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The Springfields were a British
folk-pop Folk-pop is a musical style that may be 1) contemporary folk songs with large, sweeping pop arrangements, or 2) pop songs with intimate, acoustic-based folk arrangements. Recording production values created a unblemished style that appealed to ...
vocal trio who had success in the early 1960s in the UK, US and Ireland. They included 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 her brother,
songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
Tom Springfield Tom Springfield (born Dionysius Patrick O'Brien, 2 July 1934 – 27 July 2022) was an English musician, songwriter and record producer who was prominent in the 1960s folk and pop music scene. He was the older brother of singer Dusty Springfiel ...
, along with
Tim Feild Reshad Feild (born Richard Timothy Feild; 15 April 1934 – 31 May 2016) was an English mystic, author, spiritual teacher, and musician, who, as Tim Feild, originally came to prominence as a founder member of folk-pop group The Springfields. He ...
, who was later replaced by Mike Hurst.


Career

The trio formed in 1960, when Mary "Dusty" O'Brien, who had been a member of all-girl singing trio
The Lana Sisters The Lana Sisters were a British vocal group formed by Iris Long in 1958, along with Lynne Abrams. They put an advert in ''The Stage'' for a third member and got a reply from Mary O'Brien, who would go on to solo success a few years later as Dust ...
, joined her brother Dion O'Brien and Tim Feild, who had been working as a duo, "The Kensington Squares". "The Springfields - Biography "
, ''45cat.com''. Retrieved 20 August 2022 Dion became Tom Springfield, and Mary became Dusty Springfield. Tom Springfield was a songwriter and arranger with a wide knowledge of folk music and the group had strong vocal harmonies as well as Dusty's powerful lead. Occupying a musical sphere comparable with that of the contemporary
Peter, Paul and Mary Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Paul Stookey, and contralto Mary Travers. The group's repertoir ...
, they were signed to
Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in A ...
in London by producer
Johnny Franz John Charles Franz (23 February 1922 – 29 January 1977) was an English record producer and A&R man at the Philips label. He was one of Britain's most successful producers in the 1950s and 1960s. While his recordings encompassed several forms o ...
. In 1961 they released their first single, "Dear John," which failed to chart. They achieved UK success with the two follow-up releases, "Breakaway" (no. 31) and their Christmas hit "Bambino" (no. 16), also produced by Franz. With the success of "Breakaway" and "Bambino" and numerous television appearances, the trio quickly became very popular in the UK. In 1961 they starred in their own 15-minute music TV series on the
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...
, ''The Springfields''. In late 1961 Tim's wife fell ill, and he left the group to look after her. Following an audition at
Quaglino's Quaglino's is a restaurant in central London which was founded in 1929, closed in 1977, and revived in 1993. From the 1930s through the 1950s, it was popular among the British aristocracy, including the royal family, many of whom were regulars ...
restaurant in London in February 1962, Mike Hurst was taken on to replace him. Hurst later reflected on the dynamics within the group: "We worked incredibly hard, rehearsing constantly. Dusty was the creative force and Tom had the business skills and wrote great songs....Tom sorted out with the manager what gigs we would do but it was Dusty who worked on the performance." She made the three of them stand in front of a mirror for hours with herself in the middle, rehearsing every on-stage move. "Everything was worked out to the nth degree." In September 1962 their version of "
Silver Threads and Golden Needles "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" is a country song written by Dick Reynolds and Jack Rhodes. It was first recorded by Wanda Jackson in 1956. The original lyrics, as performed by Jackson, contain a verse not usually included in later versions, ...
" reached no. 20 on ''Billboard'''s
Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
. It was the first single by a British group to reach the top 20 of the Hot 100, predating
the Tornados The Tornados (The Tornadoes in North America) were an English instrumental rock group of the 1960s that acted as backing group for many of record producer Joe Meek's productions and also for singer Billy Fury. They enjoyed several chart hi ...
' number one "
Telstar Telstar is the name of various communications satellites. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the fi ...
" by two months (and
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' US chart entry by 16 months). The record peaked at no. 23 on the ''
Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' chart and reached number one in Australia. It featured lead guitar by
Judd Proctor Judd Proctor ( Procter; 2 January 1931 – 21 August 2020) was a British jazz guitarist and session musician. Biography He was born in Doncaster, Yorkshire, in 1931, though some sources give different years. His birth surname was Procter ...
. "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" sold more than one million copies and was
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
-certified
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. In December 1962 Tom's composition " Island of Dreams", his first recording made with Mike Hurst, debuted in the
UK singles chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, where it remained for 26 weeks. It peaked at no. 5 in its 16th week on the chart, in early April 1963, five weeks before the Springfields' follow-up hit "Say I Won't Be There" would also peak at no. 5. By this time, the Springfields were one of the most popular groups in the UK. The group had several chart hits and had recorded several foreign language records. However, Dusty Springfield felt limited by the group's folk act and Tom's lead role within the trio, and she decided to leave for a solo career. She and Tom announced that the group was to be disbanded on the TV variety show
Sunday Night at the London Palladium ''Tonight at the London Palladium'' is a British television variety show that is hosted from the London Palladium theatre in the West End. Originally produced by ATV for the ITV network from 1955 to 1969, it went by its original name ''Sunday ...
in October 1963. Tom Springfield subsequently wrote a number of songs for Australian pop-folk band
The Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk-influenced pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. They were ...
, including the two UK number-one hits "
I'll Never Find Another You "I'll Never Find Another You" is a 1964 single by The Seekers, which reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom in February 1965. It was The Seekers' first UK-released single, and it was the second-best-selling of 1965 in the UK. The song was also popu ...
" and " The Carnival Is Over", as well as the Oscar-nominated "
Georgy Girl ''Georgy Girl'' is a 1966 British romantic comedy-drama, starring Lynn Redgrave in the titular role, with Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates, and James Mason. Directed by Silvio Narizzano, the film was based on the 1965 novel by Margaret Forster. ...
", which he wrote with actor-singer
Jim Dale Jim Dale (born James Smith; 15 August 1935) is an English actor, composer, director, narrator, singer and songwriter. In the United Kingdom he is known as a pop singer of the 1950s who became a leading actor at the National Theatre. In Britis ...
and which hit big on both sides of the Atlantic. Mike Hurst found himself at a loose end after the breakup, but was not surprised by it: "I always recognised Dusty's power on stage. It was obvious to me she was destined for greater things. She was an iconic figure even then." Hurst achieved success as a producer, working with
Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted int ...
and
Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...
. In the early 1970s he teamed up with former Seeker Keith Potger to launch Springfield Revival, a more contemporary version of the Springfields. The line-up consisted of Australian singer-songwriter Mick Flinn (vocals, guitar, kazoo), formerly of
The Mixtures The Mixtures were an Australian rock band that formed in Melbourne in 1965. Biography 1965–1976: The Mixtures Australian musicians Terry Dean and Rod De Clerk met in Tasmania in 1965. They then met Laurie Arthur, a member of the Strangers, ...
, plus two Britons: Donna Jones (vocals), from Manchester, and former stage musical actor Ray Hoskins, alias Ray Martin (vocals, guitar), from London. This group supported
The Osmonds The Osmonds were an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid-1970s. The group had its best-known configurations as a quartet (billed as the Osmond Brothers) and a quintet (as the Osmonds). The group ...
on tour and made two albums for Polydor in the UK and one for MGM in the US, but without any chart success. Jones and Flinn became members of
The New Seekers The New Seekers are a British pop group, formed in London in 1969 by Keith Potger after the break-up of his group, The Seekers. The idea was that the New Seekers would appeal to the same market as the original Seekers, but their music would hav ...
.


Personnel


Discography


Original studio albums


EPs


Singles


References


External links

* AMG biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Springfields, The English folk musical groups English pop music groups Musical groups established in 1960 Musical groups disestablished in 1963 British folk rock groups 1960 establishments in England 1963 disestablishments in England