Since this blog is about reuse and new life of not just things, but also people, (and places, and animals as well), once in awhile I’m going to write about a musician or group that was once famous and then, after the public and the music business thought they were “washed up”, given another chance at letting their talents be heard on a mass scale. These are artists who have already much proven themselves as worthy of a listen but the rebirth aspect makes the new music, when it’s really good, so much sweeter. And sometimes, the new music even surpasses past work.
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The idea for the first “Untrash Playlist” artist to feature kind of fell into my lap a week or so ago, when I was cooking…I’ve gotten into the habit of, when a random song pops into my head, asking my Google Home Assistant “Kitchen Hub Display” to play it, even if I don’t remember the title of the song or the group…I can just say or sing a line, and “she” (also known as “G”) usually gets it right. And often, some interesting trivia about the song will scroll across the display screen…so, in the midst of chopping green peppers, I asked G to play an 80s song that I thought was called, “How’m I Gonna Get Through”…and in spite of my incorrect title, and the fact that I didn’t remember the artist who performed it, G played the correct song, which is actually titled, “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” and it’s by Pet Shop Boys and…’60’s legend Dusty Springfield?! No, I had not recalled that she sang on that…but the 1987 song is so pop-y good, and sooo “80’s”, that as the trivia scrolled past on G’s screen, I put down my knife for a minute and read more…it said something about how Dusty fell on hard times, and was living in a “pay-by-day” motel in LA when Pet Shop Boys contacted her and asked if she’d sing on the song. (Lead singer Neil Tennant was a big fan of Dusty’s, his favorite album of all time being the 1968 album, “Dusty in Memphis“.) That piqued my interest, so I did more research later– true to form, she originally turned down their offer (Dusty suffered from bipolar disorder, low self esteem and self harm for almost all her life, and struggled to reconcile her sexuality with her Catholic upbringing) but luckily she was eventually talked into it– because listeners were gifted with hearing her beautiful, smoky voice once again (and seeing her in the music video for the song), and “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” became the second biggest charting single of her career, reaching No. 2 in both the U.S. and Britain, her first chart hit in 17 years.
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I don’t think Dusty became financially destitute ever again, and by the time she passed away in 1999 from breast cancer, she’d recorded two more hit singles and released three more successful albums, and accepted several more good opportunities including allowing one of her songs to be featured in the movie, “Pulp Fiction”. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame less than two weeks after she died.
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If you’re not familiar with Dusty Springfield, she was HUGE in the UK in the ’60s, dubbed the “queen of blue-eyed soul,” and known in the U.S. for hits such as “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” “Wishin’ and Hopin'” “and “Son of a Preacher Man”. Her music and appearance/style were inspirations for many performers including Adele and Amy Winehouse. In England, she starred in three musical TV series and several TV specials from 1965-1973.
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In the ’70s, Dusty moved to the U.S. to get out of the spotlight, and by the time her career stalled in the mid-’80s after a string of unsuccessful albums, she had spent time in a hospital psychiatric unit and was reported to have resorted to, once in awhile, entering lip-syncing contests (mouthing along to her own songs) at LA drag clubs in order to earn money, enduring the humiliation of sometimes losing. She was, at the time, considered “a nightmare” by record executives and “unable to sing”. Indeed, the Pet Shop Boys’ willingness to take a chance and collaborate was a wonderful life-changing opportunity and helping hand. Dusty has been quoted as saying it was a “watershed moment.”
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Below are some links to a few of her performances. There have also been several books written about her, at least two documentaries produced, and a movie about Dusty has been in the works for several years. I hope you’ll take a listen, or a read, or a look, especially if you previously didn’t know much about her. I think it will be well worth your time. Enjoy!!
Great post, missy!
Thank you!!