The Complete Dusty Springfield
by Paul Howes

Updated last word on our late lamented soul diva

Coming in just under 500 pages, almost double its original length, this is a reassuringly solid hardback. And when they’re filled with top-class information such as this, only a book will do. The internet is a definite post-Dusty phenomenon, and it’s inconceivable that anyone with an interest in her career, from The Lana Sisters to Pet Shop Boys, with so many milestones in-between, wouldn’t get something out of this volume. Quite whether we really need a foreword by Dale Winton remains debatable, but Petula Clark, who adds her own seal of approval to this updated edition, reveals the interesting fact that she had been scheduled to duet with Dusty, but that it only happened after her (1999) death, thanks to studio technology. Elsewhere, Howes adopts a detailed song-by-song approach which is best dipped in and out of at will. Those seeking sensational details of her private life are directed to Dancing With Demons by her former manager, but The Complete… focuses squarely on the music, making Springfield’s spirit itself felt between the lines. Pour a glass of something agreeable, put your favourite Dusty album on the stereo and start dipping…

ISBN 9781905287390

Reviewed by Michael Heatley
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