''Keep the Music Playing'' is a 1991 album by Shirley Bassey. The album was recorded in the UK at the Westgreen Studios and in the Netherlands at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum. The album is a mixture of contemporary pop ballads, such as "I Want to Know What Love Is" from Foreigner, the

Jennifer Rush Jennifer Rush (born Heidi Stern; September 28, 1960) is an American pop and rock singer. She achieved success during the mid-1980s with several singles and studio albums including the million-selling single " The Power of Love", which she co-w ...

power ballad "The Power of Love", and the more gentle "Still" from

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...

, combined with standards from the field of jazz and pop, such as "He Was Beautiful", the sweet jazz ballad from Cleo Laine. Several of the song arrangements reflect an

operatic pop Operatic pop or popera is a subgenre of pop music that is performed in an operatic singing style or a song, theme or motif from classical music stylized as pop. The subgenre is often performed by classical crossover singers and acts, although that ...

style influence, which may have roots in her 1984 album '' I Am What I Am'', which she recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, and the fact that in the latter mid-1980s she started working with a vocal coach, a former opera singer. Bassey returned to the Beatles with "Yesterday", as she had previously covered "Something" and "Fool on the Hill" successfully in the 1970s, and had performed "Hey Jude" frequently live. Another previously successful formula was used for the closing track "Dio, Come Ti Amo (Oh God How Much I Love You)" an Italian original in the tradition of "This is My Life" and "Natalie". (" Dio, Come Ti Amo" was the Italian entry for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

in 1966, performed in Italian by Domenico Modugno). The album was a commercial success and entered the UK album charts in May 1991, peaking at number 25.Shirley Bassey on officialcharts.com
/ref> The original release was on vinyl, cassette and CD, the CD was issued by Dino Records in the UK and ZYX Records in Germany. FreeStyle Records is now defunct but this album has been re-issued on CD many times on various labels.

Track listing

# "

How Do You Keep the Music Playing? "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" is a song composed by Michel Legrand, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman for the 1982 film '' Best Friends'', where it was introduced by James Ingram and Patti Austin. The Austin/Ingram version became a si ...

" (

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

Alan Bergman Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) and Marilyn Keith Bergman (November 10, 1928 – January 8, 2022) were an American songwriting duo. Married from 1958 until Marilyn's death, together they wrote music and lyrics for numerous celebrated telev ...

, Marilyn Bergman) - 4.47 # "He Was Beautiful" (

Cleo Laine Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth (born Clementine Dinah Bullock; 28 October 1927)Stanley Myers) - 4.12 # " The Power of Love" (Gunther Mende, Candy DeRouge,

, Mary Susan Applegate) - 4.34 # " Still" (

) - 5.44 # "All I Ask Of You" (

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

, Charles Hart) - 3.56 # " I Want to Know What Love Is" ( Mick Jones) - 4.56 # "

Wind Beneath My Wings "Wind Beneath My Wings" (sometimes titled "The Wind Beneath My Wings" and "Hero") is a song written in 1982 by Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley. The song was first recorded by Kamahl in 1982 for a country and western album he was recording. Kamahl talk ...

" ( Larry Henley, Jeff Silbar) - 4.19 # " Yesterday" (

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

) - 3.20 # "

That's What Friends Are For "That's What Friends Are For" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager. It was first recorded in 1982 by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the film '' Night Shift'', but it is better known for the 1985 cover version by Dionn ...

" (

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

, Carole Bayer Sager) - 4.06 # " Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English songwriter, singer and visual artist. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with musician Elton John, a songwriting partnership that is one of the most successful in history. Tau ...

) - 3.46 # "

The Greatest Love of All "The Greatest Love of All" is a song written by Michael Masser, who composed the music, and Linda Creed, who wrote the lyrics. It was originally recorded in 1977 by George Benson, who made the song a substantial hit, peaking at number two on the ...

" ( Michael Masser, Linda Creed) - 5.28 (re-recording original on ''

The Magic Is You ''The Magic Is You'' is a 1979 album by Welsh singer Shirley Bassey. Her final album for United Artists Records, the album notably featured a disco version of her signature 1968 song "This Is My Life". Overview Following the UK top three succe ...

)'' (1978) # " Dio, Come Ti Amo (Oh God How Much I Love You)" (

Domenico Modugno Domenico Modugno (; 9 January 1928 – 6 August 1994) was an Italian singer, actor and, later in life, a member of the Italian Parliament. He is known for his 1958 international hit song "Nel blu, dipinto di blu (song), Nel blu dipinto di blu", ...

) - 4.45

Personnel

* Shirley Bassey - Vocals * Michael Alexander - Producer, Acoustic Piano, keyboards and Bass * Mark Sinclair - Producer, Acoustic Piano * Jude Hudson - Bass, Keyboard, Drums and Midi Programming * Graham Broad - Drums * Christian Barton - Drums * Chris Davis - Sax Solos * Andy Price - Guitar

Singles

The album was predated by the release of a cover of "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" by

, with "

" as B-side (the latter being a re-recording of the track, which was recorded originally for Bassey's 1979 album ''

''). The CD single release featured " I Want to Know What Love Is" as a bonus track. A music video was also shot in order to promote the single.

Track listing: 7" single "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?"

A:"

" (

, Marilyn Bergman) - 4 .47 B:"

" ( Michael Masser, Linda Creed) - 5.28 Issued in Germany on the ZYX 7" single ZYX 6510-7, the single failed to chart.

Track listing: CD single "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?"

1."

" (

, Marilyn Bergman) - 4 .47 2."

" ( Michael Masser, Linda Creed) - 5.28 3." I Want to Know What Love Is" ( Mick Jones) - 4.56 Issued in Germany on the ZYX CD single ZYX 6510-8, the single failed to chart. "That's What Friends Are For" was released in Germany in 2005 by ZYX Records. This single is a remix of the 1991 track recorded for the album ''Keep the Music Playing''. Only the first two tracks feature the vocals of Shirley Bassey. The CD sleeve notes list the version in the wrong order, the track listing below is the corrected order. The single was not official promoted by Shirley Bassey. The single failed to reach any chart listing.

Track listing: CD single "That's What Friends Are For" (2005 remix)

#"That's What Friends Are For" (House party mix) (performed by Shirley Bassey) - 3.47 #"That's What Friends Are For" (House party extended mix) (performed by Shirley Bassey) - 5.08 #"That's What Friends Are For" (House party cover) (performed by Rene K) - 3.51 #"That's What Friends Are For" (Ballade cover) (performed by Rene K) - 3.51 #"That's What Friends Are For" (House party cover karaoke mix) - 3.51 #"That's What Friends Are For" (Ballade cover karaoke mix) - 3.51

Personnel

* Shirley Bassey - Vocal (tracks 1 and 2) * Rene K - Vocal (tracks 3 and 4) * Ismail Boulaghmal - Keyboards and Vocals * Roberto Misto - Keyboards and Vocals Alternative version Previous to this single the track also appeared in a different remix on a German compilation CD titled ''Golden Disco-Hits 2'' issued by Dance Street Records. #"That's What Friends Are For" (2005 Club mix) (performed by Shirley Bassey) - 4.08

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keep The Music Playing (Shirley Bassey Album) Shirley Bassey albums 1991 albums