Shirley Bassey

Shirley Bassey 2006 at Wembley Arena

Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey , DBE (born January 8, 1937 in Cardiff , Wales ) is a British singer . She became known, among other things, as the interpreter of three theme songs from James Bond films. One of the most famous of the songs she has interpreted is Goldfinger .

Beginnings

Her father was a sailor of Nigerian and West Indian descent and the mother was from Yorkshire , Northern England . Shirley grew up in the infamous Tiger Bay area of ​​Cardiff, the youngest of seven children. The father left the family when she was two years old. She is said to have discovered her passion for music, but above all for glamor, when she attended a Billy Eckstine concert with her older sister and was fascinated by the crowd in Eckstine's cloakroom. The intention was solidified a week later when her brother played her the record Somewhere Over The Rainbow by Judy Garland .

She dropped out of school at the age of 14 and worked as a packer in a crockery factory. She increased her earnings by performing in pubs and clubs in the area. In 1953 she took part in the revue "Memories of Jolson", a musical reworking of the biography of Al Jolson . She then got a permanent engagement in Hot From Harlem, which was performed until 1954. Bassey was already pregnant with her daughter Sharon as a 16-year-old and then worked as a waitress in Cardiff for a while.

In 1955 Michael Sullivan, an agent from London , became aware of the singer. He wanted to make a star out of her . She roamed a few theaters until she got an offer on the show that would make her famous: Al Reads Such Is Life . A television broadcast of this revue impressed Johnny Franz, a music producer at Philips A&R. He offered her a record deal.

The Philips era

Bassey soon recorded her first single, Burn My Candle , which was released by Philips in February 1956. Although blocked by the BBC because of the suggestive text , the single sold very well. The title of the B-side was Stormy Weather . More singles appeared and in February 1957 Bassey landed her first success with her version of the Banana Boat Song , which rose to number 8 on the British charts . In the same year she recorded the single If I Had a Needle and Thread / Tonight My Heart She Is Crying for the American label Columbia under producer Mitch Miller . In mid-1958, two singles emerged that were to become classics in Bassey's repertoire. As I Love You appeared as the B-side of another ballad , Hands Across The Sea . Sales were sluggish at first; but that changed after an appearance at the London Palladium . In February 1959 the title reached number 1 and stayed there for four weeks. Bassey also recorded Kiss Me, Honey Honey, Kiss Me back then. Parallel to the title As I Love You , this single also quickly became popular, and both records ended up at the top of the charts at the same time. A few months later, Bassey signed a contract with EMI Columbia .

The 1960s and 1970s

Shirley Bassey (1971)

There it was produced by Norman Newell , who specializes in ballads . However, he only achieved another big hit in August 1960 with As Long as He Needs Me, with which Bassey took second place on the British charts . Her hits were regularly featured in the UK charts through the 1960s. On August 20, 1964, she took Goldfinger for the James Bond film of the same name , which placed in the top 10 of the singles charts in Great Britain and the USA. Thanks to its success, Shirley appeared frequently on American television talk shows , such as those of Johnny Carson and Mike Douglas. In April 1970 she landed a worldwide hit with the cover version of the Beatles song Something , which like the original reached number 4 in the British charts, although the original, written by George Harrison , had only appeared in the hit parades a few months earlier. The Bassey version was in the top 50 for 22 weeks (compared to “only” 12 weeks for the Beatles classic). In 1971 the theme song for Diamonds Are Forever appeared , which was also a great success. 1979 followed with Moonraker, the last James Bond theme music. No other artist has sung the theme song of a Bond film more than once.

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Bassey performing in Germany (1973)

Although Bassey had rarely appeared in the charts since the early 1970s, she also released singles and albums for a variety of labels at irregular intervals in the 1980s. Some of these were small, independent record companies. In 1983 Bassey achieved a top 20 success in the Netherlands in a duet with Alain Delon and Thought I'd Ring You . In 1986 she released the single There's No Place Like London , co-written by Lynsey de Paul . The song became popular and Bassey sang it for Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Variety Performance. In 1987 the Europe-wide hit The Rhythm Divine followed with the Swiss band Yello .

Her recording History Repeating, which she recorded with the Propellerheads in 1997 for their album Decksandrumsandrockandroll , became a success in Great Britain. The song reached number 1 on the UK dance music hit parade and brought Bassey a new generation of fans including British Princes William and Harry .

