At The Home Style Directory we relax and happily succumb to the gravitational pull of great talent. We love people with striking personalities and people who own the courage of their convictions. Ms Mary O’Brien otherwise know as singer Dusty Springfield was one of those people. She had a voice which could never really be lauded enough for it’s exceptional tone and control or the refined intelligent usage from it’s owner.
Notwithstanding she was one of the most successful British females singer of her time scooping many awards on both sides of the Atlantic and scoring six top 20 singles on the Billboard charts and sixteen on the UK pop chars. Motown owes a doffed cap to her as she gave them a UK platform to expose many of their artists on her TV shows. It was also on her recommendation that Led Zeppelin was signed to Atlantic Records.
As far back as the 60’s Ms Springfield produced her own records but opted to keep it a secret because, ‘…here was the calculating part of me that that thought it looked too slick for me to produce and sing. Because women didn’t do that. ..There remains in the British audience, though less so, that attitude of don’t get too slick on us. Don’t be too smart or we won’t love you.’
It’s interesting that coincidentally our headline quote this month is from perennial favourite Oscar Wilde who says, ‘The public forgives anything but genius.’ – Why is that one has to wonder?
We can see her influence in certain singers today, whether it is a style or vocal thing picked up secondhand from another contemporary singer or direct from listening to the lady herself. However, the incident that we would like to highlight in the Dusty Springfield Profile is one that may be little known except by her most ardent supporters.
The South Africa Incident
Hot on the heels of our post funereal Mandela piece, (oh dear, do kick us when we use tabloid-isms!) it would be worth crediting Ms Springfield’s taking a stand when a stand needed taking on the apartheid issue.
It was 1964, right in the heart of the apartheid lunacy and a 25 year old Ms Springfield and her band had arrived in South Africa for a tour. She had an anti-apartheid clause written into her contract which outlined her refusal to play for segregated audiences.
Dusty went ahead with her performance to forcibly mixed crowds despite immense pressure by the South African authorities to sign another contract indicating that she would not. She was visited at her hotel and given thinly veiled threats if she and her band continued to perform to her rainbow audiences. In the end she managed 5 out of 7 booked shows, each time peeping from behind the curtains and checking before she started singing that the audiences were mixed, but it was finally at Cape Town that the South African government had had enough.
Arrested
She was arrested, confined to her hotel and later deported and the tour canceled. Dusty and her band were escorted by armed security to the airport and as they walked the tarmac to the plane they were met by a row of Black airport workers who formed a makeshift guard of honour holding their berets in their hands and nodding knowingly as a quiet sign of respect as she and her band climbed the steps to the plane.
Her actions unwittingly sparked something of an international incident and she found herself fully supported by the British Government upon her arrival home. Many artists also supported her at the time, although some begrudged her the headlines claiming that her actions were a publicity stunt. But clearly, anyone who knew her or indeed does even the smallest amount of research on the down to earth, straight talking lady would know that the churlish accusations could not be further from the truth.
‘Nuff Respect
She had said that it was not her intention to spark an international incident, merely to play music equally to everybody. It would quite simply be a betrayal of her Black friends to play to a segregated audience. Simple ethics.
Respect must be given.
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Much thanks to the following:
Sources:
Credits:
Paul Du Noyer