SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
June 2, 1996
Burly Chassis Is Back !
THE ONLY things missing were the spangly balls you see in discos. But when Shirley Bassey appeared
wearing a silver sequined dress that twinkled in the lights like a Christmas bauble, the picture was complete.
All the glory of the 1970s came flooding back. Bassey, who gave the first of nine concerts at the Royal Festival
Hall last Thursday, was magnificent. Despite being almost 60, she wafted in; legs bared by a huge split up the
front of her dress, howling I Was Born to Sing For Ever like a foghorn in a force-nine gale. Next she was belting
out As If We Never Said Goodbye, crippled with so much lurve that she kept closing her eyes and swallowing. Her
performances pull no punches. Every emotion, every word is exploded by Bassey, who storms around the stage, letting
off feelings like nuclear bombs. She grasps at thin air, clutches her heart - or more frequently her spleen - contorting
her features into the expression of abject woe. And it is not just the audience that giggles at such Mahlerian
intensity. Bassey herself seems to know it is ludicrous - suddenly turning from being disabled with grief to flirting
outrageously with the audience. She beckons them hither with a finger, smokily narrowing her eyes while singing
"C'mon baby, light my fire", or cheekily pats her bottom during Hey, Big Spender. And in between she
huskily whispers "I love you" so often you know it's a joke.
The high point of Thursday's show was when she started singing The Lady is a Tramp. Stomping around the stage she
updated the words, growling, "No, I was never at Hugh Grant's partee I when he dishonoured the Great Divine."
And the audience loved it. Even though most of them looked so old they would have been happier on an awayday bus
to Torquay, she still has them in her clutches. Droves of white-haired men in suits were turned to jelly, kneeling
in serried ranks on the floor in front of the stage like obedient primary school children. But it was the gay brotherhood,
who follow Shirley to all her concerts like a pack of chattering acolytes, who seemed most in awe. When she started
kissing members of the audience and tossing red carnations into the crowd, they were almost beside themselves as
they struggled to catch them. It is easy to see why they adore her. She has all the over-elegance, wit and panache
of a brilliant drag queen. And there were some unexpected faces at the concert, too. Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and
Liz Brewer, the society butterflies normally seen gazing out of the pages of Tatler, were sashaying away to Goldfinghaa
along with the best of them. Although she has not had a major hit for years, Bassey has continued to pull the crowds
and churn out the albums. More than 100,000 people have attended this latest tour, and hot on the heels of last
year's album Shirley Bassey Sings the Movies, comes Appassionata - the title song for a movie directed by Chris
Rea due to be released this autumn. As well as singing in the film, Bassey also has a cameo role in it as a lover
of red Ferraris. How perfect. Sassy Bassey, the doyenne of showbiz glamour is not giving up the glitz yet. She
is still in the fast lane.
By: Catherine Milner