Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists in Britain.
Norman Newell was an English record producer, who was mainly active in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also the co-writer of many notable songs. As an A&R manager for EMI, he worked with musicians such as Shirley Bassey, Dalida, Claude François, Vera Lynn, Russ Conway, Bette Midler, Judy Garland, Petula Clark, Jake Thackray, Malcolm Roberts, Bobby Crush and Peter and Gordon.
Robert Doc Cox, also known as Ivor Biggun, is a British musician and former television journalist. He is known for his appearances on the BBC TV programme That's Life! from 1982 to 1992 and for four albums of humorous, smutty songs. Currently resident in Suffolk, he is active in several pub bands, including the Trembling Wheelbarrows.
"I Could Have Danced All Night" is a song from the musical My Fair Lady, with music written by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, published in 1956. The song is sung by the musical's heroine, Eliza Doolittle, expressing her exhilaration and excitement after an impromptu dance with her tutor, Henry Higgins - in the small hours of the morning. In a counterpoint during the second of 3 rounds, two maids and the housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce, urge Eliza to go to bed, but she ignores them.
"The Gypsy in My Soul" is a popular song written for the 50th anniversary of the University of Pennsylvania Mask and Wig show in 1937 by two Penn graduates, Clay Boland and Moe Jaffe. Boland wrote the music and Jaffe the lyrics. Although both men had long since graduated, it had become the practice at the time for professionals, rather than students, to compose songs for the show.
Thunderball is the soundtrack album for the fourth James Bond film Thunderball.
"Goldfinger" is the title song from the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger. Composed by John Barry and with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, the song was performed by Shirley Bassey for the film's opening and closing title sequences, as well as the soundtrack album release. The single release of the song gave Bassey her only Billboard Hot 100 top forty hit, peaking in the Top 10 at No. 8 and No. 2 for four weeks on the Adult Contemporary chart, and in the United Kingdom the single reached No. 21.
Thank You for the Years is a 2003 album by Dame Shirley Bassey.
This Is My Life is a 1968 album by Shirley Bassey that was released in Italy on the United Artists label.
Live in Japan is a double album by Shirley Bassey, recorded July 8, 1974 at Kosei-Nenkin Kaikan Hall in Tokyo, Japan. The album was released in Japan only, and the reverse of the cover listed the songs in English and Japanese. Live at Carnegie Hall had been released just a year prior, with nine of the same songs from Live in Japan, and it is believed that this is at least partly the reason Live in Japan didn't gain a worldwide release. Japan was an important growing market for many artists in the 1970s and many recorded live albums exclusively for release in Japan.
Bassey – The EMI/UA Years 1959–1979 is a 5-CD boxset compilation from Shirley Bassey issued in 1994, this set features 94 studio recordings on four CDs, recorded for EMI/United Artists between 1959 and 1979. Disc five features a previously unreleased live recording from Carnegie Hall. The boxset was reissued by EMI in 2010 in a standard jewel case set.
La MujerShirley Bassey canta en Español, is a Shirley Bassey studio album recorded in Spanish. The first recording sessions were held in Spain, and the album was completed in California, at the Hitsville West studio in December 1988. The 1980s saw a period of very few album releases from Shirley Bassey: All by Myself (1982); the acclaimed album I Am What I Am (1984); her recording of James Bond themes from 1987, The Bond Collection, ; and La Mujer. In 1987 the Swiss electronica band Yello approached Shirley Bassey about recording a song with them. The track "The Rhythm Divine" was a minor hit in the UK, charting at number 54 in the UK singles chart but achieving more success on mainland Europe. The success of the single released by Mercury Records, led to an album deal on the label.
Born to Sing the Blues is Shirley Bassey's debut album, released on a 10" LP in 1957 by the Philips Records label. Long-playing records were newly introduced in the mid-1950s and the 10" album was briefly introduced as an album format. Within a few years, the 12" album was the format offered to the record buying public, remaining so until the mid-1980s when the Compact Disc took the market by storm.
