Dusty-Sexiest Female Singer for Ballads

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steveo_1965
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Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2006 2:17 pm
Location: Los Angeles

Dusty-Sexiest Female Singer for Ballads

Post by steveo_1965 »

Hi,
Watched and heard a commercial last nite on tv....can't remember the product..but it was showing down shots from a helicopter to the streets below in Manhattan, in between the buildings...
Featured was a voice that sounded familiar...I kept listening, amazed at the vocal...The song was "What Are YOu Doing The Rest of Your Life"
and after a few moments I realzied it was Dusty Springfield...
sooooo sexy......along with that vocal from the "Look of Love"
I now realize she had the sexiest female voice of all time.....
Incredible!
someonenameddavid
Posts: 283
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2005 10:36 pm
Location: Flyover Country

Dusty Springfield

Post by someonenameddavid »

... Not bad for an irish girl from North London....

I remember the "Springfields" trio and their last performance on TV... they were sort of like Peter, Paul and Mary...

the British DJs used to call her Busty Springboard...



David
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice, there is.
Hank
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Post by Hank »

I agree that Dusty Springfield had one of the greatest voices. If anyone out there doesn't have Dusty in Memphis, do yourself a favor. That is a fantastic album - of cource featuring her take on Burt's In The Land of Make Believe. Any idea where I can get a copy of her singing What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life ?
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KeithBurke
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Dusty In London

Post by KeithBurke »

Hank-
The song What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life appears on the '99 Rhino re-issue of DUSTY IN LONDON. Though OOP, copies usually show up on e-Bay. Great song! Great CD!
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KeithBurke
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What Are You Doing...

Post by KeithBurke »

Dusty Springfield What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life:
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?a ... oc@aol.com
Hank
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Post by Hank »

Keith,
Thanks - not just for making the song available but knowledge of Dusty in London has opened up a whole new world of Dusty that I wasn't aware of and I can't wait to dive in. P.S. Do you have Dusty doing Knowing When to Leave from one of Burt's TV specials ? I have an mp3 that I'd describe as scratchy, breathless but magnificent. I could fwd to you if you like ?
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KeithBurke
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Post by KeithBurke »

Hank-
Sounds like we have the same scratchy mp3 of Dusty doing Knowing When To Leave. From what I remember that was culled from a VHS recording of a old U.K. T.V. show (the name of it escapes me).
Here's a link to Dusty doing Anyone Who had A Heart. As always, she puts that great Dusty stamp on this classic.
Dusty Springfield-Anyone Who Had A Heart:
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?a ... A76B386EE8
Hank
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Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:51 pm

Post by Hank »

Thanks again - you are too kind. Now I'm off to Amazon to peruse Dusty's post Memphis career...
dustybulletin
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Post by dustybulletin »

'What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life' was recorded in 1970 and, although it must rate as one of Dusty's best performances, it was overlooked for her 1972 album See All Her Faces. It was released for the first time in 1994 and the last compilation to include it is the UK double CD "Classics and Collectibles" (Universal).
SubMatrix
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Joined: Fri Sep 08, 2006 12:32 am

Post by SubMatrix »

keith would you remind reposting the "What are you doing the rest of your life" song? The yousendit link expired and I missed your initial posting :(
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KeithBurke
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Post by KeithBurke »

Sub-
Contact me directly and I will be more than happy to shoot that off to you.

Keith
keithinoc@aol.com
SubMatrix
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Joined: Fri Sep 08, 2006 12:32 am

Post by SubMatrix »

Thanks Keith-

What a great song. Anyone know of any other songs similar in style to

Dusty Springfield - What are you doing the rest of your life

either by Dusty herself or some other singer? I simply love this style of song. :)
sunspot
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Joined: Sat Sep 09, 2006 5:31 pm

Dusty In London

Post by sunspot »

Dusty's my favorite singer. I've had a copy of Dusty in London for several years, but I typically listen to a 5-CD "greatest hits" package of her material that I put together myself. Ironically, I didn't include "What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life" in that collection. Googled the track after hearing it in the (diamond?) commercial last night, assuming it was on Dusty in London (correct). Stunning use of Dusty's voice, kudos to whoever it was at some ad agency that came up with the idea. I was so shocked for a moment I thought I was hallucinating or dreaming it.

DiL isn't my favorite Dusty record, but her voice was absolute perfection during that period of her career and there are a few truly stunning selections on that disc, such as the title track off of See All Her Faces, Randy Newman's "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today", and her covers of "Girls It Ain't Easy", "Take Another Piece of My Heart", "How Can I Be Sure" and "Yesterday, When I Was Young", which she carries off with amazing conviction considering how young she was at the time herself. I wasn't aware DiL was out of print – I still see copies of it from time to time at the record shops here in Los Angeles.

If you want to hear Dusty at her prime, I recommend the American editions of her first 6 records (Stay Awhile/I Only Want To Be With You, Ooooooweeeee!, Dusty, You Don't Have To Say You Love Me, and The Look of Love and the Rhino special edition of Dusty In Memphis). Yes, the US versions. Her first UK record was remixed and remastered shortly before her death, and I think the remixes – while perhaps more tasteful that the originals – totally stripped the energy and soul out of her early performances. Dusty was more girl group than Dionne Warwick, but the remixes totally recast her performances more along the lines of Dionne. This is not a good thing, as much as I love Dionne. Dusty just wasn't about that.

It's true the US discs don’t sound quite as good (though they aren't by any means bad for material from that era), but they include great bonus tracks and are the original hit versions, with all their energy and vitality and drama intact.

There was also a UK reissue of Dusty In Memphis a few years back, but they NoNoised it to death in order to cut down on the hiss (DiM was plagued with a lot of hiss, it's true). I don't care for it, though. The hiss imparts a bit of space to the soundstage on the original recording, and without that the UK remaster of DiM sounds really flat. They should have re-equalized it to bring back some of the highend. Oh well . . .

Her early records are saturated with Bacharach tracks, by the way, including my favorite versions of "(They Long To Be) Close To You", "24 Hours From Tulsa", and "Anyone Who Had A Heart". Yeah, I know it's probably sacrilege to prefer Dusty's version of "Anyone" to Dionne's, but there you have it. Dusty's is a big, bawling, mascara running mess and I adore it. That's drama, baby!
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