Dusty Springfield

Britain's greatest pop diva, Dusty Springfield was also the finest white soul singer of her era, a performer of remarkable emotional resonance whose body of work spans the decades and their attendant musical transformations with a consistency and purity unmatched by any of her contemporaries; though a camp icon of glamorous excess in her towering beehive hairdo and panda-eye black mascara, the sultry intimacy and heartbreaking urgency of her voice transcended image and fashion, embracing everything from lushly orchestrated pop to gritty R&B to disco with unparalleled sophistication and depth. She was born Mary O'Brien on April 16, 1939, and raised on an eclectic diet of classical music and jazz, coming to worship Peggy Lee; after completing her schooling she joined the Lana Sisters, a pop vocal trio which issued a few singles on Fontana before dissolving. In 1960, upon teaming with her brother Dion O' Brien and his friend Tim Feild in the folk trio the Springfields, O'Brien adopted the stage name Dusty Springfield; thanks to a series of hits including "Breakaway," "Bambino," and "Say I Won't Be There," the group was soon the U.K.'s best-selling act. Her career basically went no where for much of the 70s right-up until 1987 when she was contacted to collaborate with techno-pop innovators the Pet Shop Boys on a duet titled "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" The single was a global blockbuster, peaking at number two in both the U.S. and the U.K., introducing her to a new generation of listeners; Pet Shop Boys Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe also agreed to produce a handful of tracks for 1990's Reputation, which became Springfield's best-selling new album since her '60s-era peak. In 1995 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and after months of radiation therapy the illness was believed to be in remission. By 1996, however, the cancer had returned, and on March 2, 1999, Springfield died at the age of 59, ten days before she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I had all her singles and thought she was beautiful, her voice heavenly. I play "What Have I Done It Deserve This" as if it still rides the top of the charts, which is what it did on all the radio stations in Germany, which is where I lived when it was a smash hit. Get more info at: http://www.dustyspringfield.co.uk/

Research info provided by: Jason Ankeny at All Music

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