A vision in monochrome, eyes sooty with mascara, hair piled up to perfection, and a sequinned dress so glamorous that it suggests we could barely inhabit the same planet: the high contrast photo that adorned the cover of Dusty Springfield's Greatest Hits was iconic. In it's so-sharp black and white, there was much mystique - it was as much about what you couldn't see - which is exactly as it should be. These days Dusty is a gay icon, seemingly celebrated for her troubles and insecurities as much as she is for her records. For those who like pop music to have myth and legend, the ability to take you over the rooftops and out of your skin, the run of 45s on this compilation is all you really need to know about Dusty Springfield.
After all, she was a perfectionist. While contemporaries cranked out two, even three albums year, Dusty would agonise over each one and only released five during the sixties. As for singles... the unerring quality of the b-sides says it all. It's easy to say that they were good enough for other people's a-sides, because frequently they were. No rush-released covers of Those Were The Days, or half-baked songs with the manager's name in the credits, not for Dusty. Time has proved her instincts right. From the moment she heard The Exciters' Tell Him on a '63 New York trip and dissolved The Springfields, to her prescient recordings in Philadelphia seven years later, Dusty never let udown. Her quality control and other-worldly talent has leant the songs on this compilation timelessness. They will never grow old. Viva La Springfield!
