Bassey
Earns
British Title and Returns to Las Vegas From Las Vegas Journal, by Michael Paskevich,
Fri Feb 04 2000
Shirley Bassey has a five-performance
engagement at the MGM Grand through Wednesday
Note to the backstage crew at the MGM Grand: Don't say "Good luck" to Shirley
Bassey before she takes the stage tonight (through Wednesday) as part of her
long-delayed return to singing in a Las Vegas showroom.
"My, it must be 20 years, maybe even more," says Bassey, a Wales-born singer who
describes her unique vocal style as a cross of international pop with operatic
overtones. "I used to perform quite a bit at the Las Vegas Hilton where, strange
enough, I used to follow Elvis Presley in (the showroom) for quite a few years.
... He was just adorable."
Although gone from the Vegas scene since she was a showroom mainstay during the
'60s and '70s, Bassey has been anything but idle during her extended absence.
She's been performing around the globe, earning honours and overseas hits, and
recalls celebrating twice on New Year's Eve when her picture popped up on London
television as the queen bestowed her with the title of dame.
The singer best known in America for her string of strident title songs for
James Bond movies -- "Goldfinger" in 1964, followed by "Diamonds Are Forever" in
1971 and "Moonraker" in 1979 -- was being honoured for her contributions to show
business in Great Britain. Coincidentally, Sean Connery, who played Bond early
in the film series, was similarly honoured with knighthood. And she still sounds
somewhat awed by an upcoming return visit to Buckingham Palace. Bassey could
feel otherwise as she already knows the place better than some royals, having
already been honoured there previously when the queen awarded her the title CBE,
or Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
"When I go back to the palace, it's going to be incredible," she says from her
suite at the MGM Grand where she will occupy the 650-seat Hollywood Theatre with
accompaniment of a 30-piece orchestra. "When I was at the palace before, I was
overwhelmed by all the pomp and circumstance, and this time it will be even more
special because my family will be coming along with me."
Bassey's love of tradition extends to her stage and recording career, which
helps explain her collection of pre-show superstitions as well as her belief
that many of today's emerging singers could use some schooling on artistic
etiquette. "I've always been superstitious," she says, "in part because of
growing up performing during the days of vaudeville. "You learn things like
never whistling in your dressing room, tossing a hat on a bed and don't wish me
good luck because that is the kiss of death. I was performing in Europe when one
of the dancers whispered `Good luck' to me just as I was walking out onto the
stage. "So, of course, I walk out onstage, take hold of the microphone and ...
nothing. My voice completely dried up and I couldn't make a sound," she says
with an easy laugh. "Tell me to `Break a leg' or something. Just say anything
instead of `Good luck.' "
Bassey maintains homes in both Monte Carlo and London, the latter city giving
her easy access to relatives living in Cardiff, Wales, where Bassey began her
career singing blues. "When I first started recording (at age 20), people got me
singing blues songs and I didn't even know what the blues was," she reflects at
age 63. "Over the years I started to develop my own style, which was something
that I knew I wanted to do instead of just hearing people telling me just to
sing. That became frustrating."
She describes her voice as "developing more into pop opera" and notes that she
never took a singing lesson and doesn't read music.
Her powerful, singular singing style has fostered no imitators, a fact that
prompted the English techno-pop group the Propellerheads to enlist her for an
alternative modern single last year -- "History Repeating" -- that sold enough
copies to earn a gold record.
"It was kind of freaky," she says of the recording session where she took "Get
more gravely voiced" direction from the group's wet-behind-the-ears youngsters,
causing "a lot of people to think, `Oh no, she's about to go off on them.'
"But I really enjoyed the experience even though it took me some time to get
used to the music. I liked the sound but I didn't think it was me. It was more
Tina Turner material, and when I first heard it I thought I sounded like Louie
Armstrong," she adds along with a few bars sung in Armstrong's gritty style.
Bassey wishes today's aspiring stars "should realize there's a certain amount of
etiquette that goes with being a performer" and, as such, "many of them are
unprepared for the life in entertainment." Some education would help, she says,
and perhaps the young would-be stars might even pick up some superstitions from
an artist who has paid her dues over decades, not weeks.
"Oh, no! That's another of my superstitions," she says cheerily when asked if
she would say something about her welcome-back engagement in Las Vegas.
"I never tell people what I'm going to sing or what I'm going to wear. I'm not
sure where I got that one," she admits, "but I'm not going to change my mind
about it. "One of the things I've learned is that a performer should keep an air
of mystery about their live shows. That way, when they come to the show
everything will be a surprise."