Dusty Springfield

Dusty Springfield has been acknowledged around the world as the best female soul singer that Britain ever produced. With her oddly erotic, throaty voice, she racked up a string of hits from the 1960s onwards. Born in London to Irish parents, Dusty grew up in and around London. Her early work included an all-girl trio, "The Lana Sisters" and, then, with her brother Tom Springfield (Dion O'Brien), The Springfields.

Her actual debut on the US Pop charts came in the summer of 1962 with The Springfields' recording of "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" (#20 US Pop).

Inspired by Phil Spector's "wall of sound", Dusty recorded her first pop song "I Only Want to Be with You" in 1963. It reached No.

4 in the charts and was the first song played on the new BBC TV pop show Top of the Pops (1964). The sixties brought a steady succession of top-ten hits and a lifestyle to match.

However, Dusty used to campaign to get the little-known American soul singers a better audience in the United Kingdom which led to her own show Ready, Steady, Go!: The Sound of Motown (1965).

Her song "Don't Forget About Me" from her famous 1969 album "Dusty in Memphis" was actually recorded two years previously, on August 8, 1967, and was eliminated from the final cut of her 1967 album "Where Am I Going?". The sound of the original version is far from the Memphis sound, due to it being cut at Philips Studios in England. It boasts a very contemporary sound (much like a Burt Bacharach tune) and could very well been issued as a single.

In late 1967, she was having tremendous trouble charting hits in the United States, so when Nancy Sinatra passed up a chance to record one of Lee Hazlewood's compositions, Dusty "inherited" the song, and took the chance with open arms. However, despite the song not charting, it is still regarded as a now-hidden-treasure amongst Dusty criteria. The song was a theme to one of the most popular 1960s "youth" films, The Sweet Ride (1968), and was recorded in mid-to-late December 1967, then rerecorded on June 1, 1968, for single release. The song was "Sweet Ride".

In 1970, she moved to America and, although she attempted a few come-back tours, they never really worked. However, time in the studio did produce the seminal album, "Dusty in Memphis". A downward spiral of drugs and drink followed for most of the latter seventies but then she overcame these problems and, helped by lifelong fans "The Pet Shop Boys", came back with songs such as "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" and the album "Reputation".

She admitted to her bisexuality in a 1972 interview.

She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to music in 1999, just before her death.

Vanessa Carlton portrayed her in an episode of American Dreams (2002).

She was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame on November 14, 2006 for her outstanding contribution to British music and integral part of British music culture.