Perhaps that's unfair. There is stuff of incandescent brilliance here; all of it performance archive, of which more in a moment. Unfortunately, the framing device is a chillingly unfunny, maddeningly twee "cod" interview with French & Saunders. Dusty herself is articulate and intelligent but, like having Scott Walker profiled by Hale & Pace, the effect is to have you reaching constantly for the fast forward button, a luxury not available when this was originally shown on TV in 1994.

The video re-issue is, of course, in the wake of Dusty's tragically early death. With this in mind, let us revel in the riches here. This Dusty archive is anything but dusty; there are performances of paint-stripping exhilaration from "Heatwave" to Goffin & King's "Some Of Your Loving" as well as priceless, timeless duets with Marvin Gaye, Bacharach and Hendrix (fantastically poor quality though the print is) and versions of "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" and "She Moves Through The Fair" [NOTE: The song is actually "My Lagan Love"] that reveal the depth of her musical learning.

Without hint of exaggeration, there is music and singing here as good as anything pop music has or will ever produce and no amount of fatuous and insulting blather can obscure it. But, boy, did they try. ***

Stuart Maconie
Q Magazine (August 2000)