The Who's Pete Townshend has been writing about DSB's Glastonbury appearance on his blog yesterday:
http://www.petetownshend-whohe.blogspot.com
DSB - the heaviest star alive
When I was about twelve years old, maybe a little older, I accompanied my father to a Sunday Concert at which his band The Squadronaires were to accompany various pop singers of the day. I think the venue was Norwich. I had seen Frankie Vaughan several times, watched women throw their knickers at him long before they ever threw them at Tom Jones, and also watched the way he was summarily dropped by all those adoring female fans as soon as the first wave of younger, more wholesome pop stars appeared. These were the likes of Craig Douglas, Billy Fury, Cliff Richard.
On the night in question a new young singer from Wales was scheduled to appear - Shirley Bassey. The word that spread around the band backstage was that this girl was HOT. I had seen Eartha Kitt a short time before, and expected the same kind of feline eroticism. Shirley Bassey blew the roof off. She could only have been in her teens. She wore a dress that clung to her body as closely as a seaweed wrap. Her voice soared above the band and she hardly used the microphone provided. I have always been a fan.
Watching artists like Shirley Bassey when I was a young teenager was more important to me than watching Elvis. In this Roger Daltrey and I may not agree, but I grew up watching some of the most wonderful performers of the '50s and '60s, just before rock 'n' roll came along. I think this is why I take rock so seriously, I really know the quality of what went before.
At Glastonbury, for once all joking aside, watching DSB I was reminded what makes a performer matter, what makes them last, what makes them great. Humility, humour and love. DSB still has a great voice (and I can assure you the conditions at Glasto were awful for her and her orchestra on stage as well as off). She is still very, very sexy. She triumphed at Glastonbury.
It is significant that Peter Paphides in his Times review mentioned two female performers, of widely different ages, conquering the festival. One was Lily Allen, the other DSB. We won't go into which male performers conquered, at least not again, but in essence he was right. I rarely get excited about playing concerts, I've spent too much time backstage as a child. I feel safe there, secure, looked after and valued. After Glastonbury I did get a little excited. I only wanted to do one thing, take DSB home with me. By the way, my helicopter, provided by Castle Air in Exeter, did not have to do an emergency landing. I think DSB's helicopter had trouble bearing the weight of so much pure gold.
