Dusty Springfield Ultimate Collection CD

The triple CD set THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION brings together 47 of the finest recordings from sultry singer Dusty Springfield's lengthy career.

Is Ultimate Collection the best Springfield collection? Well, no; it's missing several of her '60s British hits, like "Losing You," "In the Middle of Nowhere," "Some of Your Lovin'," "Little by Little," "Goin' Back," and "I'll Try Anything." Those are all found on Polygram's The Very Best of Dusty Springfield, the wholly '60s-oriented anthology that remains a superior overview of her best material. If you want something that extends a little wider chronologically, though, this 20-track set is still fine. Her biggest Transatlantic '60s hits are here, as are her one American early-'60s hit as part of the Springfields, "Silver Threads and Golden Needles"; some small hit American singles that don't always make it into her best-ofs, like "What's It Gonna Be?" and "The Windmills of Your Mind"; a few '70s songs, including a cover of Van Morrison's "Tupelo Honey" with an additional verse not contained on Morrison's version; and her big 1987 hit with the Pet Shop Boys, "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" The liner notes include detailed commentary on each track. ~ Richie Unterberger

This three-CD set issued by Universal in the Netherlands is actually a two-CD best-of with a shorter third disc featuring "bonus tracks." Disc One begins with the Springfields' hit "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" from the album of the same name, and is the only cut from that group included. Ultimate Collection goes right through the early years with tracks from Stay Awhile -- I Only Want to Be With You (from 1963), "Wishin' and Hopin" and "24 Hours From Tulsa," from Girl Called Dusty issued in 1964, and into "Stay Awhile" from an album of the same name released in 1964. And so it goes, touching on every album Springfield released through 1971 over the first two discs, meaning that virtually all of the hits are here. Disc Three picks up in 1987 with her collaborations with Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe from Pet Shop Boys, and gives us four from Reputation, the single "What Have I Done to Deserve This" with P.S. Boys from the Goin' Back retrospective, and a pair of tracks from 1995's Very Fine Love. That the '70s and most of the '80s are ignored, particularly when there was plenty of room on the third disc to represent them, is inexcusable. The Rhino collection, Anthology, is still the one to beat. ~ Thom Jurek

32-bit digitally remastered collection in a digipak with 7 bonus tracks 'What Have I Done To Deserve This', 'Nothing Has Been Proved', 'In Private', 'Reputation', 'Arrested By You', 'Wherever Would I Be' & 'Roll Away'. 47 tracks in all. Tri-fold digipak. Universal.