Today a newspaper article from 1956 and the audio of a 1956 performance by Shirley Bassey with the Metropole Orchestra for Dutch Radio.
Today a newspaper article from 1956 and the audio of a 1956 performance by Shirley Bassey with the Metropole Orchestra for Dutch Radio.
Dame Shirley Bassey Blog 
Wow Pieter since I was just 2 years old at the time of this radio broadcast, you have really given me a glimpse as to how great an entertainer Dame Shirley was at the tender age of 19. Really love the retro picture, looking young and innocent. Thank you, great job Pieter, and all who contributed to give us this stroll down memory lane for many on this blog.
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Wow! This is an amazing find!! The recording is so clear and well preserved – I have NEVER heard this before. There are so many differences in her voice here – am not sure that I could have possibly imagined then what she was going to become like vocally in 10 to 20 years time. It must have been like taming a wild animal for her to bring her developing voice under control – she uses a lot more head voice here and sings with much more legato, presumably finding her feet and the style of the time dictated the latter but rhymically she was so on the beat, driving the song along. Her phrasing is also lovely and there are occasional flashes of what we were going to grow to love her for over the years – marvellous stuff. I have never thought much of Who Are We but her performance here is brilliant. It is not difficult to see why she made such an impact when she first appeared on the scene.
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Agree Paul. What a treasure.
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Terrific stuff – thank you for sharing it. What a shame no commercial recording exists of I Can’t Give You Anything But Love!
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Adorable and stunning, so versatile a singer even then. Wow she was quite daring for the suggestive “Candle…” song back in the 1950s. Preserved so well, thanks blog for the treat of it’s airing.
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