Double Dusty!

I was in a delightfully original quandry last night Constant Reader... which of my two new Dusty Springfield DVDs do I watch? Yep two... would have been more than happy with one!!

I CLOSE MY EYES AND COUNT TO TEN is a Dutch DVD which collects 16 of her tv appearances from the 1960s and 70s, 8 b/w and 8 colour. Kicking off with a nervous looking Dusty with The Springfields singing "Island Of Dreams" the next two are from a Dutch programme of her miming "Once Upon a Time" and "I Only Want To Be With You". Shot from high up and picked out from the blackness by a single spotlight, for a minute I thought it was Lady Penelope - I had never noticed the similar blonde bouffant hair and panda eyes before!

There's a great version of "In The Middle Of Nowhere" from an NME Poll Winner's concert where she looks stunning (see photo) and is backed on stage by Madeleine Bell among others. Three clips come from her BBC series - including the one that is always shown of her singing "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" - then it's into the colour clips.

Most of them come from a Dutch show she did called "Just Dusty". Sadly the director deceided to art it up a bit so she is subjected to miming in long narrow neon corridors, stranded in the middle of a big studio stage surrounded by columns for the title song and most bizarrely during HOW CAN I BE SURE, she is superimposed next to a huge lightbulb. Poor the Dusty. Added to that the budget didn't stretch to a great wardrobe either. Huge big embroidered kaftan affairs which surely looked de trop even then! All is saved by the final clip of her doing the supercool "Spooky" straight to camera and looking great.

TV footage of Dusty with a live audience usually shows her at her best so LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL from 1979 is an essential addition to any Dusty fan's shelf. Not the best concert ever saved for posterity it must be said, probably down to a combination of under-rehearsal, Dusty's famous nerves and the added horror of performing in front of Princess Margaret! The first few songs are a bit worrying but soon Dusty starts finding her feet and, with the audience crowding the front of the stage, she loosens up and by the time she encores with an amazing version of Peter Allen's "Quiet Please, There's A Lady On Stage" she is in majestic form.

This song is an interesting choice for her - written by Allen after seeing Judy Garland face a disgruntled audience, it demands attention be paid to the woman behind the diva facade who has usually paid a high price to get where she is. At this point in Dusty's life - on her second attempt to restart a recording career after several unhappy years in Los Angeles - it must have been a particularly personal song. Sadly the momentum of this and her Drury Lane concerts earlier the same year did nothing to halt the disappointing record sales and there were eight more artistic wilderness years until she was offered the chance to duet with the Pet Shop Boys on "What Have I Done To Deserve This".

Sadly the one thing that made the Albert Hall show infamous is missing - referencing how many queens were in the audience she said "It's nice to see the royalty isn't confined to the box". Princess Margaret took this as a personal insult, snubbed her at the reception afterwards and later sent Dusty a type-written apology to the Queen which Dusty was made to sign and return! What a cow!!! It is also not the full show but an edited-for-tv version which was ultimately never shown. There are however some excellent interviews with her secretary, agent, backing singer Simon Bell as well as Madeleine Bell talking about Dusty the artist and woman.