Dusty Springfield: Dancing with Demons

“The unvarnished portrait of a troubled, volatile and gifted singer is told with equal parts compassion and sensation . . . [a] fast-paced tell-all.” —Publishers Weekly

Dusty Springfield led a tragic yet inspiring life, battling her way to the top of the charts and into the hearts of music fans worldwide. Her signature voice made songs such as “I Only Want to Be with You,” “Son of a Preacher Man,” and “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” international hits. In Dancing with Demons, two of her closest friends, Valentine and Wickham, capture, with vivid memories and personal anecdotes, a Dusty most people never glimpsed in this no-holds-barred yet touching portrait of one of the world’s true grand dames of popular music.

“[An] affectionate yet candid biography.” —The Guardian

“Through it all, journalist Valentine and manager Wickham were there . . . a very warm paean to the late singer.” —Booklist

“Written by pioneering music journalist Penny Valentine and Springfield’s longtime friend and manager Vicki Wickham, Dancing with Demons lays bare the previously untold story of the private torments of a working-class Irish girl named Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien, who burst onto the Swinging London scene as a hostess on the famous Ready, Steady, Go! television show.” —The Austin Chronicle