|
Her voice,
brassy and sexy, conveyed the James Bond myth perfectly and became a big hit in
America. Though later chart placings in the U.S. were few, she continued to do
well in Great Britain, France and the Netherlands into the mid-'70s.
Born in January 1937 in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, Wales, Shirley
Bassey was the youngest of seven children. Her parents, a Nigerian sailor
and an English woman, divorced before she was three years old, but they kept the
family together for the most part, and Shirley was able to sing duets with her
brother at family get-togethers. After finishing school, she found a job at a
local factory, and earned extra money singing at men's clubs after-hours. Bassey
traveled around the country in revues during the early '50s, and made her big
breakout in 1955 at a London Christmas show given by comedian Al Read
(though it was promoted by bandleader Jack
Hylton, who had caught Bassey's
act at the nearby Albany Club). Soon after, Shirley
Bassey began appearing in Read's
revue, Such Is Life. The show ran for over a year, and gained her a
recording contract for Philips Records. "Banana Boat Song" hit the British Top
Ten in early 1957, followed by her number one hits, 1959's "As I Love You" and
1961's "Reach for the Stars/Climb Every Mountain." A 1962 pairing with arranger
Nelson
Riddle increased her prestige in America, and a vaunted live show gained her
headlining spots in both New York and Las Vegas during the early '60s. Popular
recognition in the United States came in early 1965, when "Goldfinger" hit
number eight in the American charts, instantly becoming her signature song
across the Atlantic. (Strangely though, it missed even the Top 20 in Great
Britain.)
Bassey's
hits in the U.K. continued into the mid-'70s, led by Top Ten entries such as
"Something," "For All We Know" and "Never Never Never." After the crowning
achievement of her career, a 1977 Britannia Award for Best Female Solo Singer in
the Last 50 Years, Shirley
Bassey gained her own highly rated BBC-TV show in the late '70s, but
gradually slowed down her busy schedule during the next decade. Semi-retired to
Switzerland by 1981, she nevertheless emerged quite frequently, spurred by the
recording of several television specials and LPs, including a 1987 date with the
synth-pop group Yello.
Bassey
became much more visible during the '90s, opening a nightclub in Cardiff, and
touring the world several times. John Bush |
