Dame Shirley Bassey - The Performance

jetsetwillyjetsetwilly Liverpool, UKPosts: 1,048MI6 Agent
in James Bond Music
Oh my, this album is just FABULOUS. For anyone who's not heard of it, this is The Bass' first studio album for twenty years, produced by David Arnold, and featuring songs by Rufus Wainwright, Tom Baxter, Pet Shop Boys, David Arnold and David McAlmont, the Manic Street Preachers... and JOHN BARRY AND DON BLACK.

It's just amazing. Lush strings, ridiculous overproduction, Shirley cracking windows with enormous finishing notes. It's like an eleven-song audition for Bond 23. And the song by David Arnold and Don Black, "No Good About Goodbye"... well this is the chorus:

How long does a heart stay broken
How long if the pain's unbroken
No SOLACE in a kiss
No comfort in a sigh
No good about goodbye

It simply has to be a rejected QOS theme. Please, everyone, buy this album and breathe in the brilliance of The Bass. The more popular we make it, the more likely we'll be hearing Dame Shirley Bassey back where she belongs in 2011...
Founder of the Wint & Kidd Appreciation Society.

@merseytart
«13

Comments

  • jetsetwillyjetsetwilly Liverpool, UKPosts: 1,048MI6 Agent
    Dame Shirley performs a Pet Shop Boys composition from the album:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phq_BMlGuCU
    Founder of the Wint & Kidd Appreciation Society.

    @merseytart
  • 007_fanatica007_fanatica Posts: 64MI6 Agent
    whitney's alot better singer :):):) :D
  • delon64delon64 RiyadhPosts: 176MI6 Agent
    am right with you on this one jetset...got the cd yesterday and it is great...no good about goodbye would have been a fine qos theme!
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    I've just got to have a listen to that one.
  • delon64delon64 RiyadhPosts: 176MI6 Agent
    the first few notes of no good about goodbye crop up often on the qos soundtrack...it has to be a rejected theme
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,619MI6 Agent
    jetsetwilly wrote:
    Oh my, this album is just FABULOUS. For anyone who's not heard of it, this is The Bass' first studio album for twenty years, produced by David Arnold, and featuring songs by Rufus Wainwright, Tom Baxter, Pet Shop Boys, David Arnold and David McAlmont, the Manic Street Preachers... and JOHN BARRY AND DON BLACK.

    It's just amazing. Lush strings, ridiculous overproduction, Shirley cracking windows with enormous finishing notes. It's like an eleven-song audition for Bond 23. And the song by David Arnold and Don Black, "No Good About Goodbye"... well this is the chorus:

    How long does a heart stay broken
    How long if the pain's unbroken
    No SOLACE in a kiss
    No comfort in a sigh
    No good about goodbye

    It simply has to be a rejected QOS theme. Please, everyone, buy this album and breathe in the brilliance of The Bass. The more popular we make it, the more likely we'll be hearing Dame Shirley Bassey back where she belongs in 2011...

    And here is the corresponding youtube link to "no good about goodbye"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEAWlUKRHHk

    My opinion is, that instead of a Bond score, which sounds like Shirley Bassey like "The world is not enough", get the orignal.

    And did I mention, that imho, virtually EVERY other song would have been better than "AWTD", which calling a song is a pure insult :D
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.
    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    Thanks for the link, Bondtoys- loved the song and like jsw says it is very Bondian. Streets ahead of the thing used in QoS. And, btw, it's in Dm- the saddest of all keys.
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,467MI6 Agent
    Well initially I thought, ho hum, it's Barry-lite, a David Arnold speciality. :(

    But then the chorus kicks in and it's spot on, it really is. :o Just imagine the finale with Bond walking off in the snow and this kicks in. Would have been knock out! What a bloody shame they didn't use it; Bassey is in great vocal form and the orchestration is great too. It would have brought into focus the movie's theme too, Bond's grief rather than standard Hollywood violent revenge stuff. You'd have more sympathy for his rampaging.
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • shaken66shaken66 california usaPosts: 155MI6 Agent
    The song is terrific and I want to buy this album. Amazon is pre-selling the cd in the U.S. for $48! Certainly some kind fellow member will help me finance this significant acquisition so I may avoid resorting to armed robbery, which most likely result in my incarceration thereby ending my involvement with this site. No personal checks please! ;)
    "How did he die?"
    "Your contact?" "Not well."
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,467MI6 Agent
    Just bought it in exchange for taking Yellow Submarine back to HMV. Though it was a bugger to fit through the door, chipped the paintwork a bit. ;)

    Performance is selling for a tenner in HMV so not a bad price. :)
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    Napoleon Plural wrote:
    Just bought it in exchange for taking Yellow Submarine back to HMV. Though it was a bugger to fit through the door, chipped the paintwork a bit. ;)

    This door: it would be a revolver, I suppose...?
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,467MI6 Agent
    Yep. Caught my rubber soul in it... :)
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,746Chief of Staff
    Barbel wrote:
    Napoleon Plural wrote:
    Just bought it in exchange for taking Yellow Submarine back to HMV. Though it was a bugger to fit through the door, chipped the paintwork a bit. ;)

    This door: it would be a revolver, I suppose...?

