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Just picked up the '82 released Dusty Springfield album "White Heat" - found at my local Virgin Megastore (ha!) - I got into Dusty Springfield heavily through listening to her on Pandora. (check it out, www.pandora.com, it's pretty neat for finding music related to what you may like) More importantly, after hearing the track titled "Sooner Or Later" I was absolutely hooked on that song, with its sound so specific to its time. [...early 80s, when synths were more accessible, therefore popularized, and so widely used, you heard them in just about every pop hit during those years; and because it was the early 80s, you can still hear strong influences of disco in the guitar riffs n drumbeats.] Through Pandora, I also heard "Don't Call It Love" which opens with a bittersweet tinged synth & guitar sequence, welcoming Dusty's really soft [signature] vocals. I think this track probably sounds the most like the Dusty that people remember, accompanied by music of the 80s sound. This definitely is a worthy listen for classic Dusty fans who venture into her later works for the first time. A lot of the other tracks on White Heat really exemplify what the mainstream music of the 80s really sounded like. "White Heat" has the soft ballads of the girl that suffers from unrequited love and somehow finds the strength to accept this fate and move on to something better "Time And Time Again"... The more rock heavy jam "Blind Sheep" and groovy "I Am Curious" are tongue in cheek songs poking at a glimpse of the real Dusty, and who she really is as a person. "Gotta Get Used To You" has got that urgency in its dance beats that make you wanna sing along with a hairbrush in your hand. Carole Pope of the Canadian group Rough Trade, as well as Sting, Elvis Costello, and Elton John made writing contributions to help make "White Heat" one of the best Dusty Springfield albums [that was TERRIBLY underestimated & ultimately overlooked by Casablanca Records]. "White Heat" proves yet again Dusty's talent to be versatile in her singing abilities... helping her to crack at the pop-star-turned-caberet-has-been-mold made by the public & media... much like what "Broken English" was to do for Marianne Faithful. For fun... if you close your eyes and listen closely, you may be able to imagine that artists like Deborah Harry or even Melissa Manchester could've been singing this album. But of course, Dusty still has a very distinct vocal that is truly her own! Post a comment in response: |
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