So Long As People Turn Their Heads - 11/23 show

Last night, at Thanksgiving, Kat asked the group, what's the most embarrassing thing on your iPod? I answered immediately, Shirley Bassey. I bought a Shirley Bassey greatest hits CD a while back (not long after her work with the Propellerheads on the song "History Repeating"), just for fun. I said, it'll be all the Shirley Bassey we need for the rest of our lives. I expected to enjoy owning a copy of "Goldfinger" and "Diamonds are Forever". I did not expect to enjoy the whole thing so more. I found myself playing the CD rather often.

It embarrasses me to like it so much, because she seems so not-quite-cool. She's not Nina Simone or Blossom Dearie. But on the other hand, if she were not cool, would the Propellerheads have worked with her? "History Repeating" is a cool song; Bassey almost growls as she sings about passing fads, with high bombast. It's the energy she brought to "Goldfinger" (the song that defined the James Bond theme song), as well as her fantastic version of "Hey Big Spender".

Not all songs are overblown to a humorous effect; some are earnestly dramatic. "(Where Do I Begin) Love Story" is one of these. It is a classic dramatic diva number. The version I played is from a remix album, similar to the Verve Remixed series. This version has a beat and heavy bass. It is dramatic diva, but also cool.

Perhaps my concern is that a fondness for divas is too typically gay. Regular listened Pete said he could tell it was me DJing once "because of the chanteuses". I admit I do like the female jazz vocals, plus great female indie rock vocalists like Neko Case and Mirah.

So ultimately, I am not embarrassed to own or like Shirley Bassey's work, any more than I'd feel that way for Nina Simone, Blossom Dearie, Astrud Gilberto, or Ella Fitgerald. And I give myself permission to feel good about liking Liza Minelli, too.

And here's what Dorothy Gambrell has to say about guilty pleasures.

*: new stuff
(r): requests

artist	song	album	label
Belle and Sebastian	We Are the Sleepyheads	The Life Pursuit	Matador
Shirley Bassey	(Where Do I Begin) Love Story (Away Team Mix)	The Remix Album... Diamonds Are Forever
The Aluminum Group	Tiny Decison	Happyness	Wishing Tree
Astrud Gilberto	Frevo	Verve Jazz Masters 9	Verve
*The Owls	Channel	Daughters and Suns	Magic Marker
The Beach Boys	Sloop John B	Pet Sounds	Capitol
The Decemberists	16 Military Wives	Picaresque	Kill Rock Stars
Canasta	Microphone Song	We Were Set Up	Broken Middle C
*Babyshambles	French Dog Blues	Shotter's Nation	Astralwerks
*Monster Bobby	I Heard You Moved Away	Gaps	Hyphone
*Karen O and The Million Dollar Bashes	Highway 61 Revisited	I'm Not There Soudtrack	Columbia/Sony
(r)Patti Smith Group	Space Monkey	Easter	Arista
*Cass McCombs	That's That	Dropping the Writ	Domino
Ojos de Brujo	Todo Tiende	Techarí
The Magnetic Fields	I Thought You Were My Boyfriend	i	Nonesuch
CSS	Let's Make Love (and Listen to Death From Above)	Cansei de Ser Sexy
Mark Ronson feat. Santo Gold	Pretty Green	Version	RCA
*Moving Units	Nail It to the Cross	Hexes for Exes	Metropolis
OK Go	Antmusic	OK Go EP	Self-released
Brisa Roché	Warned	The Chase	Metro Blue
*Jens Lekman	Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo	Night Falls over Kortedala	Secretly Canadian
*Beirut	Guyamas Sonora	The Flying Club Cup	Ba Da Bing!
The Smiths	Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me	Singles	Reprise
*Sigur Ros	Ágætis Byrjun	Hvarf/Heim	XL
Grace Jones	Walkingin the Rain	Private Life: Compass Point Sessions
Air	Mer du Japon	Pocket Symphony	Astralwerks
Aguas de Março	Quarteto Jobim
*The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir	Then and Not a Moment Before	The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir	Bloodshot
The Clash	Clampdown	London Calling	Epic
The Gossip	All My Days	Movement	KRS
The Husbands	Sha La La Daniel	There's Nothing I'd Like More than to See You Dead	Swami
*The Hives	Hey Little World	The Black and White Album	A&M
Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire	Dear Old Greenland	The Swimming Hour	Rykodisc
Patrick Wolf	The Stars	The Magic Position	Tomlab
Los Blops	Que Lindas Son Las Mañanas	Del Volar de las Palomas	Shadoks/Normal
The Octopus Project	An Evening with Rthrtha	Avalanche	Peek-a-Boo
*Prefuse 73	Girlfriend Boyfriend	Preparations/Interregnums	WARP
Laurie Anderson	Smoke Rings	Talk Normal Anthology	Rhino
*Fire Engines	Big Gold Dream	Hungry Bear	Acture
Josephine Foster and the Supposed	All the Leaves Are Gone	Molten Truth Tour (Live)
Fazzini	Dell	Sulphur, Glue the Star	Locust
*Saturday Looks Good to Me	Money in the Afterlife	Fill Up the Room	K

Labels: playlists

posted by Tony at 9:58 AM