Side B:
Sleevenote
by Ken Graham
JUST A FEW YEARS AGO a singing bombshell hit the West End of London and has since risen to become one of the true international entertainment stars.
This was 1955 and Shirley Bassey was making her solo début at the Astor Club. During this engagement she was spotted by impresario jack Hylton, who immediately put her in "Such is Life" which starred Al read. She spent nearly a year at the Adelphi Theatre in that show and then had another plum engagement at the Café de paris which was still a top niterie at that time.
From London's West End to America for her first - and triumphant - tour of that country. Las Vegas, Hollywood, New York - all glamorous names in the world of entertainment fell to her charms - and she had successfully negotiated the start of her solo career. Quite a jump for a girl from Cardiff's notorious Tiger Bay.
Soon the hit parade was also to give her recognition. Was this so unusual? Of course: because this artist was appealing mainly to adult audiences on the sophisticated night club circuit, and it is the teenager who buys records, and in quantities which ensure a chart entry.
An example of Miss bassey's drawing power is the fact that her first really big record hit - As I Love You - had already been recorded by several top american performers without great success, months before she cut her version in the studio.
Soon it zoomed right up to the top of the charts and Shirley Bassey had arrived before the entire public. But more wonders were to follow. While this first hit was still at the top her second raced up the table after it.
This was entitled Kiss Me, Honey, Honey, Kiss Me and within a few weeks both of these discs were right at the top - a great rarity in this topsy-turvy world of hits and misses.
Her latest hit, As Long As He Needs Me is the title song of this EP and marks another step in a meteoric career whic will continue from success to success as the years go by.