Mick Hartley: Island of Dreams

I was watching an old episode of Vera last night, as one does during a pandemic, and this came on. It was on an old tape Vera dug up, recorded by her dad's "other woman". And I thought, yes, that is a powerfully evocative piece of pop music. I was thinking the Seekers, and yes, they did record it, but of course it was the Springfields who did it first.

And here they are:

Written by Tom Springfield, Dusty's brother on the right there. It's a great piece of songwriting, and surely owes more than a little, it strikes me now, to the Skye Boat Song, with the escape to the island theme, and that "bird on the wing" phrase. He retired from the music business in his thirties, apparently, Tom - born Dionysius O'Brien - presumably making a decent enough living off his songwriting royalties.

Dusty already looks a little constrained by the two blokes either side. Great harmonies and all that, but she was clearly ready to break out as a solo act - which she did the next year, in 1963.

It's funny, but I doubt I would have posted this if it had been the Seekers. They were frankly a bit naff at the time, when the Beatles and the Stones and Dylan were starting to create a new world out there. With Dusty, though, I think I can post this and still maintain my hipster credentials...