Background
Squires was the daughter of a civil servant.
Squires was the daughter of a civil servant.
Her career started in 1940 with an appearance on the British Broadcasting Corporation Home Service’s Children"s Hour and has endured into the 21st century. She took singing, guitar and piano lessons while at school at Street Edmund"s Girls" School, Salisbury, Wiltshire. Initially she entertained troops by singing on nearby United Kingdom and United States army bases around Salisbury.
With her appealing West Country burr she sang with various musical groups and with a Polish military band, all the while maintaining a job in a shop for antique books and later office work.
When Squires became a professional singer she performed with big bands such as Ted Heath, Geraldo and Cyril Stapleton. She also sang with the smaller jazz bands of Max Harris, Kenny Baker and appeared in the British Broadcasting Corporation Festival of Jazz at the Royal Albert Hall with the Alan Clare band.
She moved from Salisbury to London in 1948 at 20 years of age. In the 1950s and 60s she became a regular on the British Broadcasting Corporation Light Programme (now British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 2) on programmes like Melody Time and Workers’ Playtime.
Squires worked in the United States with Danny Kaye and Sammy Davis Junior., as well as appearing on the Johnny Carson Show.
In 1994 Squires was part of the entertainment for Prince Edward’s 30th birthday celebrations. During the 2012 Royal Diamond Jubilee year Squires undertook two countrywide tours to celebrate her own diamond jubilee in show business including two appearances at the Royal Festival Hall. (incomplete list)
1956 in 5 episodes of Let’s Stay Home, an Associated-Rediffusion comedy series.
1956 as a guest on The Nixon Lincolnshire.
1958-1959 in 3 episodes of After Hours, a comedy series,with Michael Bentine, Benny Lee and Clive Dunn among others 1959 in Musical Playhouse, a British Broadcasting Corporation musical series.
1962 as a guest singer on Muziek voor U!, a Dutch music programme
1964 as a guest on the Arthur Haynes Show. 1967 in Hooray for Laughter, with Ted Ray, John Junkin and Regional Varney.
1976 in The Good Old Days
In the 1960s Squires recorded the famous “Now hands that do dishes …” jingle as part of the Fairy Liquid detergent advertisement.
lieutenant continued to be used until 2000.
