Cranky Lesbian

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Tag: Dusty Springfield

Weekend Listening: Dusty Springfield’s “Closet Man”

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On January 9, 2022

In Weekend Listening

A few days ago, while listening to Dusty Springfield’s 1979 album Living Without Your Love on my tablet, my preferences were somehow ignored and songs I normally de-select were played. That included “Closet Man,” a sultry cover of a 1976 Jaye P. Morgan song that would be an interesting enough curiosity on its own but gains an added layer or two of complexity for obvious reasons as sung by Springfield. Having revisited it for the first time in years, I won’t keep it out of rotation from now on.

Written by David Foster, Donnie Gerrard and Eric Mercury, this four-minute ode to “[coming] out into the light” includes lyrics such as “Your love is soft and nights turn into tears/Your tattoos and your muscles disappear/And the ring that I once gave you, now you’re wearin’ in your ear/But your secret’s absolutely safe, my dear.” My personal favorite? “There’s nothing new at all under the sun/You’ve got company, you’re not the only one/Why, it’s older than religion and, quite honestly, more fun.” Who are we to argue? She knows of what she sings.

Note: This was written before I learned of the death of Marilyn Bergman, so the theme to Maude and the soundtrack to Yentl (which is watched annually around these parts) will also be played today, among other songs, which is similar to flying a flag at half-staff.

Shelby Knows She Can’t Sell “Preacher Man”

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On February 7, 2008

In Music

Dusty and Martha look a bit distracted, don’t they?

If Google Analytics has taught me one thing over the last few weeks, it’s that idle web surfers like looking up the words “Shelby Lynne” and “lesbian” together. With that in mind, I bring you this exchange from a recent Lynne interview with IGN‘s Todd Gilchrist. Mind you, there’s nothing overtly gay about it, but I wanted to post something here today and it was either this or a picture of Ernest Borgnine in a sailor’s cap.

IGN: When you’re putting your albums together, do you think about putting different kinds of songs together, to sort of have something for everyone, or is it as you say a matter of what’s going on in your life?

Lynne: It has to be having to do with my life, because I’m not big fan of bullsh*t, so it has to have everything to do with what I’m doing. I mean, I chose these tunes because I can relate to them, and for no particular reason. I mean, I think about Dusty in all of them, but every song I cut has something to with what I’ve either felt or I’m feeling or I’m going to feel or I’ve gone through with someone else who’s feeling it. So it’s not really that complicated, it just needs to be honest and real. For instance, I can’t imagine singing “Son of a Preacher Man,” not only because it was Dusty’s song and I would never do it, but because I can’t imagine doing those words.

IGN: Why is that?

Lynne: Because I can’t relate. You go back and hear that song and you think of me and you’ll go, hmm, okay.

And, you know, she might act like a dithering idiot when asked about her personal life, but Shelby isn’t incorrect here. I’ll even take it a step further and say that while I, like everyone else on the face of the earth, love Dusty’s version of “Son of a Preacher Man,” I’ve often felt it sounds a bit dishonest coming from her as well.

Had it been about, say, the granddaughter of a minister (cough, Martha Reeves if you’re wondering), maybe it would have sounded more authentic. She still wouldn’t have convinced me there was “only one” person who could ever reach her, not with a voice like that, and I’d still have trouble believing that Springfield wasn’t the one who suggested they go walkin’, but it would have been a start.

Shelby Lynne Does Dusty, Possibly Other Women

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On January 13, 2008

In Music

“I hope I remembered to set my TiVo for The L Word.”

What did we learn from Rob Hoerburger’s fascinating profile of Shelby Lynne in this weekend’s New York Times Magazine? Well, for starters, she digs booze, college football, and Gladys Knight. And she doesn’t like modern country music, explaining, “The new stuff all sounds the same. I’m not ragging on anybody, but it doesn’t require emotional involvement. What Carrie Underwood is singing about has already been heard. It’s in a beautiful package. But my duty is to take the hard route.”

We learn that Barry Manilow, who is a fan of her music, is the one who suggested she record an album of Dusty Springfield covers. (She did, and Just a Little Lovin’ comes out later this month.) And we learn that Shelby, who has been known to get a little cranky herself when asked about her sexuality, still isn’t ready to come out of the closet—though she’s not exactly shutting herself in, either. Of Lynne’s similarities to Springfield, Hoerburger writes:

There are some solid parallels, though, musical and non-, between the two women. “Dusty in Memphis,” for all its acclaim, wasn’t much of a hit when it was released, just as “I Am Shelby Lynne” wasn’t. Springfield, like Lynne, could be temperamental; she was a perfectionist who frequently delivered the goods in the 59th minute of the 11th hour, and watch out if you got in her way before then.

And then there were the gay rumors that dogged Springfield most of her career, which in her case turned out to be true, though she never used the word “lesbian” officially. That same speculation has followed around Lynne, who was married briefly when she was 18, and neither will she confirm nor deny, saying only that she goes where the love is. “I’ve done everything on every corner of the universe,” Lynne said, “but I’m not going to make an announcement about it.”

I’m not sure an announcement is necessary, given how dykey (if ever-gender neutral) the song “Lonesome” is, but there you have it. Here’s a clip of Shelby singing “I Only Want to Be With You.”

UPDATE: If you found this page while looking for Shelby Lynne’s interview with the gay magazine The Advocate, you can find it here.

You Deserve It: The Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield

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On January 9, 2008

In Music

Need a little help getting over hump day? I suggest you clear four minutes from your schedule and watch the 1987 music video for “What Have I Done to Deserve This.”

As videos go it is pretty pedestrian, but the song is about as perfect as pop music gets and the video is so very, very gay that I challenge you to isolate the one element that could be crowned the gayest. Having to choose between the Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield is hard enough as it is, but when you factor in the double Axel-esque leaping that occurs around the 2:20 mark and the fact that Dusty’s hair, makeup, and general demeanor give you an idea of what would happen if a drag queen and drag king mated, that’s when things start to get interesting.

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