After considering a career as a fashion designer, Brenda worked as a telephone operator in Los Angeles, then as a go-go dancer and a hairdresser in San Francisco, before moving to Las Vegas to audition as a "showgirl."

She eventually managed to land a guest-spot on Joey Bishop's TV show, and a role as a sharecropper in the movie of Finian's Rainbow (1968), but success in the U.S. eluded her, so she decided to try somewhere else.

While singing at London's Playboy Club in 1970, she was discovered by producer Kenneth Tynan, who added her to the cast of his successful West End production of Oh Calcutta, and gave her new material in it, including a scene entitled To His American Mistress.

She took singing lessons which only enhanced her vocal talent and allowed her to make tracks for top British record producer Jonathan King, who released her singles: "I Want To Go Back There Again" and "The Big Hurt".

Arnau's James Bond appearance led to her then signing a three-year record deal with RCA in London, and securing a cabaret season at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.