Dusty!: Queen of the Postmods

Description

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.

Get the book

Amazon.com

Search the book

eBay.com

Search the book

Other editions

• 

  Dusty!: Queen of the Postmods

  • 2008-11-17
  • 208 pages
  • Ebook
  • Oxford University Press

Similar books

• 

  Dusty Britches

  By Marcia Lynn McClure

  Years ago Angelina Hunter fell in love--only to have her heart broken.

• 

  The Dusty Ones: Why Wandering Deepens Your Faith

  By A. J. Swoboda

  "A unique, well-rooted, and spiritually nourishing work. If you've experienced your own desert seasons or periods of wandering, this book is Swoboda's gift to you.

• 

  Dancing with Demons: The Authorized Biography of Dusty Springfield

  By Penny Valentine, Vicki Wickham

  After supper Lee,who wasstaying atthe house, went toputthe bones inthe rubbishbin. 'No,' said Dusty. 'Don't putthem in there –the catswill get them andchoke.' Lee went toput them on top of a cupboard and was told the same thing; ...

• 

  Dusty Answer

  By Rosamond Lehmann

  DUSTY ANSWER traces with delicate nostalgia childhood friendships and the pangs of thwarted young love.

• 

  Dusty Locks and the Three Bears

  By Susan Lowell

  A Western-style retelling of the traditional tale about a little girl who finds the house of bear family and makes herself at home.

• 

  Tempting Dusty

  By Helen Hardt

  Editorial Reviews "This series is a MUST READ.

• 

  The Way to Dusty Death

  By Alistair MacLean

  Johnny Harlow, champion Grand Prix driver, acts as an undercover agent to discover who is fixing the Grand Prix races all over Europe.

• 

  Frontiers in Dusty Plasmas

  By Y. Nakamura, T. Yokota, P.K. Shukla

  The resulting book is a valuable, state-of-the-art review of the field of dusty plasma physics and will be welcomed by both researchers and graduate students who want to keep up to date in this rapidly growing field.

• 

  The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot-Ever!!

  By Dusty White

  This book is the best way to start learning the tarot. When you have completed this book and you want to read cards better than most professional tarot readers you will ever meet, you will want to pick up a copy of Advanced Tarot Secrets.

• 

  Loose Lips: Dusty Deals Mystery Series: Book 5

  By Lori Devoti, Rae Davies

  A mystery is brewing in Helena, Montana, and amateur sleuth Lucy Mathews is in the center of it... again.