Dusty Springfield
Encyclopedia
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop
singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s. With her distinctive sensual sound, she was an important white soul singer, and at her peak was one of the most successful British female performers, with 18 singles in the Billboard Hot 100
from 1964 to 1970. She is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
and the U.K. Music Hall of Fame
. International polls have named Springfield among the best female rock artists of all time.
Born in West London
to an Irish Catholic
family that enjoyed music, Springfield learned to sing at home. She joined her first professional group, The Lana Sisters
, in 1958, then formed the pop-folk vocal trio The Springfields
in 1960 with her brother Dion
.
Her solo career began in 1963 with the upbeat pop hit, "I Only Want to Be with You
" (1963). Among the hits that followed were "Wishin' and Hopin'
" (1964), "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself
" (1964), "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
" (1966), and "Son of a Preacher Man
" (1968). A fan of American pop music, she was the first public figure to bring little-known soul singers to a wider British audience, when she created and hosted the first British performances of the top-selling Motown
artists in 1965. By 1966, she was the best-selling female singer in the world, and topped a number of popularity polls, including Melody Maker
s Best International Vocalist. She was the first British singer to top the New Musical Express readers' poll for Female Singer. Her image, supported by a peroxide blonde beehive
hairstyle, evening gown
s, and heavy make-up, made her an icon of the Swinging Sixties.
The marked changes in pop music in the mid-1960s left many female pop singers out of fashion. To boost her credibility as a soul artist, Springfield went to Memphis, Tennessee
, to record an album of pop and soul music
with the Atlantic Records
main production team. Released in 1969, Dusty in Memphis
has been ranked among the greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone and VH1
artists, New Musical Express readers, and the Channel 4
viewers polls. The album was also awarded a spot in the Grammy Hall of Fame.
After this, however, Springfield's success dipped for eighteen years. She returned to the Top 20 of the British and American charts in collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys
on the songs "What Have I Done to Deserve This?", "Nothing Has Been Proved
" and "In Private
". Interest in Springfield's early output was revived in 1994 due to the inclusion of "Son of a Preacher Man" on the soundtrack of the movie Pulp Fiction
.
, North London, England, on 16 April 1939, the second child of Gerard Anthony O'Brien, called "OB", and Catherine (Ryle) O'Brien, called "Kay". Her brother Dion, later to become Tom Springfield
, had been born five years earlier on 2 July 1934. Her father, Gerard O'Brien, who had been raised in the British Raj
, was neat and precise by nature, and worked as a tax accountant and consultant. Her mother Kay came from a family in County Kerry
, Ireland, which included a number of journalists.
Springfield was raised in High Wycombe
, Buckinghamshire
, until the early 1950s and later lived in the West London borough of Ealing
. She received her education at a traditional all-girls Catholic school (St Anne's Convent School, Little Ealing Lane, Northfields). The comfortable middle class upbringing was disturbed by dysfunctional tendencies in the family; her father's perfectionism, and her mother's frustrations would sometimes spill out in food-throwing incidents. Springfield and Dion both engaged in food-throwing throughout the rest of their lives. She was something of a tomboy
in her early years, and was given the nickname "Dusty" because she played football with boys in the street.
Springfield was raised in a music-loving family. Her father would tap out rhythms on the back of her hand and encourage Dusty to guess the musical piece. She listened to a wide range of music including George Gershwin
, Rodgers and Hart
, Rodgers and Hammerstein
, Cole Porter
, Count Basie
, Duke Ellington
and Glenn Miller
, among others. She was a fan of American jazz
and the vocalists Peggy Lee
and Jo Stafford
, and wished to sound like them. She made a recording of herself singing the Irving Berlin
song "When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam" at a local record shop in Ealing when she was twelve.
, an "established sister act". With this vocal group, she developed skills in harmonising and microphone technique, recorded, did some television performances, and played at live shows in the UK and at U.S. Air Force bases.
In 1960, Springfield left the band and formed a pop-folk trio with her brother Dion O'Brien and Reshad Feild
(who was later replaced by Mike Hurst
). They chose The Springfields as the trio's name while rehearsing in a field in Somerset
in the springtime, and took the stage names of Dusty, Tom, and Tim Springfield. Intending to make an authentic American album, the group travelled to Nashville, Tennessee
, to record the album Folk Songs from the Hills. The American pop tunes that she heard during this visit helped turn Springfield's choice of music from folk and country towards pop music rooted in rhythm and blues
. The band was voted the "Top British Vocal Group" by the New Musical Express poll in 1961 and 1962. During the spring of 1963, the Springfields recorded their last British Top 5 hit, "Say I Won't Be There". Dusty Springfield left the band after their last concert in October 1963.
Dusty Springfield's first single, "I Only Want to Be with You
", written and arranged by Ivor Raymonde
, was released in November 1963. It was produced by Johnny Franz
in a manner similar to Phil Spector
's "Wall of Sound
", and included rhythm and blues features such as horn sections, backing singers and double-tracked vocals, along with pop music strings
, in the style of girl bands that Springfield admired, such as The Shirelles
. The song rose to No.4 on the British charts, leading to its nomination as a "Sure Shot" pick of records not yet charted in the U.S. by New York disc jockey "Dandy" Dan Daniel of WMCA
radio in December 1963, preceding Beatlemania
. It remained on the American Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks, peaking at No.12. The release finished as No.48 on New York's WABC
radio Top 100 for 1964. The song was the first record played on BBC-TV's Top of the Pops
programme on 1 January 1964. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc
in the UK.
Springfield's debut album A Girl Called Dusty
included mostly covers of her favourite songs. Among the tracks were "Mama Said", "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes", "You Don't Own Me
" and "Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa
". The album reached #6 in the UK in May 1964. The chart hits "Stay Awhile", "All Cried Out" and "Losing You" followed the same year. In 1964, Springfield recorded two Burt Bacharach songs: "Wishin' and Hopin'
—an American Top 10 hit— and the emotional "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself
", which reached #3 on the British chart. The latter song set the standard for much of her later material.
Springfield's tour of South Africa was interrupted in December 1964, and she was deported, after she performed before an integrated audience at a theatre near Cape Town
, which was against the South African government's segregation policy. In the same year, she was voted the Top Female British Artist of the year in the New Musical Express poll
, topping Lulu
, Sandie Shaw
, and Cilla Black
. Springfield received the award again the following three years.
In 1965, Springfield took part in the Italian Song Festival in San Remo
, and failed to qualify for the final with two songs. During the competition, she heard the song "Io Che Non Vivo (Senza Te)". Its English version, "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
", featured lyrics written by Springfield's friend, Vicki Wickham
, and her future manager, Simon Napier-Bell
. It reached No.1 in the UK in May 1966 and reached No.4 on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, where it was also No.35 on the Billboard Top 100 for 1966. The song, which Springfield called "good old schmaltz", was voted among the All Time Top 100 Songs by the listeners of BBC Radio 2
in 1999.
In 1965, Springfield released three more British Top 40 hits: "Your Hurtin' Kinda Love", "In the Middle of Nowhere", and Carole King
's "Some of Your Lovin'". These were not included on the album Ev'rything's Coming Up Dusty
, which featured songs by Leslie Bricusse
, Anthony Newley
, Rod Argent
and Randy Newman
, and a cover
of the traditional Mexican song, "La Bamba
". This album peaked at #6 in the U.K.
Springfield was instrumental in introducing Motown to a wider British audience, both with her covers of Motown songs, and in facilitating the first British TV appearance for The Temptations
, The Supremes
, The Miracles
, and Stevie Wonder
on a special edition of the Ready Steady Go!
show, called The Sound Of Motown. The show was broadcast on 28 April 1965 by Rediffusion TV
, with Springfield opening each half of the show accompanied by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and Motown's in-house band The Funk Brothers
.
Springfield released three additional UK Top 20 hits in 1966: "Little By Little" and two dramatic ballads by Carole King: "Goin' Back" and "All I See Is You", which also reached the US Top 20. In August and September 1966, she hosted Dusty, a series of six BBC TV music and talk shows. A compilation of her singles, Golden Hits, released in November 1966, reached #2 in the UK.
" was designed as the centrepiece for the James Bond
parody Casino Royale
. For one of the slowest-tempo hits of the sixties, Bacharach created a sultry feel by the use of minor-seventh and major-seventh chord changes, while Hal David's lyrics epitomised longing and lust. This song was recorded in two versions at the Philips
Studios of London. The soundtrack version was recorded on 29 January and the single release version was done in April. "The Look of Love" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song of 1967. The song was a Top 10 radio hit on KGB-AM, San Diego, CA and KHJ-AM, Los Angeles
radio stations in the western United States
, and earned her highest place in the year's music charts at #22.
The second season of the BBC's Dusty TV shows, featuring performances of "Get Ready" and the U.K. #13 hit "I'll Try Anything
", attracted a healthy audience but the show did not keep up with changes in the pop music market. The comparatively progressive album Where Am I Going?
attempted to redress this by containing songs such as a "jazzy", orchestrated version of "Sunny
" and Jacques Brel
's "If You Go Away". Though it was appreciated critically, it did not sell well. In 1968, a similar fate befell Dusty... Definitely
. On this album, her choice of material ranged from the rolling "Ain't No Sun Since You've Been Gone" to the aching emotion of "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today". In that same year, Springfield had a British #4 hit, "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten
", written by Clive Westlake. Its flipside, "No Stranger am I", was written by Norma Tanega
. Her ITV series It Must Be Dusty was broadcast in May and June 1968, featuring a duet performance of "Mockingbird" with the guitarist Jimi Hendrix
.
and "fashionable" and what was pop and "unfashionable". In addition, her performing career was becoming limited to the British touring circuit, which at that time largely consisted of working men's club
s and the hotels and cabarets circuit. Hoping to reinvigorate her career and boost her credibility, Springfield signed with Atlantic Records
, the record label of one of her idols, Aretha Franklin
. The Memphis sessions at the American Sound Studio
were recorded by the A-team of Atlantic Records: producers Jerry Wexler
, Tom Dowd
, and Arif Mardin
; the back-up vocal band Sweet Inspirations
; and the instrumental band Memphis Cats, led by guitarist Reggie Young
and bass guitar player Tommy Cogbill
. The producers were the first to recognise that Springfield's natural soul voice should be placed at the forefront, rather than competing with full string arrangements. At first, Springfield felt anxious about being compared with the soul greats who had recorded in the same studios. Springfield later stated that she had never before worked with just a rhythm track, and that it was the first time she had worked with outside producers, as she had self-produced her previous recordings (although she never took credit for it). Due to what Wexler called a "gigantic inferiority complex" and Ms. Springfield's pursuit of perfection, her vocals were recorded later in New York. During the Memphis sessions in November 1968, Dusty suggested that the heads of Atlantic Records should sign the newly-formed band Led Zeppelin
. She knew the band's bass player, John Paul Jones
. Without having ever seen them and largely on Dusty's advice, the record company signed a $200,000 deal with them. That was the biggest contract of its kind for a new band up until that time.
The album Dusty in Memphis received excellent reviews on its initial releases both in the U.S. and the UK. Greil Marcus
of Rolling Stone
magazine wrote:"... most of the songs... have a great deal of depth while presenting extremely direct and simple statements about love.... Dusty sings around her material, creating music that's evocative rather than overwhelming... Dusty is not searching—she just shows up, and she, and we, are better for it." The sales numbers failed to match the critical success; the album did not crack the British Top 15 and peaked at #99 on the American Billboard Top 200 with sales of 100,000 copies. However, Dusty in Memphis earned Springfield a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
in 1970, and by 2001, the album had received the Grammy Hall of Fame award, and was listed among the greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone and VH1
artists, New Musical Express readers, and the Channel 4
viewers polls.
The main song on the album, "Son of a Preacher Man
", was written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins. It reached #10 on the British, American and international music charts. Its best results in continental Europe were #10 on the Austrian charts and #3 on the Swiss charts. The song was the 96th most popular song of 1969 in the United States. The writers of Rolling Stone magazine placed Springfield's release at #77 among 'The 100 Best Singles of the Last 25 Years' in 1987. The record was placed at #43 of the 'Greatest Singles of All Time' by the writers of New Musical Express in 2002.
In 2004, the song made the Rolling Stone
list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
at #240. In 1994 the song was featured in a scene of the film Pulp Fiction
, and the soundtrack
reached No. 21 on the Billboard 200, and at the time, went platinum (100,000 units) in Canada alone. "Son of a Preacher Man" helped the album sell over 2 million copies in the U.S., and it reached #6 on the charts.
Dusty hosted her third and final BBC musical variety series (her fourth variety series overall) Decidedly Dusty which aired in September and October of 1969. All eight episodes were later wiped from the BBC archives, and to date the only surviving footage consists of fan-made bootleg audio recordings.
had returned to America after their relationship had become stressful, and she was spending more and more time in America herself. In 1970 her second and final album on Atlantic Records, A Brand New Me
(From Dusty... With Love in the UK), with songs written and produced by Gamble and Huff
, was released. The album and related singles only sold moderately, and Springfield was unhappy with both her management and record company. She recorded some songs with producer Jeff Barry
in early 1971, which were intended for an album to be released by Atlantic Records; however, her new manager Alan Bernard managed to get her out of the Atlantic contract, and some of the songs were used on the UK-only album See All Her Faces
, and the 1999 release Dusty In Memphis-Deluxe Edition. In 1972, Springfield signed a contract with ABC Dunhill Records and Cameo
was released in 1973 to respectable reviews, though poor sales.
In 1973, Springfield recorded the theme song for the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man
. Her second ABC Dunhill album was given the working title Elements and scheduled for release as Longing
. The sessions were soon abandoned. Part of the material, including tentative and incomplete vocals, was released on the 2001 compilation Beautiful Soul. She put her career on hold in 1974 and lived reclusively in the United States to avoid scrutiny by British tabloids. During this time she sang background vocals for Anne Murray
's album Together and Elton John
's album Caribou
, and was heard on the single "The Bitch Is Back
". Springfield released two albums on United Artists Records
in the late 1970s. The first was 1978's It Begins Again
, produced by Roy Thomas Baker
. The album charted only briefly in the UK, though it was well received by critics. The 1979 album, Living Without Your Love
, did even worse, not charting at all. In autumn 1979, Springfield played club dates in New York City. In London, she recorded two singles with David Mackay
for her British label, Mercury Records
(formerly Philips Records). The first was the disco-influenced "Baby Blue", which reached #61 in Britain. The second, "Your Love Still Brings Me to My Knees" (released in January 1980), was Springfield's final single for Mercury Records; she had been with them for nearly 20 years. On 3 December 1979, she performed a charity concert for a full house at the Royal Albert Hall
, in the presence of Princess Margaret. In 1980 Springfield sang "Bits and Pieces", the theme song from the movie The Stunt Man
. She signed an American deal with 20th Century Records
that year, which resulted in the single "It Goes Like It Goes
", a cover of the Oscar-winning song from the film Norma Rae
. Springfield was uncharacteristically proud of her 1982 album White Heat
, which was influenced by New Wave music
. She tried to revive her career in 1985 by returning to the United Kingdom and signing to Peter Stringfellow
's Hippodrome Records label. This resulted in the single "Sometimes Like Butterflies" and an appearance on Terry Wogan
's live television show. None of Springfield's recordings from 1971 to 1986 charted on the British or American Top 40s.
In 1987, she accepted an invitation from the Pet Shop Boys
to sing with Neil Tennant
on the single "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" and appeared on the promotional video. This record rose to #2 on both the British and American charts. The song appeared on the "Pet Shop Boys" album Actually
and both of their greatest hits collections. Springfield sang lead vocals on the Richard Carpenter
song "Something in Your Eyes", recorded for Carpenter's album Time. Released as a single, it became a #12 adult contemporary
hit in the United States. Springfield recorded a duet with B.J. Thomas, "As Long as We Got Each Other", which was used as the theme song for the American sitcom Growing Pains
.
A new compilation of Springfield's greatest hits, The Silver Collection, was issued in 1988. Springfield returned to the studio with the Pet Shop Boys, who produced her recording of their song "Nothing Has Been Proved
", commissioned for the soundtrack of the film Scandal. Released as a single in early 1989, the song gave Springfield a UK Top 20 hit. So did its follow-up, the upbeat "In Private
", written and produced by the Pet Shop Boys. She capitalised on this by recording the 1990 album Reputation
, another UK Top 20 success. The writing and production credits for half the album, which included the two recent hit singles, went to the Pet Shop Boys, while the album's other producers included Dan Hartman
. Sometime before recording the Reputation album, Springfield decided to leave California for good, and by 1988 she had returned to Britain. In 1993, she was invited to record a duet with her former 1960s professional rival and friend, Cilla Black
. The song "Heart and Soul" was released as a single and appeared on Black's Through the Years album. Provisionally titled Dusty in Nashville, Springfield started recording the album A Very Fine Love
in 1993 with producer Tom Shapiro
. Though originally intended by Shapiro as a country music album, the song selection with Springfield pushed the album into pop music with an occasional country feel. The last song Springfield recorded in the studio was the George
and Ira Gershwin
song "Someone To Watch Over Me
". The song was recorded in London in 1995 for an insurance company television advertisement. It was included on Simply Dusty (2000), the extensive anthology that Springfield had helped plan, but did not live to see released. Her final live performance was in The Christmas with Michael Ball
in December 1995. She died of breast cancer on 2 March 1999.
, Springfield made one of the biggest impressions on the American market, scoring 18 singles in the Billboard Hot 100
from 1964 to 1970. The music press considers her as an iconic figure of the Swinging Sixties. Quentin Tarantino
caused a revival of interest in her music in 1994 by including "Son of a Preacher Man" in the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, which sold over three million copies. In that same year, in the documentary Dusty Springfield. Full Circle, guests of her 1965 Sound of Motown show credited Springfield's efforts with popularising American soul music in the UK. She was known all over Europe, and performed at the Sanremo Music Festival. She released a number of singles in French, German and Italian.
" and "Goin' Back
". The uniqueness of Springfield's voice was described by Burt Bacharach
when he said: "You could hear just three notes and you knew it was Dusty." Greil Marcus
of Rolling Stone
captured Springfield's technique as "a soft, sensual box (voice) that allowed her to combine syllables until they turned into pure cream." She had a finely tuned musical ear and extraordinary control of tone. She sang in a variety of styles, mostly pop, soul, folk, Latin and rock'n'roll. Being able to wrap her voice around difficult material, her repertoire included songs that their writers ordinarily would have offered to black vocalists. She performed as the only white singer on all-black bills on several occasions in the 1960s. Her soul orientation was so convincing that early in her solo career, U.S. listeners who had only heard her music on radio or records sometimes assumed that Springfield was African American. Later, a considerable number of observers have either thought she sounded black and American or made a point of saying she did not. Springfield constantly used her voice to upend commonly held beliefs on the expression of social identity
through music. She did this by referencing a number of styles and singers, including Martha Reeves
, Carole King
, Aretha Franklin
, Peggy Lee
, Astrud Gilberto
, Mina
, and many others.
