Dusty: An Intimate Portrait of a Musical Legend - Hardcover

Karen Bartlett

3.74

120 ratings by Goodreads

9781849546416: Dusty: An Intimate Portrait of a Musical Legend

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 184954641X ISBN 13: 9781849546416

Publisher: The Robson Press, 2014

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Dusty Springfield was one of the biggest and brightest musical stars of the twentieth century. From the launch of her solo career in 1963, she exuded beauty and glamour with a distinctively unique voice that propelled her into the charts time and again. Never shy of the spotlight, Dusty was deported from apartheid South Africa in 1964 for refusing to play to segregated audiences, and broke the mould as the first female entertainer to admit she was bisexual. Streets ahead of her time, with an unrivalled musical ear, she was heavily influenced by Motown and was the first British artist to appreciate its impact, successfully introducing her contemporaries Martha and the Vandellas, The Supremes and Stevie Wonder to audiences through her TV shows. Not just a fad of the Swinging Sixties, Dusty's musical legacy as one of the greatest British singers of all time has endured, her distinctive style now influencing a new generation of artists including Amy Winehouse and Adele. Using brand-new material, meticulous research and frank interviews with childhood friends, lovers, employees and confidants of the star, Karen Bartlett reveals sensational new details about Dusty's childhood, her relationships, her addictions and her lifelong struggle to come to terms with her sexuality. An intimate portrait of an immensely complicated and talented woman, this is the definitive biography of Dusty Springfield.

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About the Author:

Karen Bartlett is a writer and journalist based in London. She has written extensively for the Sunday Times, The Times, The Guardian and WIRED from Africa, India and the US, and has presented and produced for BBC Radio. She was the youngest director of democratic reform and human rights campaign group Charter88, and began her career in the UK and South Africa. Most recently, she worked with Eva Schloss, writing her Sunday Times bestselling autobiography After Auschwitz: A Story of Heartbreak and Survival by the Stepsister of Anne Frank.

Review:

"4/5 Karen Bartlett's biography sends you back to the music - to the extraordinary, dusky vulnerability of her voice. I'm re-touched every time I hear it." The Telegraph "This is fertile rock biog territory and Bartlett spins the tale adroitly, never surrendering to the impulse to sensationalise... the author's chief concern is to locate the shy frightened woman behind the iconic exterior." Irish Independent "[A] lucid biography."Sunday Business Post "[This book] is rich with information on some of her most significant personal relationships... paint[s] a vivid portrait of a tortured soul." Out in the City 'A well-researched and revealing biography - Those last few years, however, make for a heartbreaking read, but [are] handled sympathetically and without sensationalism.' Record Collector 'A definitive biography of the singer.' International Express 'It's an incredibly sad story but Bartlett gets the balance right, celebrating a talent with few equals, while never shying away from the pain involved.' MOJO 'Dusty is a fascinating read, desperately sad and painful though it is to discover its heroine's Californian dark night of the soul.' The Tablet

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