The husky-voiced singer with the trademark heavily mascara-laden eyes, became a top female singer of the '60s with hits such as "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me," "Son Of A Preacher Man," and the world-wide hit "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" with the Pet Shop Boys.

Her Cape Town fans laid a wreath in the theatre foyer to commemorate her birthday and her appearance on that stage hours before she was deported for performing before a racially mixed audience. Springfield at the time said she was "completely stunned."

Her deportation made international headlines and a picture of her walking to an aircraft watched by two uniformed policemen featured prominently on the front pages of three British dailies. William Whitehead, who organized the commemoration on Saturday night, was a standard six pupil in Durban at the time and remembers waiting eagerly for Springfield to arrive there.

But she never did, because she was deported before the Durban tour," Whitehead, who now lives in Cape Town, said yesterday. Springfield was midway through the Cape Town show when the deportation order was served and she was given 24 hours to leave the country. The SABC [South African Broadcasting Corporation] subsequently banned all Springfield's songs from the airwaves.

She never performed in South Africa again, but her timeless voice remains a testament to her brief visit here.

Priscilla Singh
Cape Times
19 April, 2000

POSTSCRIPT JUNE 2001: Members of the Internet's DustyMail listserve were shocked and saddened by the recent news from South Africa that longtime Dusty fan William Whitehead was killed in his home by an intruder intent on robbery.

William did much to promote Dusty's music in South Africa - including forming a group of Dusty fans called SADR (South African Dusty Revival) and organizing for the past 29 years an annual Dusty Day Celebration. William also often shared his love of Dusty and his knowledge about her career via DustyMail. In so doing he contributed greatly to making this listserve the interesting and insightful forum it is.

Over the years DustyMail members have formed a very special cyber-community built not only upon dedication to the life and career of Dusty Springfield, but also upon respect and concern for one another.

Accordingly, like my fellow DustyMailers, I'll miss William's presence in this forum and extend my deepest sympathy to his family and friends.

Michael J. Bayly