''Reputation'' is the thirteenth studio album by British singer

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop music, p ...

, and twelfth released. Issued on the

Parlophone Records Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 19 ...

label in the UK and the rest of Europe in June 1990, ''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 ''Living Without Your Love'' is the eleventh studio album recorded by singer Dusty Springfield, and tenth released. The album was recorded in summer 1978 and released in early 1979. Background While ''Living Without Your Love'' was produced b ...

''. 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 Blue-eyed soul (also called white soul) is rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music performed by white artists. The term was coined in the mid-1960s, to describe white artists whose sound was similar to that of the predominantly-black Motown and Stax ...

' singer. Mainly produced by

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...

and

Julian Mendelsohn Julian Mendelsohn is an Australian record producer, audio engineer and mixer. Early life After completing school in Australia, Mendelsohn moved to the United Kingdom. He secured his first job in 1974 at Milner Sound Fulham Rd. Chelsea, run b ...

and recorded in the UK over a period of some eighteen months, ''Reputation'' became her highest charting and best-selling album in the UK since 1970's '' From Dusty with Love'', peaking at No. 18 and selling 60,000 copies within two weeks of its release.

Background

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

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. A brand new greatest hits album ''The Silver Collection'' also proved highly popular achieving Platinum status and charting in the UK at #14. 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 "Nothing Has Been Proved" is a song and a single release by British singer Dusty Springfield, written and produced by the Pet Shop Boys. The song was the second collaboration between Springfield and the Pet Shop Boys, following their UK #2 and ...

", also written by Pet Shop Boys with Springfield in mind. The song was written for the movie ''

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

'', an account of the so-called

Profumo affair The Profumo affair was a major scandal in twentieth-century Politics of the United Kingdom, British politics. John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative Party (UK), Conservative government, had an extramar ...

of 1963, starring

Joanne Whalley Joanne Whalley (born 25 August 1961) is an English actress who began her career in 1974. She has appeared primarily on television, but also in nearly 30 feature films, including ''Dance with a Stranger'' (1985), ''Willow (film), Willow'' (1988), ...

and

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

. "Nothing Has Been Proved" made the Top 20 in Britain, and led to yet another hit single, "

In Private "In Private" is a song by British singer Dusty Springfield, released as a single on 20 November 1989. It was Springfield's third single in a row to be a chart success, after an absence of nearly two decades from the charts. Both "In Private" and ...

", 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 A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

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 Andrew John Richards (born 26 October 1952) is a British-Australian pianist, composer, music producer and keyboardist. The artists he has played with include Frankie Goes to Hollywood, George Michael, Propaganda, Grace Jones, Rush, Annie Lenno ...

Swing Out Sister Swing Out Sister are a British pop group best known worldwide for the 1986 song " Breakout". Other hits include "Surrender", " Twilight World", " Waiting Game", and a remake of the Eugene Record soul composition "Am I the Same Girl?" Histor ...

producer

Paul Staveley O'Duffy Paul O'Duffy (born 31 December 1963, in London) is an English record producer, composer and mixer. He is best known for producing Swing Out Sister's Grammy-nominated multi-platinum debut album ''It's Better to Travel'', for his BMI nomination as ...

and

Dan Hartman Daniel Earl Hartman (December 8, 1950 – March 22, 1994) was an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Among songs he wrote and recorded were " Free Ride" as a member of the Edgar Winter Group, and the solo hits ...

. 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 Rupert Neville Hine (21 September 1947 – 4 June 2020) was an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He produced albums for artists including Rush, Kevin Ayers, Tina Turner, Howard Jones, Saga, the Fixx, Bob Geldof, Thompson Twins ...

and Jeanette Obstoj. Dan Hartman contributed to the production of three songs from the album; "Send It to Me," "Time Waits for No One" and "Born This Way". "Time Waits for No One" was written by Hartman and

Holly Knight ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

. He also played various instruments and provided backing vocals. In a 1990 interview with Springfield, she revealed ''"Certainly the record company wanted to keep it as much in this country as possible. They finally relented on Dan Hartman, but basically they wanted it to be as British as possible."'' The three songs were produced at Hartman's own Multi Level Studios, located within his riverside home in Connecticut. Both Springfield and her close friend Helene Sellery stayed at his home during the sessions, which were reported to be slower than anticipated as Hartman was as fussy as Springfield about her vocals, and stopped and started her over and over again.

