She wasn’t just known for singing the theme song to Goldfinger. Shirley Bassey is just about the only singer to have been asked to sing a theme song for three James Bond movies. I liked this particularly for the last stanza, when she sings, Diamonds are forever, forever, forever. Chills. I do mean chills. I used to turn my radio up when she would come on the wavelength, the days when pop music was still played on AM radio. This girl still has a powerful voice at the age of 72.

Born in Cardiff, Wales from an interracial marriage between an Efik Nigerian seaman and a Yorkshire-born white woman, Bassey identifies as Welsh, the same nationality as Tom Jones. So she was lumped together with the other Brits when they stormed onto the shores of the United States in 1963–The British Invasion, so to speak. She’s been active for over 50 years as a singer. Bassey has been married twice, but the fathers of her two daughters remain unknown. She and her second husband also adopted a grand-nephew. Several years back, though, the body of her youngest daughter Samantha was found in the Avon River, an apparent suicide. Bassey steadfastly refuses to believe that Samantha’s death was self-inflicted.

Shirley Bassey was created a Dame Commander of the British Empire in December 1999. Last week, she released a new album called The Performance. The guest performers include Gary Barlow, K.T. Tunstall, Manic Street Preachers, Pet Shop Boys, John Barry, Kaiser Chiefs, and Don Black.

Enjoy!

Usually Kate Moss says nothing and just looks the part – that’s the secret to her seemingly endless appeal. This week we found out why talking is not great for Kate. She apparently thinks “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”, provoking the predictable outrage. Come on Kate, hanging around with Beth Ditto isn’t going to get you anywhere if you start saying stuff like this. Try “I eat like a horse, I’m just naturally skinny,” or “cigarettes and vodka, that’s how I do it.” That’s the usual model mantra, isn’t it?

Girls – thought you could have it all? Forget it. You’re a worker or a breeder, simple as. OK, that’s not quite what Jill Berry, president of the Girls’ Schools Association (GSA), said (although it’s not actually that far off), but we’re not really sure what Berry was thinking of by announcing this in the Daily Mail of all places. Coverage has generally been quite angry and puzzled. Even if she is right, why not say “having a career and a child is difficult, let’s make it easier”, a point made by Ceri Goddard of the Fawcett Society.

Cyber bullying is something that keeps both kids and parents awake at night, and a very real and growing problem. So it’s surprising to us that both Facebook and MySpace refused to follow Bebo’s example, and install a safety button, or even entertain the idea. In fairness, Facebook has already made moves to increase safety, and its defence is that it already employs staff to actively support and protect users. But why not link to external experts? What harm could it do? From a PR perspective alone a blank refusal is madness.

Here at PN we classed this story as ‘bad press for Top Gear’. Is it really? The Lib Dems have discovered, under the Freedom of Information Act, that the Ministry of Defence has been wasting huge amounts of money and time on helping Top Gear out with its usual grown-up Scalextrix stunts (eg, trying to hit a car with a missile). We suspect, despite the outrage that resources are being squandered, that more than a few people are thinking “hey, that’s pretty cool.” Bad press for the MoD, great press for Top Gear.

Top Gear - wasting your tax dollars

Mmmm, Greggs (sorry, we only had fruit for breakfast). Greggs has been all over the place recently due to the announcement a few weeks back that it’s the UK high street’s favourite food outlet, with double the stores of ubiquitous mega chain Starbucks. Surprisingly, the response had been pretty positive, despite the food faddy hysteria that usually reigns in the British press. Typical of the breathless coverage is this piece from the Times. As we pointed out a few days ago, McDonald’s should take note.

Apple to force you to watch ads? Let’s not get too upset yet, this story is purely based on a patent filed by Apple – the company has announced nothing. But if the Independent’s worst fears are realised, customers after a cheap iPod or Mac could end up watching compulsory ads. Who would choose this? No one we reckon. But still, this story nicely feeds the fears we all have that by 2020 every single thing we see, hear, touch or smell will contain an ad.

Nintendo has been pushing the Wii as the answer to all the world’s fitness and obesity problems for a while, but it gained a major coup this week by receiving official Department of Health endorsement. Does that mean we all now have to get one? Oh well.

Who felt a shiver run down their spine when they saw Dame Vera Lynn at the top of the album charts earlier this year? Well, now Shirley Bassey is in on the act. She got the front cover of The Guardian this week, illustrating a story about supermarket music sales attracting older shoppers. You made this happen, downloaders.

As long as I’m going to the Sullivan bank well again and again ….
The Sidney bank

Shirley Bassey – Big Spender

Producers at Scottish based independent Billi Productions Ltd have officially announced this week that British singing legend Dame Shirley Bassey has joined the project to perform the title track ‘Guardian of the Highlands’ in the forthcoming animated feature film ‘Sir Billi’, starring the voice of Sir Sean Connery. It is indeed the first time Sir Sean and Dame Shirley have worked together since Goldfinger!

