Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"Much has been written about Springfield's life, but too little about her artistry and panache. Randall begins to remedy that with her stylish, deeply research analysis of an epochal look and era-defining sound."-Eric C. Schneider, The Atlantic
"Written the incredible passion and insights into the famed singer's motives and methods both in the studio and out, Randall has not only given us a superb account of the legend that is Dusty Springfield, but she has also given us anther reason to marvel at and embrace the music of an artist and her music that will never go out of style."-Dishmag
"Not only does [Randall] place Dusty Springfield alongside her peers with in-depth analysis of performances and interviews with associates and acolytes, but she does so with a superior sense of storytelling. Dusty was larger than life and Randall captures this fact nearly flawlessly in Dusty! Queen of the Postmods."-Popmatters.com
"Dusty! is a primer in Springfield's cultural significance."--New York Press
"Dusty Springfield was one of the most interesting and influential singers of the 1960s, of central importance to the British Invasion, mod culture, and blue-eyed soul, but this thoughtful and beautifully-written book does much more than rehabilitate her role in the history of rock 'n' roll. Through compelling, sophisticated analysis of Dusty's look and sound, Annie Randall tackles themes of cultural appropriation, post-colonialism, fandom, hierarchies of taste, and notions of identity."--Jacqueline Warwick, Author of Girl Groups, Girl Culture: Popular Music and Identity in the 1960s
"Painstakingly researched and intelligently considered, Annie Randall's book provides a unique and fascinating insight into a unique and fascinating artist."--Paul Howes, Author of The Complete Dusty Springfield and Editor of Dusty Springfield Bulletin
"A rewarding read." --Journal of the Royal Musical Association
"[A] groundbreaking book." --Women and Music
Review
"Much has been written about Springfield's life, but too little about her artistry and panache. Randall begins to remedy that with her stylish, deeply research analysis of an epochal look and era-defining sound."-Eric C. Schneider, The Atlantic
"Written the incredible passion and insights into the famed singer's motives and methods both in the studio and out, Randall has not only given us a superb account of the legend that is Dusty Springfield, but she has also given us anther reason to marvel at and embrace the music of an artist and her music that will never go out of style."-Dishmag
"Not only does [Randall] place Dusty Springfield alongside her peers with in-depth analysis of performances and interviews with associates and acolytes, but she does so with a superior sense of storytelling. Dusty was larger than life and Randall captures this fact nearly flawlessly in Dusty! Queen of the Postmods."-Popmatters.com
"Dusty! is a primer in Springfield's cultural significance."--New York Press
"Dusty Springfield was one of the most interesting and influential singers of the 1960s, of central importance to the British Invasion, mod culture, and blue-eyed soul, but this thoughtful and beautifully-written book does much more than rehabilitate her role in the history of rock 'n' roll. Through compelling, sophisticated analysis of Dusty's look and sound, Annie Randall tackles themes of cultural appropriation, post-colonialism, fandom, hierarchies of taste, and notions of identity."--Jacqueline Warwick, Author of Girl Groups, Girl Culture: Popular Music and Identity in the 1960s
"Painstakingly researched and intelligently considered, Annie Randall's book provides a unique and fascinating insight into a unique and fascinating artist."--Paul Howes, Author of The Complete Dusty Springfield and Editor of Dusty Springfield Bulletin
Review
"Professor Randall generally keeps clear of the life story, on the way up and the way down. She wants to see Dusty as a 'postmod,' a gay performer, a camp artist, and a tragedy. Along the way she comes up with a good deal of writing that might have left the real Dusty Springfield bored or bemused....On the other hand, Dusty! is fascinating, especially when it talks about her fans and the legion of imitators that she has inspired." David Thomson, The New Republic (read the entire New Republic review)
About the Author
Annie J. Randall is Associate Professor of Musicology at Bucknell University. The coauthor of
Puccini and 'The Girl': History and Reception of Girl of the Golden West and editor of
Music, Power, and Politics, she is Vice-President of the International Society for the Study of Popular Music-US branch and Co-Editor of the Music/Culture Series of Wesleyan University Press.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Dusty's Hair
2. Transatlantic Migrations of Soul in the 1960s and 1970s
3. Voice, Gesture, Sound, and Spectacle: Dusty in Performance
4. Fans, Discourse, and Meaning