Release

The ''Reputation'' album was, in late 1990, followed by the video collection ''Reputation – The Videos'', released on VHS in the UK and Europe by EMI's subsidiary

Picture Music International PMI (Picture Music International) was a division of EMI that specialised in music video releases for EMI artists. Releases included videos from the Beatles, Kate Bush, Cliff Richard, Pet Shop Boys, Queen, Pink Floyd and Duran Duran, as well as I ...

, including the promo videos for "Nothing Has Been Proved", "In Private", "Reputation", "Arrested by You", interviews with Springfield, as well as a fifth animated promo video for the album track "I Want to Stay Here". The ''Reputation'' album was first released in the US in 1997, then under the title '' Reputation and Rarities'' and expanded with additional tracks. This version of the album is also sold digitally from

- it is the only variant of the album currently available in digital distribution. An expanded version of the album, including multiple mixes and tracks recorded but not included on the original album, was released in August 2016 on Strike Force Entertainment, a division of Cherry Red Records. The 3 disc set includes videos.

Track listing

Personnel

* Simon Bell – backing vocals track: A1, A4, * Andy Caine – backing vocals track: A1 * Brian Spence – backing vocals track: A1 * Lance Ellington – backing vocals track: A1 *

– keyboards track: A1 *

– all instruments except sax solo track A2, all instruments, programming & backing vocals track A4, additional overdubs & vocals track A5 * Crispin Cioe – saxophone solo track A2 *

Claudia Fontaine Claudia Fontaine (26 August 1960 – 13 March 2018) was an backing vocalist from Peckham, London. Career During the 1980s, Fontaine and fellow backing vocalist Caron Wheeler (and later, third member Naomi Thompson) were known as Afrodiziak. S ...

– backing vocals track A3 *

– drum programming track A3 *

Phil Palmer Philip John Palmer (born 9 September 1952) is a rock sideman and session guitarist who has toured, recorded, and worked with numerous artists. He is best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Dire Straits. Biography Palmer grew up in nort ...

– guitar track A3 * Jean de Aguir – keyboards track A3 * Will Mowat – keyboards track A3 *

Luís Jardim Luís Alberto Figueira Gonçalves Jardim (born 4 July 1950) is a Portuguese percussionist, born in the Madeira Island, best known for his work with producer Trevor Horn. Family Jardim is a cousin of Alberto João Jardim (former president of the ...

– percussion track A3 * Snake Davis –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

track A3 * Sylvia Mason-James – backing vocals track A4 * Geoffrey Williams – programming, vocal harmonies track A5 *

Fonzi Thornton Alfonso "Fonzi" Thornton is a U.S. songwriter/producer and vocal contractor. In a career spanning 40 years, Thornton has sung backing vocals for top artists across many genres of music. His vocal credits can be found on the recordings of Aret ...

– backing vocals track A5 * Tawatha Agee – backing vocals track A5 *

Vaneese Thomas Vaneese Yseult Thomas (born August 24, 1952) is an American R&B, jazz and soul blues singer, best known for her 1987 US ''Billboard'' R&B chart hit single, "Let's Talk It Over". In addition, in more recent times, she has supplied backing vocal ...

– backing vocals track A5 * Jingles – bass guitar track A5 * Michael Graves – organ track A5 * Simon Stirling – programming track A5 *

Carol Kenyon Carol Kenyon (sometimes spelt Karol; born 1959) is a British singer. She is best known for her vocals on the Heaven 17 hit song "Temptation", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1983. When the song was re-released as a remix by ...

– backing vocals track B1 *

Katie Kissoon Mac and Katie Kissoon are a pop soul duo, consisting of brother and sister Mac Kissoon (born Gerald Farthing, November 11, 1943, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) and Katie Kissoon (born Katherine Farthing, March 11, 1951, Port of Spain). E ...