Due to her comparatively long career and the particular admiration of the royal family, Bassey was elevated to Lady Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on December 31, 1999 . In 2012, she performed as part of the Queen's 60th anniversary celebrations. In 2016 there was an appearance on the 90th birthday of the monarch. She sang the Bond song Diamonds Are Forever on both invitations .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1961	The Fabulous Shirley Bassey	-	-	-	UK12 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1961 Re-entry in 1971
	Shirley	-	-	-	UK9 (10 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1961
1962	Shirley Bassey	-	-	-	UK14th silver (11 weeks)UK	-	First published: 1962
	Let's Face The Music	-	-	-	UK12 (7 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1962 with The Nelson Riddle Orchestra
1965	Shirley Bassey Belts The Best!	-	-	-	-	US85 (9 weeks) US	First published: 1965
	Shirley Bassey At The Pigalle	-	-	-	UK15 (7 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1965
1966	I've Got A Song For You	-	-	-	UK26 (1 week) UK	-	First published: 1966
1968	Twelve Of Those Songs	-	-	-	UK38 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1968
	Golden Hits Of Shirley Bassey	-	-	-	UK28 (35 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1968
1970	Shirley Bassey Is Really "Something"	-	-	-	-	US105 (13 weeks) US	First published: 1970
	Live At The Talk Of The Town	-	-	-	UK38 (6 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1970
	Something	-	-	-	UK5 (20 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1970
1971	Something Else	-	-	-	UK7 (9 weeks) UK	US123 (24 weeks) US	First published: 1971
	Big donor	-	-	-	UK27 (9 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1971
	It's magic	-	-	-	UK32 (1 week) UK	-	First published: 1971
	What Now My Love	-	-	-	UK17 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1971
	The Shirley Bassey Collection	-	-	-	UK37 (1 week) UK	-	First published: 1971
1972	I, Capricorn	-	-	-	UK13 (11 weeks) UK	US94 (13 weeks) US	First published: 1972
	And I Love You So	-	-	-	UK24 (9 weeks) UK	US171 (8 weeks) US	First published: 1972
1973	Never, never, never	-	-	-	UK10 silver (10 weeks)UK	US60 (19 weeks) US	First published: 1973
	Live at Carnegie Hall	-	-	-	-	US136 (8 weeks) US	First published: 1973
1974	Nobody Does It Like Me	-	-	-	-	US142 (6 weeks) US	First published: 1974
	The Very Best Of Shirley Bassey	-	-	-	UK- silver UK	-	First published: 1974
1975	The Shirley Bassey Singles Album	-	-	-	UK2 Gold + silver (24 weeks)UK	-	First published: 1975
	Good, Bad But Beautiful	-	-	-	UK13 silver (17 weeks)UK	US186 (3 weeks) US	First published: 1975
1976	Love, Life & Feelings	-	-	-	UK13 silver (5 weeks)UK	US149 (8 weeks) US	First published: 1976
	Thoughts of Love	-	-	-	UK15th gold (8 weeks)UK	-	First published: 1976
1977	You Take My Heart Away	-	-	-	UK34 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1977
1978	25th Anniversary Album	-	-	-	UK3 platinum (12 weeks)UK	-	First published: 1978
1979	The Magic Is You	-	-	-	UK40 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1979
1982	Love songs	-	-	-	UK48 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1982
1984	I Am What I Am	DE39 (13 weeks) DE	-	-	UK25th gold (18 weeks)UK	-	First published: 1984 with The London Symphony Orchestra
1991	Keep The Music Playing	-	-	-	UK25 (7 weeks) UK	-	First publication: 1991
1992	The Best Of Shirley Bassey	-	-	-	UK27 silver (5 weeks)UK	-	First publication: 1992
1993	Shirley Bassey Sings Andrew Lloyd Webber	-	-	-	UK34 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1993
1995	Shirley Bassey Sings The Movies	-	-	-	UK24 gold (9 weeks)UK	-	First published: 1995
1996	Show time	DE94 (3 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: 1996
	The Show Must Go On	-	-	-	UK47 silver (11 weeks)UK	-	First published: 1996
	20 of the best	-	-	-	UK- gold UK	-	First published: 1996
2000	Diamonds Are Forever - The Remix Album	DE63 (5 weeks) DE	-	CH86 (4 weeks) CH	UK62 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: 2000
	This Is My Life - The Greatest Hits	-	-	-	UK54 gold (6 weeks)UK	-	First published: 2000
2003	Thank you for the years	-	-	-	UK19th silver (4 weeks)UK	-	First published: 2003
2007	Get the Party Started	-	-	-	UK6th silver (5 weeks)UK	-	First published: 2007
2009	The performance	DE81 (1 week) DE	-	-	UK20th gold (8 weeks)UK	-	First published: 2009
2014	Hello Like Before	-	-	-	UK24 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: 2014

