March 2 was the first anniversary of Dusty's death. BBC TV filmed at the memorial stone in Henley, for a documentary "short" on how Dusty's fans are remembering her on this day. It is part of a series called "Rock Shrines", which will include Buddy Holly, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain & Bob Marley. The show will be broadcast on Digital satellite station BBC Choice in August ( now confirmed as Aug 15).The crew were also present on April 16, at the celebrations in Henley for Dusty's birthday(see below).

The excellent BBC Radio 2 documentary series "Remembering Dusty Springfield" ended on March 23rd after a 4 week run. Among those who took part were:Martha Reeves, Pat Rhodes, Arif Mardin, Jerry Wexler, Clive Westlake, Lucy O'Brien, Madeline Bell, Vicki Wickham,Derek Wadsworth & myself. Produced by Kevin Howlett , the shows were introduced by Paul Jones (former lead singer of Manfred Mann). The shows included a rare radio performance of "The House Of The Rising Sun" with Dusty aiming to sound like Bessie Smith!, the original "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" (Io Che Non Vivo Senza Te) from Pino Donaggio, "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" from Dusty's BBC TV series, "Quiet Please There's A Lady On Stage" from the Royal Albert Hall concert, and "Someone To Watch Over Me" from the TV ad for PPL. Fans have been heaping praise on the series, while wishing it had been longer; but Kevin Howlett was hard pushed to get the 4 weeks!

Lucy O'Brien's biography, "Dusty", has re-appeared in stores in a smaller paperback edition. A short epilogue has been added, covering Dusty's death. 

The "Full Circle" video was released in the U.K. on May 15, 2000, and V V L gave Dusty Devotedly 5 copies to give away as prizes in a competition! The catalogue number of the video is 0787163, and it runs to 50 minutes. It is different to the version shown on BBC TV originally. Most of the musical clips are longer, and there is extra footage of Dusty talking with French & Saunders. Its retails at £12.99.Order "Dusty: Full Circle" here TODAY !!

NOW magazine in the UK have reported that Letitia Dean (former UK soap star) is favourite to star as Dusty in an ITV two-part drama series, due to air in the autumn. Letitia, who played Sharon Watts in Eastenders, would play Dusty from the 60's to the mid 70's.

The latest edition of the Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music is dedicated to "Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien, 1939-1999". The tribute continues after listing those artists who passed over in the pevious year, with "...and finally, dear, gorgeous, funny Dusty; the best female singer Britain has ever known. This book is rightly dedicated to her memory". The tome costs £40 from bookshops. 

July 22, 2000: Dusty: The Musical, starring Mari Wilson closed after the evening performance at Nottingham on July 22. Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Really Useful Company passed on their chance to produce it in the West End and the company completed the tour that had begun in February. There is a possibility that it will be revived next year in the Spring. DUSTY:THE MUSICAL... Opened February 23, 2000.. See THE MUSICAL PAGE

Karen Noble performed as Dusty on "Jim Davidson Presents" on BBC 1 July 7 at 21:30. She sang "I Only Want To Be With You". Karen recently played the part of Dusty in "Dusty: The Musical Tribute", not to be confused with the offficial "Dusty: The Musical".

Two compilations are now available in the UK, one (Hits Collection) was originally for sale soley in Woolworth stores, but is now freely available. The other is only for sale in Marks & Spencer. Sadly this album has used the wrong version of "Anyone Who Had A Heart" once more. I thought we had heard the last of that! When will someone at Mercury erase that tape!!!! (see Comment page).

A video entitled "This Is Dusty Springfield" has been released in Australia. Jules in Brighton (just returned from "down under") tells me it is the "Full Circle" show with the songs cut to allow more chat from Dusty. The video runs 7 minutes longer then them original version, and is interspersed with celeb. interviews. This sounds oddly like the original BBC TV broadcast .

 "Dancing With Demons", the Dusty biography written by Penny Valentine & Vicki Wickham and authorised by the executors of Dusty's estate has been published in the U.K. following the serialisation in the "Daily Mail". The book appeared in stores a week before the official Aug 31 publishing date.The first of 4 parts appeared in the Daily Mail serialisation on Saturday 5th August, followed by three more, starting on Monday 7th. The first piece ran to four pages under a headline - "DUSTY'S DEMONS". It contained descriptions of the depths to which Dusty's personal battles took her at times. The 2nd. & 3rd. parts continued to reveal aspects of Dusty's life which she and those who loved her fought to keep private. The extracts ended on Wednesday 9th.

