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 |
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