More Bond From Bassey!Dame Shirley Bassey (yes, she's insisting on the full title these days) is finally recording the best female vocal Bond theme she didn't sing to begin with: You Only Live Twice! The Dame's forthcoming album is mostly remixes, along with her new single, the thoroughly Bondian The Living Tree (which I quite like) and the titular "Get the Party Started" (a cover of the Pink song????), but one of those remixes is very exciting for fans of James Bond music: You Only Live Twice (Mark De Clive Lowe Mix). I have no idea who Mark De Clive Lowe is, but what is the source that's being remixed? Is it a new Bassey recording of the song? Is it a previously unreleased demo version? (The demo on the absolutely essential Best of James Bond 30th Anniversary double CD was widely speculated to be Bassey at one point, but has since been attributed to someone else.) A new recording? Or her version from Bassey Sings Bond, the notoriously hard to come by album of Bond covers she put out very briefly in the early 90s, but quickly pulled because of the allegedly atrocious synth backing? (The album was once rumored to be due a reissue with new orchestral backings, but sadly that never came to pass.) Whatever it is, it will be the first widely available Bassey cover of that song to my knowledge, and that's worth celebrating! Get the Party Started is due out June 25 in the UK, an is currently slated only as an import in the US. You can hear The Living Tree, which just entered the British charts at an impressive Number 35, on Dame Shirley's MySpace page, of course!
I love Dame Shirley Bassey. I for one have no problem calling her that. She is worthy of that title as much of anyone. It's great to have her and also Dame Judi Dench be awarded with such titles since they both represent the Bond universe in such a wonderful fashion. I've got DSB's "Something" CD and also her "Greatest Hits CD." My favorite songs are "Goldfinger" (still my favorite Bond theme song of all time) and her version of "Yesterday, When I Was Young" (my favorite version of that song). I love her newest hit "The Living Tree." It does have a Bondish sound to it. I love that about it. The song and the video both are amazing. It shows that DSB definitely still has that powerful voice that all her fans adore. I am really psyched about her cover of "You Only Live Twice." That's always been a song I really liked, but it will be extra-special to hear her take on it. Of course, the album has to be an import here to the States. The best music tends to always be. :-) I was hoping to listen to some clips of it on Amazon, but alas no luck in that department. I wanted to be able to hear a snippet of what her version sounded like. I do want to definitely get this album when it comes out. I've been meaning to get that "Best of Bond" double CD you mentioned here. Your blog reminded me of that fact. I have such a huge wish list of music, books, dvds, etc. that this is on. This is one fan of Bassey who is most looking forward to this CD by such a great artist. DSB and Bond music are synonymous with one another. I believe that she is the best female singer who has ever graced us with her Bond theme songs. This was another great blog post. Thanks for this latest news.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your excellent post and comment about DSB's new album. All her fans ae excited about the June 25 release which can be pre-ordered through http://www.livingtree.co.uk/
ReplyDeleteAmerican fans are welcome.
She will be live on stage at Glastonbury, the UK's biggest outdoor music festival, on June 24, so that should be viewable on YouTube soon afterwards.
For tons of information about DSB please visit my fans blog http://www.bassey.co.uk/blog2/index.html
and join in the fun!
With warmest wishes, Peggy
Oh, I'm a big Bassey fan too; that's why I'm so excited! I don't begrudge her using her title, Rogue Spy 007; it's just odd that she does so officially on album covers. After all, you don't see albums that say "Sir Elton John" or "Sir Paul McCartney" or see "Sir Ian McKellen" credited on movie posters. But Dame Shirley is absolutely deserving of the title; I'm not questioning that at all!
ReplyDeleteI really liked the last remix album ("The Remix Collection") and ended up buying both the import and the later US version, since that added a few more tracks, including another Moonraker remix. I'm definitely looking forward to "Get the Party Started!" And I REALLY wish that rumored new version of "Bassey Sings Bond" would come out. It seems like such a great idea! And I'm SO intrigued to hear her version of A View To A Kill!!! Of course, I'd also love to hear her do The World Is Not Enough and even You Know My Name, so maybe she should just start over on the project and record them all now! (She's obviously still got the voice for it in spades.)
Thanks for visiting, Peggy! I just checked out your blog. Very thorough! Impressive. I'll link to it in future Bassey-related postings. I actually didn't realize that you could listen to "Get the Party Started" on the MySpace page until I read it on your blog. So it IS the Pink song! Weird! But it's been thoroughly "Bassified" and sounds terrific.
ReplyDeleteOh, I understood that you weren't criticizing her for using her title. I guess it is strange that she had decided to use it, when there are so many others who don't. My thing is that if I had it, then I would use it. I would be proud of it. She deserves it more than some of the others that have been given it. I am really psyched about "Get the Party Started." There does need to be a new version of "Bassey Sings Bond." I would absolutely love that. "A View To A Kill" was one of my favorite Roger Moore Bond theme songs, even if I wasn't a big fan of the movie. "The World Is Not Enough" is my favorite Pierce Brosnan Bond song. I would love to hear her version of that. It's a beautiful song as it is, but with her powerful voice it would be even more stunning. I was not a fan of "You Know My Name." I think her version could only improve on this song. We can tell with "The Living Tree," etc. that she still has the pipes for great music. I wish she would do an album of all the Bond theme songs. It would be great to hear her interpretations of them all. I do wish they would get her back for one more Bond theme song.
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