Blackpool jazz fans erupted in admiriation for Dame Shirley

By Barry Band
Shirley Bassey at the photocall for the 1961 Opera House summer show Shirley is at the wheel with Richard Hearne left and Ivor Emmanuel upper leftShirley Bassey at the photocall for the 1961 Opera House summer show Shirley is at the wheel with Richard Hearne left and Ivor Emmanuel upper left
Shirley Bassey at the photocall for the 1961 Opera House summer show Shirley is at the wheel with Richard Hearne left and Ivor Emmanuel upper left

Today is the Great Day when the Great Dame releases her final album.

Shirley Bassey is capping an amazing career by saying I Owe It All to You.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

And when we look back on that career we, in Blackpool, can say: “Thanks, Shirl, we were there at the beginning.”

The 1961 split season at the Opera HouseThe 1961 split season at the Opera House
The 1961 split season at the Opera House

The number of readers who remember her first Blackpool visit could probably fill a booth at the Bank Hey Street McDonald’s, two doors from the old Queen’s Theatre.

She was 16 and unknown when she appeared in an Al Jolson tribute show at the Queen’s in October, 1953.

Maybe a few more readers can recall Shirley’s second Blackpool visit, in March, 1954, at the old Palace Theatre, at the other end of Bank Hey Street. This show was called Hot From Harlem - and Shirley got a one-line mention in the Gazette.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In the next year the career of the girl from Tiger Bay took a step up and Blackpool saw it when she returned to the Palace on Sunday, August 28, 1955, as guest artiste in two concerts with the great Johnny Dankworth Orchestra.

Dame Shirley Bassey in Blackpool, 2000Dame Shirley Bassey in Blackpool, 2000
Dame Shirley Bassey in Blackpool, 2000

Shirley had only four songs. She teetered onto the stage in the tightest of gowns and launched into I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, and closed with a dynamic Stormy Weather.

The audience of jazz fans erupted in admiration and a belief that a star was born.

A few weeks later she got her London break in comedian Al Read’s season at the Adelphi Theatre.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A year after her Blackpool shows with Johnny Dankworth, Shirley was being presented at British resorts by impresario Harold Fielding.

She was back here at the Palace on a Sunday bill headed by singer Lee Lawrence and three weeks later on an Opera House Sunday bill headed by David Whitfield.

From 1957 Shirley always topped her twice-nightly Sunday concert bills (above three other artists) at the Opera House - a total of 27 engagements until 1965.

It wasn’t until December, 1958, that she had her first chart-topping single, As I Love You, and it was 1961 before her second, the double A-sided Reach for the Stars/Climb Ev’ry Mountain.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But this made her first Blackpool summer season a “standing room only” event at the Opera House from July 1 to August 26.

It was a rare split season at the big theatre, with Cliff Richard and the Shadows taking over as bill-toppers from August 28.

Although her Opera House Sunday concerts finished in 1965, Shirley’s UK tours always visited the theatre.

Her three James Bond title songs have to be mentioned - Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker - but back to Blackpool Bassey landmarks.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In 1994 she was our Illuminations Switch On personality (the Lights just managed to outshine her) and in the same year was awarded the CBE.

The Damehood came in the Millennium Honours List and in 2000 Blackpool was one of only eight towns and cities on Dame Shirley’s Millennium Tour.

Stand by for a weekend of telly tributes!

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.