1934:
Born Dion O'Brien on 2nd July 1934 in London,
England.
1954:
Tom, still then known as Dion, has been assigned to the Intelligence
Corps. depot in Maresfield, Sussex for National Service. Alan Willey writes:
"He was very fond of Latin American music at the time and said he had had a
band called the Pedini Brothers before being called up. He had a four string
guitar with him and I had a six string. Another soldier, Arthur Silmon, had
a nylon strung guitar and we got together to play some latin style songs
which Dion sang in Spanish. We recorded two songs (direct to disc) at a
small studio in Brighton. To my lasting regret I could not afford a copy out
of my army pay of four shillings a day, but one song was El Cangacero (The
Bandit) and the other was, I think, written by Dion and called Magdelena.
Wonder if he still has a copy?"
1960:
Forms the folk based vocal group The
Springfields, with his sister Mary O'Brien (Dusty Springfield) on vocals
and Tim Field. Band name was reportedly partly inspired by Tim's
surname.
1961:
The Springfields sign to Philips
Records.
'Breakaway'
and 'Bambino' are minor hits on the UK singles chart.
1962:
Mike Hurst (ne Pickworth) on guitar/vocals,
replaces Tim Field in the line up.
'Silver Threads and Golden Needles'
reaches the Top 20 in the USA (it was unusual at the time for a British
act to chart in the USA) and number 1 in the Australian chart. Lead
guitar was by Judd Proctor, as confirmed to this site by Mike Hurst in
2007.
1963:
'Island of Dreams' written by Tom,
reaches number 5 in the UK singles chart in March.
'Say I Won't Be There' reaches number
5 in the UK singles chart.
The band splits in September, with a final
concert at the London Palladium.
Tom and Mike head for music production (Mike
will latterly work with Manfred Mann, Cat Stevens and Showaddywaddy among
others, and is still active, see www.mikehurst.com), whilst Dusty begins a successful solo singing career.
1964:
In November, Tom begins production work with
The Seekers, at EMI's Abbey Road studios. Sometime around this
time, Tom sets up a music publishing company, called Springfield Music.
1965:
'I'll Never Find Another You' by The
Seekers, written and produced by Tom, reaches number 1 in the UK singles
chart, number 3 in the USA, and number 1 in Australia.
'A World Of Our Own' by The Seekers,
written and produced by Tom, reaches number 3 in the UK singles chart, USA
#15, Australia #2.
'The
Carnival Is Over' by The Seekers, written and produced by Tom, reaches
number 1 in the UK singles chart. The music is adapted from an old
Russian folk song.
Tom also produces The Seekers album 'A
World Of Our Own' during the year.
1966:
'Walk With Me' by The Seekers, written
and produced by Tom, reaches number 10 in the UK singles chart.
'Georgy Girl' by The
Seekers, produced by Tom, and written by Tom with lyrics by Carry On actor
Jim Dale, and the title track from the soundtrack of the film 'Georgy
Girl', reaches number 3 in the UK singles chart, and number 1 in
the US singles chart.
Tom
also produces the The Seekers second album for EMI, 'Come The Day'
during the year, the album includes Tom's 1963 hit with The Springfields,
'Island of Dreams' and Tom and Jim Dale's 'Georgy
Girl'.
1967:
Tom splits amicably from The Seekers. 'On
The Other Side', co-written by Tom with Gary Osborne and Bob Sage, is
included on The Seekers' self-produced (with Keith Grant) album, 'Seen
In Green'.
Wrote and produced 'Just Lovin' You' for Anita Harris.
Adios Amour, written by Tom Springfield is recorded and released by Jose
Feliciano.
1968:
Tom releases a solo album 'Sun Songs'
on the Decca recording label, the album is influenced by South American
music and features versions of a number of Brazilian standards. He will continue to write songs for a
variety of artists, including himself and sister Dusty. He will also write
and record a number of TV and film theme tunes.
1969: Tom Springfield released a second LP
on Decca called
"Love's Philosophy" which featured a sonnet by Miss Dusty Springfield (as
stated on the sleeve). This album concentrates on self-composed material. The duet "Morning Please Don't Come" which Philips
later released as a single.
1999: Tom's sister, Dusty Springfield, dies from
cancer. Tom takes her ashes to Ireland and scatters them over the Cliffs
of Moher. Tom's name is on the death certificate as next of kin.
2000:
Tom is reportedly in the audience at The
Seekers UK tour concert at Wembley Arena, London on June 1st. He is
believed to be no longer actively involved in music. He did not contribute
any songs to the Seekers 1997 reunion album Future Road. He is believed to
live in or near London, UK.
2005: Tom's solo albums "Sun Songs" and
"Love's Philosophy" are re-issued on CD (together on one CD), by Vocalion.
Available from Amazon and other record outlets.
If you can provide any
more information about Tom's music career as detailed above, then please
contact the
webmaster. Thanks to those people (you know who you are) who
have made suggestions or corrections for this page)
Photo: At the
wedding of Mike Hurst to Sarah Hearne in the 1960's, Tom (second left),
Dusty Springfield, Mike Hurst, Sarah Hearne.
Tom Springfield
Links
You find the lyrics for all the
recorded songs by The Seekers, including those written and produced by
Tom, on Richard Veit's site at bearspace.baylor.edu/Richard_Veit/www/the_seekers
.
This site also has links to a number of other sites related to The
Seekers.
You can find the chords to some of
the songs that Tom wrote for the Seekers on my site, here.
You can find a Springfields
discography at http://www.bahnhof.se/~grant/dusty/springfi.html
Millissa B's Dusty
Springfield fan site
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