Springfield implored her white British backup musicians to capture the spirit of the black American musicians and copy their instrumental playing styles. In the studio, she was a perfectionist. The fact that she could neither read nor write music made it hard for her to communicate with her session musicians. During her extensive vocal sessions, she repeatedly recorded short phrases and single words. She often produced her songs, but did not take credit for doing so.
icon. In public and on stage Springfield developed a joyful image supported by her peroxide blonde beehive
hairstyle, evening gown
s, and heavy make-up that included her much-copied "panda eye" mascara. Springfield borrowed elements of her look from blonde glamour queens of the 1950s, such as Brigitte Bardot
and Catherine Deneuve
, and pasted them together according to her own taste. Her ultra-glamorous look made her a camp icon and this, combined with her emotive vocal performances, won her a powerful and enduring following in the gay community. Besides the prototypical female drag queen
, she was presented in the roles of the 'Great White Lady' of pop and soul and the 'Queen of Mods'.
. She was placed among the 25 female rock artists of all time by the readers of Mojo
magazine (1999), editors of Q
magazine (2002), and a panel of artists by VH1
TV channel (2007). In 2008, Dusty appeared at #35 on the Rolling Stone
s "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". Various films and stage musicals continue to commemorate her. Universal Pictures
has scheduled a biographical film
to be released in 2011 with Kristin Chenoweth
playing Springfield.
In the 1960s she topped a number of popularity polls, including Melody Maker
s Best International Vocalist for 1966; in 1965 she was the first British singer to top the New Musical Express readers' polls for Female Singer, and topped that poll again in 1966, 1967 and 1969 as well as gaining the most votes in the British Singer category from 1964 to 1966.
Her album Dusty in Memphis has been listed among the greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone and VH1
artists, New Musical Express readers, and the Channel 4
viewers polls, and in 2001, received the Grammy Hall of Fame award.
was announced as star and producer of a Dusty biopic
, apparently yet to surface. Other reported candidates for the role include West Wing actress Kristin Chenoweth
and, perhaps somewhat incongruously, Madonna
.
American singer/songwriter Shelby Lynne
's tenth studio album Just a Little Lovin'
(2008) is a tribute to Dusty.
British singer/songwriter David Westlake
fêted the singer in song and album title Play Dusty For Me
(2002).
Stage musical Dusty – The Original Pop Diva received its world premiere on January 12, 2006 at the State Theatre of the Victorian Arts Centre
, Melbourne
, Australia.
The fact that Springfield was never reported to be in a relationship recognised by the public meant that the issue of her being "bisexual" was raised continually throughout her life. In 1970, Springfield told the Evening Standard
: By the standards of 1970, that was a very bold statement. Three years later, she explained to the Los Angeles Free Press
:
In the 1970s and 1980s, Springfield became involved in several romantic relationships with women in Canada and the US that were not kept secret from the gay and lesbian community. She had a love affair with singer-musician Carole Pope
of the rock band Rough Trade
.
While recording her final album, A Very Fine Love, in January 1994 in Nashville, Tennessee, Springfield felt ill. When she returned to England a few months later, her physicians diagnosed breast cancer. She received months of radiation treatment, and for a time the cancer was in remission. In 1995, in apparent good health, Springfield set about promoting the album.
Cancer was detected again during the summer of 1996. In spite of vigorous treatments, she succumbed on 2 March 1999. She died in Henley-on-Thames
on the day she had been scheduled to go to Buckingham Palace
to receive her award of Officer, Order of the British Empire
. Before her death, officials of Queen Elizabeth II
had given permission for the medal to be collected by Springfield's manager, Vicki Wickham
, and it was presented to the singer in the hospital in the company of a small party of friends and relatives. Her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in Cleveland, Ohio
, had been scheduled for 10 days after her death. Her friend Sir Elton John
helped induct her into the Hall of Fame, stating:
Springfield's funeral service was attended by hundreds of fans and people from the music business, including Elvis Costello
, Lulu
and the Pet Shop Boys
. It took place in Oxfordshire
, at the ancient parish church of St Mary the Virgin, in Henley-on-Thames
, the town where Springfield had lived during her last years. A marker dedicated to her memory was placed in the church graveyard.
Some of Springfield's ashes were buried at Henley, while the rest were scattered by her brother, Tom Springfield, at the Cliffs of Moher
, County Clare
, Ireland.
British pop music
While various forms of commercially produced popular music had existed in Great Britain for several centuries, what is now understood as British pop music emerged in the mid-to late 1950s as a softer alternative to rock 'n' roll and later to rock music...
singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s. With her distinctive sensual sound, she was an important white soul singer, and at her peak was one of the most successful British female performers, with 18 singles in the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
from 1964 to 1970. She is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
and the U.K. Music Hall of Fame
UK Music Hall of Fame
The UK Music Hall of Fame was an awards ceremony to honour musicians, of any nationality, for their lifetime contributions to music in the United Kingdom. The Hall of Fame started in 2004 with the induction of five founder members and five more members selected by a public televote, two from each...
. International polls have named Springfield among the best female rock artists of all time.
Born in West London
West London
West London generally refers to the western portions of London, and may refer specifically to:*West *West End of London*W postcode area...
to an Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
family that enjoyed music, Springfield learned to sing at home. She joined her first professional group, The Lana Sisters
The Lana Sisters
Riss Chantelle formed The Lana Sisters in 1958, along with Lynne Abrams. They put an advert in The Stage for a third member and got a reply from Mary O'Brien, who would go on to massive solo success a few years later as Dusty Springfield. After Riss left the Lana Sisters she became the Chantelles...
, in 1958, then formed the pop-folk vocal trio The Springfields
The Springfields
The Springfields were a British pop-folk vocal trio who had success in the early 1960s in the UK, US and Ireland and included singer Dusty Springfield and her brother, record producer Tom Springfield, along with Tim Feild, later a noted Sufi writer, who was latterly replaced by Mike Hurst, who...
in 1960 with her brother Dion
Tom Springfield
Tom Springfield is the brother of Dusty Springfield and an important figure in the 1960s folk and pop music scene...
.
Her solo career began in 1963 with the upbeat pop hit, "I Only Want to Be with You
I Only Want to Be with You
"I Only Want to Be with You" is a rock-and-roll song by Mike Hawker and Ivor Raymonde. It was the first solo single released by British singer Dusty Springfield under her long-time producer Johnny Franz...
" (1963). Among the hits that followed were "Wishin' and Hopin'
Wishin' and Hopin'
"Wishin' and Hopin" is a song written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach which was a Top Ten hit for Dusty Springfield in 1964.The song was first recorded by Dionne Warwick and was the B-side of Warwick's single "This Empty Place" in the spring of 1963; the track was also featured on Warwick's debut...
" (1964), "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself
I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself
"I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.-Original version:"I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" was first recorded by Tommy Hunt in a session produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, with Burt Bacharach arranging and conducting...
" (1964), "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
"You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" is the title of a 1966 hit recorded by British singer Dusty Springfield which proved to be her career record reaching #1 UK and #4 US: the song subsequently charted in the UK via remakes by Elvis Presley , Guys 'n' Dolls and Denise Welch with Presley's version...
" (1966), and "Son of a Preacher Man
Son of a Preacher Man
"Son of a Preacher Man" is a song recorded by Dusty Springfield in September 1968 and featured on the album, Dusty in Memphis. It was written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins. The rights to cover "Son of a Preacher Man" were originally offered to Aretha Franklin, who turned it down...
" (1968). A fan of American pop music, she was the first public figure to bring little-known soul singers to a wider British audience, when she created and hosted the first British performances of the top-selling Motown
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
artists in 1965. By 1966, she was the best-selling female singer in the world, and topped a number of popularity polls, including Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
s Best International Vocalist. She was the first British singer to top the New Musical Express readers' poll for Female Singer. Her image, supported by a peroxide blonde beehive
Beehive (hairstyle)
The Beehive is a woman's hairstyle that resembles a beehive; it is elegant and it is also known as the B-52, for its similarity to the bulbous nose of the B-52 Stratofortress bomber. It originated as one of a variety of elaborately teased and lacquered versions of "big hair" that developed from...
hairstyle, evening gown
Evening gown
An evening gown is a long flowing women's dress usually worn to a formal affair. It ranges from tea and ballerina to full-length. Evening gowns are often made of a luxury fabric such as chiffon, velvet, satin, or silk...
s, and heavy make-up, made her an icon of the Swinging Sixties.
The marked changes in pop music in the mid-1960s left many female pop singers out of fashion. To boost her credibility as a soul artist, Springfield went to Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, to record an album of pop and soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
with the Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
main production team. Released in 1969, Dusty in Memphis
Dusty in Memphis
Dusty in Memphis is a landmark album by Dusty Springfield, released in 1969. It was produced by Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin and engineered by Tom Dowd. "So Much Love", "Son of a Preacher Man", "The Windmills Of Your Mind", "Breakfast in Bed", "Just One Smile", "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore",...
has been ranked among the greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone and VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
artists, New Musical Express readers, and the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
viewers polls. The album was also awarded a spot in the Grammy Hall of Fame.
After this, however, Springfield's success dipped for eighteen years. She returned to the Top 20 of the British and American charts in collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
on the songs "What Have I Done to Deserve This?", "Nothing Has Been Proved
Nothing Has Been Proved
"Nothing Has Been Proved" is a song and a single release by British singer Dusty Springfield, produced by the Pet Shop Boys. The song was the second collaboration between Springfield and Pet Shop Boys, following their UK #2 and US #2 hit duet "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" in 1987...
" and "In Private
In Private
"In Private" was the third single in a row to be a charting success for British singer Dusty Springfield, after nearly two decades of little chart success. Both "In Private" and Springfield's previous single, "Nothing Has Been Proved" were produced by Pet Shop Boys, who helped return Springfield to...