Vicki Wickham & Penny Valentine both appeared on "Open House" with Gloria Hunniford on Channel 5(U.K.) on Sept 11. Asked if Dusty had been the one who had "authorised" the book, Vicki repeated the controversial statement that it had been authorised by "the estate - of which Tom Springfield is the major partner". Penny in particular looked very uncomfortable and said that she felt Dusty would be amused by the revelations in the book. Penny Valentine died on Thursday 9th January, 2003

 Vicki Wickham called Dusty Devotedly on August 27 to express her regrets over the book "Dancing With Demons", co-written with Penny Valentine.

"I think I must have been too close to the book. I really believed that we had presented a balanced picture", she said. Vicki has arrived in London to promote the biography, and has come up against a wall of opposition from friends & fans of Dusty. I expressed my belief that Dusty's problems could have been dealt with without the gory detail, and Vicki agreed, "...looking at it now, I see that. If I were to write it again today I would leave the details out". She insisted, however that nothing had been invented; that every story had been told by someone who had been there at the time, and that their interviews were on tape.

Vicki was also horrified by the list of musical inaccuracies I presented to her, and acknowledged that it was inexcusable in a musical biography to have so much of the detail wrong. The book states incorrectly that "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" comes from Dusty's first album "A Girl Called Dusty", that "Ev'rything's Coming Up Dusty" spawned hits, that Dusty's only number on the RSG Motown Special was the duet with Martha Reeves, that Madeline Bell's "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" was her first U.K. single, that Sandie Shaw covered Dionne Warwick's "(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me" (it was Lou Johnson's original), and that "Let Me Love You Once Before You Go" is from "It Begins Again". She also denied any deliberate attempt to downplay my own role in Dusty's life by describing my relationship with Dusty as "volatile" (an adjective she now says is "not the case", and by omitting to mention my singing of "Wind Beneath My Wings" at Dusty's funeral (the only thing in the service that was at her request); "...it was mentioned, I know. Somehow it must have been removed in error". I have now submitted a list of the errors, and in future editions of the book the musical mistakes and my misrepresentation should be corrected.

If only Vicki Wickham had taken the time to step back from this book and reappraise it before publishing, Dusty could have been spared the greatest disservice I have read of any artist by a biographer.

 August 10, 2000: The bench which Dusty Devotedly told you so many months ago would be placed by Dusty's memorial stone is there at last. Now there is somewhere to quietly think of Dusty.

Robert Watkin has successfully raised £1,106 in order to have a tree planted in memory of Dusty in Kew Gardens, London. Thanks to the generosity of Dusty Devotedly visitors, members of DSB, and visitors on "Dusty Day", the required amount has been raised. Excess funds will be donated to the Royal Marsden Hospital Charity. The donations were £206 in excess, and that amount will be donated to the Royal Marsden Hospital. SEE PROJECTS PAGE

BBC TV transmitted the "Rock Shrines", documentary short recorded on March 2, 2000 and on "Dusty Day" on Tuesday August 15, 2000, at 20:00 on BBC Choice, a digital channel only available on Digital sattellite, OnDigital or cable in the U.K. The show was 15 minutes long and is part of a series dealing with rock stars who have died, and how their friends and fans commemorate the day of their death. The show was subsequently repeated the same evening (Aug 15) at 23:30;the next morning (Aug 16) at 01:30 & 07:45. It was also shown again on Mon 21, Aug at 07:45, 23:45, and on the morning of Aug 22 at 02:00.

BBC TV's recent series set in Glasgow, "Tinsel Town" features a gay policeman character who plays Dusty's records regularly. A soundtrack CD from the series is available featuring "The Look of Love".

Former member of The Springfields, Mike Hurst, has been researching the origins of Popular Music for a "difinitive history of popular music". He has found a direct link from 16th. Century British folk song to American Bluegrass. This item reported on Teletext.

July 19, 2000:Mojo magazine has come up with a poll of leading songwriters: THE 100 GREATEST SONGS OF ALL TIME". No Dusty originals are included, but songs on the list which are associated with her either on record or performance are: I Say A Little Prayer(No.12); I Heard It Through The Grapevine(No.21); I Think It's Going To Rain Today(No.30); Someone To Watch Over Me(No.57); Windmills Of Your Mind(No.62); Baby I Need Your Loving(No.66); If You Go Away(Ne Me Quittes Pas)(No.68); To Love Somebody(No.71); Proud Mary(No.86); Goodnight Irene(No.95).

 Soul legend Betty Everett died on 20th August. She was born in Greenwood, Mississippi on November 23, 1939. Her release of You're No Good just missed the top fifty late in 1963 and was covered in the UK by the Swinging Blue Jeans. Then she hit big with The Shoop Shoop Song [It's In His Kiss]. In the Spring of 1964 it was a top ten song.