The Bewitching Miss Bassey is a studio album by Shirley Bassey. Consisting of new and previously released material this was the first album from Bassey to be issued on the 12" Long-playing record format. Tracks were taken from sessions recorded between 1956 and early 1959. All the songs were recorded in the UK with Wally Stott and his Orchestra, with production by Johnny Franz. The only exception was "The Wall" which was recorded in New York with Jimmy Carroll and his orchestra and produced by Mitch Miller. Featuring Bassey's first five hit songs, including Bassey's 1958 number one single "As I Love You" and the huge hit "Kiss Me, Honey Honey, Kiss Me". The album showcases the best of the early career of Shirley Bassey. All the songs were only recorded in mono, no stereo versions are known to exist. In the 1970s Philips did re-issue them in an "electronically enhanced" stereo. The album was re-issued in the US on the Epic label with different artwork. While this album has not been issued independently on CD, it was included in its entirety on the four-CD compilation titled Five Classic Albums Plus Bonus Singles in 2012.
This Is My Life is a 1968 album by Shirley Bassey. The mid to late sixties was a period of declining popularity for traditional pop. How much the changing tastes in popular music directly affected Bassey's record sales is difficult to quantify; but her record sales had been faltering since the latter part of the mid 1960s, and the album failed to chart..
The Performance is an album by the Welsh singer Shirley Bassey, released on 9 November 2009. It is her first studio album of original compositions in three decades. The album was executive produced by music executive Paul Carey and English film composer David Arnold co-produced the entire album with Mike Dixon. Songs on the album were written specifically for Bassey by renowned writers such as Rufus Wainwright, Gary Barlow and Pet Shop Boys. The recording of the album became the subject of a BBC documentary titled The Girl from Tiger Bay named after the song written for the project by James Dean Bradfield and Nicky Wire of Manic Street Preachers. The album gained favourable reviews and was certified gold in the UK for sales of over 100,000 copies.
Ross Parker was an English pianist, composer, lyricist and actor. He is best known for co-writing the songs "We'll Meet Again" and "There'll Always Be an England".
The Shirley Bassey Collection is a double compilation album released in 1972 by British singer Shirley Bassey. The album charted at #37 in the UK charts in January 1972.
"There's No Place Like London" is a song co-written by Lynsey de Paul and Gerard Kenny, and held by the British Library that was published by Lynsey de Paul Music/Chelsea Publishing Co Ltd/Arlon Music/Chappell Music. It was first recorded by Shirley Bassey backed with a 54 piece orchestra, produced by de Paul and released as a single in 1986. It was her last single for the independent British record label Towerbell Records and, unusually, the song starts with the chorus rather than a verse. As well as a stand-alone single in its own right, the song was recorded to promote the London Tourist Board. A promotional video was made that featured Bassey's daughter Sharon and grandson Luke as well as de Paul and cameo's from celebrities such as Michael Caine, Spike Milligan, David Frost and Frank Bruno. It was premiered at the Royal Albert Hall, with songwriter de Paul in the audience as part of Bassey's 30th anniversary concerts. The song was well received by the U.K. press. Bassey performed "There's No Place Like London" in 1986 as part of her “Live from the Piccadilly” show as well as on the 1987 Royal Variety Performance, and ironically for her "Shirley Bassey Live" in Berlin in honour of 750 years of Berlin in 1987. She also performed the song on prime time TV on "Des O'Connor Tonight" Christmas show. The song is considered as one of Bassey's defining, signature songs and is listed as part of her essential repertoire alongside other Bassey classics.
25th Anniversary Album is a compilation album by Shirley Bassey. Released in 1978 to mark her 25th year in show business, the album was a double set, comprising 40 tracks. The songs included span just 20 of the 25 years from 1957 to 1976, however, her first professional contract is dated 1953. Bassey had toured extensively throughout 1978 to mark her 25 years. This collection, including her biggest hits and some lesser-known recordings, became one of her biggest in the UK, where it reached No.3 and spent 12 weeks on the album chart.