". Interest in Springfield's early output was revived in 1994 due to the inclusion of "Son of a Preacher Man" on the soundtrack of the movie Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)
Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...
.
Early life (1939–1957)
Dusty Springfield was born as Mary O'Brien in West HampsteadWest Hampstead
West Hampstead is an area in northwest London, England, situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to the east, and South Hampstead to the south. Until the late 19th century, the locale was a small village called West End...
, North London, England, on 16 April 1939, the second child of Gerard Anthony O'Brien, called "OB", and Catherine (Ryle) O'Brien, called "Kay". Her brother Dion, later to become Tom Springfield
Tom Springfield
Tom Springfield is the brother of Dusty Springfield and an important figure in the 1960s folk and pop music scene...
, had been born five years earlier on 2 July 1934. Her father, Gerard O'Brien, who had been raised in the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, was neat and precise by nature, and worked as a tax accountant and consultant. Her mother Kay came from a family in County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
, Ireland, which included a number of journalists.
Springfield was raised in High Wycombe
High Wycombe
High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, until the early 1950s and later lived in the West London borough of Ealing
Ealing
Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...
. She received her education at a traditional all-girls Catholic school (St Anne's Convent School, Little Ealing Lane, Northfields). The comfortable middle class upbringing was disturbed by dysfunctional tendencies in the family; her father's perfectionism, and her mother's frustrations would sometimes spill out in food-throwing incidents. Springfield and Dion both engaged in food-throwing throughout the rest of their lives. She was something of a tomboy
Tomboy
A tomboy is a girl who exhibits characteristics or behaviors considered typical of the gender role of a boy, including the wearing of typically masculine-oriented clothes and engaging in games and activities that are often physical in nature, and which are considered in many cultures to be the...
in her early years, and was given the nickname "Dusty" because she played football with boys in the street.
Springfield was raised in a music-loving family. Her father would tap out rhythms on the back of her hand and encourage Dusty to guess the musical piece. She listened to a wide range of music including George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist Lorenz Hart...
, Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
, Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
, Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
and Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
, among others. She was a fan of American jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and the vocalists Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
and Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
, and wished to sound like them. She made a recording of herself singing the Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
song "When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam" at a local record shop in Ealing when she was twelve.
Early career (1958–66)
After finishing school in 1958, Mary O'Brien responded to an advertisement to join The Lana SistersThe Lana Sisters
Riss Chantelle formed The Lana Sisters in 1958, along with Lynne Abrams. They put an advert in The Stage for a third member and got a reply from Mary O'Brien, who would go on to massive solo success a few years later as Dusty Springfield. After Riss left the Lana Sisters she became the Chantelles...
, an "established sister act". With this vocal group, she developed skills in harmonising and microphone technique, recorded, did some television performances, and played at live shows in the UK and at U.S. Air Force bases.
In 1960, Springfield left the band and formed a pop-folk trio with her brother Dion O'Brien and Reshad Feild
Reshad Feild
Reshad Feild is an English mystic, author, spiritual teacher, and musician. He is the author of more than a dozen books about Sufism and spirituality and has exercised a huge influence amongst western seekers over the last forty years.-Life and career:As a young, upper-class Englishman, he was...
(who was later replaced by Mike Hurst
Mike Hurst (producer)
Mike Hurst is an English musician and record producer.-Biography:...
). They chose The Springfields as the trio's name while rehearsing in a field in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
in the springtime, and took the stage names of Dusty, Tom, and Tim Springfield. Intending to make an authentic American album, the group travelled to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, to record the album Folk Songs from the Hills. The American pop tunes that she heard during this visit helped turn Springfield's choice of music from folk and country towards pop music rooted in rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
. The band was voted the "Top British Vocal Group" by the New Musical Express poll in 1961 and 1962. During the spring of 1963, the Springfields recorded their last British Top 5 hit, "Say I Won't Be There". Dusty Springfield left the band after their last concert in October 1963.
Dusty Springfield's first single, "I Only Want to Be with You
I Only Want to Be with You
"I Only Want to Be with You" is a rock-and-roll song by Mike Hawker and Ivor Raymonde. It was the first solo single released by British singer Dusty Springfield under her long-time producer Johnny Franz...
", written and arranged by Ivor Raymonde
Ivor Raymonde
Ivor Raymonde was a British musician, songwriter, arranger and actor, best known for his distinctive rock-orchestral arrangements for Dusty Springfield and others in the 1960s.-Life and career:...
, was released in November 1963. It was produced by Johnny Franz
Johnny Franz
Johnny Franz was a UK record producer and A&R man at the Philips label. Although his name is not recognized by many Americans, Franz was one of Britain's most successful producers in the 1950s and 1960s...
in a manner similar to Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
's "Wall of Sound
Wall of Sound
The Wall of Sound is a music production technique for pop and rock music recordings developed by record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, California, during the early 1960s...
", and included rhythm and blues features such as horn sections, backing singers and double-tracked vocals, along with pop music strings
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
, in the style of girl bands that Springfield admired, such as The Shirelles
The Shirelles
The Shirelles were an African-American girl group that achieved popularity in the early 1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Shirley Owens , Doris Coley , Addie "Micki" Harris , and Beverly Lee...
. The song rose to No.4 on the British charts, leading to its nomination as a "Sure Shot" pick of records not yet charted in the U.S. by New York disc jockey "Dandy" Dan Daniel of WMCA
WMCA
WMCA, 570 AM, is a radio station in New York City, most known for its "Good Guys" Top 40 era in the 1960s. It is currently owned by Salem Communications and plays a Christian radio format...
radio in December 1963, preceding Beatlemania
Beatlemania
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success...
. It remained on the American Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks, peaking at No.12. The release finished as No.48 on New York's WABC
WABC (AM)
WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
radio Top 100 for 1964. The song was the first record played on BBC-TV's Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
programme on 1 January 1964. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
in the UK.
Springfield's debut album A Girl Called Dusty
A Girl Called Dusty
A Girl Called Dusty was the debut album of British singer Dusty Springfield. It was released in the UK on Philips Records in 1964.Dusty Springfield had been a member of the girl group The Lana Sisters from 1958 to 1960, and the folk-pop trio The Springfields from 1960–1963, in the latter case with...
included mostly covers of her favourite songs. Among the tracks were "Mama Said", "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes", "You Don't Own Me
You Don't Own Me
"You Don't Own Me" is a popular song written by the Philadelphia songwriters John Madara and David White, and recorded by Lesley Gore in 1963, when Gore was 17 years old. The song reached No...
" and "Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa
Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa
"Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David which was a hit for Gene Pitney. Its success in the UK enabled Pitney to become an international star. Jay and the Americans covered the song on their 1963 album, At the Cafe Wha? Dusty Springfield covered it on her...
". The album reached #6 in the UK in May 1964. The chart hits "Stay Awhile", "All Cried Out" and "Losing You" followed the same year. In 1964, Springfield recorded two Burt Bacharach songs: "Wishin' and Hopin'
Wishin' and Hopin'
"Wishin' and Hopin" is a song written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach which was a Top Ten hit for Dusty Springfield in 1964.The song was first recorded by Dionne Warwick and was the B-side of Warwick's single "This Empty Place" in the spring of 1963; the track was also featured on Warwick's debut...
—an American Top 10 hit— and the emotional "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself
I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself
"I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.-Original version:"I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" was first recorded by Tommy Hunt in a session produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, with Burt Bacharach arranging and conducting...
", which reached #3 on the British chart. The latter song set the standard for much of her later material.
Springfield's tour of South Africa was interrupted in December 1964, and she was deported, after she performed before an integrated audience at a theatre near Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, which was against the South African government's segregation policy. In the same year, she was voted the Top Female British Artist of the year in the New Musical Express poll
NME Awards
The NME Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine, NME .The first awards show was held in 1953 as the NME Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding of the magazine....
, topping Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
, Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw is an English pop singer, who was one of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s. In 1967 she was the first UK act to win the Eurovision Song Contest...
, and Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...
. Springfield received the award again the following three years.
In 1965, Springfield took part in the Italian Song Festival in San Remo
Festival della canzone italiana
The Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo is a popular Italian song contest, held annually in the city of Sanremo, in Italy, and consisting of a competition amongst previously unreleased songs...
, and failed to qualify for the final with two songs. During the competition, she heard the song "Io Che Non Vivo (Senza Te)". Its English version, "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
"You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" is the title of a 1966 hit recorded by British singer Dusty Springfield which proved to be her career record reaching #1 UK and #4 US: the song subsequently charted in the UK via remakes by Elvis Presley , Guys 'n' Dolls and Denise Welch with Presley's version...
", featured lyrics written by Springfield's friend, Vicki Wickham
Vicki Wickham
Vicki Heather Wickham is an English talent manager, entertainment producer, and songwriter.-Career:She is most known for producing the 60s British television show Ready Steady Go!, and managing well known pop/soul acts Labelle and Dusty Springfield....
, and her future manager, Simon Napier-Bell
Simon Napier-Bell
Simon Napier-Bell has undertaken many jobs in the music industry, including bandboy, manager, producer, songwriter, journalist and author and gourmet...
. It reached No.1 in the UK in May 1966 and reached No.4 on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, where it was also No.35 on the Billboard Top 100 for 1966. The song, which Springfield called "good old schmaltz", was voted among the All Time Top 100 Songs by the listeners of BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
in 1999.