Other records, such as I Can't Hear You (covered by Dusty) and Getting Mighty Crowded/ Chained To A Memory (covered by Dusty) were not as successful, though "Getting Mighty Crowded" was very popular in the UK. Dusty also featured Betty's "The Real Thing" regularly in live performances in the 60's

 BBC TV's documentary short - "Celebrity Relics" dealing with Dusty's dresses was broadcast on BBC Choice (Digital) on JUNE 7TH. The 10 minute programme featured interviews with Eric Plant, who designed many of Dusty's gowns in the 60s, Pat Rhodes, who is shown at home with the dresses in her possession, Neil Tennent, Lucy O'Brien & myself. Various clips were shown from the BBC TV series, including "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" & "If You Go Away".They originally wanted to feature Dusty's wigs, but it's doubtful that they still survive.

Chrysalis Television's "Top Ten Easy Listening" featuring Dusty for Channel 4, was shown on APRIL 21, 2001. Dusty was No. 7 in the Top Ten list.The show also featured Burt Bacharach, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin & Dionne Warwick. Petula Clark described Dusty as "The Best".

 Soul legend Doris Troy, who sang background for Dusty in the mid-sixties has died at the age of 67. Doris had been suffering from the breathing disorder emphysema for some years.

Following her passing in Las Vegas, her funeral was held in New York on February 23.

The show based on Doris' life - "Mama I Want To Sing" - is on at Williams Institutional CME Church, 2225 7th Ave., Harlem, N.Y. every Saturday at 16:30. Tickets are $25 - call 212-280-1045.

This info is correct at time of writing, but please call to check.

I can now reveal that the original U.S. movie, planned with Joely Fisher as Dusty and Sue Cameron behind it, has now been abandoned. Sue Cameron tells me "Joely Fisher is busy starring on a new series for Fox-TV beginning in the Fall and she and I have dropped the Dusty project."

Hollywood insiders tell me that at this stage there is no certainty that the new movie will be made at all. It is likely that there is a "script deal". The movie company would commission a script to be written & would go ahead, or not, with the movie, based on the results.

As the new film is dealing only with the 1960's, that removes the risk of Dusty's story being turned into a tale of battling drugs & alcohol, and we may actually get a movie about her music.

Vicki Wickham wishes to make it clear that although it is stated in pre-production publicity that she is a consultant on this Dusty movie, this is in fact not so. She has no involvement whatsoever with the Universal production.

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER:


April 21, 2005

Springfield biopic nabs Chenoweth

By Borys Kit

Kristin Chenoweth is attached to star as Dusty Springfield for a Universal Pictures biopic of the soul singer. Jessica Sharzer will write and direct the movie, which is being produced by studio-based Marc Platt along with Chenoweth and Untitled Entertainment's Danielle Thomas.

Born in Britain as Mary O'Brien in 1939, Springfield became the finest white soul singer of her era, with such hits as "I Only Want to Be With You" and "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself," embodying the 1960s with her beehive hairdo and panda-eye black mascara. In 1969, Springfield released what is widely considered her masterpiece, "Dusty in Memphis," an album that yielded the classic "Son of a Preacher Man" but was a commercial failure.

The singer battled substance abuse and a decline in artistic fortunes that ended only when she dueted with the Pet Shop Boys for 1990's "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" She died in 1999 at age 59 after a long battle with cancer.

The movie will focus primarily on Springfield's life in the '60s, culminating with the making of "Dusty in Memphis."

Holly Bario, senior vp production, will oversee development and production for the studio.

Platt production exec Nicole Brown helped develop the project with Sharzer for Platt. The project is the second music-related biopic that Platt and Brown are developing. They also are working on the Phillipa Schuyler project with Alicia Keys attached to star as the title character for Columbia Pictures. That project centers on the life of child prodigy pianist Schuyler, who during the '30s and '40s evoked comparisons to Mozart.

Chenoweth, repped by CAA and Untitled, starred in Broadway's "Wicked," which earned her a best actress Tony nomination. On the feature side, she will appear in "Bewitched" and "The Pink Panther" this year and has a recurring role on NBC's "The West Wing." She is in production on "Running With Scissors" and "Stranger Than Fiction" and shoots "R.V." next month.

Sharzer, who won a student Academy Award in 2002, wrote and directed "Speak," starring Kristen Stewart. She is repped by Endeavor and attorney James Feldman.

The Universal/Dusty Springfield deal follows the success of Universal's musical biopic "Ray," starring Jamie Foxx.

© 2005 VNU eMedia, Inc.

March 1, 2006 Movie director ANG LEE has now publicly denied the rumours of a Dusty biopic project. According to JAMES SCHAMUS, a longtime Lee collaborator and producer of Brokeback Mountain, the reports are false.

He explains, "The rumour came from a couple of bites on the internet that collided.

"It showed up on one of these gossip sites, and Ang and I were like, 'Huh? What?'

"I'm a Dusty Springfield fan, but it's all completely fabricated."