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25th Anniversary Album

1978 compilation album by Shirley Bassey

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionFeb 10, 2025
Entity authorityQ30606311 ↗
Source-derived summary

25th Anniversary Album is a compilation album by Shirley Bassey. Released in 1978 to mark her 25th year in show business, the album was a double set, comprising 40 tracks. The songs included span just 20 of the 25 years from 1957 to 1976, however, her first professional contract (which is reproduced within the album's inner sleeve) is dated 1953. Bassey had toured extensively throughout 1978 to mark her 25 years. This collection, including her biggest hits and some lesser-known recordings, became one of her biggest in the UK, where it reached No.3 and spent 12 weeks on the album chart.

Overview

1978 marked the 25th anniversary of Shirley Bassey's professional singing career. Her first contract was signed on the 17 December 1953 for a fee of £10 for two shows on the 20 December. Her first recordings however, didn't come until 1956, with her first UK hit single arriving in 1957. For her 25th anniversary, Bassey embarked on an extensive tour throughout 1978. For 20 years, Bassey regularly hit the charts with the biggest of her hits being included on this, her first compilation to span her entire career.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “25th Anniversary Album” as 1978 compilation album by Shirley Bassey. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1978, 1957, 1976, 1953—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1978. The account is most persuasive where 25th, Anniversary and Album can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1978 compilation album by Shirley Bassey. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 10, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q30606311. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1978, 1957, 1976 and 1953.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “25th Anniversary Album”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow 25th Anniversary Album primary sources, 25th Anniversary Album archive and 25th research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “25th Anniversary Album”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “25th Anniversary Album” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.