In 1965, Springfield released three more British Top 40 hits: "Your Hurtin' Kinda Love", "In the Middle of Nowhere", and Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
's "Some of Your Lovin'". These were not included on the album Ev'rything's Coming Up Dusty
Ev'rything's Coming Up Dusty
Ev'rything's Coming Up Dusty is the second studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, released on Philips Records in the UK in 1965. Springfield's 1964 debut album, A Girl Called Dusty, sold well enough to make her Philips Records' top selling female artist. For this, her second album, Philips...
, which featured songs by Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse is an English composer, lyricist, and playwright.Although best known for his partnership with Anthony Newley, Bricusse has worked with many other composers. He was educated at University College School in London and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge...
, Anthony Newley
Anthony Newley
Anthony George Newley was an English actor, singer and songwriter. He enjoyed success as a performer in such diverse fields as rock and roll and stage and screen acting.-Early life:...
, Rod Argent
Rod Argent
Rod Argent is an English rock musician and a founding member of the 1960s English pop group The Zombies and the 1970s band Argent....
and Randy Newman
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
, and a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the traditional Mexican song, "La Bamba
La Bamba (song)
"La Bamba" is a Mexican folk song, originally from the state of Veracruz, best known from a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens, a top 40 hit in the U.S. charts and one of early rock and roll's best-known songs...
". This album peaked at #6 in the U.K.
Springfield was instrumental in introducing Motown to a wider British audience, both with her covers of Motown songs, and in facilitating the first British TV appearance for The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
, The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
, The Miracles
The Miracles
The Miracles are an American rhythm and blues group from Detroit, Michigan, notable as the first successful group act for Berry Gordy's Motown Record Corporation . Their single "Shop Around" was Motown's first million-selling hit record, and the group went on to become one of Motown's signature...
, and Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
on a special edition of the Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go! or simply RSG! was one of the UK's first rock/pop music TV programmes. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allan was assisted by record producer/talent manager Vicki Wickham, who became the producer. It was broadcast from August 1963 until December 1966...
show, called The Sound Of Motown. The show was broadcast on 28 April 1965 by Rediffusion TV
Associated-Rediffusion
Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion, London, was the British ITV contractor for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 1954 and 29 July 1968. Transmissions started on 22 September 1955.-Formation:...
, with Springfield opening each half of the show accompanied by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and Motown's in-house band The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
.
Springfield released three additional UK Top 20 hits in 1966: "Little By Little" and two dramatic ballads by Carole King: "Goin' Back" and "All I See Is You", which also reached the US Top 20. In August and September 1966, she hosted Dusty, a series of six BBC TV music and talk shows. A compilation of her singles, Golden Hits, released in November 1966, reached #2 in the UK.
Late 1960s (1967–69)
The Bacharach-David composition "The Look of LoveThe Look of Love (1967 song)
"The Look of Love" is a popular song composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and sung by Dusty Springfield, which appeared in the 1967 spoof James Bond film Casino Royale.-Songwriters:...
" was designed as the centrepiece for the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
parody Casino Royale
Casino Royale (1967 film)
Casino Royale is a 1967 comedy spy film originally produced by Columbia Pictures starring an ensemble cast of directors and actors. It is set as a satire of the James Bond film series and the spy genre, and is loosely based on Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel.The film stars David Niven as the...
. For one of the slowest-tempo hits of the sixties, Bacharach created a sultry feel by the use of minor-seventh and major-seventh chord changes, while Hal David's lyrics epitomised longing and lust. This song was recorded in two versions at the Philips
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
Studios of London. The soundtrack version was recorded on 29 January and the single release version was done in April. "The Look of Love" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song of 1967. The song was a Top 10 radio hit on KGB-AM, San Diego, CA and KHJ-AM, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
radio stations in the western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
, and earned her highest place in the year's music charts at #22.
The second season of the BBC's Dusty TV shows, featuring performances of "Get Ready" and the U.K. #13 hit "I'll Try Anything
I'll Try Anything
"I'll Try Anything" is a 1967 single by Dusty Springfield which reached the UK Top 20 and the US Top 40.The track was prepped at the CBS Recording Studios in New York City on 22 January 1967 in a session produced by Herb Bernstein...
", attracted a healthy audience but the show did not keep up with changes in the pop music market. The comparatively progressive album Where Am I Going?
Where Am I Going?
Where Am I Going? is the third studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, released on Philips Records in the UK in 1967. By now, firmly established as one of the most popular singers in Britain, with several hits in America as well, Springfield ventured into more varying styles than before, and...
attempted to redress this by containing songs such as a "jazzy", orchestrated version of "Sunny
Sunny (song)
"Sunny" is the name of a song written by Bobby Hebb. It is one of the most covered popular songs, with hundreds of versions released. BMI rates "Sunny" number 25 in its "Top 100 songs of the century."...
" and Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel was a Belgian singer-songwriter who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following in France initially, and later throughout the world. He was widely considered a master of the modern chanson...
's "If You Go Away". Though it was appreciated critically, it did not sell well. In 1968, a similar fate befell Dusty... Definitely
Dusty... Definitely
Dusty... Definitely is the ninth studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, recorded and released in the UK in 1968. Production credits go to both John Franz, and for the first time, Springfield herself. The songs on this album were chosen because Springfield "liked them", as stated in the liner notes...
. On this album, her choice of material ranged from the rolling "Ain't No Sun Since You've Been Gone" to the aching emotion of "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today". In that same year, Springfield had a British #4 hit, "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten
I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten (song)
"I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten" is a song recorded by British singer Dusty Springfield written by Clive Westlake. Recorded June 1 1968 at Chappel Studios in London, "I Close My Eyes..." was released that August to reach #4 in the UK where it ranks as one of Springfield's biggest hits: of her...
", written by Clive Westlake. Its flipside, "No Stranger am I", was written by Norma Tanega
Norma Tanega
Norma Cecilia Tanega was an American folk/pop singer. She was a camp counselor in the Catskills when she signed to New Voice Records in 1966. Her debut single, "Walkin' My Cat Named Dog", reached #22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, but she never came close to charting there again. She retains...
. Her ITV series It Must Be Dusty was broadcast in May and June 1968, featuring a duet performance of "Mockingbird" with the guitarist Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
.
Dusty in Memphis (1968–1969)
In 1968, Carole King, one of Springfield's songwriters, embarked on a singing career of her own, while the chart-peaking Bacharach-David partnership was foundering. Springfield's status in the music industry was further complicated by the progressive music revolution and the uncomfortable split between what was undergroundUnderground music
Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...
and "fashionable" and what was pop and "unfashionable". In addition, her performing career was becoming limited to the British touring circuit, which at that time largely consisted of working men's club
Working men's club
Working men's clubs are a type of private social club founded in the 19th century in industrial areas of the United Kingdom, particularly the North of England, the Midlands and many parts of the South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class men and their families.-...
s and the hotels and cabarets circuit. Hoping to reinvigorate her career and boost her credibility, Springfield signed with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
, the record label of one of her idols, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
. The Memphis sessions at the American Sound Studio
American Sound Studio
American Sound Studio was a recording studio located at 827 Thomas Street in Memphis, Tennessee. More than one hundred hit songs were recorded there between its founding 1967 and its closing in 1972, The music for these hits was played by the house band "The Memphis Boys", also known as the "827...
were recorded by the A-team of Atlantic Records: producers Jerry Wexler
Jerry Wexler
Gerald "Jerry" Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s...
, Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Dowd worked on a virtual "who's who" of recordings that encompassed blues, jazz, pop, rock and soul records.- Early years :Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew...
, and Arif Mardin
Arif Mardin
Arif Mardin was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco, and country...
; the back-up vocal band Sweet Inspirations
Sweet Inspirations
The Sweet Inspirations were founded by Cissy Houston , mother of Whitney Houston, and sister of Lee Warrick...
; and the instrumental band Memphis Cats, led by guitarist Reggie Young
Reggie Young
Reggie Young was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studios Band , and is a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with artists such as Elvis Presley, B.J. Thomas, John Prine, Dusty Springfield, J.J...
and bass guitar player Tommy Cogbill
Tommy Cogbill
Thomas Clark Cogbill, and known as Tommy Cogbill was an American bassist and record producer.Tommy Cogbill was born in Johnson Grove, Tennessee. He was a highly sought-after session and studio musician who appeared on many now-classic recordings of the 1960s and 1970s, especially those recorded in...
. The producers were the first to recognise that Springfield's natural soul voice should be placed at the forefront, rather than competing with full string arrangements. At first, Springfield felt anxious about being compared with the soul greats who had recorded in the same studios. Springfield later stated that she had never before worked with just a rhythm track, and that it was the first time she had worked with outside producers, as she had self-produced her previous recordings (although she never took credit for it). Due to what Wexler called a "gigantic inferiority complex" and Ms. Springfield's pursuit of perfection, her vocals were recorded later in New York. During the Memphis sessions in November 1968, Dusty suggested that the heads of Atlantic Records should sign the newly-formed band Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
. She knew the band's bass player, John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (musician)
John Paul Jones is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. Best known as the bassist, mandolinist, and keyboardist for English rock band Led Zeppelin, Jones has since developed a solo career and has gained even more respect as both a musician and a...
. Without having ever seen them and largely on Dusty's advice, the record company signed a $200,000 deal with them. That was the biggest contract of its kind for a new band up until that time.
The album Dusty in Memphis received excellent reviews on its initial releases both in the U.S. and the UK. Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a much broader framework of culture and politics than is customary in pop music journalism.-Life and career:Marcus was born in San Francisco...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine wrote:"... most of the songs... have a great deal of depth while presenting extremely direct and simple statements about love.... Dusty sings around her material, creating music that's evocative rather than overwhelming... Dusty is not searching—she just shows up, and she, and we, are better for it." The sales numbers failed to match the critical success; the album did not crack the British Top 15 and peaked at #99 on the American Billboard Top 200 with sales of 100,000 copies. However, Dusty in Memphis earned Springfield a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance is the latest in a series of awards recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. The award goes to the artist...
in 1970, and by 2001, the album had received the Grammy Hall of Fame award, and was listed among the greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone and VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
artists, New Musical Express readers, and the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
viewers polls.
