When I went to drama college at the age of seventeen, I did a drama and liberal arts course, and I accidentally fell into the world of acting. I just didn’t know what to do after school, and I happened to be on the doorstep of the first drama in education course in the country, which was run by the leading authority of Brechtian Theatre in the country, a socialist called Gordon Vallins. Ben Elton was also on my course and he has gone on to be a left wing stand-up, as well as a writer and staying pretty true to his politics, as much as you are able to as a millionaire. Gordon Vallins was an early mentor, for both myself and Ben Elton and made me challenge my parent’s politics and think in another way.
I was a willing victim to the political world and I do think I became a victim of it along the way. I became the darling of the left-wing press in 80s and this was helped by the success of The Communard, a socialist band, fighting for Gay Rights, which became another political issue.
I was a willing victim to the political world and I do think I became a victim of it along the way. I became the darling of the left-wing press in 80s and this was helped by the success of The Communard, a socialist band, fighting for Gay Rights, which became another political issue.
The Happy End
I was heavily involved with The Miners Strike and helped put together Coal Not Dole with Kent Miner’s wife Kay Sutcliffe and Matt Fox from The Happy End, which became the Miner’s anthem. I am proud of my time with TheHappy End and found it an absolute tragedy that our song didn’t lead to victory for the miners. This was a very sad time.
The Red Wedge Tour was a collective of British musicians who attempted to engage young people with politics in general, and the policies of the Labour Party in particular, during the period leading up to the 1987 general election, in the hope of ousting the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher. Fronted by Billy Bragg, (who originally opened up for The Republic and The Happy End), other acts were Madness ( whose manager Matthew Stumpf and Jamie Spencer decided to manage me) and the Style Council, featuring Paul Weller, who later wrote the song Leaves Around The Door for me, which I recorded on Blue Valentine.
The Red Wedge Tour was a collective of British musicians who attempted to engage young people with politics in general, and the policies of the Labour Party in particular, during the period leading up to the 1987 general election, in the hope of ousting the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher. Fronted by Billy Bragg, (who originally opened up for The Republic and The Happy End), other acts were Madness ( whose manager Matthew Stumpf and Jamie Spencer decided to manage me) and the Style Council, featuring Paul Weller, who later wrote the song Leaves Around The Door for me, which I recorded on Blue Valentine.
With Test Department I also did many concerts in the 80s along with David my husband and the best part of that was being the vocal bass line to Tony Benn’s history of the labour party rap at the ICA Freedom of Speech concert. This was to be Salmon Rushdie’s last performance for many a year as he was reading from The Satanic Verses.
With The Redskins I performed Ain’t No Stopping Us Now for an Artists Against Apartheid concert and also managed to sing a duet with Gill Scott Heron of Many Rivers To Cross at The Brixton Academy.
With The Redskins I performed Ain’t No Stopping Us Now for an Artists Against Apartheid concert and also managed to sing a duet with Gill Scott Heron of Many Rivers To Cross at The Brixton Academy.
I’ve always been linked with politics, but I don’t think I am a very political thinker. Because there weren’t many women in the music industry that were outspoken at that time, I think I’ve been held up to be far more important politically than I ever actually was. I was terrified of letting people down.
I’m a humanist, and I’ve got involved in things that have meant something to me, and I felt I could do something about. Once I became a mother, my child came first. I didn’t have the time to spend on all these different causes; I had to be far more careful about what my time was spent on. There are only a couple of causes that I now lend myself to and I sometimes feel guilty about that.
I stay in contact with what is going via The Guardian, and I get the Sunday Observer, but I don’t really watch much television so I’m not really linked that way to news. I listen to Radio Four (that’s my age, and probably the most likely radio station to interview me because of my age).
I know I’ve gone round in circles, but all the bands up until my solo career were political, except for Wop Avenue.
I have recently returned to writing songs about what I feel politically and some socially conscious songs are rearing their head. I feel I have found my political voice again. I want my son to see that I stand up for what I believe in and don’t just accept. We must teach our children to challenge and debate not just accept.
I’m a humanist, and I’ve got involved in things that have meant something to me, and I felt I could do something about. Once I became a mother, my child came first. I didn’t have the time to spend on all these different causes; I had to be far more careful about what my time was spent on. There are only a couple of causes that I now lend myself to and I sometimes feel guilty about that.
I stay in contact with what is going via The Guardian, and I get the Sunday Observer, but I don’t really watch much television so I’m not really linked that way to news. I listen to Radio Four (that’s my age, and probably the most likely radio station to interview me because of my age).
I know I’ve gone round in circles, but all the bands up until my solo career were political, except for Wop Avenue.
I have recently returned to writing songs about what I feel politically and some socially conscious songs are rearing their head. I feel I have found my political voice again. I want my son to see that I stand up for what I believe in and don’t just accept. We must teach our children to challenge and debate not just accept.
