A pop-soul revolution: What were Dusty Springfield’s 20 top 40 hits?
A peroxide blonde revolutionary, Dusty Springfield forever altered the pop landscape of the United Kingdom back in the 1960s, paving the way for the blue-eyed soul boom that would typify the sounds of that famously swinging period in popular culture.
By the time that Springfield unveiled her inaugural solo single, ‘I Only Want to Be with You’ in 1963, she had already established herself as a gifted vocalist performing alongside The Springfields during the early part of the 1960s, and the less-celebrated Lana Sisters in the late 1950s. However, the foundations of her subsequent solo career offered an entirely new perspective on the vocalist’s pop potential.
With her powerful performances, strong image, and incredible emotive quality, mainstream audiences both sides of the Atlantic took to Springfield’s newly established solo career immediately; in fact, she was so popular in the United States that various publications at the time reported on Springfield as though she were American, rather than being born in West Hampstead to Irish parents. That 1963 debut single became an instant hit, reaching number four in the UK and establishing her a major cultural figure, only strengthened by her countless tours and television appearances over the next few years.
Presenting Ready, Steady, Go, arguably the biggest youth-focused music programme in the country at that time, the vocalist introduced audiences to a countless array of new and exciting artists, among them, the stars of Motown Records, for the very first time in Britain. This gave Berry Gordy’s label something of a leg-up in establishing Detroit soul in the UK, and spoke to her incredible commercial power.
The biggest of her hit singles over the gamut of the 1960s was 1966’s ‘You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me’, which earned the accolade of being Springfield’s only number-one single in the UK. However, her impressive run came to an abrupt halt in the 1970s, when a tabloid witch hunt centring on her outspoken bisexuality was launched against her.
You can see that drop-off quite clearly when looking at her chart history. In September 1970, Springfield gave the infamous interview to the Evening Standard in which she declared, “I’m perfectly as capable of being swayed by a girl as by a boy”. That same month was also marked by her single ‘How Can I Be Sure’ reaching number 36 in the singles chart, her final entry into the UK top 40 for 17 years.
In 1987, her career found something of a renaissance thanks to the infallible pop power of Pet Shop Boys, who collaborated with the vocalist on ‘What Have I Done to Deserve This’ which saw Springfield reenter the pop charts once again. She went on to have three more top 40 entries during the late 1980s, before her death in 1999, by which time her reputation as one of Britain’s defining pop stars and vocalists was firmly reestablished.
Dusty Springfield’s 20 top 40 hits:
- ‘I Only Want to Be with You’ (1963)
- ‘Stay Awhile’ (1964)
- ‘I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself’ (1964)
- ‘Losing You’ (1964)
- ‘Your Hurtin’ Kind of Love’ (1965)
- ‘In the Middle of Nowhere’ (1965)
- ‘Some of Your Lovin’ (1965)
- ‘Little By Little’ (1966)
- ‘You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me’ (1966)
- ‘Going Back’ (1966)
- ‘All I See Is You’ (1966)
- ‘I’ll Try Anything’ (1967)
- ‘Give Me Time’ (1967)
- ‘I Close My Eyes and Count To Ten’ (1968)
- ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ (1968)
- ‘How Can I Be Sure’ (1970)
- ‘What Have I Done to Deserve This’ (1987)
- ‘Nothing Has Been Proved’ (1989)
- ‘In Private’ (1989)
- ‘Reputation’ (1990)
