News about Dusty Springfield

When quizzed on retro music, students admitted that they had never heard of mega stars such as Bing Crosby and Dusty Springfield. When they were asked about popular names from the 1950s and 1960s, the TikTok generation in Newcastle was left befuddled. However, it was effective both ways as some OAPs in the city became perplexed when asked about Taylor Swift and Harry Styles. None of the pensioners had heard of rapper Lil Nas X.

Aspiring novelists are usually advised to 'write what you know'. Lesley Pearse (left) sat down to write her first book, but she wasn't worried about how much of her tumultuous life tale she should leave out. By the time she was in her early 20s, she had witnessed the death of her mother, life in an orphanage, a violent teen ­pregnancy, an unplanned teenage pregnancy, a divorced husband, and a hoodlum. Two more marriages and bankruptcy were supposed to follow before her triumphant reinvention as a best-selling author - amazingly, a Lesley Pearse book now sells every four minutes in the United Kingdom. Pearse (middle) with her father, stepmother Michael, brother Michael, and stepsister Selina in 1951. Bottom right: With brother Michael

The 18-minute film reel shows the Fab Four appearing on the music TV show Ready, Steady, Go! Back in 1964, the Beatles had their own special show Around the Beatles. For the shows which were broadcast as Beatlemania swept the globe, John, Paul, George, and Ringo were smartly dressed in suits and ties with their signature mop top haircuts. The video features singer Dusty Springfield chatting with the band on stage and Helen Shapiro performing with them. There's also a section of the film that features the band's smoking and joking together backstage, which is expected to sell for £10,000.

Following the auction of the Grade-II listed building by an American firm, London's historic BT Tower landmark will be turned into a 'iconic hotel.' MCR Hotels has sold the communications tower, which has been a memorable landmark on London's skyline for visitors from its Fitzrovia location and famed for its "infoband" display of messages. The US hotel chain, which is the third largest hotel-owner-operator in the United States, now owns around 150 hotels, including the TWA Hotel in New York City. The building is also well-known for its revolving restaurant that attracted the best celebrity of its day, including The Beatles, Muhammad Ali, Dusty Springfield, and Tom Jones. Fans have been gathering to demand that the BT Tower's impending plans be repurposed as a hotel following the news that it will be repurposed as a hotel.

Over 30 years after their last appearance, one of the 1970s' most popular pop bands has announced that they are reuniting. During an eight-year tenure, the group released six top 20 singles before separating in 1974. Despite receiving only one complaint, Melting Pot's signature song Melting Pot was also banned by Ofcom for including 'derogatory references to particular ethnic groups.'

There have been some outstanding band names selected by similarly famous artists throughout history of popular music from The Clash to Led Zeppelin. Anybody who has played an instrument and wished to form a band will know how difficult it is to find a band name that keeps every member happy. There have been some downright bizarre choices, including Chumbawamba and Limp Bizkit, as well as famous names. So, what exactly are the reasons behind popular band names?

Charting the development of pop music from the 1950s to the present, with a fascinating event for every day of the year, a diverting new book reveals the strange twists and quirks of musical history…

CRAIG BROWN: I wrote about Detective Sergeant Norman 'Nobby' Pilcher (right), who was once well-known but whose death two years ago in such secrecy that his obituary didn't appear in The Times until last week. Pilcher, the Metropolitan Police's drug squad leader, had been known in the 1960s for his obsessive targeting of pop stars, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Donovan, Eric Clapton, and Dusty Springfield. His victims always said that if he couldn't find drugs in their homes, he'd be able to plant them. This he denied, but in 1972, he resigned from the Met under suspicious circumstances.

CRAIG BROWN: Obituaries of the famous die within a day or two of their deaths. The Times also published the obituary of a man who died in March 2021, but this week was the first week. They announced that Det Sgt. Norman 'Nobby' Pilcher's (left), the former head of the drug squad, had gone unreported after a drugs raid on John Lennon). In his day, he had been well known, even legendary, but the news didn't break for more than two years. Norman Pilcher began to be known for a string of raids on pop stars' homes in the late 1960s. He was a publicity hound himself, and he'd invariably warn the Journal in order to get maximum attention. Eric Clapton, one of his earliest victims, referred to Pilcher as "a sort of police unitie." Donovan, the hippy singer, who appeared remarkably glassy-eyed, searched his apartment on Edgware Road in June 1966. Dusty Springfield and Lionel Bart's homes were searched by him and his team after the same raids. In February 1967, he ordered a raid on Keith Richards' house in West Wittering, barely missing George Harrison and his wife Patti, who had left a few minutes before.

It's time for the new King to be honored this week on Eastenders. Daisy, 'Crystal' charade,' continues on Coronation Street, as she cheer Ryan up. Mack has been behaving strangely in Emmerdale.

He was lauded for his contributions to actors such as Dionne Warwick, Cilla Black, Tom Jones, Barbra Strob, and Dusty Springfield throughout his seven decades of writing.

On Thursday, tributes poured in for legendary composer Burt Bacharach, who died at the age of 94 at home in Los Angeles. Bacharach composed more than 500 songs over his career, including Say A Little Prayer and Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head, and was lauded with awards including six Grammy Awards. During seven decades of writing, he wrote for a number of A-list actors, including Dionne Warwick, Cilla Black, Tom Jones, Barbra Stassisand, and Dusty Springfield.

JAMES RUNCIE: Marilyn Imrie, a former model from England, died of motor neurone disease at five o'clock in the morning on August 21, 2020. (left and right) She was a drama director, a singer, and an artist: mother to two children, wife, sister, aunt, and grandmother. She was 72 years old at the time. We were together for 35 years. This is my love letter to her - a tribute to a woman who was an effervescent force for good, who thought the best of people, embraced adventure and delighted in extravagantly greeting her friends: 'Hello, Gorgeousness!Tell me good things!' It's not just my way of recovering her from the last months of a terminal illness, but also an attempt to provide my own interpretation of Johnson's "moral aide" and encourage the possibility of hope in the face of sadness.

RICHARD EDEN: Gemma Arterton (pictured left) was 'excited' but also 'terrified' when she was portrayed as Sixties icon Dusty Springfield (pictured right and inset with Des O'Connor) in a film about the legendary pop singer's colourful life. Now, however, I can reveal that the film was cancelled after the director, Phyllis Nagy, who was nominated for an Oscar in 2016, dropped out of the project amid a great mystery. Phyllis is no longer constructing the novel,' says a Nagy spokesman who was also supposed to write the screenplay.'

Adam Levine, the 43-year-old American singer, has publicly stated that he did not 'cheat' on his wife Behati Prinsloo (left), though Sumner Stroh admits he'crossed the line' with Sumner Stroh (centre top). Three more women came forward on Monday, one of them his former yoga instructor Alanna Zabel (top right) came forward with their own allegations of their lecherous behavior. Within hours of Levine's death, a heavily tattooed and curvaceous comedian named simply Maryka (centre bottom) leaked leaked internet screenshots of lecherous Instagram messages claiming Levine had sent her. Alyson Rose (bottom right) -once more, tattooed, pouting, and curvy, published what appeared to be her own lascivious online messages from Levine after learning to know him through his tattoo artist.

Tom Springfield, a legendary English songwriter, died at the age of 88. As he wrote several of the Australian folk band's hits, including Georgy Girl, The Carnival is Over and A World of Our Own, the singer and guitarist was regarded as the unofficial 'fifth Seeker.' Springfield died on Saturday, only ten days before The Seekers' frontwoman Judith Durham died aged 79.