke".

Brown was born in Birmingham, England. She recorded with Pickettywitch from 1969 until 1972, when she cut her first solo album for Pickettywitch's label Pye Records working with producer Tony Eyers. In 1972, DJ Jimmy Savile claimed to be engaged to Brown; she later admitted it was a publicity stunt and said she had no idea that Savile was using her as a cover for his paedophile activities.

At some stage she was in a girl group with Linda Rothwell and Louisa Jane White They were managed by Morris King who managed The Walker Brothers. Interestingly, both Brown and White would record Van McCoy songs. Brown recorded "One Girl Too Late" in 1975, and White with "Don't Pity Me" in 1977. Both songs were produced by produced by Gerry Shury and Ron Roker.

The songwriting/production team of Gerry Shury and Ron Roker had admired Brown's voice from her Pickettywitch recordings. Shury, who had arranged Brown's Pye album release, described her as a cross "between Diana Ross and Dionne Warwick" and in 1974 had her record "Up in a Puff of Smoke" in a session which also produced a cover of the ABBA song "Honey, Honey", on which Roker sang the male vocal.

"Honey Honey" reached the Top Ten in August 1974 assisted by a Top of the Pops appearance by Brown accompanied by Tony Jackson miming Ron Roker's vocal. Jackson would become Brown's regular partner in the Sweet Dreams duo who had five post "Honey Honey" singles, but none of them charted. As a member of Sweet Dreams, Brown was billed as 'Sara Leone'– a pun on the name of African nation of Sierra Leone – and even performed in black face, although after a showdown with producer Robin Nash, she did not do so on Top of the Pops. The performance is available to watch on YouTube, and Brown is wearing a dark wig and light brown make-up.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.