FROM THE ARCHIVE 395 -1969-

After becoming a tax exile in 1968 Shirley Bassey was unable to appear in the UK for two years and her record sales slumped. By the 1970s, however, she was back, and by the end of the decade she had recorded and sold no fewer than 18 hit albums in the UK.
Shirley Bassey began to live as a tax exile in 1968, and was unable to work in Britain for almost two years.

Shirley Bassey’s UK comeback came in 1970, leading to one of the most successful periods of her career. Starting the year with a BBC Television ‘Special’ The Young Generation Meet Shirley Bassey, recorded in Sweden and shown on BBC1 on 18 March. She returned to the UK with a record-breaking run of performances at the Talk of the Town nightclub. Also that year, her album Something was released, and showcased a new Bassey style, a shift from traditional pop to more contemporary songs and arrangements (the eponymous single was more successful in the UK charts than the original recording by The Beatles) – although Bassey would never completely abandon what that had been her forte: standards, show tunes, and torch songs.

On her Live at The Talk Of The Town album recorded in 1970 she jokingly referred to her tax exile status by saying she only came back because she heard that Danny La Rue was trying to take her place.  Also she recorded an album that year called Does Anybody Miss Me. Below a few lines from the booklet for the re-release of the CD of the album and some newspaper articles from 1969.

Artwork for the Does Anybody Miss Me album