Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey, is a Welsh singer. Born in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, she began performing as a teenager in 1953. She became well-known for her expressive voice and for recording the soundtrack theme songs of the James Bond films Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), and Moonraker (1979). In January 1959, Bassey became the first Welsh person to gain a number-one single on the UK Singles Chart. In 2020, with the release of her most recent album, I Owe It All To You, Bassey became the first female artist to chart an album in the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart in seven consecutive decades.
Neil Sedaka is an American pop singer, pianist, composer and record producer. Since his music career began in 1957 as a short-lived founding member of the Tokens, he has sold millions of records as a performer and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and others, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard "Howie" Greenfield and Phil Cody.
The Osmonds are an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid- 1970s. Currently consisting of a duo of original members Merrill Osmond and Jay Osmond, the group had its best-known configurations as a quartet and a quintet. The group has comprised siblings who are all members of a family of musicians from Ogden, Utah and have been in the public eye since the 1960s.
James Arthur Osmond is an American singer, actor, and businessman. He is the youngest member of the sibling musical group the Osmonds. As a solo artist, Osmond has accumulated six Gold records, one Platinum record, and two Gold albums.
"Laughter in the Rain" is a song composed and recorded by Neil Sedaka, with lyrics by Phil Cody. It includes a 20-second saxophone solo by Jim Horn.
"Solitaire" is a ballad written by Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody. Cody employs playing the card game of solitaire as a metaphor for a man "who lost his love through his indifference"—"while life goes on around him everywhere he's playing solitaire". The song is perhaps best known via its rendition by the Carpenters. Another version by Andy Williams reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart in 1973.
"Love Will Keep Us Together" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It was first recorded by Sedaka in 1973. American pop duo Captain & Tennille covered the song in 1975, with instrumental backing almost entirely by “Captain” Daryl Dragon, with the exception of drums played by Hal Blaine; their version became a worldwide hit.
"Hawaiian Wedding Song" originally entitled; "Ke Kali Nei Aua" was adapted from a 1926 love song written by Charles E. King and originally recorded by Helen Desha Beamer in its original version but re-written by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning and renamed as "Hawaiian Wedding Song". The song was recorded by Bing Crosby, Andy Williams and Elvis Presley.
Solitaire is a 1972 album by American singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka.
Never Never Never is a 1973 album by Shirley Bassey. It features the hit single title track, which was a UK top 10 hit, which became one of Bassey's best-known songs. The album also became a top 10 hit in the UK and was a moderate hit in the US.
Thoughts of Love is a compilation album released in 1976 by singer Shirley Bassey. A themed compilation of love songs, selected from material recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the album sold well in the UK and Germany, reaching the Top 20 in the UK Albums Chart and achieved Gold status. Thoughts of Love was re-issued on CD in 2011 by BGO Records, together with the 1979 album The Magic Is You.
Good, Bad but Beautiful is a 1975 album by Shirley Bassey. In the first half of the decade, Bassey recorded nine albums, with three making the top ten. In March 1975, Bassey released a compilation that became her highest-charting album to date, The Shirley Bassey Singles Album (#2), and reflects the momentum Bassey had maintained since her 1970 "comeback". Good, Bad but Beautiful, released in the autumn of 1975, spent seven weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at #13, and earned a silver disc. The album reflects the formula that brought Bassey back to the charts: a combination of contemporary songs combined with her forte of standards, show tunes, and torch songs, featuring arrangements aimed squarely at the adult contemporary, or middle-of-the-road, audience. This was also achieved by modifying her backup orchestra to include electric guitars, a string and brass section with a more contemporary sound, and drumming that is more soft rock-oriented than jazz-oriented, while side two's opener, "Feel Like Makin' Love" displays a smooth jazz style.
Love, Life and Feelings is the 21st studio album from Shirley Bassey, released in 1976 on the United Artists label. The album peaked at #13 in the UK album chart, and charted at #149 in the Billboard 200. Love, Life and Feelings was awarded silver record status by the British Phonographic Industry, with sales of more than 60,000 copies. Features covers of contemporary pop songs from the late 1960s and early 1970s, such as "Alone Again (Naturally)" the 1972 UK #3 single from Gilbert O'Sullivan and "The Way I Want to Touch You" from Captain & Tennille alongside "What I Did for Love", from the musical A Chorus Line written by Marvin Hamlisch.
Solitaire is the thirty-first studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the fall of 1973 by Columbia Records and was an attempt to move away from his formulaic series of recent releases that relied heavily on songs that other artists had made popular.
The Other Side of Me is the thirty-fifth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the summer of 1975 by Columbia Records and including the 1973 recording of "Solitaire" from his album of the same name alongside 10 original recordings, four of which were also by "Solitaire" composer Neil Sedaka. After unsuccessful attempts to leave behind the formulaic album genre of easy listening covers of pop hits, The Other Side of Me offered a compromise by filling half of the sides with material that was popularized by other artists and the other half with either new or obscure selections.
You Take My Heart Away is the 22nd studio album from Shirley Bassey, released in 1977 on the United Artists Records label. The album peaked at #34 in the UK album chart. The tracks recorded for this album are contemporary pop, soft rock songs, dating mainly from the early to mid-1970s. The title track "You Take My Heart Away", originally performed by Bill Conti, was featured in the 1976 film Rocky. Other covers versions included are: "This One's for You" from Barry Manilow, "Silly Love Songs" from Wings, which had been a #1 hit single on the Billboard Hot 100, "Stargazer" from Neil Diamond. Only one track dates from a previous era: "Can't Help Falling in Love" was recorded by Elvis Presley in 1962.
Steppin' Out is a 1976 album containing the works of Neil Sedaka. In America it was the third and final album of a trilogy of albums issued by The Rocket Record Company. Outside America Steppin' Out was issued on the Polydor label. In 1998, the Varèse Sarabande label reissued Steppin' Out and included four bonus tracks.
The Magic Is You is a 1979 album by Welsh singer Shirley Bassey. Her final album for United Artists Records, the album notably featured a disco version of her signature 1968 song "This Is My Life".
"Let Me In" is a song written by Alan Osmond, Merrill Osmond, and Wayne Osmond and performed by The Osmonds. It was featured on their 1973 album, The Plan. The song was produced by Alan Osmond.
"Our Last Song Together" is a 1973 song recorded by Neil Sedaka. It is a track from his LP The Tra-La Days Are Over, and was the third of four single releases from the album.
