Tuesday, June 2, 1970

Musical Artist - Bassey, Shirley

Dame Shirley Bassey is a hugely popular Welsh singer most famous for singing three James Bond theme songs. Bassey is the quintessential voice of the "Bond theme", having sung Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, and Moonraker. Given her repeated contributions to the franchise, it seems that Bassey should have been a natural choice to appear in a Bond film, however she never did.

When Bassey was not singing theme songs for the United Kingdom's most famous fictional spy, Bassey was carving out a brilliant career as a singer, scoring numerous hits beginning in 1956 when she released Burn My Candle, a song so sexually suggestive that the BBC banned it from the air, and following it up with hits like Stormy Weather, I (Who Have Nothing), and Never, Never, Never. She had numerous hits in the United Kingdom throughout the 1960s, but her only chart scoring single in the United States during this period was Goldfinger. Bassey accomplished a unique feat when she recorded a cover of the Beatles song Something in 1970 and had more success with it than the Beatles had.

Bassey has an official website named Dame Shirley Bassey, and there are a couple of unofficial site dedicated to her including The Bassey Blog and Diamond Bassey.

Musical Monday Selections:

09/23/13: Get the Party Started
05/18/15: Goldfinger

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