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Great LezBritain: Interview with Sharleen Spiteri

“Great LezBritian” is a fortnightly stroll through the very best of British lesbo-centric entertainment and culture. Plus there will be some jolly good interviews with the top ladies who are waving the flag for gay UK.

Never has Great LezBritain seen so many of their own kind in one place than at a Texas gig. The simple reason for this is androgynous lead singer Sharleen Spiteri. While not gay herself, the Glaswegian born chanteuse is very much a British lesbian icon. She relishes playing with people’s perceptions of women in music and as a result she has never looked like a stereotypical pop-siren. Over the years she has delighted her lesbian fans with her outspoken ways and stage attire such as an Elvis outfit and a sailor suit.

With Texas, Spiteri has spent over two decades selling platinum albums but recently went it alone and is on the verge of releasing her second solo album, The Movie Songbook. Great LezBritian had a quick chat in her ear about the new album, her fondness for Shane from The L Word’s barnet and the respect she has for the lesbian community. AfterEllen.com: Hello Sharleen Spiteri, how are you? Sharleen Spiteri: I am very well thank you and you?

AE: We are just dandy. Tell us a bit about your new album, The Movie Songbook – it’s an album of songs you’ve covered from movies. Was this an album you just wanted to do for the fun of covering some of your favorite tunes? SS: Yes. I kind of feel that making music is all about having fun and I’ve got to a certain place that has allowed me to do things that some people wouldn’t expect of me. This album actually happened by accident – I had sung on the 25th anniversary of Saturday Night Fever and I did the Bee Gees song “If I Can’t Have You” and then I was asked to sing the theme tune to The Godfather.

So all of this led me to thinking about making a full album and it kind of snowballed from there. I thought it would be fun and interesting and, to be honest, I thought it was going to be something a lot easier than it was.

We did the whole recording in eight days and getting every song ready and making sure that they didn’t sound like karaoke was actually quite difficult, because you didn’t want to remove it too far from the original so that it was unrecognizable.

AE: The film Paris, Texas inspired your band name and I read that Play Misty for Me inspired your daughter’s name — so why do movies play such a prominent part in your life? SS: I don’t know, maybe I am just living in Cuckoo Land in my head? (Both laugh) I have always loved movies since the days of sitting on my bedroom windowsill playing my dad’s acoustic guitar singing “Moon River.” I love movies and I love music and for me they’re very much a marriage. I know they are two different things but when I hear a piece of music it stimulates me visually and when I see a movie it stimulates me musically.

AE: A lot of your music has been used in film and television, so what does it feel like knowing your songs are being used in settings and for contexts that you didn’t actually write them for? SS: I kind of think that’s what music is for. I’m sure when I listen to certain songs that I see a picture of something that is relevant to my life that is not what the picture that the songwriter had and that’s what I love about songs – so many stories can be written into them that are not yours.

AE: We read many a year ago that you were slightly peeved that your record company hadn’t pushed Texas harder in conquering the States. Is this something that still bothers you? SS: At the time it was happening it was frustrating because there were so many people saying, “I really like what your band does but I couldn’t get the record.” You learn to live with it, although it would have been nice to have played in America especially as it’s so influential in what we do. We did a 3/4 month tour in America years ago but we haven’t been out since.

AE: Do you think when you were out there the Texas name made things a bit trickier for you? SS: That was always hysterical because people always thought that we were a country band. We did wonder when we were out there why the hell we called ourselves Texas. AE: Do you have ambitions to have another go at the states? SS: We make records and it is up to the record company to decide what they do with it, that’s the brutal truth of it – I wish it wasn’t.

AE: It is very apt that you are being featured on AfterEllen.com when you did the original theme tune for Ellen. How the devil did this come about? SS: Ellen [DeGeneres] is great and I couldn’t believe it when she wanted to use “So Called Friend” for the show. I remember when Ally [McErlaine, Texas guitarist] and I went out and sat on set playing the song she jumped around us like a lunatic and we were just like – “Oh my God.” It was exciting that people were on the show doing the song, and we couldn’t stop laughing when some people were performing it. We just felt really flattered that Ellen liked the song and the band.