After 5 years in production, the original feature created by husband and wife team Sascha and Tessa Hartmann is currently in post production, due for completion and release in 2010.

Scotland’s first full length animated feature also stars a host of A list talent including Alan Cumming, Miriam Margolyes, Ruby Wax, Alex Norton, Ford Kiernan, Greg Hempill, Barbara Rafferty, John Amabile, Larry Sullivan and US based newcomer Chris Jai Alex and NYC night queen Amy Sacco, with her first foray as a voice artist.

When asked how the collaboration with Dame Shirley came about Director Sascha Hartmann, who also composed the original song said: ‘My wife Tessa and I agreed that Dame Shirley was the ultimate artist to perform the title track for this film, especially given the ‘Bond’ connection of Sir Sean and Dame Shirley. So I sat down and wrote a song for her! Tessa approached her management and thankfully she fell in love with the song. It really was a dream come true for us as she is an absolute icon, consummate professional and a pleasure to work with’.

The song has already been recorded and Dame Shirley is thrilled with the outcome. When asked how the producers persuaded her to join the project, Dame Shirley said:

‘There was no persuading needed here, I liked the song from the moment I heard it. Sascha and Tessa made the process incredibly fun and easy for me and we got a great result’.

Un mix facut renumitei piese: Shirley Bassey – Where Do I Begin. Pentru cine nu stie piesa e soundtrack-ul din Love Story, iar Shirley Bassey o cantareata galeza, cu piese in repertoriu ca:  Diamonds Are Forever, THIS IS MY LIFE, Goldfinger (Live at Royal Albert Hall) , etc.

Well last week we had Biggie and Hitler, then Joss Stone and Nas and now Dizzee and Shirley Bassey team up for a Children in Need performance…well i never

“Goldfinger” sowie “Diamonds are forever” und “Moonraker” (also quasi die Mondblitz-Titelmelodie ) sind drei der schönsten und markantesten Titelsongs aus der bislang 22-teiligen James-Bond-Serie – und sie stammen alle drei von der Waliserin Shiley Bassey (* 8. Januar 1937 in Cardiff). Am 6. November veröffentlichte das mittlerweile 72-jährige Stimmwunder nun ihr 65 (!) Album. Unter dem Titel “The Performance” präsentiert die charismatische Diva seit 27 Jahren erstmals wieder eine Scheibe mit neuen Liedern.

In den 1980/90ern machte Shirley Bassey vor allem mit dem Schweizer Pop-Duo Yello und dem Titel “The Rhythm Divine” sowie mit dem Nummer-1-Hit “History Repeating” zusammen mit den Propellerheads jeweils kurz aber eingängig auf sich aufmerksam.

Kritiker und Amazon-Bewerter feiern das neue Album “The Performance” bislang einhellig als absolutes Meisterwerk. Sogar der ein oder andere Song mit James-Bond-Groove soll mit drauf sein. Probehören lohnt sich also bestimmt. Mehr zum Thema James Bond gibt es neben den Nachrichten auf Mondblitz.de noch auf Wortgeflecht.de sowie James-Bond-007.eu.

Over at Examiner.com, they’re running a story saying Michael Jackson had wanted to perform the song Goldfinger. The quoted source for this? None other than Shirley Bassey, who became a star performing the title song of Goldfinger, first released in the U.K. in September 1964 and in the U.S. in December of that year.

A sample of the article:

Although Michael Jackson never had the opportunity to perform Goldfinger during a concert at London’s O2 Arena, Shirley Bassey had grown close to Michael Jackson and actually looked forward to hearing the King of Pop perform her most famous of the three James Bond theme songs she provided for the legendary film franchise.

“He loved Goldfinger and had said he wanted to do Goldfinger in his next show,” revealed Bassey.

The subtle flavours roasted in the ovens of time for days, contorting and combining before concocting this week in the life of Dots & Dashes were:

Cold Cave- Heaven Was Full
Cheap Venetian Pizza
Health- Die Slow
The Thermals- St. Rosa & The Swallows
Facebook Chat
Bottles and bottles of 1€ Bad, Bad, Bad Red Wine
Mickey Gang- Horses Can’t Dance
Brain-Frying With Avant-Garde Cinema
Paolo Conte- Gli Impermeabili
Translating Twisted Hide-and-Seek
Jay-Z- Empire State Of Mind
Elevator Awkwardness
Weezer (feat. Lil Wayne)- I Just Can’t Stop Partying
Klondike
Telekinesis- Telekinesis! (The whole goddamn LP)
Dubious Moustaches
The Raveonettes- Breaking Into Cars, Heart Of Stone
Homemade Caprese Sandwiches at La Biennale di Venezia
Shirley Bassey- The Girl From Tiger Bay
The Hustle and Bustle of Competitive Milanese Flat Hunting
The Isley Brothers- This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)
First, And Presumably Last, Night In A Monastery
Fuck Buttons- Surf Solar
Contemplating the Worth Of A Lock Of Gaga’s Straightened, Cracked, 100% Synthetic Fringe
Extensive Womack & Womack, Mew and Yourcodenameis:Milo
Breaking Language Barriers Through The Medium of Ideleness
Baddies- Open One Eye
Gasping At The BNP Membership List

And how did the week taste? Mediocre- decent.

