“Don’t tell me what to do”: was Dusty Springfield the music industry’s first real character?
In the modern day, popular music has become increasingly profit-driven, with industry executives and artists alike striving to appeal to advertisers and mainstream audiences. A byproduct of this has been the loss of ‘characters’ within popular music. These are the Keith Moons and Jarvis Cockers of the world who make headlines with their off-stage behaviour as much as they do with their music and performances. Characters have been a popular aspect of the music scene of Britain for decades, but the first person to ever take on the role was arguably Dusty Springfield.
During her early years, Springfield – born Mary O’Brien – was just an ordinary schoolgirl living in London and dreaming of stardom. As history has proved time and time again, however, ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things. She might have gotten her start in the music world with The Lana Sisters, followed shortly by The Springfields, but it soon became clear to everybody listening that Dusty Springfield was the star of the show, and it would not take long before she found the limelight within her solo career.
Springfield was one of the defining voices of the 1960s, with the singer quickly establishing herself as the greatest vocalist of the blue-eyed soul scene. Although the songs she lent her mezzo-soprano voice to were often written by other people and recorded by a plethora of artists both before and after Springfield, she managed to make every single track her own. Perhaps the only thing that eclipsed her vocal performances and incredible records was the personality of the singer herself.
The British public was allowed to get to know the person behind the voice through Springfield’s various television appearances. From 1963, she was the host of ITV’s Ready Steady Go!, which helped to establish her as an on-screen personality or character, which was then developed during her own variety television show, Dusty. Audiences across the nation were warmed towards the peroxide blonde vocalist, both through her music and her television personality.
In addition to these television appearances, Springfield would often showcase her unique sense of humour and refreshing candour within interviews, often to her detriment. Simply, Springfield felt no need to beat around the bush when it came to discussing her personal life. As such, when she was quizzed on her sexuality, she earnestly replied, “I know that I’m as perfectly capable of being swayed by a girl as by a boy. More and more people feel that way, and I don’t see why I shouldn’t.”
These brave comments on bisexuality made Springfield a hero for the LGBTQ+ community of the time and helped countless people come to terms with their own sexuality. However, the British public en-masse was heavily critical of these attitudes, and Springfield went from a figure of praise to a regular target of the right-wing tabloid press. Thankfully, Springfield remained unapologetic and outspoken in spite of the criticism.
Throughout her illustrious career, Springfield operated entirely on her own terms, and she was never tempted to adapt herself to become more commercially viable. She might not have been as wild as the ‘characters’ that would come later – Liam Gallagher being the one that springs to mind – but her ruthlessly outspoken and honest personality paved the way for countless future artists to be unapologetically themselves.
