What I've been listening to this week

Chris Clark - Soul Sounds
As far as celebrity deaths are concerned, my age and various identifying demographics say the one that should’ve most rocked my teens/early 20’s was Kurt Cobain. But as surprised as I was to hear of his death just a few days before my 17th birthday, it was the news of Dusty Springfield’s passing a month shy of my 21st birthday that I found most devastating. I was on my way to school listening to Morning Edition (side note to WDET: get rid of the wretched Takeaway and bring back Morning Edition) when the news of her passing was announced. I burst into tears. Dusty Springfield’s music was what really started my love of 60’s girl groups, the Brill building, British soul and Burt Bacharach. I heard about Chris Clark via a well worth reading Metro Times cover story a month or so back and was really excited about her long-out-of-print Motown Records debut being reissued. Something Dusty-like from right here in Detroit? Though it’s hardly fair to compare her to Dusty Springfield it is certainly fair to say if you are a fan of Ms. Springfield, get your hands on Soul Sounds. Clark’s voice is fantastic and the whole record is filled with Northern soul should-be classics and Bacharach-esque pop gems. It is a shame this album didn’t do better in its time - how "I Wanna Go Back There Again" wasn't a chart topping hit is beyond me - but it totally deserves this second chance. Even if the liner notes do leave me to believe she’s now a crazy lady living with tigers running around her house.