Paul McCartney will headline a gig at London’s Royal Albert Hall in aid of Children In Need this November.

Muse, Lily Allen, Dizzee Rascal, Snow Patrol, Leona Lewis and Shirley Bassey are also on the bill for the November 12 show, which has been organised by Take That’s Gary Barlow

Speaking at the launch of the gig, Children In Need presenter Terry Wogan said the gig will help to make 2009 “a really special year for Children In Need”, reports BBC News.

The show is also set to be broadcast on BBC1 the weekend before Children In Need, which takes place on November 20.

The fourth BBC Electric Proms 2009 kicked off last night with Robbie Williams comeback performance after a three year break. It took place in the stunning Roundhouse venue in London’s Camden. It opened with Bodies followed by a mix of old songs – No Regrets dedicated to Gary Barlow; Angels; Millennium among others and some new ones – Deceptacon (a grower according to Robbie) and Starstruck among others. It ended with a rendition of ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’. Am already looking forward to watching more.

If you couldn’t be there live, there were plenty of options including:
Watch It In Cinemas…
Another Guinness World Record for Robbie for the most simultaneous cinematic screenings of a live concert. It was shown in both Swords and Dundrum cinemas in Ireland and all around Europe.
Join In The Chat…
BBC’s live online chat took place during Robbie’s performance. Fans everywhere got together to talk about one of the biggest music events of the year.
Tune In On The Radio…
In the UK BBC Radio 1 included Scott Mills’ chat with Robbie himself, followed by coverage of the big event live. While in Europe a few radio stations outside of the UK will also be broadcasting coverage live – including:
Austria: hitradio ö3
Germany: BR- Bayern 3, SR1, SWR3, SWR – ‘Das Ding’ show, WDR2, WDR 1 Live, NDR 2, HR3, RBB- Radioeins, RB – Bremen Vier
Italy: RTL 102,500
Norway: NRK P1
Switzerland (German Speaking): DRS3
Denmark: Radio ABC
See it on the small screen on BBC2
Highlights of the performance were later screened on the television on BBC2 at 11.50. Well worth staying up for.

All performers at the BBC Electric Proms are challenged to come up with new and original material or arrangements of their music to reflect the central theme of the festival, creating new moments in music. All of this can be accessed either at the venues, watching and listening on the BBC, or by interacting with online, red button and mobile media.

BBC Electric Proms 2009 will feature the headline acts of Robbie Williams, Dizzee Rascal with a live band & orchestra, Doves with the London Bulgarian Choir, as well as Dame Shirley Bassey and Smokey Robinson both with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

In addition to the headliners, Florence and the Machine and Metronomy will be performing in The Roundhouse’s Studio Theatre as part of the New Music Shorts initiative. Seminal Manchester band Magazine will be gracing the Main Space with Doves, while the finest UK Hip Hop, RnB, Garage, Dancehall and Drum & Bass will be represented at 1xtra’s After Party.

One of the most exciting things for me is the announcement of a new James Bond film. The questions start pouring into my head like, who will the new Bond Girl be? Will she be ridiculous like Denis Richards who played the nuclear scientist Christmas Jones or classy like the original Bond Girl Ursula Andress? Will Bond have to fight the Russians, Chinese, or some new modern superpower? All good questions that are banging around the heads of Bond fans.

But until the next film I guess the Arctic Monkeys covering the Shirley Bassey songs “Diamonds Are Forever” from the Bond film by the same name will have to do.