– backing vocals track B1 * Gary Maughan – Fairlight programming & keyboards track B1, Fairlight programming track B3 * Jay Henry – vocals track B2 *

Neil Tennant Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for ''Smash Hits'', and a ...

– vocals track B3 *

Angelo Badalamenti Angelo Daniel Badalamenti (March 22, 1937 – December 11, 2022) was an American composer, best known for his work scoring films for director David Lynch, notably '' Blue Velvet'', the ''Twin Peaks'' saga (1990–1992, 2017), ''The Straight St ...

–

orchestral conductor Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary ...

track B3 *

Courtney Pine Courtney Pine, (born 18 March 1964), is a British jazz musician, who was the principal founder in the 1980s of the black British band the Jazz Warriors. Although known primarily for his saxophone playing, Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also ...

– saxophone track B3 *

Tessa Niles Tessa Margaret Niles ( ''née'' Webb; born 27 January 1961 in Ilford, Essex) is an English singer, best known as a backing singer for a wide variety of contemporary artists. She began her professional singing career in 1979. Early life and ca ...

– backing vocals track B4

Production

– record producer track A1 * Peter Jones –

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

, mix track A1 * Paul Wright – assistant engineer track A1, sound engineer track B3 * Michael Ade – mix assistant track A1 * Richard Arnold – mix assistant track A1, A2 * Steve Fitzmaurice – mix assistant track A1 *

– producer track A2, producer, arranger & mix track A4, producer track A5 * Rico Conning – sound engineer track A2, track A4 * Jeremy Wheatley – assistant engineer track A2 *

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground f ...

– mix track A2 *

– producer & engineer track A3 *

– arranger track A4 * Geoffrey Williams – arranger track A5 * Simon Stirling – arranger track A5 * Tim Hunt – sound engineer track A5 * Dave Ogrin – mix track A5 *

– producers tracks B1-B5 *

– producer tracks B1-B5, sound engineer track B1, mix tracks A2, A3, A4 * Danton Supple – assistant engineer tracks B1, B2 * Ren Swan – sound engineer track B2 *

– orchestral arrangement track B3 * Dave Eden – assistant engineer track B3 * David Jacobs – assistant engineer track B5 * Track B3 recorded at

Sarm West Studios Sarm Studios is an independent recording studio in London. Originally founded in east London in 1973, the studio's original location was renamed Sarm East Studios in 1982 when Jill Sinclair and Trevor Horn purchased Basing Street Studios from Isl ...

, London, November 1988 * Track B1 recorded at Sarm West, May 1989 * Track B2, B4 & B5 recorded at Sarm West, between August and November 1989 * Track A3 recorded at Mayfair Recording Studios (London), mixed by Julian Mendelsohn at Sarm West, between August and November 1989 * Track A1 recorded at Townhouse Recording Studios and Sarm West (UK), late 1989/early 1990 * Track A2 recorded at Townhouse Recording Studios and Sarm West (UK), additional recording at Multi-Level (US), mixed by Tom Lord-Alge at

The Hit Factory The Hit Factory is a recording studio in New York City owned and operated by Troy Germano. History On March 6, 1975, Edward Germano, a singer, record producer, and one of the principal owners of the Record Plant Studios New York, purchased the ...

(NY), late 1989/early 1990 * Track A4 recorded at Multi-Level (US), Townhouse Recording Studios (UK), mixed by Julian Mendelsohn at Sarm West (UK), late 1989/early 1990 * Track A5 recorded at Marcus Studios & Townhouse Recording Studios (UK), additional overdubs and vocals at Multi-Level (US), mixed by Dave (O) Origin at The Hit Factory, February 1990.

Chart performance

Singles

* Official promo singles for "Born this Way" and "Daydreaming" were released to radio and clubs.

Certifications

References

Bibliography

* Howes, Paul (2001). ''The Complete Dusty Springfield''. London: Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. * O'Brien, Lucy (1988, 2000): ''Dusty''. London: Pan Books Ltd.

External links

Discogs infoDiscogs info 2
{{Authority control 1990 albums Dusty Springfield albums Albums produced by Dan Hartman Parlophone albums Albums produced by Julian Mendelsohn