It was during her numerous forays into the States that  Dusty became familiar with the Tamla Motown label  and its stable of artists and bands. She was immediately smitten.  Dusty's enthusiasm for the Motown sound reached its  peak with her invitation of a selection of artists from the Detroit-based  label to England for a special appearance on the Friday  night, cult music TV show, Ready, Steady, Go! Here Dusty dueted with Martha Reeves of Martha and the  Vandellas, on her hit song "Within' and Hopin'", and rose  above the cumbersome BBC orchestra to infuse heart and soul  into such Motown classics as "Nowhere To Run" and  "Heatwave". The previous year, Dusty had been a special  guest of New York D.J. Murray the K's Motown Revue at the Brooklyn Fox,  where she had befriended many of the Motown artists -  chief among them Martha Reeves.
 

The '90s has seen a mellower Dusty Springfield, one content  to be less of a diva, though still willing to experiment with new and different aspects  of contemporary music - in particular the nuances of New Country, as  evident on her most recent album, 1995's A Very Fine Love.

Dusty Springfield's musical journey of the last three and a  half decades has been one of great diversity. This diversity has no doubt worked  against her in commercial terms, as it has made it difficult for record  company executives, intent as they are on backing a sure and safe bet,  to pigeonhole and thus market her. Yet for those who tune into her  idiosyncratic musical odyssey, the rewards are rich indeed. For throughout,  Dusty has never compromised her high artistic standards.

This dedication and commitment, along with her willingness to experiment  and "have a go," contribute greatly to Dusty Springfield's  enduring popularity. Yet in the end, what ensures her music its timeless and  universal quality is Dusty's ability to vocally convey  depths of emotion that transcend categories of age, gender, race or sexual orientation.  Hers is truly soul music.

Such transcendence, Charles Taylor observes, creates "great pop songs" -  songs that "offer up scenarios of happiness or heartbreak so lush and  accessible they can make us want more from life than we have, and then  question why we don't have it." With this in mind one can only concur  with Taylor's belief that it is because of singers like Dusty  Springfield,

that "the notion of the 'simple pop song' becomes an  oxymoron," and concede accordingly that within the sphere of contemporary  music, Dusty Springfield will always remain a woman of  great and genuine repute.