Dusty Springfield is the pseudonym of the famous singer and real British style icon of the 1960s-1970s of the XX century. Mary Bernadette O'Brien. The artist has been widely known since the second half of the 1950s of the XX century. Her career spanned almost 40 years.
She is considered one of the most successful and famous British singers of the second half of the last century. The compositions of the artist at different times occupied leading positions in various world charts. Dusty became a real icon of the youth movements of the 1960s, not only thanks to her music, but also to her style. This bright make-up, lush hairstyles and dresses - all this made her a real symbol of London's transition from a black and white post-war life to a new cultural stage, which was also clearly manifested in fashion.
Youth and early musical career Dusty Springfield
Mary was born on April 16, 1939 in West Hampstead (an area in northwest London). The girl's father grew up in the British colonies in India, and her mother had pronounced Irish roots. Mary had two brothers and a sister. Interestingly, one of the brothers later became famous as a Top Springfield musician.
Dusty went to school at the monastery of St. Anne. Such training was considered traditional for girls at that time. It was during these years that Mary received the nickname Dusty. So she was called by the local boys with whom she played football every day in the district. The girl grew up as a hooligan and mostly communicated only with boys.
The first impulses to the music of Dusty Springfield
Love for music began to appear at an early age and was transmitted mainly from his father. So, her father had a habit of beating the rhythm of some famous song with his hands and asking his daughter to guess what song it was. At home, she listened to various popular records of that time, but most of all she loved jazz.
In Ealing (she lived in her teens), the first recording was made in one of the stores that specialized in selling records. It was not an author's song, but a cover version of the hit When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves to Alabama (by Irving Berlin). At that time, Mary was only 12 years old.
After graduating from school, the girl was even more convinced that she would like to make music. She began performing at poetry readings and small local gatherings and concerts. She is supported by her older brother Tom. In 1958, The Lana Sisters, which positioned themselves as a duet of two sisters (in fact, the girls were not relatives), announced the casting of a third "sister" into the group. Dusty passed the selection and was forced to change the image. She took off her glasses and cut her hair to look like the other two members of the team.
Together with the group, the girl managed to go on tour in several cities in the UK, perform on several TV shows and record a number of songs in the studio.
However, in 1960 she decided to leave the group to form her own group, The Springfields. It also included the Feild brothers, Tom and Reshard. They chose the folk style with the intention of making an "American album".
To this end, the guys went to Nashville and recorded the album Folk Songs from the Hills there. It became a real hit in America and Europe. The group's songs hit the charts, but the band did not exist for long. Already in 1963, Dusty left the band with the clear intention of recording solo songs.
The Rise of Dusty Springfield's Popularity
During the Springfields days, Mary listened to a lot of different music while traveling. Gradually delving into new styles, she abandoned folk, adding soul elements to her vocals. In her solo career, she began to actively experiment with soul music.
A month after the breakup of the band, Dusty released her first solo song, which took 4th position in the UK charts. This was the perfect result for an actual debut. The song also made the Billboard Hot 100, which was a very good indication of the song's popularity. Listeners began to wait for the first solo release.
It was released in April 1964 as A Girl Called Dusty. In addition to the fact that individual songs from the record hit the charts, the album also got into many of them. Thus, the release justified the expectations placed on it.
From that moment on, almost every Dusty song was a commercial success and was equally well received by both listeners and critics. The artist began to regularly go on tour, which covered different countries and continents - from the USA and Canada to Africa.
By her own admission, Springfield did not like to write songs herself. She believed that her ideas were not good enough, and those that were nevertheless written by her were created solely for the sake of getting money. Therefore, the songs were written mainly by other authors, and the singer often recorded cover versions. Nevertheless, Dusty stunned the viewer.
This was especially true for live performances. The audience was fascinated by the sincerity and skill of singing, expressing emotions through the voice. As many of them said, Springfield could give completely different thoughts and emotions to an already well-known song with her singing. This was the skill of the girl.
In the late 1960s, her work is inextricably linked with television screens. There are soundtracks for various films (for example, the song The Look Of Love for the movie "Casino Royale") and its own TV show, which was called "Dusty". The popularity of the girl increased rapidly.
The Later Years of Dusty Springfield
The beginning of the 1970s was marked by a decrease in sales. At the same time, Springfield remained one of the main stars of Britain. She released her second album, A Brand New Me, which was very well received by the public. However, its sales did not reach the level of previous records, so the release was the last released on Atlantic Records.
Collaboration with ABC Dunhill did not give good results. The releases released on the label were not very noticeable to the public. By 1974, Dusty had put her career on hold. At the end of the decade, she again returned to recording and releasing music, without interruption until 1994. At that moment, the singer was diagnosed with oncology. Already during the period of remission, Mary managed to release the album A Very Fine Love. But since 1996, the disease has reappeared.
Dusty Springfield died on March 2, 1999 after a long battle with the disease. She helped plan the posthumous release of Just a Dusty, which was a collection of the best and unreleased songs.
