Dusty Springfield: The 70s

The 70s saw Dusty relocate to the USA as she saw her record sales dipping. Battling with bouts of depression and a collapse of self confidence, her recording became sporadic. When she did record, she made some devastating material and this period of self doubt and substance misuse worked to inspire material packed with emotional reality. Too often overlooked, this period is considered by some to include some of Dusty's finest work.

Dusty had also become disenchanted with the direction her American management had been pushing her towards.

She was uncomfortable about the nightclub and cabaret circuit she was being presented with, and her record companies were not doing her any favours either:

“I would make a record, go down and meet all the promotion people, then the label would be bought and the next day they'd be gone. One label switched overnight and told me that my entire budget had been handed over to Yoko Ono.”

So disillusioned was she that she retreated into what was a premature retirement. With time on her hands, Dusty began a period of deep introspection that was to take her to the very depths of despair. It was, however, a journey that was to lead to greater understanding of herself. On reflection she once said:

“America was very good to me, and very bad to me, and it needed to be both....”

Dusty continued to record, making the albums From Dusty With Love (Brand New Me in the USA) (1970), See All Her Faces (1972) and Cameo (1973).

Although From Dusty With Love sold a little better than Dusty In Memphis, sales of the subsequent albums were poor, even though at this period Dusty's voice was possibly at its peak, and the material produced was outstanding. Many fans see Cameo as the natural follow up to the classic Dusty In Memphis.

In 1974 Dusty began work on an album with the working title Elements, which was then renamed Longing. Dusty's confidence and self esteem was at an all time low.

She laid down rehearsal vocals, but the album was never completed, and Dusty requested to be released from her recording contract.

(Update: Some tracks from the Longing sessions have subsequently been released on the album Beautiful Soul)

Coaxed by her friend Vicki Wickham (who was later to become her manager), Dusty finally agreed to come out of retirement and make a new album. The album was to be called It Begins Again and was released on United Artists in February 1978.

Dusty was positive about this next move saying:

“When the curtain goes up, you might as well have some fun, and that's exactly what I intend to do this time around, have a whole lot of fun.”

Dusty was in full flow:

“I'll soon get working on a second album, and I'll probably do a series of concerts”

But, for inexplicable reasons, the album failed to ignite the charts and catch the imagination of the public, peaking at number 41 in the UK chart. May be the public did not want their idol to grow up, or perhaps the intricate and well produced material was lost on a generation of record buyers absorbed in punk rock. Whatever the reasons, the great comeback failed to take place, and Dusty was deeply hurt and confused by this. Dusty dedicated the album:

“For those who cared... With love, Dusty”

True to her word, Dusty did make a second album, Living Without Your Love, that was released in May 1979. The album was unusual in many ways, not least for the fact that gone were the eclectic combination of songs. Again, it appeared that Dusty was being forced to go against her better instincts and to fall in line with producers and managers who wanted to push her into the MOR bracket.

Dusty herself described the album as ...

“Unstunning.”

A single, Baby Blue, showcasing Dusty entry into the disco arena, was released in 1979 and just tickled the bottom of the UK chart.

Concerts in the UK followed, but dates in the regions were cancelled due to poor ticket sales. Again, many reasons and excuses can be found for this, but whatever the actual reality of the situation, Dusty was devastated.

Cover of Baby Blue single

Comfort came in the form of sell-out dates in London, performed to wild and ecstatic audiences.

Dusty was performing her single of the time, I'm Coming Home Again, on the first night of the Drury Lane concert when, as she got to the chorus, the audience erupted. So emotional was the event that Dusty broke into tears, hardly able to finish the song.

These moments aside, Dusty had become dissatisfied with events, so she retreated again for a number of years, caught up in endless legal wrangles with record companies.

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