Dame Shirley Bassey

Did I tell you about my Shirley Bassey obsession? Repeated viewings of Bassey in a Spencer & Mark’s holiday ad (Mark & Spencers? Ron says it is like Target in the UK) where she is singing Pink’s ‘Get This Party Started’ while sleek models prep for a north pole party – along with Twiggy with a Dr. No-esque kitty cat in hand. I always remember Bassey from her rendition of Goldfinger. Bond movies were one of our staples when renting videos from the library. But I hadn’t realized she did the Diamons Are Forever and Moonraker theme songs as well. I always liked Richard Kiel as Jaws – I just thought it was awesome to have metal teeth that can chew through anything. I do want to go see Casino Royale although I thought if they were going to make Bond more thuggish they should have gone with Jason Statham or Clive Owen. I like Statham’s Tranporter character because he is an obesssive detail freak and an expert driver/fighter. Or as Matt says when I’d torture him in college by turning a cup or picture frame off kilter ‘You KNOW I’m OCD man! Stop it!’ When Heather used to come home from college I’d have turned all of the pictures in her room a miniscule degree off-level to see if she’d notice.

Anyway.

I got Bassey’s greatest hits via iTunes with such tunes as ‘I (Who Have Nothing)’ and Ron’s new favorite (‘This is My Life’). Although when he sings Goldfinger me makes a proctologist finger signal – didn’t Tracey Ullman do a rendition of Goldfinger where her husband is a proctologist? We looked through Shirley’s website to see her from the 1950s onward. Now she is a true diva. I remember when VH1 had their divas specials and they had these young girls with bitchy attitudes who couldn’t belt pretending to be divas and they were mere poseurs compared to women like Bassey or Tina Turner or Liza. Like idiot savants on American Idol who think having a huge ego qualifies them to be a superstar – Andy Warhol ruined it for all of us when he called his movie troupe the Superstars.


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6 responses to “Dame Shirley Bassey”

  1. Richie Avatar

    There was a French and Saunders sketch which had Dawn French as Shirley Bassey in her “signature catsuit and poncho,” trying to get through airport security. It’s on the “French and Saunders at the Movies” dvd. Funny stuff =)

  2. Alan Avatar

    You haven’t lived until you’ve heard Ms. Bassey’s rendition of the Foreigner classic “I wanna know what love is”. She sings the hell outta that song.

  3. JB Avatar

    This is not *just* an ad. This is a Marks & Spencers ad.

    Those ads are starting to drive me crazy. Especially when other shops start copying them.

  4. hughman Avatar

    shirley does a killer version of “light my fire” by the doors. perhaps even life changing. thats how gay i am.

  5. Shirley Bassey Fan Avatar

    Shirley Bassey has got an incredible new single called The Living Tree which is coming out soon.

    You can listen to clips and pre-order at her official website – http://www.dameshirleybassey.com

    Enjoy! 🙂

  6. Palm Springs Savant Avatar

    I’m a big Shirley Bassey fan as well. I just did my list of favorite female vocalists, (of course, she is on my list) and last week was top male crooners. Interested in your thoughts on these classic performers. Stop by and say hi sometime

    http://www.rickrockhill.blogspot.com

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