Today a few newspaper articles from 1982. A year with ups and downs. Shirley Bassey had a serious health issue but recovered just in time before the recording of the TV Show A Special Lady. One of the few shows ever released on DVD. The year mentioned on the cover of the DVD is not correct. The DVD was released in 1983. Another TV special recorded that year was the Summertime Special. Also that year the album and single All By Myself were released although in some countries the album was named Love Songs. Her tour that year had to be postponed because of the medical problems Shirley had. We saw her at the Royal Albert Hall that year and she looked and sounded fantastic. (Picture below by John den Outer)
Dame Shirley Bassey Blog 
Hi Pieter
The thing with Peter O’Toole was from 1992, not 1982 😜
xxx
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Hi. Thanks you are right. Typo in the archive.
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Loved the 1982 UK tour, as she sang a lot of that album! If & When was a beautiful song especially written by Norman Newell, for the album!
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Thanks Ian Habbitts for the info on the origins of “If and When” – I’ve wondered about that for 40 years now. 🤔🤔🤗🤗👍
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I remember when the “All by myself” Lp came out back then and went to see her, sometime after it’s release, while she was celebrating 30 years in show business. She was appearing at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan N.Y. where I usually saw her. I did something that I didn’t realize was wrong back then: I actually taped it on cassette. No one said a word to me at the concert that it was wrong to do – with the tape recorder in full view too. But then a few days later I loaned it to a secretary that begged me so desperately. She was a really hip cultured country gal from Florence S.C. where my future wife was from. She workd at the same law firm I did in Manhattan. She begged remarking how, ‘she’d heard her music, liked her and wished she could’ve seen her a few nights earlier as I did.’ That was on a Friday. So I expected the cassette back the following Monday but she didn’t show for work. I thought she had a day off – then found out later that day from the other secretaries she had actually gotten sacked/canned/ FIRED 😲. Daaaays went by then weeeeks and I never heard from her again. I Just knew she’d call me at the firm for returning it – but it never happened. So in my naive hypocrisy I concluded SHE STOLE MY CASSETTE OF SHIRLEY BASSEY. How dare she – what a bigger crook than I was, I rationalized because I didn’t know it was wrong to do that taping way back then. Oh well I guess what goes around comes around; I stole from Shirley and the secretary stole from me – LOL. 😂🤣. Reminds me of an old classic song by deceased singer Betty Wright on not trusting “The Secretary” – LOL ! Funny during the concert besides the beautiful song “If and When” (which I always wondered was it originally written for her until now from Ian Habbitts comment here – so thanks Ian Habbitts). During the show she announced how she would next sing a Michael Jackson song (which turned out to be “She’s out of my life”)- but from the female standpoint. Just then two guys yelled out, “what song by Michael – Billie Jean with the Moonwalk ?!” & folks started laughing hysterically. But as usual Bassey bought the house down. Such great memories of The Grand Dame🤗 !
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