The main song on the album, "Son of a Preacher Man
Son of a Preacher Man
"Son of a Preacher Man" is a song recorded by Dusty Springfield in September 1968 and featured on the album, Dusty in Memphis. It was written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins. The rights to cover "Son of a Preacher Man" were originally offered to Aretha Franklin, who turned it down...
", was written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins. It reached #10 on the British, American and international music charts. Its best results in continental Europe were #10 on the Austrian charts and #3 on the Swiss charts. The song was the 96th most popular song of 1969 in the United States. The writers of Rolling Stone magazine placed Springfield's release at #77 among 'The 100 Best Singles of the Last 25 Years' in 1987. The record was placed at #43 of the 'Greatest Singles of All Time' by the writers of New Musical Express in 2002.
In 2004, the song made the Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....
at #240. In 1994 the song was featured in a scene of the film Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)
Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...
, and the soundtrack
Pulp Fiction (soundtrack)
Music from the Motion Picture Pulp Fiction is the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction. No traditional film score was commissioned for Pulp Fiction. The film contains a mix of American rock and roll, surf music, pop and soul...
reached No. 21 on the Billboard 200, and at the time, went platinum (100,000 units) in Canada alone. "Son of a Preacher Man" helped the album sell over 2 million copies in the U.S., and it reached #6 on the charts.
Dusty hosted her third and final BBC musical variety series (her fourth variety series overall) Decidedly Dusty which aired in September and October of 1969. All eight episodes were later wiped from the BBC archives, and to date the only surviving footage consists of fan-made bootleg audio recordings.
Later years (1970–1999)
At the start of the 1970s Springfield was a major star, though her record sales were declining. Her intimate companion Norma TanegaNorma Tanega
Norma Cecilia Tanega was an American folk/pop singer. She was a camp counselor in the Catskills when she signed to New Voice Records in 1966. Her debut single, "Walkin' My Cat Named Dog", reached #22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, but she never came close to charting there again. She retains...
had returned to America after their relationship had become stressful, and she was spending more and more time in America herself. In 1970 her second and final album on Atlantic Records, A Brand New Me
A Brand New Me
- Bonus tracks CD re-issues :* Track 11. Recording date: March 1970. Recorded at Sigma Sound Studios, Philadelphia. Producers: staff for Gamble-Huff Productions. Arranger:Thom Bell....
(From Dusty... With Love in the UK), with songs written and produced by Gamble and Huff
Gamble and Huff
Kenneth Gamble and Leon A. Huff are an American songwriting and record production team who have written and produced over 170 gold and platinum records. They were pioneers of Philadelphia soul and the in-house creative team for the Philadelphia International record label...
, was released. The album and related singles only sold moderately, and Springfield was unhappy with both her management and record company. She recorded some songs with producer Jeff Barry
Jeff Barry
Jeff Barry is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer.-Early career:...
in early 1971, which were intended for an album to be released by Atlantic Records; however, her new manager Alan Bernard managed to get her out of the Atlantic contract, and some of the songs were used on the UK-only album See All Her Faces
See All Her Faces
See All Her Faces is the seventh studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, originally released on the Philips Records label in 1972. It contains a mixture of tracks from different recording sessions; some tracks were recorded with Jeff Barry for an aborted third album for Atlantic Records, other...
, and the 1999 release Dusty In Memphis-Deluxe Edition. In 1972, Springfield signed a contract with ABC Dunhill Records and Cameo
Cameo (album)
Cameo is the eighth studio album released by singer Dusty Springfield. Cameo is her first LP for the ABC Dunhill Records label. It was recorded in the States between July and October 1972 and released in the UK in May 1973, having appeared in the States some three months earlier...
was released in 1973 to respectable reviews, though poor sales.
In 1973, Springfield recorded the theme song for the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
. Her second ABC Dunhill album was given the working title Elements and scheduled for release as Longing
Longing (album)
Longing was to have been Dusty Springfield's second LP for the ABC Dunhill Records label, and ninth studio album overall, recorded in 1974 and planned for release the same year...
. The sessions were soon abandoned. Part of the material, including tentative and incomplete vocals, was released on the 2001 compilation Beautiful Soul. She put her career on hold in 1974 and lived reclusively in the United States to avoid scrutiny by British tabloids. During this time she sang background vocals for Anne Murray
Anne Murray
Morna Anne Murray CC, ONS is a Canadian singer in pop, country and adult contemporary styles whose albums have sold over 54 million copies....
's album Together and Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
's album Caribou
Caribou (album)
Caribou is the 8th studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1974 . It was John's 4th chart-topping album in the U.S. and his 3rd in the U.K. The album contains the singles, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", which reached # 16 in the UK Singles Chart and # 2 in the U.S.,...
, and was heard on the single "The Bitch Is Back
The Bitch Is Back
"The Bitch Is Back" is a rock song by Elton John, written with Bernie Taupin. It was the second single released from his 1974 album Caribou, and reached number 1 in Canada , number 4 in the United States and number 15 in the United Kingdom. The song has been identified as is one of Elton John's...
". Springfield released two albums on United Artists Records
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...
in the late 1970s. The first was 1978's It Begins Again
It Begins Again
It Begins Again is the tenth studio album recorded by Dusty Springfield and the ninth released. Recorded during the middle of 1977 and released in early 1978, It Begins Again was her first completed and released album since Cameo five years earlier...
, produced by Roy Thomas Baker
Roy Thomas Baker
Roy Thomas Baker is a multiple award-winning Anglo-American music producer, songwriter, arranger and Recording Academy Governor, who has produced Platinum and Gold certified pop and rock records from the 1970s to the present.- Career :Baker began his career at Decca Records in England at the age...
. The album charted only briefly in the UK, though it was well received by critics. The 1979 album, Living Without Your Love
Living Without Your Love
Living Without Your Love is the eleventh studio album recorded by singer Dusty Springfield, and tenth released. The album was recorded in summer 1978 and released in early 1979....
, did even worse, not charting at all. In autumn 1979, Springfield played club dates in New York City. In London, she recorded two singles with David Mackay
David Mackay (producer)
David Mackay is an Australian record producer/arranger and musical director. He was born in Sydney, Australia and began his music career at the age of 15 in a production of Bye Bye Birdie for J.C. Williamson Theatre Company...
for her British label, Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
(formerly Philips Records). The first was the disco-influenced "Baby Blue", which reached #61 in Britain. The second, "Your Love Still Brings Me to My Knees" (released in January 1980), was Springfield's final single for Mercury Records; she had been with them for nearly 20 years. On 3 December 1979, she performed a charity concert for a full house at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, in the presence of Princess Margaret. In 1980 Springfield sang "Bits and Pieces", the theme song from the movie The Stunt Man
The Stunt Man
The Stunt Man is a 1980 American film directed by Richard Rush, starring Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback, and Barbara Hershey. The movie was adapted by Lawrence B. Marcus and Rush from the novel by Paul Brodeur...
. She signed an American deal with 20th Century Records
20th Century Records
20th Century Fox Records, also known as 20th Fox Records and 20th Century Records, was a subsidiary of film studio 20th Century Fox.-History:It began in 1958 as 20th Fox Records. In 1963, 20th Fox Records became 20th Century-Fox Records...
that year, which resulted in the single "It Goes Like It Goes
It Goes Like It Goes
"It Goes Like It Goes" is a song written by David Shire and Norman Gimbel. It was sung by Jennifer Warnes for the Norma Rae soundtrack in 1979...
", a cover of the Oscar-winning song from the film Norma Rae
Norma Rae
Norma Rae is a 1979 American drama film that tells the story of a factory worker from a small town in North Carolina, who becomes involved in the labor union activities at the textile factory where she works...
. Springfield was uncharacteristically proud of her 1982 album White Heat
White Heat (album)
White Heat is the twelfth studio album recorded by singer Dusty Springfield, and eleventh released. It was only released in the United States and Canada....
, which was influenced by New Wave music
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
. She tried to revive her career in 1985 by returning to the United Kingdom and signing to Peter Stringfellow
Peter Stringfellow
Peter James Stringfellow is an English nightclub owner.-Early life:Stringfellow was born on 17 October 1940 to Elsie and James William Stringfellow , a steelworker...
's Hippodrome Records label. This resulted in the single "Sometimes Like Butterflies" and an appearance on Terry Wogan
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...
's live television show. None of Springfield's recordings from 1971 to 1986 charted on the British or American Top 40s.
In 1987, she accepted an invitation from the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
to sing with Neil Tennant
Neil Tennant
Neil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who, with bandmate Chris Lowe, makes up the successful electronic dance music duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
on the single "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" and appeared on the promotional video. This record rose to #2 on both the British and American charts. The song appeared on the "Pet Shop Boys" album Actually
Actually (album)
In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #22 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".-Track listing:# "One More Chance" – 5:30...
and both of their greatest hits collections. Springfield sang lead vocals on the Richard Carpenter
Richard Carpenter (musician)
Richard Lynn Carpenter is an American pop musician, best known as one half of the brother/sister duo The Carpenters, along with his sister Karen Carpenter. He was a producer, arranger, pianist and keyboardist, and occasional lyricist, as well as joining with Karen on harmony...
song "Something in Your Eyes", recorded for Carpenter's album Time. Released as a single, it became a #12 adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music
Adult contemporary music is a broad style of popular music that ranges from lush 1950s and 1960s vocal music to predominantly ballad-heavy music with varying degrees of rock influence, as well as a radio format that plays such music....
hit in the United States. Springfield recorded a duet with B.J. Thomas, "As Long as We Got Each Other", which was used as the theme song for the American sitcom Growing Pains
Growing Pains
Growing Pains is an American television sitcom about an affluent family, residing in Huntington, New York, with a working mother and a stay-at-home psychiatrist father raising three children together, which aired on ABC from September 24, 1985 to April 25, 1992.-Synopsis:The show's premise is based...
