11. Dusty SpringfieldDusty In Memphis

I think every singer (I was going to say female singer, but every singer) is indebted to singers like Dusty. I remember my mother always used to say, ‘that’s the best British singer there ever was’ and I do think she’s hard to beat. She has everything. She has the interpretation, she has the feel, she has this incredibly gorgeous voice. I love when I hear in someone’s voice all their influences. I can hear she’s obviously a big fan of Black music, she’s grown up with music from other parts of the world – I heard a documentary about her and she was also singing in other languages when she was young. She had the formality of church music. She could sing anything and still create intimacy, which a singer you aspire to. It’s not just a power voice. Dusty In Memphis is stripped back from her, isn’t it? Coming back to work with those American musicians who created a very different sound for her. The fascinating thing about Dusty In Memphis is there are other English artists like Lulu and Petula Clark who went to work with those people, but Dusty I think had a really different bond. It comes out in a song like the Michel Legrand song ‘The Windmills Of Your Mind’ where the singing is off the scale. It’s just, wow, that sensuality, I don’t know another pop singer who has sensuality like that, there’s nothing to compare to. It’s really extraordinary. It’s like Elvis or something.