The last month or two have been kind of difficult for us in some ways. Bea’s hours have been rather anti-social and I’ve had a lot of pressure through work (and pig-headed clients). We’ve battled through, though, and this trip has been one of the things that we’ve been really looking forward to. The Eiffel Tower, Sacré Coeur, the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triumphe, Champs Elysées (and yes, the Buddha Bar itself)… so little time and so much to see. I’ll be taking lots of photos, hopefully, and may well post some of them on here.
Musical Monday - Part 2 of 3Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien's first professional musical experience came in 1958, when she joined the British vocal group the Lana Sisters and recorded a number of singles with them over the following two years.
In 1960 she left the Lana Sisters and formed the pop-folk trio the Springfields with brother Dion O'Brien and Tim Feild (the two of whom had been working together as the Kensington Squares). According to Tim Feild, the new trio chose "the Springfields" as their name while practising in a field in Somerset in the spring of that year. So Mary (who had been nicknamed "Dusty" as a child) became Dusty Springfield, and the rest is history.
Springfield had become a fan of Burt Bacharach in the early 60’s (largely influenced by Dionne Warwick’s collaboration with him, and later with Hal David), and recorded a number of Bacharach/David compositions including "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself", which reached number 3 in Britain. She was chosen to record the original version of "The Look of Love" for the 1967 Bond movie Casino Royale and it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song of 1967. In 1968 a cover version by Sergio Mendes and Brazil 66 became a bigger hit than the original; however, the song has remained more closely associated with Springfield, whose interpretation is widely regarded as definitive.
Before releasing her final album, A Very Fine Love, in 1995, Springfield was diagnosed with breast cancer. She received treatment and, for a time, the cancer was in remission. Unfortunately, howver, it was detected again in the summer of 1996 and Springfield, after a spirited fight, was eventually defeated. She died, aged 59, just ten days before her induction into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The day she died was also the day she had been due to go to Buckingham Palace to receive her OBE medal.
Right… here it is then – part 2 of my tribute to Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and The Look of Love. A beautiful song, delivered to perfection by the late Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien. That’s Dusty Springfield to you.
If you want join in with Musical Monday, just stick this in your sidebar or on your post (by the way, this is the code if you want the new image link, i.e. the colour version. Go on, you know you want to change it…):
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