    He should have asked for Help !
    YNWA 97
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    Just a little, from his friends.

    (This could go on eight days a week) ;%
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,746Chief of Staff
    Do you want to know a secret ? He could have asked Polythene Pam...she would have carried that weight...but I'm sure something will crop up.

    Eight days a week ? I hope not...I'm so tired.

    Double ;%
    YNWA 97
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,467MI6 Agent
    I think we should let it be... :#
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    Napoleon Plural wrote:
    I think we should let it be... :#

    Because...?
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,746Chief of Staff
    Barbel wrote:
    Napoleon Plural wrote:
    I think we should let it be... :#

    Because...?

    You can't do that !
    YNWA 97
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    Sir Miles wrote:
    Barbel wrote:
    Napoleon Plural wrote:
    I think we should let it be... :#

    Because...?

    You can't do that !

    :)) :)) I should have known better.
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,746Chief of Staff
    Barbel wrote:
    Sir Miles wrote:
    Barbel wrote:

    Because...?

    You can't do that !

    :)) :)) I should have known better.

    I Will :D
    YNWA 97
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    Sir Miles wrote:
    Barbel wrote:
    Sir Miles wrote:

    You can't do that !

    :)) :)) I should have known better.

    I Will :D

    The End? ;%
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,746Chief of Staff
    Barbel wrote:
    Sir Miles wrote:
    Barbel wrote:

    :)) :)) I should have known better.

    I Will :D

    The End? ;%

    You won't see me ;)
    YNWA 97
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    Tell me why... :)

    (It's a tribute to their talents that we can do this!)
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,746Chief of Staff
    Barbel wrote:
    Tell me why... :)

    (It's a tribute to their talents that we can do this!)

    Everybody got's something to hide except for me and my monkey :v

    (and what a great talent they had/have) -{
    YNWA 97
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    Sir Miles wrote:
    Barbel wrote:
    Tell me why... :)

    (It's a tribute to their talents that we can do this!)

    Everybody got's something to hide except for me and my monkey :v

    (and what a great talent they had/have) -{

    It's all too much!

    (Am debating whether to buy the remastered CDs or not. Probably will, unless the Bride takes the hint for Christmas)
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,467MI6 Agent
    Hi Barbel, maybe this should be for a PM, but take into account my slightly negative reviews on the Beatles thread. I think it's ok to cherry pick some of the albums, but really if you want to hear them how they should be my advice is pick up a first pressing vinyl on eBay, if you have a turntable. IMO the Beatles are an analogue band misplaced in a digital age. Still other opinions differ. IMO for instance, the mono CD Revolver is honestly no improvement on the stereo, but others say it's a big improvement in mono.
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    Thanks for that, NP.
  • Moonraker 5Moonraker 5 Ayrshire, ScotlandPosts: 1,821MI6 Agent
    I bought this album at the weekend for my mum's upcoming birthday (she's been a big fan off the Bass since before I came along). Played it in the car on the way home, and well I've decided to keep it and get her another copy...

    (My own personal favourite from the album is The Girl From Tiger Bay)
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  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 37,854Chief of Staff
    Have just watched a "Songbook" documentary on Don Black, with David Arnold guesting. They didn't mention "No Good About Goodbyes" but there was an interesting section with Arnold at the piano, with Black beside him, running through TB, TWINE, and best of all "Only Myself To Blame" (DAF got a mention but not-so-strangely TMWTGG didn't!). Arnold did not a bad job of the vocals.
    When the interviewer asked Black to compare working with Barry and Arnold, the latter jumped in with "I eat more and drink less..." which had me in stitches before Don gave a more serious reply (basically saying that JB would take his time and polish a melody before asking him to write the lyric while he and Arnold had a lot more give and take).
  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,467MI6 Agent
    Moonraker 5 wrote:
    I bought this album at the weekend for my mum's upcoming birthday (she's been a big fan off the Bass since before I came along). Played it in the car on the way home, and well I've decided to keep it and get her another copy...

    (My own personal favourite from the album is The Girl From Tiger Bay)

    Baaaaaaaa!

    I haven't heard all of it yet but I'm just playing my faves, No Good About Goodbyes and the Richard Hawley one second to last... songs of majestic despair, can't honestly say they cheer me up but there you go.

    We had a similar show with Alan Yentob, Bassey struggled with Arnold's No Good About Goodbyes song but eventually nailed it. No mention of it maybe being for the Bond film. Great, eh? Arnold's songs I'm never that keen on, then he does this knockout tune and it doesn't even make the movie! 8-)
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
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