Glenys Lynne born 5 May 1945

Glenys Lynne (born 5 May 1945) is a very poular South African singer, later part of Four Jacks and a Jill, who is known for hits such as Ramaja, Haai Casinova and One, Two, Three. 

Glenys Lynne Mynott was born  in Boksburg, South Africa. She started singing at the age of twelve. Encouraged by her mother, she took singing lessons and at fifteen won a nationwide "Search For Talent" contest. Shortly afterwards, she was placed second in L.M. Radio's "Talent Parade" and, at age sixteen, cut her first album, entitled "Teenage Time", on the Columbia label. On leaving school, Glenys sang with the Harold Roy Band in Benoni for seven months. A four-month tour of the Republic with Johnny Kongos and the G-Men followed. Glenys cut her first single, "Not Because I'm Bad", on the RCA label in 1963 and after her tour with Johnny Kongos, landed a four-year contract in 1964 with Teal Records, following the success of her single. 

By now she had established herself as a solo/cabaret singer and already had a film role to her credit – appearing in Gordon Vorster's 1962 movie, "Jy's Lieflik Vanaand" ("You're Wonderful Tonight") in which she sang the song "'n Bietjie Te Jonk" ("A Little Too Young"). After another singing contract with Harold Roy, Luxurama offered her a contract to sing in Cape Town, with The Zombies accompanying her. After their phenomenal popularity and success at the Luxurama, Glenys and The Zombies toured the Natal south coast. In January 1965, they supported Peter and Gordon, who had enjoyed international success with the hit, "World Without Love", on their South African tour. After this Glenys and the Zombies became a permanent team. 

All sporting long hair by now (imitating overseas groups they admired), the band members were attacked in both the English and Afrikaans press with alarming consistency, simply for having long hair. Innuendos inferring sissiness, delinquency and even drug abuse were bandied about by "intellectual" press members. What started out as a gimmick, with long hair and an unusual name, was now becoming common place, with an increasing number of local beat bands copying The Zombies. They opted off "the bandwagon", cut their hair and changed the bands name to Four Jacks and a Jill. The name "Four Jacks and a Jill" was coined by comedian Jimmy Casanova and Zombies agent, Don Hughes. 

                                    

The group changed its style, technique and material, and to mark the new road taken, recorded their first single, "Jimmy Come Lately". The disc was an instant hit, reaching no. 3 spot on Record Express hit parade in January 1966 and peaking at no. 2 on Springbok Radio's Top 20 and L.M. Radio's hit parades in February. The single broke all records for a local group and enjoyed a longer run on L.M.'s hit parade than any other locally recorded disc (16 weeks). They released their first album "Jimmy Come Lately". Another single culled from this album also dented the charts: "No Other Baby" reached no. 11 on Springbok's Top 20 in June and no. 8 on the Record Express hit parade. In May 1966, Keith Andrews left the group and was replaced by band member, Marc Paulos (lead guitar/organ). 

Four Jacks and a Jill had now established themselves as one of the country's most popular groups. They appeared at various hot spots around the country. In 1967 they were presented a gold record for their hit “Timothy”. On 1 June 1968 Glenys and Clive were married in Durban. In 1968 they cracked the American charts with the song "Master Jack", hitting the Billboard Hot 100 at no.18 and reaching no.3 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The song also reached no. 10 on Cashbox and went to no. 1 in South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The follow-up single, "Mr. Nico", peaked at no. 98 in the United States. That was their last hit in the U.S., but the group continued to score hits in their native country. They have recorded and produced albums for a range of sing-along educational story books for various South African charities. 

Clive and Glenys

The band continued recording, touring and doing gigs throughout the 1970’s, and Glenys began recording Afrikaans albums, which boosted her popularity among a wider section of the South African population. By 1983 Glenys and husband Clive became born-again Christians and Clive disbanded the group. Four Jacks and a Jill remains South Africa's longest-running pop group. Both Clive and Glenys have stayed active on the Gospel music scene and now lead a quiet life at their Sandton home. 

(Edited from SAWikidot)