New Musical Express, March 12, 1983: Difference between revisions

From The Elvis Costello Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
(+Dusty review box +image links)
(+text part 1)
Line 33: Line 33:


{{Bibliography box}}
{{Bibliography box}}
<center><h3> White Heat </h3></center>
<center><h3> Return of the white-hot soul sister </h3></center>
<center>''' Dusty Springfield </center>
<center>''' Dusty Springfield ''' / White Heat </center>
----
----
<center> Graham Lock </center>
<center> Graham Lock </center>
----
----
{{Bibliography text 0}}
{{Bibliography text}}
[[image:1983-03-12 New Musical Express page 33 clipping 01.jpg|120px|border|right]]
[[image:1983-03-12 New Musical Express page 33 clipping 01.jpg|150px|border|right]]
Graham Lock reviews Dusty Springfield's White Heat.
Truly, this is the age of resurrection. Marvin's ''Midnight Love'', Curtis' ''Honesty'', and now Dusty's ''White Heat''. Five years after ''It Begins Again'' marked an official — and patchy — comeback, Dusty Springfield ''has'' made a record that rivals the power and glory of those awesome '60s singles.


The surprise is she's forsaken the soft soul MOR tack of her last two LPs for a driving surge of synths, guitars and heavy drums. It works, too — ''White Heat'' roars with a relentless energy that galvanizes Dusty into her most confident and ''committed'' singing for years. That's a real bonus, because Dusty Springfield is about the best pop singer Britain's ever produced.


She hits peak form so many times on this LP: on the rapturous Philly soul of "Don't Call It Love," a beautiful track that unfolds with the cool urgency of vintage Detroit Spinners; on Elvis Costello's "[[Just A Memory]]" (cheekily retitled "Losing You"), where the fragmentary feel of the original is transformed into a stunning blues drama; on the breathy disco rampage of "Donnez Moi," the sheer ''poise'' of the vocals inverting the lyrics' banal message of need.


Three surefire hits, I'd say; and there are ''more'' highlights, too. The romantic "Time And Time Again" and the catchy pop of "Gotta Get Used To You" are more typical Springfield fare, but the closing "Soft Core" is a different kettle of fissure — a stark ballad of sexual ambivalence on which her voice superbly underscores a queasy feeling that's equal parts desire and despair.


''White Heat'' is essentially ''modern'' music: the force of those great '60s melodramas has been reignited in an '80s context of synths, voice treatments and upfront sexuality. It's possibly a personal risk — a huge leap away from the relative security of the cabaret circuit into the dangerous currents of pop commercialism — and perhaps that's why ''White Heat'' also feeds on a tension that grips from start to finish, and pulls you through the odd hard rock excesses that mar "Sooner Or Later" and "Blind Sheep," where the voice is mixed curiously low.


''White Heat'' — its occasional heaviness apart — is a brave and brilliant success: a white pop firmly rooted (like nearly all the best white pop is) in a devout affection for black music. And Dusty Springfield, co-producer with Howard Steele and longtime soul aficianado, must take much of the credit for this result.
I can't think of anyone I'd rather welcome back to pop stardom; and after ''White Heat'' I can't think of anyone likely to come back with such style and power and grace.


{{cx}}
{{cx}}
Dusty Springfield illustration by [[Ian Wright]].
{{cx}}
{{cx}}



Revision as of 19:05, 27 August 2019

... Bibliography ...
727677787980818283
848586878889909192
939495969798990001
020304050607080910
111213141516171819
202122232425 26 27 28


NME

-

Madness!

London Dominion

X Wallop

-
<< >>

New Musical Express, March 12, 1983


X Wallop reviews Madness with guest Elvis Costello, Thursday, March 3, 1983, Dominion Theatre, London, England.


Graham Lock reviews Dusty Springfield's White Heat.

Images

File:1983-03-12 New Musical Express page.jpg
Page scan.


Return of the white-hot soul sister

Dusty Springfield / White Heat

Graham Lock

1983-03-12 New Musical Express page 33 clipping 01.jpg

Truly, this is the age of resurrection. Marvin's Midnight Love, Curtis' Honesty, and now Dusty's White Heat. Five years after It Begins Again marked an official — and patchy — comeback, Dusty Springfield has made a record that rivals the power and glory of those awesome '60s singles.

The surprise is she's forsaken the soft soul MOR tack of her last two LPs for a driving surge of synths, guitars and heavy drums. It works, too — White Heat roars with a relentless energy that galvanizes Dusty into her most confident and committed singing for years. That's a real bonus, because Dusty Springfield is about the best pop singer Britain's ever produced.

She hits peak form so many times on this LP: on the rapturous Philly soul of "Don't Call It Love," a beautiful track that unfolds with the cool urgency of vintage Detroit Spinners; on Elvis Costello's "Just A Memory" (cheekily retitled "Losing You"), where the fragmentary feel of the original is transformed into a stunning blues drama; on the breathy disco rampage of "Donnez Moi," the sheer poise of the vocals inverting the lyrics' banal message of need.

Three surefire hits, I'd say; and there are more highlights, too. The romantic "Time And Time Again" and the catchy pop of "Gotta Get Used To You" are more typical Springfield fare, but the closing "Soft Core" is a different kettle of fissure — a stark ballad of sexual ambivalence on which her voice superbly underscores a queasy feeling that's equal parts desire and despair.

White Heat is essentially modern music: the force of those great '60s melodramas has been reignited in an '80s context of synths, voice treatments and upfront sexuality. It's possibly a personal risk — a huge leap away from the relative security of the cabaret circuit into the dangerous currents of pop commercialism — and perhaps that's why White Heat also feeds on a tension that grips from start to finish, and pulls you through the odd hard rock excesses that mar "Sooner Or Later" and "Blind Sheep," where the voice is mixed curiously low.

White Heat — its occasional heaviness apart — is a brave and brilliant success: a white pop firmly rooted (like nearly all the best white pop is) in a devout affection for black music. And Dusty Springfield, co-producer with Howard Steele and longtime soul aficianado, must take much of the credit for this result.

I can't think of anyone I'd rather welcome back to pop stardom; and after White Heat I can't think of anyone likely to come back with such style and power and grace.

Dusty Springfield illustration by Ian Wright.



Photo by Anton Corbijn.
1983-03-12 New Musical Express photo 01 ac.jpg


Cover and page scan.
1983-03-12 New Musical Express cover.jpg 1983-03-12 New Musical Express page 33.jpg

-



Back to top

External links