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Following such past releases as the “lost albums” Longing and Faithful, The Complete Atlantic Singles 1968-1971, A Brand New Me: The Complete Philadelphia Sessions, and Come for a Dream: The U.K. Sessions 1970-1971, Real Gone Music is returning to the late Dusty Springfield’s discography with a new 2-CD or 2-LP set.  On November 6, the label will release Home Again, The Complete United Artists Recordings, collecting the albums It Begins Again and Living Without Your Love as well as a host of bonus tracks.

Following her split from ABC/Dunhill Records, the British chanteuse enjoyed a quiet semi-retirement in Los Angeles, contributing background vocals to albums by such friends as Peter Allen, Anne Murray, and Phil Cody but otherwise avoiding the recording studio.  Finally, in mid-1977, news broke that she had signed with United Artists Records.  The first fruits of this new affiliation emerged with the single “Let Me Love You Once Before You Go” b/w “I Am Your Child.”  The A-side was written by Steve Dorff and Molly-Ann Leiken, with Dorff arranging and conducting the session as well as co-producing with Dusty.  The B-side, Barry Manilow and Marty Panzer’s moving ballad, was first attempted by Springfield at ABC/Dunhill as part of the Longing sessions.  For the UA version, Dorff oversaw Dusty’s updated vocal over the original ABC track produced by Brooks Arthur, featuring Manilow on piano.  The sessions with Dorff also yielded the outtake “You Set My Dreams to Music” which was first issued in 1997.  Like both sides of the single, it’s included on Home Again.

That initial single was followed by Dusty’s first album since 1973’s Cameo.  Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, Ian Hunter) produced 1978’s appropriately-titled It Begins Again.  Baker drew on his shared affection with Springfield of Motown, soul, and R&B for this varied set.  They championed female singer-songwriters including Chi Coltrane (“Turn Me Around”), Nona Hendryx (“Checkmate”), Gaille Heidemann (“Hollywood Movie Girls”), Lesley Gore and Ellen Weston (“Love Me By Name”), Michelle Aller (“I Found Love with You,” co-authored by Bob Esty), and Carole Bayer Sager (“I’d Rather Leave While I’m in Love,” co-written with Peter Allen) while also finding room for songs by Holland-Dozier-Holland (“A Love Like Yours (Don’t Come Knocking Every Day),” and Barry Manilow and Enoch Anderson (“Sandra”).  Pop, rock, and disco were all touched upon with a warm, soulful underpinning that was both contemporary and redolent of Springfield’s earlier triumphs.  Dean Parks and Donald Fletcher’s Brazilian-inspired “That’s the Kind of Love I’ve Got for You” was remixed by Tom Moulton for a promotional 12-inch single, and that remix is also part of this expanded set.

After choosing not to issue an It Begins Again track as a commercially available single in the U.S., United Artists waited until the summer of 1978 to issue a non-LP side as Dusty’s next 45.  Composer-lyricist and film score maestro Craig Safan’s “Give Me the Night” was recorded for the movie Corvette Summer, an action comedy starring Mark Hamill and Annie Potts which was retitled The Hot One for U.K. release.  Veteran Artie Butler helmed the one-off session.

While remaining on UA in the United States and Mercury in the United Kingdom, Springfield next signed a new production contract with music and publishing executive Charles Koppelman’s The Entertainment Company.  After the heartfelt It Begins Again, she stated a desire to record an album in a lighter vein.  The result was Living Without Your Love, produced by David Wolfert.  Once again, Dusty selected songs from the cream of the crop.  Melissa Manchester, Vini Poncia, and John Vastano’s “Be Somebody” appeared alongside two songs co-written by Carole Bayer Sager (“Dream On” and “I’m Coming Home Again”).  The Bee Gees were tapped for “Save Me, Save Me,” while another Motown classic was surveyed – this time, Smokey Robinson’s “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me.”  Evie Sands co-wrote “You Can Do It,” and Steve Dorff was represented, too, with “I Just Fall in Love Again.” (Dusty’s recording came in between Carpenters’ original (on 1977’s Passage) and Anne Murray’s cover (from 1979’s New Kind of Feeling) which became a U.S. top 20 success.)  None other than David Foster co-wrote one of the album’s most striking tracks, the risqué address to a “Closet Man,” which had been introduced by vocalist and Gong Show mainstay Jaye P. Morgan.  David Wolfert and Steve Nelson’s title track, a breezy excursion into disco, encapsulated the sleek, lighter feel of the album.

Living Without Your Love concluded Dusty’s tenure at United Artists; the 1980s would see new music and further stylistic explorations for the 20th Century-Fox, Casablanca, and Hippodrome labels before timeless collaborations on other labels with Richard Carpenter (“Something in Your Eyes”), BJ Thomas (“As Long as We’ve Got Each Other”), and Pet Shop Boys (“What Have I Done to Deserve This,” “Nothing Has Been Proved,” “In Private”).  Before her passing from cancer on March 2, 1999 at the age of 59, Dusty completed another pair of acclaimed albums (Reputation for Parlophone and A Very Fine Love for Columbia/Sony) and was recognized with an induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and an OBE in her native England’s New Year’s Honours List.

Home Again: The Complete United Artists Recordings features liner notes, in both the 2LP and 2CD formats, by TSD’s Joe Marchese drawing on new interviews with Steve Dorff and Melissa Manchester.  Rare and previously unseen photos are also included. Mike Milchner at SonicVision has remastered, with many tracks sourced from the original American master tapes for the first time on CD.  This deluxe package and commemoration of Dusty’s time at UA is due on November 6.  You’ll find the track listing and pre-order links below.  The 2LP edition is pressed on Violet PET Plastic vinyl, while a Real Gone webstore-exclusive Orange with B&W “Inksplosion” edition is available, too, while supplies last.  (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)

Dusty Springfield, Home Again: The Complete United Artists Recordings (Real Gone Music, 2026)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music
2LP (Violet PET Plastic Edition): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music
2LP (Orange with B&W Inksplosion Edition): Real Gone Music

CD 1: It Begins Again (United Artists UA-LA791-H, 1978)

1. Turn Me Around
2. Checkmate
3. I’d Rather Leave While I’m in Love
4. A Love Like Yours (Don’t Come Knocking Every Day)
5. Love Me by Name
6. Sandra
7. I Found Love with You
8. Hollywood Movie Girls
9. That’s the Kind of Love I’ve Got for You

Bonus Tracks

10. Let Me Love You Once Before You Go (United Artists single UA-XW1006, 1977)
11. I Am Your Child (United Artists single UA-XW1006, 1977)
12. You Set My Dreams to Music (from The Dusty Springfield Anthology, Mercury Chronicles 314 553 501-2, 1997)

CD 2: Living Without Your Love (United Artists UA-LA936-H, 1979)

1. You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me
2. You Can Do It
3. Be Somebody
4. Closet Man
5. Living Without Your Love
6. Save Me, Save Me
7. Get Yourself to Love
8. I Just Fall in Love Again
9. Dream On
10. I’m Coming Home Again

Bonus Tracks

11. Give Me the Night (United Artists single UA-X1225-Y, 1978)
12. That’s the Kind of Love I’ve Got for You (Extended Disco Mix) (United Artists 12” promotional single SP 178, 1978)