Really remarkable article, Jami! I'm embarrassed by how little I knew about Dusty (whom I've always loved), and now enlightened by how much you shared about her! Plus, I discovered a couple new Pet Shop Boys videos I'd not seen before, AND discovered they just released a new box set a couple months ago! Again, very impressive...I believe a hearty and sincere "brava!" is called for!
Beautifully written. I'm reminded a bit of Janis Joplin, esp the part about her exaggerated makeup, hair, etc. Janis did that, too, at the beginning -- not clear if it was her idea or her mother's, but a Texas girl in the '60s, that's what one did.
The difference is that Janis found her voice and the hippie scene, and threw off the false persona. Not that it mattered in the end. We can do what we like in public, it's what happens in the confines of our heads that determines the course of events, of course. That's the other thing that rang similar between the two -- despite a voice that could move mountains, neither of them outran their demons.
And the third person I'd maybe put in this impromptu collection would be Tammy Wynette, whose story matches Janis and Dusty, with the exception that Tammy seemed to generally love -- to excess and to her ultimate destruction -- the public performance of being a woman.
Oh, and another parallel here is Bobbie Gentry -- the part about Dusty having to fight for studio control due to being the "chick singer" was apparently true of Gentry as well. Gentry solved the problem -- if you can call it that -- by becoming a recluse.
It's tempting to say the lesson here is "be yourself," but figuring out who that even is, never mind how to express it to the world, that's the hat trick.
Really remarkable article, Jami! I'm embarrassed by how little I knew about Dusty (whom I've always loved), and now enlightened by how much you shared about her! Plus, I discovered a couple new Pet Shop Boys videos I'd not seen before, AND discovered they just released a new box set a couple months ago! Again, very impressive...I believe a hearty and sincere "brava!" is called for!
💜💜💜
Beautifully written. I'm reminded a bit of Janis Joplin, esp the part about her exaggerated makeup, hair, etc. Janis did that, too, at the beginning -- not clear if it was her idea or her mother's, but a Texas girl in the '60s, that's what one did.
The difference is that Janis found her voice and the hippie scene, and threw off the false persona. Not that it mattered in the end. We can do what we like in public, it's what happens in the confines of our heads that determines the course of events, of course. That's the other thing that rang similar between the two -- despite a voice that could move mountains, neither of them outran their demons.
And the third person I'd maybe put in this impromptu collection would be Tammy Wynette, whose story matches Janis and Dusty, with the exception that Tammy seemed to generally love -- to excess and to her ultimate destruction -- the public performance of being a woman.
Oh, and another parallel here is Bobbie Gentry -- the part about Dusty having to fight for studio control due to being the "chick singer" was apparently true of Gentry as well. Gentry solved the problem -- if you can call it that -- by becoming a recluse.
It's tempting to say the lesson here is "be yourself," but figuring out who that even is, never mind how to express it to the world, that's the hat trick.
Great article, thanks!
An excellent essay. Really informative. I loved her voice, and all of her records.
Thank you so much! She is sorely under-studied and under-celebrated.