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More albums

• 1956: Bewitching Miss Bassey
• 1958: Born to Sing the Blues
• 1965: Shirley Stops the Shows
• 1967: And We Were Lovers
• 1968: This Is My Life
• 1968: La Vita - This Is My Life (released only in Italy)
• 1968: Golden Hits of Shirley Bassey
• 1969: Does Anybody Miss Me
• 1978: Yesterdays
• 1979: What I Did for Love
• 1987: La mujer
• 1997: The Birthday Concert
• 1999: Land of My Fathers
• 2006: The Columbia / EMI Singles Collection

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1957	The Banana Boat Song	-	-	-	UK8 (10 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1957
	Fire down below	-	-	-	UK30 (1 week) UK	-	First published: 1957
	You You Romeo	-	-	-	UK29 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1957
1958	As I Love You	-	-	-	UK1 (19 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1958
1959	Kiss Me Honey Honey Kiss Me	-	-	-	UK3 (17 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1959
1960	With these hands	-	-	-	UK38 (6 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1960
	As Long as He Needs Me	-	-	-	UK2 (30 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1960
1961	You'll never know	-	-	-	UK6 (17 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1961
	Reach for the Stars / Climb Ev'ry Mountain	-	-	-	UK1 (18 weeks) UK	-	First publication: 1961 Reach for the Stars: Composition by Udo Jürgens
	I'll get by	-	-	-	UK10 (8 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1961
1962	Tonight	-	-	-	UK21 (8 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1962
	Ave Maria	-	-	-	UK31 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1962
	Far away	-	-	-	UK24 (13 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1962
	What Now My Love?	-	-	-	UK5 (17 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1962
1963	What Kind of Fool Am I	-	-	-	UK47 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1963
	I (Who Have Nothing)	-	-	-	UK6 (20 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1963
1964	My special dream	-	-	-	UK32 (7 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1964
	Gone	-	-	-	UK36 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1964
1965	Goldfinger	DE8 (14 weeks) DE	AT7 (4 weeks) AT	-	UK21 (9 weeks) UK	US8 (13 weeks) US	First published: 1965
	No regrets	-	-	-	UK39 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1965
1967	Big donor	-	-	-	UK21 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1967
1970	Something	DE40 (2 weeks) DE	AT19 (4 weeks) AT	-	UK4 (22 weeks) UK	US55 (9 weeks) US	First published: 1970
1971	The Fool on the Hill	-	-	-	UK48 (1 week) UK	-	First published: 1971
	(Where Do I Begin) Love Story	-	-	-	UK34 (9 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1971
	For All We Know	-	-	-	UK6 (24 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1971
1972	Diamonds Are Forever	-	-	-	UK38 (6 weeks) UK	US57 (9 weeks) US	First published: 1972
1973	Never, Never, Never (Grande, Grande, Grande)	DE48 (1 week) DE	-	-	UK8 (19 weeks) UK	US48 (11 weeks) US	First published: 1973
1984	Sometimes	-	-	-	UK86 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1984
1986	Do All the Man I've Loved Before	-	-	-	UK86 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1986
1987	The Rhythm Divine	DE47 (5 weeks) DE	AT19 (2 weeks) AT	CH21 (4 weeks) CH	UK54 (4 weeks) UK	-	First publication: 1987 with Yello
1998	History repeating	DE65 (9 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	First release: 1998 Propellerheads feat. Shirley Bassey
1999	World In Union	-	-	-	UK35 (3 weeks) UK	-	First publication: 1999 with Bryn Terfel ; official song for the Rugby World Cup
2000	Where Do I Begin	-	-	-	UK100 (1 week) UK	-	First release: 2000 with Away Team
2007	The Living Tree	-	-	-	UK37 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: 2007
	Get The Party Started	-	-	-	UK47 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: 2007

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More singles

• 1965: It's Yourself
• 1974: Davy
• 1979: Moonraker
• 1996: Disco La Passione (duet with Chris Rea )
• 2005: Diamonds from Sierra Leone ( feat.Kanye West )

literature

• Irwin Stambler: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3rd revised edition, St. Martin's Press, New York 1989, ISBN 0-312-02573-4 , pp. 34-36.

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b c} see Jonathan Fischer in Süddeutsche Zeitung No. 5, from Monday, January 8, 2007, p. 13
2. ↑ http://hitparade.ch/song/Alain-Delon-&-Shirley-Bassey/Thought-I'd-Ring-You-23071
3. ↑ http://hitparade.ch/song/Yello-&-Shirley-Bassey/The-Rhythm-Divine-1651
4. ↑ http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-36158896
5. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK1 UK2 US
6. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK

Web links

Commons : Shirley Bassey  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Shirley Bassey in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Compositions and sound carriers by Shirley Bassey in the catalog of the German National Library
• The Shirley Bassy Blog (English)