Line #14 Music/ShirleyBassey


1	[[quoteright:322:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Shirley_Bassey_7339.jpg]]
2	->''♫[[TitleDrop Goldfinger]],\
3	He's the man, the man with the Midas touch,\
4	A spider's touch.\
5	Such a cold finger,\
6	Beckons you to enter his web of sin,\
7	But don't go in.♫''
8	-->"''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL0K_Zt3mf8 Goldfinger]]''"
9
10	[[UsefulNotes/KnightFever Dame]] Shirley Veronica Bassey DBE (born 8 January 1937) is a [[UsefulNotes/{{Wales}} Welsh]] singer of Nigerian and English descent, affectionately and [[{{Spoonerism}} spooneristically]] referred to as "Burly Chassis". Her career spans more than sixty years, and she has a powerful and very distinctive voice that is instantly recognisable - nobody sounds exactly like her, but you can immediately tell when they're trying to.
11
12	Bassey is particularly noted for being the only person to have sung more than one of the ''Film/JamesBond'' {{Title Theme Tune}}s, including the themes for ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'', ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'', ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'', and the original themes for ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'' ("''Mr Kiss-Kiss Bang-Bang''") and ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'' ("''No Good About Goodbye''") before the studio decided to go with Music/TomJones and Music/JackWhite[=/=]Music/AliciaKeys respectively.
13
14	Her other famous songs include:
15	* "Big Spender" ("Hey, Big Spender!")
16	* "As Long As He Needs Me" (From ''Theatre/{{Oliver}}'')
17	* "History Repeating" (a collaboration with Propellerheads)
18	* Believe it or not, a cover of "[[Music/{{Pink}} Get The Party Started]]" (even included on ''Dancing On Ice'')
19	* "Jezahel" (later sampled by Music/PublicEnemy for "Harder Than You Think")
20	* "The Rhythm Divine", a collaboration with Music/{{Yello}} that spawned a NewbieBoom for her in the late '80s.
21
22	Bassey's singing style, the singing equivalent of ChewingTheScenery, has been much imitated:
23	* Geri Halliwell's "Look At Me" definitely has a hint of Bassey to it.
24	* At points - [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aHQnDTd1y4&pp=ygU6bWV0YWwgZ2VhciAzIHNuYWtlIGVhdGVyIHNvdW5kdHJhY2sgaGFycnkgZ3JlZ3NvbiB3aWxsaWFtcw%3D%3D the title song]] for ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', the song takes on the Bassey-style, appropriate considering the other Spy tropes it plays with.
25	* Music/RichardCheese did a [[InTheStyleOf lounge cover]] of "[[Music/TheClash Rock the Casbah]]". [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8UaFWCJcAI Changing the pitch of it]] turns the cover into a dead-on Bassey pastiche.
26	* The opening theme for ''Film/AustinPowersTheSpyWhoShaggedMe'' is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqzDAQaDQzY a parody]] of Bassey's [[Film/JamesBond Bond themes]].
27	** As is the opening theme of ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian''.
28	* Music/RozaRymbaeva used this in her debut song "Alia."
29	* The bombastic opening of ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'', performed by Music/{{Adele}}, was consciously a throwback to the Bond series' great Bassey themes, which was a good fit for the series' 50th anniversary.
30
31	Most of her recorded music catalogue is owned by Creator/WarnerMusicGroup through Creator/ParlophoneRecords. This was among the EMI assets WMG purchased from Creator/UniversalMusicGroup in 2013 the year after the latter's acquisition of the recorded music assets of EMI. Her WMG-owned works cover recordings originally made for [[Creator/EMIColumbiaRecords the Columbia Gramophone Company]] (not to be confused with Creator/ColumbiaRecords, owned by Creator/SonyMusic), Creator/UnitedArtists Records, and Music for Pleasure.
32
33	!!Her works contain examples of:
34	* TheChanteuse: Especially apparent in her performance in ''Franchise/JamesBond'' themes, she sells a rather hammy noir motif.
35	* TheCoverChangesTheGender: Her cover of Ben E. King's "I Who Have Nothing" is another perspective-flipped example. Her cover of Music/GeorgeHarrison's "Something" swaps "she" for "he".
36	* InTheStyleOf: In 2007, she released a cover of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqNcyFNMfLM&ab_channel=LSBRecords "Get This Party Started"]] by Music/{{Pink}} in the style of a Film/JamesBond theme.
37	* LargeHam: The bombastic performances are unmistakable, especially when she is singing some ''Franchise/JamesBond'' themes.
38	* MilkingTheGiantCow: In performances, she has a tendency of doing this doing big finishes, and a good number of her numbers have them.
39	* SpellingSong: "Burn My Candle".
40	-->There's S for Scotch\
41	That's so direct\
42	And for straight and simple sex\
43	I for invitation to\
44	A close relationship with you\
45	N for nothing bad, no less\
46	S I N that's sin I guess

Context Music / ShirleyBassey