Dusty, You Left Too Soon

Yesterday, amidst the gloom of the day I received in the mail the CD I ordered last time I was in a funk.
Dusty Springfield's Greatest Hits.
Sure, we have all kinds of new lesbian singers and groups out there on the market, but Dusty's old school, and I love her sand-on-suede voice.
Her songs on this CD are a little dated, but that voice made her "the white lady of soul," as she was dubbed in her native England.
Her lesbianism was one of those loosely guarded secrets, even after she coupled up with Canadian singer/dyke/maniac Carole Pope.
But we knew.
Her big, blonde bouffant and her panda bear eye makeup and singing about the son of the preacher man didn't fool us. We knew.
Her song, "I Don't Know What to do With Myself," is the best breakup song ever. Raw pain, expressed lyrically.
Her version of, "The Look of Love" is as sensuous as it gets.
If any of you watch "Arli$$" on HBO, the opening song, "I Only Want to be With You" is classic Dusty. You cannot stay in a funk when that song plays. It makes me dance silly, like the guy in the K-Mart/Joe Boxer commercial.
In 1987 she busted out again, singing with the Pet Shop Boys in, "What Have I Done to Deserve this?" I was so happy to see her jumping back into the music scene with such a good group.
Dusty died on March 3, 1999, after a 4-year battle with breast cancer. She was 60.
She left in her will £300,000 for the lifetime care of her cat. How cool was that?