By Entertainment Correspondent, John Frazier

Again we have another entertainer being pushed out of the closet only after death. The beautiful Ms. Dusty Springfield, who's hit recordings: "The Look of Love", I Only Want To Be With You" ,"You Don't Have To Say You Love Me", Dionne Warwick's, "Wishin' and Hopin", and "The Son of a Preacher Man (later covered by Aretha Franklin), brought the blue-eyed soul singer to world fame.


  

The tell all book states that the music diva, kept her being a lesbian out of the public eye by claiming that men were too "daunted" by her success to wed.

The book titled, "Dusty! Queen of the Postmarks", is said to be released in November 2008.

  
The book further quotes Dusty as saying, "You have to concentrate on marriage and I'm a Catholic and can't get divorced. I'm self-centered." Later in life, before her passing in 1999, people who knew her claim that she loosened up by saying, "Am I gay?", "If you want to know the truth, ask the people that I've gone to bed with."

I can recall that she and Vicki Wickham (I believe the last name is), who was the manager for the group, LaBelle, were said to have been lovers. Now is this true, I don't know but I'm sure it will be discussed in the book.

 
 
For today's youth who may not know the sound of Ms. Springfield should purchase her greatest hits. Her vocals on classics, "The Look of Love", "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" and other ballads were breathy, sexual and smoky.
 
 
 
When the Motown Review flew to London in the 1960's, singer Martha Reeves and Dusty become life long friends. In the 1980's, she again had a hit with the Pet Shop Boys, who are known for their hit, "West End Girls."

During the height of her success in the 1960's, for some reason she disappeared out of the limelight. I'm sure the book will revisit these years when she lived her life in a web of alcoholism, drugs and being insecure.

 
 
 
To look at her, you wouldn't have thought that she was insecure, here was this very white woman, with platinum blond hair, and sounding like a black woman.

This was before it was cool to sound black and be white or the other way around, for that matter. The unique thing about Dusty and about the other divas of the 1960's is that each one had her own sound. No one sounded like Aretha, Dionne, Diana, Gladys, Patti, and the same could be said about our white sisters: Petula Clark, Leslie Gore, even Nancy Sinatra "These Boots Are Made For Walking" hit, sounded more like her father than any of the young divas of the day.

 
 
 
The young Dusty was blessed to have worked with some of the industry's greats, like producers, Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin, who are famous for working with the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. Out of this relationship came her classic album, "Dusty in Memphis", on this project, "Son of A Preacher Man" was born. It's funny but during one of her interviews, Dusty said that she heard Aretha sing it and from that moment on, she would sing her hit the way Aretha sang it.

Dusty also worked with Philly International Records, who are famous for the O'Jays, Phyllis Hyman, The Three Degrees, Dee Dee Sharp Gamble, Jerry Butler, and too many others to mention. Dusty had a hit called, "A Brand New Me." Again, Aretha would have a hit with this as well as Jerry Butler.

 
 
 
Unfortuately, maybe because of her partying with cocaine, the drinking, the insecurities and the question of her sexuality, she was never able to receive or even recreate a project like the "Dusty in Memphis" classic.

On August 1, 1987, the Pet Shop Boys asked Dusty to duet on "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" A surprised club hit in the United States and in London, England. It reached #2 across both waters. The video was a smash hit as well, and played in most gay white bars and dance clubs.

 
 
 
Born Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien, she will forever be known as Ms. Dusty Springfield, she died at the young age of 59 from a long battle with breast cancer. Ms. Springfield, thank you for the music.

Hollywood actress, Nicole Kidman, has been signed on to play the legendary Ms. Dusty Springfield in movie about her life. This project will reunite Ms. Kidman with writer, Michael Cunningham, who wrote the book, "The Hours", which was made into a movie and earned Ms. Nicole Kidman a Oscar winning performance. The Dusty project with Ms. Kidman is said to be released on January 1, 2009.

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