Manic scenes as Shirley Bassey kept her promise to entertain Dundee fans

Welsh singer wowed Caird Hall crowd in 1970s and vowed to return to repay city’s ‘fantastic audience’

It was the day a world-famous singer kept her promise to her Dundee fans and caused frenzied scenes on the city’s streets.

Dame Shirley Bassey first performed in Dundee on May 19 1972 and told the Caird Hall crowd: “I’ll be back – in my 18 years in showbusiness I’ve rarely had an audience as fantastic as this”.

She also wrote in the Caird Hall visitors’ book after the show: “A magnificent audience. A magnificent hall and magnificent acoustics. My first time here. I hope it will not be the last”.

Dame Shirley kept her promise and returned 45 years ago on November 20 1973 to perform hits such as Goldfinger, Big Spender and Diamonds are Forever.

There was a ticket frenzy with manic scenes as 10,000 people queued in the street for seats from 5am for the Caird Hall show, despite tickets priced at “a record £3”.

The People’s Journal said Reform Street “looked as it hadn’t done since the early ’60s when Dundee FC were in their heydey and fans queued to book at Meldrum’s”.

Before the 1973 performance Dame Shirley arrived at the Caird Hall and wrote in the visitors book: “Here I am again as promised”.

Andrew Murray Scott, author of Modern Dundee: Life in the City Since World War Two, said: “Shirley Bassey was a favourite in Dundee from the early ’60s partly due to her epic, emotional delivery.

“She was dynamic, spellbinding in her heyday and also possibly because of her back story, a troubled childhood and teenage pregnancy – all too familiar in Dundee.

“Possibly the first hits to really strike the sensibilities of my parents’ generation in Dundee, were Kiss Me, Honey, Honey Kiss Me, I Who Have Nothing – which became a Dundee “clubbie” karaoke favourites and of course later, in 1965, her startling rendition of the Bond theme song, Goldfinger.

“Singing a Bond theme is of course a quick way to gain millions of additional fans.”

Born in 1937 in Cardiff, Dame Shirley’s bold voice, along with her perseverance, helped her move beyond her impoverished upbringing.

She reached a level of international acclaim that few other black British performers had seen before her and recorded numerous hits throughout her glittering career, including the theme songs for three James Bond films.

A magnificent hall. My first time here. I hope it will not be the last