He wrote several hit songs for the Springfields ("Island of Dreams", "Say I Won't Be There") and later for the Seekers ("I'll Never Find Another You", "A World of Our Own", "The Carnival Is Over", "Georgy Girl"), whose records he also produced.

Springfield was a talented pianist, and occasionally played jazz in the NAAFI with Tony Cash (later a BBC TV producer) on clarinet, and Malcolm Brown on guitar.

[8] While there he joined up with two other musicians to form a guitar trio playing Latin American songs, with Tom singing in Spanish and Portuguese.

Colleague Nick Bowyer wrote: "Tom was extremely proficient on both piano and guitar, and played both by ear.

[9] In the late fifties O'Brien formed a duo, "The Kensington Squares", with folk musician Tim Feild, whom he had met while playing clubs in Belgravia, London.

These were "Island of Dreams", written and composed by Springfield, and "Say I Won't Be There", the melody of which was adapted by him from the traditional French song "Au clair de la lune" to accompany his new lyrics.

[15] "Island of Dreams" was later covered by Mick Thomas, Johnny Tillotson,[16] Mary Hopkin,[17] Geraint Watkins with Martin Belmont, and by the Seekers.

[23] Springfield and Diane Lampert co-wrote "The Olive Tree", recorded in 1967 as a solo single by The Seekers lead singer, Judith Durham whilst still performing with the group.

"[28] After a 1970 duet single with his sister Dusty, "Morning Please Don't Come", Springfield essentially retired from the music industry as both a writer and performer.

[30] He lived in the United States for a period, and resided in Chelsea, London,[31] up until his death on 27 July 2022, at the age of 88.