.
A new compilation of Springfield's greatest hits, The Silver Collection, was issued in 1988. Springfield returned to the studio with the Pet Shop Boys, who produced her recording of their song "Nothing Has Been Proved
Nothing Has Been Proved
"Nothing Has Been Proved" is a song and a single release by British singer Dusty Springfield, produced by the Pet Shop Boys. The song was the second collaboration between Springfield and Pet Shop Boys, following their UK #2 and US #2 hit duet "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" in 1987...
", commissioned for the soundtrack of the film Scandal. Released as a single in early 1989, the song gave Springfield a UK Top 20 hit. So did its follow-up, the upbeat "In Private
In Private
"In Private" was the third single in a row to be a charting success for British singer Dusty Springfield, after nearly two decades of little chart success. Both "In Private" and Springfield's previous single, "Nothing Has Been Proved" were produced by Pet Shop Boys, who helped return Springfield to...
", written and produced by the Pet Shop Boys. She capitalised on this by recording the 1990 album Reputation
Reputation (album)
Reputation is the thirteenth studio album by British singer Dusty Springfield, and twelfth released. Issued on the Parlophone Records label in the UK and the rest of Europe in June 1990, Reputation was not only Springfield's first studio album in eight years at the time but in fact also the first...
, another UK Top 20 success. The writing and production credits for half the album, which included the two recent hit singles, went to the Pet Shop Boys, while the album's other producers included Dan Hartman
Dan Hartman
Daniel Earl "Dan" Hartman was an American singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for such songs as: "Free Ride", "I Can Dream About You", "Instant Replay", "Love Sensation", and "Relight My Fire", all of which had world-wide success.-Career:Born in Pennsylvania's capital, Harrisburg,...
. Sometime before recording the Reputation album, Springfield decided to leave California for good, and by 1988 she had returned to Britain. In 1993, she was invited to record a duet with her former 1960s professional rival and friend, Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...
. The song "Heart and Soul" was released as a single and appeared on Black's Through the Years album. Provisionally titled Dusty in Nashville, Springfield started recording the album A Very Fine Love
A Very Fine Love
A Very Fine Love is the fourteenth and final studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, and thirteenth released. Recorded in 1994 with producer Tom Shapiro and released in 1995, A Very Fine Love was a Columbia Records release in both the US and UK, Springfield's first such simultaneous release since...
in 1993 with producer Tom Shapiro
Tom Shapiro
Tom Shapiro is an American songwriter and occasional record producer, known primarily for his work in country music. To date, he holds four Country Songwriter of the Year awards from Broadcast Music Incorporated, as well as the Songwriter of the Decade award from the Nashville Songwriters...
. Though originally intended by Shapiro as a country music album, the song selection with Springfield pushed the album into pop music with an occasional country feel. The last song Springfield recorded in the studio was the George
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
and Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
song "Someone To Watch Over Me
Someone to Watch over Me (song)
"Someone to Watch Over Me" is a song composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin from the musical Oh, Kay! , where it was introduced by Gertrude Lawrence...
". The song was recorded in London in 1995 for an insurance company television advertisement. It was included on Simply Dusty (2000), the extensive anthology that Springfield had helped plan, but did not live to see released. Her final live performance was in The Christmas with Michael Ball
Michael Ball (singer)
Michael Ashley Ball, born 27 June 1962) is a British actor, singer, and radio and TV presenter who is best known for the song "Love Changes Everything" and musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Edna Turnblad...
in December 1995. She died of breast cancer on 2 March 1999.
Legacy
Dusty Springfield was one of the best-selling British singers of the 1960s. She was voted the Top British Female Artist by the readers of the New Musical Express in 1964–1967 and 1969. Of the female singers of the British InvasionBritish Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
, Springfield made one of the biggest impressions on the American market, scoring 18 singles in the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
from 1964 to 1970. The music press considers her as an iconic figure of the Swinging Sixties. Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
caused a revival of interest in her music in 1994 by including "Son of a Preacher Man" in the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, which sold over three million copies. In that same year, in the documentary Dusty Springfield. Full Circle, guests of her 1965 Sound of Motown show credited Springfield's efforts with popularising American soul music in the UK. She was known all over Europe, and performed at the Sanremo Music Festival. She released a number of singles in French, German and Italian.
Musical style
Influenced by American pop music, Dusty Springfield created a distinctive white soul sound. Most responses to her voice emphasise her breathy sensuality. Another powerful feature was the sense of longing, in songs such as "I Just Don't Know What to Do with MyselfI Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself
"I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.-Original version:"I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" was first recorded by Tommy Hunt in a session produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, with Burt Bacharach arranging and conducting...
" and "Goin' Back
Goin' Back
"Goin' Back" is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King in 1966. It describes the loss of innocence that comes with adulthood along with an attempt, on the part of the singer, to recapture that youthful innocence...
". The uniqueness of Springfield's voice was described by Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
when he said: "You could hear just three notes and you knew it was Dusty." Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a much broader framework of culture and politics than is customary in pop music journalism.-Life and career:Marcus was born in San Francisco...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
captured Springfield's technique as "a soft, sensual box (voice) that allowed her to combine syllables until they turned into pure cream." She had a finely tuned musical ear and extraordinary control of tone. She sang in a variety of styles, mostly pop, soul, folk, Latin and rock'n'roll. Being able to wrap her voice around difficult material, her repertoire included songs that their writers ordinarily would have offered to black vocalists. She performed as the only white singer on all-black bills on several occasions in the 1960s. Her soul orientation was so convincing that early in her solo career, U.S. listeners who had only heard her music on radio or records sometimes assumed that Springfield was African American. Later, a considerable number of observers have either thought she sounded black and American or made a point of saying she did not. Springfield constantly used her voice to upend commonly held beliefs on the expression of social identity
Social identity
A social identity is the portion of an individual's self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group. As originally formulated by Henri Tajfel and John Turner in the 1970s and 80s, social identity theory introduced the concept of a social identity as a way in which to...
through music. She did this by referencing a number of styles and singers, including Martha Reeves
Martha Reeves
Martha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and Pop singer and former politician, and was the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. During her tenure with The Vandellas, they scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Jimmy Mack", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run"...
, Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
, Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She is well known for the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".-Biography:...
, Mina
Mina (singer)
Anna Maria Quaini, Grand Officer , known as Mina, is an Italian pop singer. She was a staple of Italian television variety shows and a dominant figure in Italian pop music from the mid-1960s to mid-1970s known for her three-octave vocal range, the agility of her soprano voice, and her image as an...
, and many others.
Springfield implored her white British backup musicians to capture the spirit of the black American musicians and copy their instrumental playing styles. In the studio, she was a perfectionist. The fact that she could neither read nor write music made it hard for her to communicate with her session musicians. During her extensive vocal sessions, she repeatedly recorded short phrases and single words. She often produced her songs, but did not take credit for doing so.
Icon
Dusty Springfield is a campCamp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
icon. In public and on stage Springfield developed a joyful image supported by her peroxide blonde beehive
Beehive (hairstyle)
The Beehive is a woman's hairstyle that resembles a beehive; it is elegant and it is also known as the B-52, for its similarity to the bulbous nose of the B-52 Stratofortress bomber. It originated as one of a variety of elaborately teased and lacquered versions of "big hair" that developed from...
hairstyle, evening gown
Evening gown
An evening gown is a long flowing women's dress usually worn to a formal affair. It ranges from tea and ballerina to full-length. Evening gowns are often made of a luxury fabric such as chiffon, velvet, satin, or silk...
s, and heavy make-up that included her much-copied "panda eye" mascara. Springfield borrowed elements of her look from blonde glamour queens of the 1950s, such as Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is a French former fashion model, actress, singer and animal rights activist. She was one of the best-known sex-symbols of the 1960s.In her early life, Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer...
and Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Deneuve is a French actress. She gained recognition for her portrayal of aloof and mysterious beauties in films such as Repulsion and Belle de jour . Deneuve was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1993 for her performance in Indochine; she also won César Awards for that...
, and pasted them together according to her own taste. Her ultra-glamorous look made her a camp icon and this, combined with her emotive vocal performances, won her a powerful and enduring following in the gay community. Besides the prototypical female drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
, she was presented in the roles of the 'Great White Lady' of pop and soul and the 'Queen of Mods'.
Awards
Springfield is an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the UK Music Hall of FameUK Music Hall of Fame
The UK Music Hall of Fame was an awards ceremony to honour musicians, of any nationality, for their lifetime contributions to music in the United Kingdom. The Hall of Fame started in 2004 with the induction of five founder members and five more members selected by a public televote, two from each...
. She was placed among the 25 female rock artists of all time by the readers of Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
magazine (1999), editors of Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine (2002), and a panel of artists by VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
TV channel (2007). In 2008, Dusty appeared at #35 on the Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". Various films and stage musicals continue to commemorate her. Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
has scheduled a biographical film
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
to be released in 2011 with Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth is an American singer and actress, with credits in musical theatre, film and television. She is best known on Broadway for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown , for which she won a Tony Award, and for originating the role of Glinda in the musical...
playing Springfield.
