The year 1997 was all about the BIG birthday with a number that Shirley just couldn’t pronounce at the time!
Below newspaper articles from Choice, The New Hampton Chronicle and The Scotland’s Champion.
FROM THE ARCHIVE 551 -1997-
The year 1997 was all about the BIG birthday with a number that Shirley just couldn’t pronounce at the time!
Below newspaper articles from Choice, The New Hampton Chronicle and The Scotland’s Champion.
Dame Shirley Bassey Blog 
The 60th year, but looking and sounding 29!!
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You said it Ian Habitts!! And even now after some 25 odd years The Dame is still ASTOUNDING!! The latter part of that year in October or November would be the last time I’d see my Fathers Mother & my Favorite Grandmother alive; plus Dame Shirley in concert.
I traveled back home to Brooklyn, New York from South Carolina for the show at Westbury Music Fair and a surprise visit to my Grandma, Family, & friends. The Dame did an ASTOUNDING job as usual; and I was so pleased she sang a favorite of mine by her from the 1978 Lp called “Yesterdays” called, “I only have eyes for you”. Plus, as I recall she acknowledged having been atleast aquainted with the late Great Country singer Patsy Cline, and ‘always wanted to record a Country song and her wish came true in recording Ms. Clines classic called “Crazy” – and that’s just what happened with us in the audience that evening, we went crazy in ovation.
I remember Bassey almost had a slight mishap that could’ve been very painful to her mouth or face when the microphone suddenly spun upward fast & loudly echoed some how – barely missing her & it went dead of sound. We all just gasped at how close and loud it sounded. But leave it to Dame Shirley, she just laughed it off by saying, “look we’ve got one dead mike on our hands”😅.
Then later at some point in the show, I can’t remember what song it was right now, but suddenly a man from the audience, actually climbed up on stage while she was singing before she noticed him crawling across the stage towards her like a tiger or lion in stealth crunching mode. We all thought at 1st it was part of the show – but it wasn’t.
Before security got to the stage, Dame Shirley saw him and being the professional she is actually engaged the guy as she kept in singing abit as she slowly backed around here and there from his prowl; then occasionally she did the Bassey giggle & stomped her foot at him saying, “Back Back Back”. It was hysterical how she handled that and again by the time security had gotten to him the crowd went wild !!
He was not part of the act at all, but it really kinda added to the show. As I recalled she wasn’t upset and he was allowed to stay. It was quite a night. 🤗 And as usual I say:
“LONG LIVE THE DAME” !!
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O I forgot to add on my comment, I haven’t been back to Westbury Music Fair since that Bassey concert in all these years. But hopefully if I’m still alive in August, I will be back there to see another Great like The Dame – The Great Johnny Mathis !! He’s still got it at 86 yrs old, one year older than Bassey. Mathis and Bassey are both my all time favorites. Don’t we all wish we all could get to see her perform live one more time on at least a mini world tour ?!
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