Tom Springfield

Tom Springfield (born Dionysius P. A. O'Brien,[1] 2 July 1934,[2] and known when young as Dion O'Brien) is a retired English musician and songwriter from the 1960s folk and pop music scene. He is the brother of pop star Dusty Springfield, with whom he performed in The Springfields.

Tom Springfield
Birth nameDionysius P. A. O'Brien
Born (1934-07-02) 2 July 1934
Hampstead, London, England
GenresFolk, pop
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter, record producer
InstrumentsVocals, piano, guitar
Years active1960s–1970

Early life

Springfield was born in Hampstead, London,[2] and attended the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe from 1944 to 1950.[3]

Career

He formed a vocal trio, The Springfields in 1960, with his sister, Mary, by then known as Dusty Springfield, and a friend, Tim Feild.[4] The group broke up in 1963 and he became a record producer and songwriter for The Seekers. He wrote many of their major hits, including "Georgy Girl", "I'll Never Find Another You",[5] "A World of Our Own",[6] the million-selling "The Carnival Is Over" (the melody was based on a Russian folk song, while Tom Springfield wrote only lyrics for the song)[7] and "Walk with Me". Around this same time, he co-wrote (with Clive Westlake) Frank Ifield's 1964 hit "Summer Is Over" and his sister Dusty's 1964 hit "Losing You".

His other hit compositions include "Adios Amour (Goodbye My Love)", which was recorded by José Feliciano and The Casuals,[8] and "Just Loving You", which became a 1967 top ten hit for Anita Harris. Additionally he composed the theme to the popular BBC TV series The Troubleshooters in the 1960s. He also co-wrote "Georgy Girl" with Jim Dale[9]; this was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song of 1966.

The Springfields' song "Island of Dreams", written by Tom Springfield, has been covered by Mick Thomas, Johnny Tillotson,[10] Mary Hopkin,[11] Geraint Watkins with Martin Belmont and by the Seekers.[12]

He released two solo albums in the late 1960s, Sun Songs (1968)[13] and Love's Philosophy (1969); these were re-released on CD in 2005.[2]

Retirement

After a 1970 duet single with his sister Dusty, "Morning Please Don't Come", Springfield essentially retired from the music industry as both a writer and performer. He lived in the United States for a period but currently resides in London.

Awards and nominations

Awards
  • 1964 – ASCAP award for "I'll Never Find Another You"
  • 1965 – ASCAP award for "A World of Our Own"

Nomination
gollark: `^([a-z]+:)?([A-Za-z_0-9+=-]+)(?:\/([A-Za-z_0-9+=-]+))?$` - observe my mildly eldritch regex.
gollark: Oh hey, I found the asm2bf docs.
gollark: Who needs resampling? Just play the samples a bit faster or slower. It's only something like a 10% speed difference, nobody will notice.
gollark: apioform.
gollark: What's a condmat?

References
  1. England & Wales, Birth Index
  2. "Tom Springfield – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. 2 July 1934. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  3. "High Wycombe Royal Grammar School – 1956 School Photo website by Tony Hare". Rgs.tonyhare.co.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  4. "Tom Springfield". Lerwol.com. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  5. "Seekers, The – I'll Never Find Another You (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  6. "Seekers, The – A World of Our Own (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  7. "Seekers, The – The Carnival Is Over (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  8. "Casuals, The – The Very Best Of (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  9. "Seekers, The – Georgy Girl / The Last Thing on My Mind (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  10. "Island of Dreams – Johnny Tillotson : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  11. "Island of Dreams – Mary Hopkin : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. 29 August 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  12. "Island of Dreams – The Seekers : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  13. "Sun Songs – Tom Springfield". Discogs.com. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.