miércoles, junio 25, 2025

Rocktrospectiva: The Brilliant And Modern "Reputation" Turns 35

Released on 25 June 1990" Reputation" was the thirteenth studio album by the British singer Dusty Springfield, and twelfth released. Reputation was not only Springfield's first studio album in eight years at the time but also her first album to be released in her native UK since 1979's Living Without Your Love. After a string of commercially overlooked albums through the late 1970s and early 1980s Reputation finally managed to resurrect Springfield's career and belatedly resulted in her being re-evaluated and recognised by both music critics and the general public as the UK's foremost 'blue-eyed soul' singer. Mainly produced by Pet Shop Boys and Julian Mendelsohn and recorded in the UK over a period of some eighteen months, Reputation became her highest charting and best-selling album in the UK, peaking at No. 18 and selling 60,000 copies within two weeks of its release. The album spawned four singles "Nothing Has Been Proved", "In Private", "Reputation", & "Arrested By You".

In late 1987, Springfield was beginning to look back towards the UK as a source of recording work, due in large part to her collaboration with Pet Shop Boys on their single "What Have I Done to Deserve This?". Pet Shop Boys had contacted Springfield's manager to ask if Springfield would perform guest vocals on the duet. Being a fan of their work, Springfield accepted the offer and the song became a massive hit all over the world, peaking at No. 2 in both the UK and the United States, which proved to be the biggest hit of her career in the US. 

This renewed Springfield's confidence in recording, as well as interest in her work from the general public, and led to another hit single "Nothing Has Been Proved", also written by Pet Shop Boys with Springfield in mind. The song was written for the movie Scandal, an account of the so-called Profumo affair of 1963, starring Joanne Whalley and John Hurt. "Nothing Has Been Proved" made the Top 20 in Britain, and led to yet another hit single, "In Private", which peaked at No. 14 on the British charts. Despite the fact that "In Private" never was commercially released in the US it managed to become a dance-floor hit in the States as well, peaking at No. 14 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart in early 1990. Both singles were included on Reputation, and Pet Shop Boys collaborated with Springfield on half the album's tracks, which made up side B of the original vinyl edition. 

Side A included tracks produced by the Pet Shop Boys' longtime collaborator Andy Richards, Swing Out Sister producer Paul Staveley O'Duffy and Dan Hartman. Three of these titles were also mixed by the Pet Shop Boys' co-producer Julian Mendelsohn. Critics gave Reputation very favourable reviews, saying it was a long overdue return to form for Springfield, and the album spawned two further single releases, the title track "Reputation", written by Brian Spence, and the ballad "Arrested by You", written by Rupert Hine and Jeanette Obstoj, previously recorded by Hine for the Better Off Dead soundtrack.

For diehard fans of Springfield’s that hadn't kept up with her gradual move away from her more traditional blue-eyed soul/pop that dominated much of her career in the ‘60s and ‘70s and now into the new wave era of the 80’s, the change would have come as a surprise. Yet for the majority of her fanbase, it was a welcomed new beginning that once again gave Springfield commercial success, but even greater was the creative and critical acclaim that she was once again met with on Reputation.

With well over a decade since Springfield had been in the charts, her collaboration with Pet Shop Boys coupled with the production/writing prowess of the late legendary Dan Hartman was destined to be something rather magical when creating this album.

Still with vocals that could and did rival most of her contemporaries at the time, Springfield’s soulful and expressive voice seemed to blend deliciously with her newfound genre. Neil Tennant, having been a fan of Springfield since her Dusty In Memphis album, partnered with his Pet Shop Boys comrade Chris Lowe to provide some of the album’s greatest work. With five of the album’s ten tracks produced by The Boys and four of those five also written by them, the partnership, although incredibly different from Springfield’s earlier work, seemed to echo the heights she had achieved two decades earlier.

Given the hype surrounding Springfield's "return" with Reputation, the album is entrenched in the very ‘80s sound of synths, keyboards and that flawless production which some may say has dated this album. One thing that has stood the test of time is the ability that Springfield demonstrates yet again in being able to interpret a mood like very few others ever could or in retrospect, ever have done.

When working with Springfield on this album, Tennant described how Springfield would approach her lyrics, always willing to infuse variations and nuances that would bypass many other artists in the same situation. Admittedly, many would argue that it is these qualities that suited Springfield’s voice to the brilliance and simplicity of Burt Bacharach’s take on pop or the artistry and beauty of Coffin & King’s words over the all too common repetitiveness of the ‘80s. And yet this album, for all its difference and experimental attempts, serves proudly as some of the greatest work of her storied career.
 
Reputation Track List:  
 
1. Reputation
2. Send It To Me
3. Arrested By You
4. Time Waits For No One
5. Born This Way
6. In Private
7. Daydreaming
8. Nothing Has Been Proved
9. I Want To Stay Here
10. Occupy Your Mind

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