Today the duet Dame Shirley Bassey did with Alain Delon from 1983 ´Thought I´d ring you´. The single was a big hit for her in Europe.
Music composed by Pino Marchese and Guido Deloo
Lyrics by Charles McLoughlin and Pierre Delanoë. Arranger: Roger Loubet.
Shirley Bassey has never recorded this song alone. Two duet versions have been released. The first duet was with Alain Delon singing in French, which was released on a single in 1983 (instrumental version on the B-side) and on the B-side of a maxi-single in 1984.
The second version was with Al Corley singing English. This recording begins and ends with a studio-created live atmosphere. This version was released on the B-side of the single Remember (another duet with Al Corley.)
Additionally in 1984 a single was released with both versions on it, and both versions are available on the collection Solitaire.
The recording with Alain Delon is available re-released on some collection CDs. Sadly on most of the recordings they faded it out after about 3:21 minutes, but the original recording was 4:17 – 4:20.
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Lyrics
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Thought I’d ring you
And tell you I’m in town Hope to see you
Yes, dinner would be fine Do you remember
When you and I first met? I know I do
Do You?
Oh non, je n’ai rien oublié
Oh no, I haven’t forgotten anything
Rien oublié de cette étrange fille
Forgotten nothing about this strange life
Qui est venue traverser ma vie et ma ville
That came to cross my life and my town
Rien oublié non plus de cette drôle de nuit
Nor anything of this odd night
Dans nous sommes sortis, je crois
After which we became, I think
Amis?
Friends?
Lost and confused
Whatever could I do
Nothing to lose
Oh, don’t you see I trust in you?
Caught in the rain on such a sunny day
Caught in the rain on such a special day with you
Nice to see you
You’ve hardly changed, it’s true
A little older
But time ‘s been kind to you
Do you remember a very special night
You know I do
Do you?
Oh oui, tu as bien fais d’appeler
Oh yes, you did right to call
Moi, moi je suis bouleversé
I, I am confused
Ça m’a complètement surpris, tu sais
It completely moved me, you know
De te voir à Paris, no je n’ai pas oublié encore
To see you in Paris, no I haven’t forgotten yet
Ni le bain de la fontaine, ni la robe collée sur ton corps
Either the bath in the fountain, or the dress clinging on your body
Ni les mots du poème, comment pourrai-je oublier?
Or the words of the poem, how could I forget?
Lost and confused
Whatever could I do
Nothing to lose
Oh, don’t you see I trust in you?
Caught in the rain on such a sunny day
Caught in the rain on such a special day with you
Lost and confused
Whatever could I do
Nothing to lose
Oh, don’t you see I trust in you?
Caught in the rain on such a sunny day
Caught in the rain on such a special day with you
(French transcribed and translated by Samia and Johnny)
(English part transcribed by Tim and Roman)
Anybody who wants to make Shirley Bassey mad should light up a cigar in her presence. In that case the world famous star explodes. She says: “Cigar-smoke makes me sick to the stomach. It stays in your hair, your clothes, your eyes are burning and you have to ventilate the room for at least three days and nights. It is very rude to light up a cigar in the presence of others”. Journalists who hope to interview her are warned! Because anybody who makes Shirley angry will regret it and the interview will lead to nothing. Well, but then Shirley is a world star and she is entitled to the ways of a star. Besides cigar fumes Shirley also hates pushy fans, world tours and sometimes she is fed up with show business in general.
Shirley: “Fans never leave you alone and approach you on the most inappropriate moments to ask for your autograph. Tours are fun but they should not last any longer than three days. Then I am already exhausted and fed up with it. When my three children were smaller it was even worse. They never stopped crying when the maid was packing my suitcases. I was smiling at airports playing the role of the radiant star. Because of these things I sometimes hate this business from the bottom of my heart. Why I don’t quit? Because of the magic I feel when I am on stage. The spotlight that hits me, the orchestra and all those people who come especially to see me, the applause. It is all like a magic potion, a drug you want to take over and over again. So to to speak; this business makes you addicted”.
Shirley Bassey has a lot world hits to her name such as: “Something”, “This is my life” and her latest hit: “Thought I’d ring you” a duet with French film star Alain Delon.
Shirley admits that she was a peculiar child: “I was born in Cardiff and was the youngest of seven children with a mother from Yorkshire and my father was a Nigerian sailor. Things were tough back then. When I reached the age of fifteen I started working in a factory. I spent my whole wages supporting my mum to feed the family. To make a few extra bucks I started to sing in dodgy night clubs. The whole business did not appeal to me but I had success and I started to earn more money that my parents welcomed to support the whole family. So I quit my job at the factory and became a professional singer. It was with pain in my heart because the time I worked in the factory was much nicer then the time I spend in this world of glamour, glitter and show”.
(Translation of the interview above by DavidB and Pieter)
Did Alain Delon find Shirley’s phone number in the Italian phone book?
Dame Shirley Bassey Blog 
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