Happy 30th Anniversary to Dusty Springfield’s thirteenth studio album Reputation, originally released June 25, 1990.
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien, more commonly known as the incomparable Dusty Springfield, was not only one of Britain’s most successful female artists, but was also one of the blue-eyed soul movement’s most integral and important founding singers.
With a career that had its beginnings firmly cemented in pop, it seemed only fitting that with Springfield’s incredibly soulful voice, the singer made the natural progression into R&B and the blue-eyed soul genre that was then sweeping the UK and US, an inevitable career continuance. With songs like “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’” and “Son Of A Preacher Man,” Springfield’s reign over the charts was indisputable.
With a career downturn fast approaching after the critical success of Dusty In Memphis (1969), an ever-increasing sense of isolation due to being alone in the US and the never-ending barrage of intrusive questioning about her sexuality, the mid ‘70s saw a reclusive Springfield come into full effect. Providing background vocals for the likes of Elton John (1974’s Caribou) and Anne Murray (1975’s Together), it wouldn’t be until the close of the ‘70s that Springfield resumed her solo career, and again, she was met with little interest.
The ‘80s had now arrived, along with the insurgence of new wave and a recent foray into the new genre with 1982’s White Heat, but it would be an invitation from Brit duo Pet Shop Boys in 1987 that would again see Springfield back at the top of the charts.
Springfield’s guest appearance on Pet Shop Boys’ “What Have I Done To Deserve This” not only provided the singer with a newfound confidence, but also saw her return to the top of both the UK & US charts (#2 in both countries) with the single’s release. Following her recordings of “Something in Your Eyes” for Richard Carpenter and the duet with B.J. Thomas, “As Long As We Got Each Other” (the theme for Growing Pains in season 4), Springfield again resumed her partnership with Pet Shop Boys to release “Nothing Has Been Proved,” a track belonging to the Soundtrack for the movie Scandal. The single returned Springfield and Pet Shop Boys to the top 20 in the UK, with another single following shortly after, “In Private,” which again entered the top 20 and ultimately became the catalyst for Springfield’s thirteenth album, Reputation.
For diehard fans of Springfield’s that hadn’t kept up with her gradual move away from her more traditional blue-eyed soul/pop that dominated much of her career in the ‘60s and ‘70s and now into the new wave era of the 80’s, the change would have come as a surprise. Yet for the majority of her fanbase, it was a welcomed new beginning that once again gave Springfield commercial success, but even greater was the creative and critical acclaim that she was once again met with on Reputation.
With well over a decade since Springfield had been in the charts, her collaboration with Pet Shop Boys coupled with the production/writing prowess of the late legendary Dan Hartman was destined to be something rather magical when creating this album.
Still with vocals that could and did rival most of her contemporaries at the time, Springfield’s soulful and expressive voice seemed to blend deliciously with her newfound genre. Neil Tennant, having been a fan of Springfield since her Dusty In Memphis album, partnered with his Pet Shop Boys comrade Chris Lowe to provide some of the album’s greatest work. With five of the album’s ten tracks produced by The Boys and four of those five also written by them, the partnership, although incredibly different from Springfield’s earlier work, seemed to echo the heights she had achieved two decades earlier.
Only two singles were released from the album. The aforementioned “Nothing Has Been Proved” and the second single, “In Private.” Both songs were written and produced by The Boys and the latter song became a massive US dance floor smash, despite it having no official release in the States. Longtime writing collaborators Gerry Coffin and Carole King returned with the hypnotic “I Want To Stay Here,” which Springfield covers well. The album closes with “Occupy Your Mind,” which takes her into a semi electro-experimental territory that could easily have been the inspiration behind Madonna’s future Bedtime Stories (1994).
Given the hype surrounding Springfield’s “return” with Reputation, the album is entrenched in the very ‘80s sound of synths, keyboards and that flawless production which some may say has dated this album. One thing that has stood the test of time is the ability that Springfield demonstrates yet again in being able to interpret a mood like very few others ever could or in retrospect, ever have done.
When working with Springfield on this album, Tennant described how Springfield would approach her lyrics, always willing to infuse variations and nuances that would bypass many other artists in the same situation. Admittedly, many would argue that it is these qualities that suited Springfield’s voice to the brilliance and simplicity of Burt Bacharach’s take on pop or the artistry and beauty of Coffin & King’s words over the all too common repetitiveness of the ‘80s. And yet this album, for all its difference and experimental attempts, serves proudly as some of the greatest work of her storied career.
LISTEN: