Dusty!: Queen of the Postmods
by Annie J. Randall
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Book Summary Information
Author: Annie J. RandallEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-11-17
ISBN: 0195329430
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of Dusty!: Queen of the Postmods
Book Review: Portrait of an extremely talented artist and highly influential figure in the history of rock and roll.
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
"Dusty was the leader of a gang we wanted to be part of." This quotation from Dusty Springfield's long-time friend and backup singer Simon Bell from page 102 of "Dusty!: Queen of the Postmods" seems to sum up quite nicely how British teenagers viewed their feisty heroine during the peak of her popularity in the mid 1960's. While I was certainly aware that Dusty Springfield was an extremely important figure on the pop music scene on both sides of the pond in those halcyon days I really had no idea just how influential she really was in Britain during this period. Author Annie J. Randall does a spendid job of transporting her readers back to this highly fertile period in the history of rock and roll. In addition to being an exceptionally entertaining read I was astounded by how much new information I discovered in this book. What a great find!
Now I must confess that over the past few days my reading of "Dusty!" has evolved into a multi-media study of this beloved artist. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of this book is Annie J. Randall's discussion of Dusty Springfields's complex musical roots which Randall essentially boils down to a synthesis of American soul and European melodrama. According to Randall, it was Dusty who was primarily responsible for the genre that would come to be known as the 1960's Pop Aria as best exemplified by her 1966 worldwide hit "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me". Equally engaging is the author's inclusion of a series of side-by-side photos comparing Dusty's live performances with an 1882 acting treatise. The similarities are remarkable! Now at a certain point in Chapter 3 the author suggests that if possible her readers listen to a number of Dusty's songs as she points out certain charactoristics of each tune. That is when I pulled out my highly prized copy of the 1994 CD release "Goin' Back: The Very Best of Dusty Springfield." Doing this certainly made the points being made much easier to understand.
Earlier in this review I made mention of the fact that my reading of "Dusty!" would ultimately evolve into a three day multi-media study. Although I have been studying the history of popular music for more years than I care to remember I had never really heard too much about Dusty Springfield's pivotal role in introducing England to the Motown Sound. That story is quite compelling and you will find it covered in significant detail in the book. The "Ready, Steady, Go! special known simply as the "Sound of Motown" was aired in Britain on April 28, 1965. Hosted by Dusty Springfield this incredible show featured Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas and Motown's legendary house band Earl Van Dyke and the Funk Brothers. I had never even heard of this show but Annie J. Randall boldy suggests that in England this program was roughly the equivalent of the Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. This statement really piqued my curiosity and I spent a solid hour watching the original broadcast on YouTube. What a historic hour of television!
Much of the rest of "Dusty!: Queen of the Postmods" is devoted to Dusty's rather complicated personal life. Annie Randall spends a considerable amount of time discussing her close personal and professional relationship with the American singer Madeline Bell as well as the aforementioned Simon Bell (no relation to Madeline) and her long time companion singer/painter Norma Tanega. After recording her highly acclaimed but commercially disappointing album "Dusty In Memphis" in 1968 Dusty's career seemed to hit the skids. She moved to California in the 1970s and would record sporadically but no one seemed to care. Dusty Springfield finally returned to the pop charts in her 1987 collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" But her legendary voice was just a shell of itself, ravaged by time and alcohol and cigarettes. We lost Dusty Springfield to breast cancer in 1999. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later that same year. I was really quite pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed reading "Dusty!: Queen of the Postmods". This is an extremely well written book that will leave you wanting to know even more about this most fascinating individual. Highly recommended!
Summary of Dusty!: Queen of the Postmods
Dubbed the "White Queen of Soul," singer Dusty Springfield became the first British soloist to break into the U.S. Top Ten music charts with her 1964 hit "I Only Want To Be With You"--a pop classic followed by many others, including "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" and "Son of a Preacher Man." Today she is usually placed within the history of the Beatles-led "British Invasion" or seen as a devoted acolyte of Motown. In this penetrating look at her music and career, Annie J. Randall shows how Springfield's contributions transcend the narrow limits of those descriptions and how this middle-class former convent girl became perhaps the unlikeliest of artists to achieve soul credibility on both sides of the Atlantic.Randall reevaluates Springfield's place in sixties popular music through close investigation of her performances as well as interviews with her friends, peers, professional associates, and longtime fans. As the author notes, the singer's unique look--blonde beehive wigs and heavy black mascara--became iconic of the mid-sixties postmodern moment in which identity scrambling and camp pastiche were the norms in swinging London's pop culture. Randall places Springfield within this rich cultural context, focusing on the years from 1964 to 1968, when she recorded her biggest international hits and was a constant presence on British television. The book pays special attention to Springfield's close collaboration and friendship with American gospel singer Madeline Bell, the distinctive way Springfield combined US soul and European melodrama to achieve her own musical style and stage presence, and how her camp sensibility figured as a key element of her artistry.
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