Dusty's 'Something In Your Eyes'

In Waterstone's bookstore this past Christmas, I read an unbelievable quote from Dusty Springfield in a new book I picked up which lists every studio song she ever recorded, together with her annotated quotes from over the years, her recollections etc.



For this recording session, she said she had a sore throat but at Richard's urging did the vocal take anyway with bare instrumentation and none of the usual orchestration and vocal overdubs that he subsequently put on after she left (his usual style lol).

Months later, on hearing the finished album version she really regretted not being given the chance (by Richard or the label, not sure) to come back and do a final vocal retake, believing that she could have made the song even more majestic, given how he'd polished up the track in her absence but with her inferior vocal.

One striking comment she made was that although she believed the song to be strong, she never, ever believed it would ever be pulled as the first - and promotional - single for his album. A sign of her own self doubt, she refused to join Richard for promotion purposes, and was disappointed that the sleeve belittled her contribution as lead singer (i.e. smaller print).

The summary paragraph for this discography entry went on to say that because of these factors, it sank without a trace on the main charts.

Contrary to beliefs though that she fell out with Richard over the song's marketing, she is quoted speaking warmly about the experience of working with him and saying how she tried to sound like Karen but the realised that was exactly what he didn't want.

I am not sure what the book is called, but it's brand new and I searched the pages for any quotes about this song, stunned at the above recollections. I remember standing in the bookstore for about twenty minutes reading this over and over, thinking 'what a difference it makes to hear it from her for a change!'.

I actually don't think her vocal on the tune is that good (in terms of what she was capable of). She absolutely managed to get away with it but that's about all. Every single line is "punched in" and it's hard to listen to as a result. The edits in the vocal track ruins it for me. I absolutely believe that if she could have come back in and cut it again, she'd have nailed it without all the edits.

I also find it quite sad that her credit is smaller than Richards. It certainly shouldn't be.

Ed

How weird is this...I just search Richard Carpenter on google and asked for most recent articles and this article from Jan 4, 2012 came up about this same topic. Ok, what's my prize?

http://popdose.com/category/music/
Scroll down to see album cover from Time or
or click below to jump to article

http://popdose.com/greatest-un-hits...sty-springfields-something-in-your-eyes-1987/

You get a cookie Chris!

Very cold article though.

Were two different sleeves created for the single? If you search "Something in Your Eyes" on Wikipedia, the accompanying image shows what I assume is another sleeve that replicates the "Time" cover art/photo.

I don't think it's a big deal either, but if Dusty had some minor criticisms there may be several reasons. First, she was battling rumors in the '80s that she'd become unreliable and had lost her voice -- easy to understand why she'd want to be accommodating and sound as good as possible. Second, only months later she scored a #2 Hot 100 smash with the Pet Shop Boys and "What Have I Done to Deserve This", probably helping her regain some confidence and assertiveness.

Personally, having become a Dusty fan in the '70s, I thought it was pretty cool that she re-emerged in 1987 with both a pretty ballad and an uptempo pop hit...recalling the days when she was scoring equally well with MOR material like "Wishin' and Hopin'" or "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" and faster numbers like "Stay Awhile" or "I Only Want to Be With You".

I say: Come on. Give Dusty a Break!

At this point in her career, then in her forties, the closest she'd had to a "comeback" was the guest shot w/ The Pet Shop Boys, "What Have I Done To Deserve This?"...

She was sadly washed up in the history of "Oldies Has-Been Rock", before dying of breast cancer in her 60th year...

I'd say a more in-depth collaboration w/ Richard could have yielded a much better breakthrough, if not one w/ greater impact, such as 'what could have been', in the case of her appearance on Time...

(Which needless-to-say, was as a "behind the scenes" effort as a background vocal done for another singer, back in the 1970's for Dunhill/ABC, Thomas Jefferson Kaye... Sadly, 'Tommy' died, too...)


-- Dave

It would seem there were two more sleeve covers produced...something I never knew until looking just now.


The second one was obviously A&M Japan's effort, but I don't know which market the first one was produced for...