Arctic Monkeys – “Diamond Are Forever”

The legend is back! Dame Shirley Bassey (72) releases a new album in November 2009. And this promises to be a phantastic work. The welsh singer got songs written for her by Gary Barlow (Take That), the Manic Street Preachers, Kaiser Chiefs, Pet Shop Boys, KT Tunstall, Rufus Wainwright and many more. And producer hero and grammy award winner Dave Arnold (James Bond etc.) produced her new album. The album is called “The Performance” and is scheduled for a release on November, 9th. This is the tracklisting for it:

Almost There (Tom Baxter)

Apartment (Rufus Wainwright)

This Time (Gary Barlow)

Love You Now (Kaiser Chiefs)

Our Time is Now (John Barry/Don Black)

As God is my Witness (David Arnold/David McAlmont)

No Good about Goodbye (David Arnold/Don Black)

The Girl from Tiger Bay (Manic Street Preachers)

Nice Men (KT Tunstall)

After The Rain (Richard Hawley)

The Performance of My Life (Pet Shop Boys)

Shirley Bassey

http://www.dameshirleybassey.com/

Actually, perhaps designing my first album sleeve may be a little premature in terms of how my design experience developed into an extreme sport. We need to go a little further back …

After living in the Himalayas for 2 years (that’s a whole other story) I arrived in London in the glorious summer of 1976 with two dozen paintings I’d carried back overland from India. Seriously culture-shocked and barefoot still, I moved in with friends who lived on the borders of Chelsea and Fulham. It was, and still is, a community I love.

Then it was full of drug dealers and gangsters, terraced houses, children playing in the streets and a crew of local characters with more stories to tell than the Ancient Greeks. It’s still pretty much the same though it’s probably the kids in the street selling drugs, some of the terraced houses are inhabited by a more sophisticated breed of gangster and the characters are even more extreme, though often too ‘out of it’ to tell their stories.

I noticed a couple of weeks after I’d moved into the Lots Road area and made friends with the gangsters (obviously, you would wouldn’t you?) that a new club was opening inside what is still The Furniture Cave on Kings road. (The club is now the appallingly suburban Crazy Larry’s.)

There was a sign outside the entrance to the club which said ‘COUNTRY COUSIN, Supper Club, Restaurant and Gallery’. I nipped home to collect a few paintings. ‘Give it a go’ I thought. I met the owner – a wonderful and (I realised later) very well-connected restauranteur called Christopher Hunter. He’s probably the only true anarchist I’ve ever met. He did whatever he liked (you really don’t want to know) and his friends who filled the club were the likes of Danny La Rue, Freddie Mercury and Shirley Bassey. ‘Darling’ he said ‘I love your paintings. I need an exhibition when we open. The walls are yours’.

To give you an idea of why I loved Christopher so much is easily explained through one incident. I arrived at the club one morning and Christopher was sitting alone in an ocean of empty tables, his head buried in his hands. ‘Why Chris, what on Earth’s the matter?’ I said. ‘Dear boy,’ he said, taking both my hands in his, ‘some awful awful news. My bank account’s in credit. I’m spending my own money!’ I looked at him and he was genuinely devastated. ‘Come on,’ he said ‘we’re going out to buy a red convertible Mercedes sports car.’ And we did.

What is this to do with design you might well ask. As the stories keep coming, you’ll see, you’ll see.

Being the place it was, Country Cousin needed staff who could deal with the arrogant rich, could flatter the famous, humour the terminally drunk and, at all times, be themselves. They were an amazingly flamboyant and intelligent bunch – confident, beautiful and irrepressibly energetic. They enjoyed themselves hugely and their good humour was infectious. That was Christopher’s skill. No matter how potentially successful his ventures might be, he knew he needed to oil the machine with talented individuals as important as his personal vision of The Great Life.

I practically lived at CC for nearly two years and quite early on Chris asked me if I would join the Country Cousin Family as it’s resident designer. ‘Chris,’ I said, ‘I have no experience at all in design. I wouldn’t know how to start’. He laughed at me. ‘Darling, darling,’ he said, ‘If you really want to do it, there are people out there who will show you how. Learn, dear boy, learn.’

Where next? Probably meeting the astonishing diva – Holly Woodlawn…

5th September 2009. Serendipity.

As I sat writing this blog at a Fulham riverside pub, a white-haired older gentleman approached me. He wore a wide-lapelled very smart pin-striped suit, a pink silk tie and the same colour handkerchief blossoming out of his top pocket. ‘What are you writing?’ he said. ‘About Chelsea and Fulham in the 70’s’ I said. He sat down and told me about his past, living in the Fulham area. He was 78. ‘My friends used to call me Al Capone’ he said with a twinkle in his eye. ‘Now because of the alcohol I consume – they call me Alka Seltzer’.

Σε ηλικία 72 ετών, η μεγάλη φωνή που λέγετε Shirley Bassey είναι έτοιμη να μαγέψει και πάλι το κοινό. Ύστερα από 20 χρόνια, θα κυκλοφορήσει δίσκο με νέα τραγούδια.

Το album θα λέγεται The Perfomance και αναμένεται στις αρχές του Νοέμβρη. Παραγωγός θα είναι ο David Arnold (γνωστός από τις δουλειές του στα James Bond) ενώ οι Take That, οι Manic Street Preachers, η KT Tunstall, οι Pet Shop Boys και άλλοι. Συνολικά το album θα περιλαμβάνει 11 κομμάτια.[next]