A friend of mine introduced me to Dusty Springfield, a singer who apparently British people like very much but whose fame doesn't seem to be very important outside her native island (I would say like Marianne Rosenberg in Germany). In 1978 she sang "That's The Kind Of Love I've Got For You", a very nice disco song remixed by Tom Moulton I've never heard before.
Rita-Jean Bodine recorded the original version (seek and find if you like the DS version) of "That's The Kind Of Love I've Got For You" and the Dusty Springfield version is excellent as well.
DS is pretty well known here in the states, if only for her stunning rendition of "The Look Of Love" from the movie CASINO ROYALE.
Pierre...I love the great Dusty Springfield...simply adore her voice and soothing musical expression. "That's The Kind Of Love I Have For You" is good but doesn't even touch this woman's great contributions to music. The Dusty In Memphis album is ranked in my personal top five albums of all time...her infamous venture into R&B and the caring hands of the great Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin.
Dancin' helps relieve the pain, soothes your mind, makes you happy again
Dusty is pretty much a legend, and is often thought of as a great singer...extremely unique..
My favourite song of hers aside the others mentioned here is "Baby Blue" produced by Woolley and Horn (yes, Trevor Horn) and there's a great extended version of it..
Vince
With a career that stretched from the 60s to the 90s, and U.S. hits that ranged from "I Only Want to Be with You" to "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" (with the Pet Shop Boys), I wouldn't dismiss her career as being strictly limited to the U.K.
Her 1990 "Reputation" album is nothing short of brilliant, showing that she could be as fresh and contemporary as any singer around.
Her only two entries on the US disco/dance charts are:
That's The Kind Of Love I've Got For You #31 in 1978
What Have I Done to Deserve This (Pet Shop Boys featuring DS) #1 in 1987
Thanks for the Rita-Jean Bodine original; it's an interesting version but I think I prefer Springfield's. And she's the singer of "The Look Of Love"? I thought it was a Dionne Warwick song (but that always happens with Bacharach/David songs: Warwick is seldom the first singer in the chronological order)!
Dusty Springfield is one of my favorites. Superb singer in any style. A singer who could cover anything and make it as good as the original hit. Exquisite taste in material: from the cream of the crop-- Bacharach-David, Gerry Goffin-Carole King, Randy Newman, Michel Legrand, Gamble-Huff, Charles Aznavour, Jacques Brel, Jim Webb, Peter Allen, Barry Manilow, Van Morrison, Ashford & Simpson, Norman Whitfield, David Gates to Holland-Dozier-Holland.
After Petula Clark, Dusty was the most successful of the Brit girl singers in the USA during the British Invasion in the mid-Sixties. However, Dusty is the critical fave.
She first charted in the U.S. as part of a group with her brothers, The Springfields, with "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" which peaked @ #20 in 1962.
19 entries on the U.S. Pop chart:
4 in the Top 10:
Wishin' & Hopin" (#6/1964)
You Don't Have To Say You Love Me (#4/1966)
Son-Of-A Preacher Man (#10/1968)
What Have I Done To Deserve This (w/Pet Shop Boys) (#2/1987)
6 more in the Top 40:
I Only Want To Be With You (the first solo charting) (#12/1964)
Stay Awhile (#38/1964)
All I See Is You (#20/1966)
I'll Try Anything (#40/1967)
The Look Of Love (#22/1967--her version was used in the James Bond spoof movie "Casino Royale"; nominated for an Oscar)
The Windmills Of Your Mind (#31/1969)
A Brand New Me (#24/1969)
Her 1969 "Dusty In Memphis' is usually found ranked as one of the great LPs any time one of those lists is published.
I can't believe that none of her hits charted on the U.S. Soul charts--there is no listing for her!!! No Dusty-- only a Larry Springfield is listed!!! That makes no sense because some of her records would have easily have fit in on R&B radio.
Dusty was absent for the U.S. Pop charts after "Silly, Silly, Fool" in 1970 until the Pet Shop Boys brought her back. But she continued to release LPs --the best of which I think was 1973's "Cameo"--produced by Steve Barri-Dennis Lambert-Brian Potter and written by the Lambert-Potter team plus a few others: including Ashford & Simpson, Alan O'Day, David Gates, Hugo Montenegro & Van Morrison, featuring diso-ish production techniques on some tracks--although none really qualify as "disco." A beautiful version of Van Morrison's "Tupelo Honey' with soulful horns is the highlight for me--but all the tracks are good. It was re-released as "Beautiful Soul: The ABC/Dunhill Collection"
Song clips can be heard here: "Cameo"
allmusic ((( Cameo > Overview )))
"Beautiful Soul"
allmusic ((( Beautiful Soul: The ABC/Dunhill Collection > Overview )))
Last edited by markydefad; June 28th, 2009 at 01:55 PM.
"Lost inside adorable illusion...."
Thanks Marky! I'm still discovering what's all in Dusty Springfield's discography so I'll be checking out the Cameo album and other songs around that time. A couple months ago, I picked up her A Brand New Me album from 1970 which is a veritable showcase of disco pioneers and the Philly sound: Gamble and Huff, Thom Bell, Norman Harris, Vince Montana, Roland Chambers, Ron Baker and Earl Young!
In regards to That's The Kind Of Love, a couple years ago, there was an ultra-hot cover done by Joey Negro/AC Soul Symphony...hot stuff!
Dancin' helps relieve the pain, soothes your mind, makes you happy again
"Lost inside adorable illusion...."
IMHO, this is Dusty's best club record: "IN PRIVATE" (written & produced by the Pet Shop Boys)
This should have been a smash! :icon_eek::icon_exclaim::icon_confused:
"Lost inside adorable illusion...."
This is another one that was released in the waning days of the disco era--might have been a hit in the U.K.????
I found it on a UK compilation some years ago and it percolates at an approx. 100 bpm beat...
"Lost inside adorable illusion...."
Here's another one that was a club hit in the U.S. for Australian Marcia Hines (at least at Trocadero in SF!)...This was on that same UK compilation I bought some years ago...
"Lost inside adorable illusion...."
That's a classic and I believe it did hit the number one spot on DMR and Streetsound's Hi-NRG charts....a dance masterpiece.
At that time, I bought the extended mix of the gorgeous ballad Arrested By You off the same album and used to throw it into my slow sets (yes...I still played two or three slow songs at last call in the early 90s)....I miss those days...
Dancin' helps relieve the pain, soothes your mind, makes you happy again
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