Download Free Dusty Springfield * Songs

Dusty Springfield music biography continued...

to singing as a youngster. After completing her schooling she joined the Lana Sisters, a pop vocal trio which issued a few singles on Fontana before dissolving. In 1960, upon teaming with her brother Dion O' Brien and his friend Tim Feild in the folk trio the Springfields, O'Brien adopted the stage name Dusty Springfield; thanks to a series of hits including "Breakaway," "Bambino," and "Say I Won't Be There," the group was soon the U.K.'s best-selling act. After she traveled to the United States and gained exposure to the Motown sound, Springfield decided to launch a solo career. Her first single, "I Only Want to Be With You," quickly reached the British Top Five; it also almost reached the Top Ten in the U.S., where Dusty became the biggest UK act other than the Beatles. Her biggest American Top Ten hit, "Wishin' and Hopin'," was the first in a series of Springfield hits written by songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David; she would subsequently cover Bacharach/David classics including "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself." By the end of 1964, Springfield was considered one of the greatest solo acts in British pop history, winning the first of four consecutive Best Female Vocalist honors in NME



Although she came out with what critics considered her soul masterpiece-- "Son of a Preacher Man"-- in 1969, afterward her commercial fortunes began to decline. Throughout the 70s and early 80s, Springfield's output would be critically acclaimed, but would not make much of a dent in the charts. Then, in 1987, Springfield was contacted to collaborate with US techno-pop innovators the Pet Shop Boys on a duet titled "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" The single was an international smash, peaking at number two in both the U.S. and the U.K. It was followed by Springfield's partially Pet Shop Boys--produced 1990 album Reputation, which became her best-selling new album since her '60s-era peak. In 1995, while recording the country album, A Very Fine Love, Springfield was diagnosed with breast cancer. Four years later, on March 2, 1999, she died of the disease, just ten days shy of her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.