DUSTY MADE ME A HUMAN FLY STRIP!

ELTON was playing the Forum in Inglewood, California, in 1974 and asked me to pick up Dusty Springfield en route.

I only knew her fleetingly but was aware that at times she could be highly strung and a little difficult.

Of course I was also a fan, her Dusty In Memphis album being an all-time classic.

I was apprehensive but was immediately put at ease by her amiability, even though she did seem a trifle fussy. From the get-go she began patting her hair and checking her make-up in her compact mirror. Finally she let out a deep sigh and inquired if the driver could perhaps stop at a drug store.

Dipping into her bag, she pulled out a can of hair spray and handed it to the driver, telling him: ‘Please buy me the largest can of this you can find.’ In minutes he returned with a can the size of a howitzer shell, and off we went.

Curious as to why she felt a can of this size was necessary, when I imagined a little misting here and there would do the trick, I made some amusing remark. She looked at me like I was mad, and as if to show me, she lifted the can to her head like a loaded gun and started spraying.

She continued in this fashion for the duration of the journey. By the time we rolled into the backstage area she’d emptied the entire contents of the can, not only on to her rock-solid hair but also into my lungs, the driver’s eyes and every stitch of clothing we all wore.

For the rest of the evening I walked around like a human fly strip, smelling like I’d spent the past 24 hours in a Tijuana brothel.