Shirley Bassey is the gal with the diva’s touch

Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2000 | 9:19 a.m.

Who: Shirley Bassey.

When: 9 p.m. Thursday-Feb. 9 (no show on Sunday).

Where: Hollywood Theater in the MGM Grand hotel-casino.

Cost: $60.

Information: Call 1-800-646-7787.

There will always be a strong bond between international singing legend Shirley Bassey and actor Sean Connery.

On Dec. 30 the two were given the highest honors British royalty can bestow upon citizens -- Connery was made a Knight for his contributions to the film industry and Bassey was made a Dame for her musical accomplishments over the past 47 years.

Oh yes, and there is that other bond, James Bond.

Dame Shirley -- and when it comes to Shirley there is nothing like a dame -- perhaps is best known in this country for belting out those famous lyrics to "Goldfinger" in the third film of the James Bond series, which was released in 1964.

She also sang "Diamonds are Forever," Bond No. 7 in 1971, and "Moonraker," Bond No. 11 in 1979, which featured Roger Moore in the Bond role.

But it is "Goldfinger" that turned into a gold mine for the singer who was born in Tiger Bay, Cardiff, Wales, in 1937, the youngest of seven children of a English woman and a Nigerian sailor, who left home when Bassey was only 3.

Bassey, 63, already was a sultry singing phenomenon in Europe when she struck Goldfinger in 1964, influenced by such American singers as Lena Horne, Judy Garland, Billy Eckstine, Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughn.

She was touring with composer John Barry, her conductor at the time, when she first heard Barry's composition of the "Goldfinger" music. Barry has composed 11 of the Bond movie title songs and is given partial credit for creating the famous "James Bond Theme."

"One day John said, 'I know you hate to hear songs without words, but just break your rule this once,' " Bassey recalled. "It was the lead song for the next Bond film, 'Goldfinger.' The words hadn't been written yet.

"So I broke a rule and listened to his music. After I heard a few bars I knew I would love it and I knew I was going to do the song, no matter what the words were."

The lyrics were written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse.

"The song opened a lot of doors for me. I was already known throughout Europe, but this was my first gold record from America. I am grateful to it," she said.

"Goldfinger" will be among the songs she will sing when she performs in the Hollywood Theater at the MGM Grand hotel-casino Thursday through Feb. 9.

"People expect it," she said, not balking at singing a song that has endeared her voice to the male libido. Some performers tire of the music that took them to the top, but not the sassy Bassey.

Lest American audiences think "Goldfinger" is the only thing she has ever done, Bassey has recorded more than 60 albums and CDs and performed in 25 plays.

She has been one of the most durable and popular female vocalists in England during the last half century, not to mention her popularity in the rest of Europe. In 1977 she received the Britannia Award for Best Female Solo Singer in the Last 50 Years.

A woman old enough to be a grandmother and yet still possessing incredible beauty, glamour, charm and legs, Bassey is a European sensation whose career began in 1953 after she left home at the age of 16.

About all she had was a supportive family, her good looks and a magnificent voice that, from all accounts, has not lost any of the shine off its brass.

After leaving home she worked in a factory and earned extra money singing at men's clubs after hours.

Eventually Bassey traveled around the country in revues and ultimately received a recording contract. Her recording of the "Banana Boat Song" hit the British Top-10 list in early 1957. Harry Belafonte did it earlier in America, hitting No. 1 on the charts in this country on Jan. 9, 1957.

Bassey's first recording was the single "Burn My Candle" in 1955. Her debut album in 1958 was "Born to Sing the Blues." Many hits followed her version of the "Banana Boat Song," including 1959's"As I Love You" and 1961's "Reach for the Stars/ Climb Every Mountain."

In 1962 she worked with arranger Nelson Riddle, which gained her widespread exposure in America and resulted in headlining spots in New York and Las Vegas during the early '60s.

Bassey says it has been between 10 and 15 years since she last performed in Las Vegas, where she has a niece. "I came here every year for many years when it was just a small town. Now it's an enormous city," she said. "I am happy to be back."

Joseph Battig, her Las Vegas producer, says that he is hoping to find Bassey a more permanent home here.

"We're looking for a long-term contract," said Battig, who has produced such noteworthy musicians as Frank Sinatra, Buddy Rich and Jerry Lee Lewis.

After her Las Vegas show closes, Bassey will go to Palm Springs, Calif., for a rest, then go on to Florida and the East Coast for a number of concert dates. She will perform at Lincoln Center in New York on March 21.

For a time in the early '80s Bassey was semiretired and living in Switzerland. But after recording several television specials and LPs and performing a 1987 date with the synth-pop group Yello, Bassey emerged from her cocoon as alluring as ever.

The world once more became her stage as she beguiled audiences with provocative renditions of such songs as "Big Spender."

In January 1999 Bassey received her first Grammy Award nomination. It was for "The Birthday Concert," a recording of a 1997 concert celebrating her 60th birthday. She was nominated in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance.

Later in 1999 she recorded a song for the World Rugby Cup entitled "World in Union," a duet with Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel, which has become an international hit.

Two years ago she became a "new" pop star of sorts, when she joined the popular British duo Propellerheads in their song "History Repeating," which won worldwide raves and was a top-five hit on the Billboard Club Play charts (not to mention being heard relentlessly on TV commercials).

The song appears on their 1998 Dreamworks album, "Decksanddrumsandrockandroll," which also features appearances by De La Souland the Jungle Brothers, plus the Propellerheads' hit version of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" -- another connection of Bassey to Bondage.

The song also is on the sound tract of "There's Something About Mary," one of the top-grossing movies of 1998.

Bassey at first rejected "History Repeating," thinking it was more for someone like Tina Turner, but finally succumbed to the pleadings of the Propellerheads. She said that lead Propellerhead Alex Gifford wrote the song with her in mind, so she could hardly refuse.

Now, she says, she is coping with a new wave of fan club members who are about 7 years old, hardly the normal audience for a woman who wears costumes that give Viagra a run for its money.

Today, when Bassey isn't on tour -- which she is seven months out of the year -- she lives in Monte Carlo. She sees no reason to quit the profession.

"My voice and my public are still there. As long as they are still there, why stop?" she said. "I would just vegetate if I didn't work."

According to some reviewers she is still quite a bombshell, exuding sex appeal on stage and off.

She once said that sex keeps her young.

Today, it's the gym.

She spends more time there than at parties these days.

"I can't have those late nights anymore while on tour," she said. "There's plenty of time for partying after the tour."

She saves those wild times for Monte Carlo.

"When I'm performing I relax. I rarely go out," she said. "I go to parties in Monte Carlo in July and August, when I take off from touring. That's the big season in Monte Carlo. That I enjoy, otherwise, I'm at the gym."

Bassey is proud of the fact that she is still strong and full of vitality while other performers have fallen by the wayside.

"In spite of all the new singers and new songs," she said, "I stayed with it and came through in good health."

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