Dusty Springfield: Sixties Songstress

Dusty Springfield was the image of Swinging Sixties Britain with her blonde beehive hairdo, panda eyes make-up and stylish dress sense.

I remember hers being one of the first voices I heard on the radio when I was much younger. Something about it drew me in even at that young age and has remained with me ever since. Looking back now, I'm sure it was the intensity and soulfulness of her singing that made me a fan and, no doubt, led to my future musical preferences.

Throughout the decade she was able to score hit song after hit song, starting in 1963 with the superb I Only to Be With You. Following that, Dusty Springfield's name appeared every year in the British music charts of the 1960s until the end of the decade when solo female performers fell out of favour.

Eighteen lean years followed until The Pet Shop Boys caught up with her in 1987 and featured her on their hit song, What Have I Done to Deserve This? It became the catalyst for a reemergence in Dusty Springfield's career, as she once again became a successful recording artist in the early 1990s.

Sadly, she became ill in 1996 and was diagnosed with breast cancer. She passed away at the age of 59 in 1999 just days before her induction into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and at the time she was due to receive the OBE from the Queen.

More reading: Dusty in Memphis: The Album The Hit Songs of Dusty Springfield

Dusty Springfield Photo Buy This at Allposters.com

© 2011, Richard. All rights reserved.