Annie J. Randall's Books

Dusty!

Queen of the Postmods

By: Annie J. Randall

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Dusty!

Queen of the Postmods

By: Annie J. Randall

Dubbed the "White Queen of Soul," singer Dusty Springfield became the first British soloist to break into the U.S. Top Ten music charts with her 1964 hit "I Only Want To Be With You"--a pop classic followed by many others, including "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" and "Son of a Preacher Man." Today she is usually placed within the history of the Beatles-led "British Invasion" or seen as a devoted acolyte of Motown. In this penetrating look at her music and career, Annie J. Randall shows how Springfield's contributions transcend the narrow limits of those descriptions and how this middle-class former convent girl became perhaps the unlikeliest of artists to achieve soul credibility on both sides of the Atlantic. Randall reevaluates Springfield's place in sixties popular music through close investigation of her performances as well as interviews with her friends, peers, professional associates, and longtime fans. As the author notes, the singer's unique look--blonde beehive wigs and heavy black mascara--became iconic of the mid-sixties postmodern moment in which identity scrambling and camp pastiche were the norms in swinging London's pop culture. Randall places Springfield within this rich cultural context, focusing on the years from 1964 to 1968, when she recorded her biggest international hits and was a constant presence on British television. The book pays special attention to Springfield's close collaboration and friendship with American gospel singer Madeline Bell, the distinctive way Springfield combined US soul and European melodrama to achieve her own musical style and stage presence, and how her camp sensibility figured as a key element of her artistry.

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Page Count

236

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199887047

ISBN 13

9780199887040

Puccini and The Girl

History and Reception of The Girl of the Golden West

By: Annie Janeiro Randall,Rosalind Gray Davis

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Puccini and The Girl

History and Reception of The Girl of the Golden West

By: Annie Janeiro Randall,Rosalind Gray Davis

Set in the American West during the California Gold Rush, La fanciulla del West marked a significant departure from Giacomo Puccini's previous and best- known works. Puccini and the Girl is the first book to explore this important but often misunderstood opera that became the earliest work by a major European composer to receive an American premiere when it opened at New York's Metropolitan Opera House in 1910. Adapted from American playwright David Belasco's Broadway production, The Girl of the Golden West, Fanciulla was Puccini's most consciously modern work, and its Met debut received mixed reviews. Annie J. Randall and Rosalind Gray Davis base their account of its creation on previously unknown letters from Puccini to his main librettist, Carlo Zangarini. They mine musical materials, newspaper accounts, and rare photographs and illustrations to tell the full story of this controversial opera. Puccini and the Girl considers the production and reception of Puccini's "cowboy" opera in the light of contemporary criticism, providing both fascinating insight into its history and a look to the future as its centenary approaches. “Engrossing. . . . An eminently readable, ideally direct and information-packed book.”—William Fregosi, Opera Today

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Page Count

259

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226703894

ISBN 13

9780226703893

For the Time Being

By: Annie Dillard

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For the Time Being

By: Annie Dillard

A collection of personal narratives by Annie Dillard.

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Page Count

216

Publisher

Macmillan Reference USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0783886713

ISBN 13

9780783886718

Book's by Annie J. Randall

Dusty!

Dusty!

Puccini and The Girl

Puccini and The Girl

For the Time Being

For the Time Being

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