The Boat That Rocked: Meet Birmingham women who was a pirate DJ

Apr 19 2009 by Andrew Coleman, Sunday Mercury

Born in Balsall Heath, Jill attended Hope Street School, then Cropwood Open Air School near Bromsgrove.

‘‘I went to Cropwood because I had emotional problems,’’ she explains. ‘‘I had nightmares nearly every night and my nerves were in a terrible state.’’

But Jill overcame her difficulties and began singing, using the stage name Bobbie Ember, with big bands at Birmingham city centre venues The West End and The Casino.

Husband Don – they were married on Christmas Eve 1956 – realised that his wife had talent and got her an audition for Opportunity Knocks.

She was chosen for the show, but although she recalls that her rendition of the song Where Are You? was a triumph, she was beaten on the public vote by a man with a talking dog!

Spotted

‘‘However, I was spotted by somebody who wanted to manage me,’’ she says.

Two singles for Polydor and Parlophone were released – Why Can’t You Bring Me Home (as Bobbie Ember) and I Found My Love Today (as Samantha Leigh).

They were not hits because, says Jill, recognising the irony, they got little airplay on the radio.

She also had two young sons, Gary and Chris, so was not keen on touring outside Birmingham to promote the records.

But she did land a summer season at Great Yarmouth in 1967.

‘‘I was third on the bill beneath Val Doonican and Arthur Askey,’’ she says.

Gary, now a 46 year-old art lecturer at Bristol University, and Chris, a 48 year-old engraver and musician in Hastings, enjoyed an idyllic summer in the resort, especially as dad Don was also there, working as a beach photographer.

After the season plans were hatched to relaunch Jill aka Samantha as a singing sensation, but her reluctance to tour – and her refusal to deny she was married with children in her publicity – signalled a career slowdown.

In 1975 Jill was involved in a horrific car crash in Kings Heath which left her seriously injured and suffering memory loss.