AE: Regarding “Don’t Keep Me Waiting” being featured on the last series of The L Word, did you see the episode it was in? SS: I watched a lot of The L Word but I didn’t see that episode. A lot of my friends called me up to tell me that they had seen it.

AE: It was used at a lovely moment (At the end of episode 3, Kit getting called up on stage by Sunset Boulevard), you should watch it. SS: I’m glad, I will check it out. I don’t have a copy of it but I’m sure I can get one.

AE: Did you like what you saw of The L Word? SS: I really liked The L Word and I thought that Shane had a similar haircut to me and so was very cool. (laughs) I liked her androgynous look.

AE: Smoothly leading on from that, I have been to a Texas gig and I have never seen so many lesbians gathered under one roof… SS: It is quite extraordinary isn’t it! AE: Yes it is. (both laugh) so why do you think the ladies love Miss Spiteri? SS: I think you should do a poll on it because, honest to God, I have no idea. There is nothing better in life than to be appreciated and respected by other women, and I am not just talking about on a sexual basis.

I do like woman that stand up for what they believe in and speak out and in the lesbian community. That is what you need to do. I think you are forced into a situation where you have to be stronger and stand up for yourself when many others don’t, so maybe that is why I am respected?

AE: I think that is part of it, but I can tell you that it also may have something to do with that fact you dressed up as Elvis in the video for “Inner Smile” and donned a sailor suit in the video for “Sleep.” SS: Yes that might be it – I do love a bit of uniform action. I do love playing at being a boy, I always have done it, and I love the fact it plays with people’s minds. And I don’t think there is any set way you are supposed to be. I was never the pretty girl, and that is the way I have gone through life.

AE: You recorded The Movie Songbook in LA. Why did you decide to go over to the states? SS: I went to work with the producer Phil Ramone who has worked with great artists such as Barbara Streisand, Bob Dylan and Frank Sinatra. We wanted to carry the whole movie scene through and so we went to Capitol Studios were a lot of the great movie soundtracks were made. AE: Did you like it out there? SS: I love it out in Los Angeles. A couple of my friends live out there and I went to stay with one of them in West Hollywood for a week before recording the album. We went to some really cool cafes and just hung out in loads of places – we had a ball.

AE: So apart from this album, what are your plans for 2010? SS: Hopefully I will tour with this album and at the moment I am writing a new Texas record with Jonny [McElhone, fellow Texas songwriter].

AE: When do you think that will be out? SS: I doubt very much it will be this year but it will definitely be next year.

AE: How can readers keep up to date with the happenings of Miss Spiteri? Do you Tweet? It’s all the rage these days. SS: I don’t, I’m afraid. I don’t want people to know exactly what I am doing and I like to be free of anything like that – I don’t even like speaking on the phone.

AE: Were you aware that you had a Twitter fraudster? SS: I was, because I have the most loyal fantastic fans that let me know what was happening and we got straight on it.

AE: The Tweets put out by your imposter were very boring, I don’t think they were doing you any favors. SS: Well some fans had contacted us and said “We don’t think this is you,” so it was amazing that they had sussed it straight away really. I think they knew it wasn’t me because I would have been a lot more foul-mouthed.

So we have taken instruction from Sharleen Spiteri and have decided to officially open a poll to ask AfterEllen.com readers the question. Why do the ladies love Miss Spiteri? Give us your answers in the comments below.

“Great LezBritain” authors Sarah, a Londoner, and Lee, a Glaswegian, met in a gay discotheque one bleak mid winter, eight years ago and have been shacked up together ever since. When not watching Tipping The Velvet, they find time to write, run a PR company, DJ at their own club nights and love a bit of jam on toast. Follow them on Twitter at greatlezbritain.

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