In the 1960s she topped a number of popularity polls, including Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
s Best International Vocalist for 1966; in 1965 she was the first British singer to top the New Musical Express readers' polls for Female Singer, and topped that poll again in 1966, 1967 and 1969 as well as gaining the most votes in the British Singer category from 1964 to 1966.
Her album Dusty in Memphis has been listed among the greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone and VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
artists, New Musical Express readers, and the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
viewers polls, and in 2001, received the Grammy Hall of Fame award.
Tributes
In 2008, actress Nicole KidmanNicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
was announced as star and producer of a Dusty biopic
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
, apparently yet to surface. Other reported candidates for the role include West Wing actress Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth is an American singer and actress, with credits in musical theatre, film and television. She is best known on Broadway for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown , for which she won a Tony Award, and for originating the role of Glinda in the musical...
and, perhaps somewhat incongruously, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
.
American singer/songwriter Shelby Lynne
Shelby Lynne
Shelby Lynne is an American singer, songwriter and actress. The success of the 1999 album I Am Shelby Lynne led to her winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, even though she had been active in the music industry for some time...
's tenth studio album Just a Little Lovin'
Just a Little Lovin' (Shelby Lynne album)
Just a Little Lovin' is the tenth studio album by Shelby Lynne, released in the United States and Canada on January 29, 2008. The album is a tribute to British singer Dusty Springfield, and features covers of nine songs popularized by her, in addition to "Pretend", an original song written by Lynne...
(2008) is a tribute to Dusty.
British singer/songwriter David Westlake
David Westlake
David Westlake is a British singer/songwriter. What few people who know and love Westlake and his tiny catologue of terrific tunes usually come from one of three associations...
fêted the singer in song and album title Play Dusty For Me
Play Dusty For Me
Play Dusty For Me is the second solo album by British singer and songwriter David Westlake. This album's sound has something in common with the "Pale Blue Eyes"/"Sunday Morning" Velvet Underground...
(2002).
Stage musical Dusty – The Original Pop Diva received its world premiere on January 12, 2006 at the State Theatre of the Victorian Arts Centre
The Arts Centre (Melbourne)
The Victorian Arts Centre is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the inner Melbourne suburb of Southbank in Victoria, Australia....
, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia.
Personal life
Springfield's biographers and journalists have suggested she had two personalities: shy, quiet, Mary O'Brien—and the public face she created in Dusty Springfield. In the 1970s and early 1980s, during a time when her career had slowed down, she succumbed to alcoholism and drug dependency (which she later battled successfully). She was hospitalised several times for self-harming (by cutting herself) and was diagnosed as suffering from manic depression. During this period of psychological and professional instability, Springfield's involvement in some intimate relationships influenced by addiction resulted in episodes of personal injury. An incident in early 1983 led to her brief hospitalisation at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where she was admitted under her real name and received medical attention from hospital staff who were unaware of who she was. In her early career, much of her odd behaviour was carried out more or less in fun and was treated as such (as, for example, her noted food fights and hurling a box of crockery down a flight of stairs). Springfield had a "wicked" sense of humour and a great love for animals (particularly cats). She was an advocate for several animal-protection groups. She enjoyed maps, and would intentionally get lost and navigate her way out.The fact that Springfield was never reported to be in a relationship recognised by the public meant that the issue of her being "bisexual" was raised continually throughout her life. In 1970, Springfield told the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
: By the standards of 1970, that was a very bold statement. Three years later, she explained to the Los Angeles Free Press
Los Angeles Free Press
The Los Angeles Free Press , also called “the Freep”, was among the most widely distributed underground newspapers of the 1960s. It is often cited as the first such newspaper...
:
In the 1970s and 1980s, Springfield became involved in several romantic relationships with women in Canada and the US that were not kept secret from the gay and lesbian community. She had a love affair with singer-musician Carole Pope
Carole Pope
Carole Pope is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, whose provocative blend of hard-edged New Wave rock with explicit homoerotic and BDSM-themed lyrics made her one of the first openly lesbian famous entertainers in the world...
of the rock band Rough Trade
Rough Trade (band)
Rough Trade was a Canadian new wave rock band in the 1970s and 1980s, centred on singer Carole Pope and multi-instrumentalist Kevan Staples. The band was noted for their provocative lyrics and stage antics; singer Pope often performed in bondage attire, and their 1981 hit "High School...
.
While recording her final album, A Very Fine Love, in January 1994 in Nashville, Tennessee, Springfield felt ill. When she returned to England a few months later, her physicians diagnosed breast cancer. She received months of radiation treatment, and for a time the cancer was in remission. In 1995, in apparent good health, Springfield set about promoting the album.
Cancer was detected again during the summer of 1996. In spite of vigorous treatments, she succumbed on 2 March 1999. She died in Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
on the day she had been scheduled to go to Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
to receive her award of Officer, Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
. Before her death, officials of Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
had given permission for the medal to be collected by Springfield's manager, Vicki Wickham
Vicki Wickham
Vicki Heather Wickham is an English talent manager, entertainment producer, and songwriter.-Career:She is most known for producing the 60s British television show Ready Steady Go!, and managing well known pop/soul acts Labelle and Dusty Springfield....
, and it was presented to the singer in the hospital in the company of a small party of friends and relatives. Her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, had been scheduled for 10 days after her death. Her friend Sir Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
helped induct her into the Hall of Fame, stating:
Springfield's funeral service was attended by hundreds of fans and people from the music business, including Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
and the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
. It took place in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, at the ancient parish church of St Mary the Virgin, in Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
, the town where Springfield had lived during her last years. A marker dedicated to her memory was placed in the church graveyard.
Some of Springfield's ashes were buried at Henley, while the rest were scattered by her brother, Tom Springfield, at the Cliffs of Moher
Cliffs of Moher
The Cliffs of Moher are located in the parish of Liscannor at the south-western edge of the Burren area near Doolin, which is located in County Clare, Ireland....
, County Clare
County Clare
-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
, Ireland.
Discography
- 1964: A Girl Called DustyA Girl Called DustyA Girl Called Dusty was the debut album of British singer Dusty Springfield. It was released in the UK on Philips Records in 1964.Dusty Springfield had been a member of the girl group The Lana Sisters from 1958 to 1960, and the folk-pop trio The Springfields from 1960–1963, in the latter case with...
- 1965: Ev'rything's Coming Up DustyEv'rything's Coming Up DustyEv'rything's Coming Up Dusty is the second studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, released on Philips Records in the UK in 1965. Springfield's 1964 debut album, A Girl Called Dusty, sold well enough to make her Philips Records' top selling female artist. For this, her second album, Philips...
- 1967: Where Am I Going?Where Am I Going?Where Am I Going? is the third studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, released on Philips Records in the UK in 1967. By now, firmly established as one of the most popular singers in Britain, with several hits in America as well, Springfield ventured into more varying styles than before, and...
- 1968: Dusty... DefinitelyDusty... DefinitelyDusty... Definitely is the ninth studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, recorded and released in the UK in 1968. Production credits go to both John Franz, and for the first time, Springfield herself. The songs on this album were chosen because Springfield "liked them", as stated in the liner notes...
- 1969: Dusty in MemphisDusty in MemphisDusty in Memphis is a landmark album by Dusty Springfield, released in 1969. It was produced by Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin and engineered by Tom Dowd. "So Much Love", "Son of a Preacher Man", "The Windmills Of Your Mind", "Breakfast in Bed", "Just One Smile", "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore",...
- 1970: A Brand New MeA Brand New Me- Bonus tracks CD re-issues :* Track 11. Recording date: March 1970. Recorded at Sigma Sound Studios, Philadelphia. Producers: staff for Gamble-Huff Productions. Arranger:Thom Bell....
- 1972: See All Her FacesSee All Her FacesSee All Her Faces is the seventh studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, originally released on the Philips Records label in 1972. It contains a mixture of tracks from different recording sessions; some tracks were recorded with Jeff Barry for an aborted third album for Atlantic Records, other...
- 1973: CameoCameo (album)Cameo is the eighth studio album released by singer Dusty Springfield. Cameo is her first LP for the ABC Dunhill Records label. It was recorded in the States between July and October 1972 and released in the UK in May 1973, having appeared in the States some three months earlier...
- 1974: LongingLonging (album)Longing was to have been Dusty Springfield's second LP for the ABC Dunhill Records label, and ninth studio album overall, recorded in 1974 and planned for release the same year...
(Unreleased) - 1978: It Begins AgainIt Begins AgainIt Begins Again is the tenth studio album recorded by Dusty Springfield and the ninth released. Recorded during the middle of 1977 and released in early 1978, It Begins Again was her first completed and released album since Cameo five years earlier...
- 1979: Living Without Your LoveLiving Without Your LoveLiving Without Your Love is the eleventh studio album recorded by singer Dusty Springfield, and tenth released. The album was recorded in summer 1978 and released in early 1979....
- 1982: White HeatWhite Heat (album)White Heat is the twelfth studio album recorded by singer Dusty Springfield, and eleventh released. It was only released in the United States and Canada....
- 1990: ReputationReputation (album)Reputation is the thirteenth studio album by British singer Dusty Springfield, and twelfth released. Issued on the Parlophone Records label in the UK and the rest of Europe in June 1990, Reputation was not only Springfield's first studio album in eight years at the time but in fact also the first...
- 1995: A Very Fine LoveA Very Fine LoveA Very Fine Love is the fourteenth and final studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, and thirteenth released. Recorded in 1994 with producer Tom Shapiro and released in 1995, A Very Fine Love was a Columbia Records release in both the US and UK, Springfield's first such simultaneous release since...
- 2005: Live At The Royal Albert Hall
External links
- The legacy of Dusty Springfield By Bob Stanley for The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
3 April 2009