Scots music legends Texas play Dundeeās Caird Hall tomorrow. Ahead of the gig, frontwoman Sharleen Spiteri chats to Gayle Ritchie.
Sharleen Spiteri swears a lot. She is also refreshingly honest, down-to-earth and extremely likeable.
Iām chatting to the raven-haired frontwoman of Scots superband Texas ahead of tomorrowās gig in Dundeeās Caird Hall.
Sheās been up all night, having played the last of three Texas homecoming gigs at Glasgowās Kelvingrove Bandstand.
āIāve not been to bed yet,ā she declares, without a trace of weariness.
āLast night was absolutely unbelievable. Iām on adrenalin fuel at the moment but Iām probably literally going to hit a brick wall in about an hour.ā
Texas made their performing debut in March 1988 at the University of Dundee and Sharleen, 49, has always had a soft spot for the city.
āDundee is always gonna be the beginning for us,ā she reflects, her strong Glaswegian accent cutting through.
āWe played our very first Texas gig at Dundee University, so coming to Dundee always has that romanticism. Itās a bit special because itās where it all began.ā
Her advice for tomorrow nightās gig-goers is quite simply: āBe ready to party!ā
Sadly, there wonāt be a chance for Sharleen to float around and enjoy the city this time.
āWhen youāre on tour, youāre on tour ā itās not a holiday,ā she says.
āYouāre there to play music, stir everybody up into a frenzy and then move on to the next place.ā
Born in Bellshill, Glasgow, and raised in Balloch in West Dunbartonshire, Sharleen enjoyed a happy early childhood, filled with music.
Her father Eddie was a merchant seaman who played guitar and her mother Vilma was a window-dresser with a fantastic singing voice.
The young Sharleenās school life was not quite so happy, however, and she suffered terrible bullying at secondary school, until one day, she snapped.
It was this formative experience that toughened her up, and, in her own words, āmade me totally obsessed with standing up for myselfā.
When Texas were getting big, she refused to ādolly upā and become a sexy pop stereotype.
She formed the band while she was working as a hairdresser and they released their first album in 1989.
Their first hit, I Donāt Want A Lover, peaked at number eight in the UK Singles Chart.
When I tell Sharleen it was one of the first 7-inch vinyl singles I bought as a child (literally just out of the womb, right?), she chuckles.
āYeah, that was almost three decades ago. Thereās an innocence and a freshness to that record. We listen back to it and laugh because we were so young, but itās got that energy and that wide-eyed sound to it. Itās great when you hear it. Itās a song that we hold very dearly.ā
Curious and keen to reminisce about my childhood further, I make the mistake of asking Sharleen what inspired the pop song. I can almost hear her grit her teeth.
āRight, people ask these questions all the time,ā she retorts.
āFor me, Iāve never ever got my head round why people ask the literal meaning of a record.
āNumber one ā you donāt know me. Number two ā you donāt know who Iām going to talk about. Number three ā if I tell you what it is about, I steal the record back off you.
āThe music that I love and all the records I listen to…I love those records because I can relate them to my own life.
āWhenever a writer tells you literally what itās about, they just **** up your dreams.
āI never ever tell anyone what any songās about. Itās about whatever you want it to be about.
āIf you want it to be about a relationship, if you want it to be about something else, thatās what itās about.ā
Back in the day, in the late 80s, Sharleen was hugely into the soundtrack to the road movie Paris, Texas, written by Ry Cooder.
Itās about an aimless drifter who wanders out of the desert and must reconnect with society.
Sharleen loved the film so much she named the band after it, and certainly, the opening of I Donāt Want a Lover, with its blues slide guitar motif and harmonica, is very evocative of the deep south.
āMusically, I know what I love. Back then, we were growing up in Glasgow, dreaming of these wide open spaces, and that was the sort of music we were trying to create.ā
While I Donāt Want a Lover introduced Texas to the world, the band didnāt achieve major success until the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The tracks Say What You Want, Halo and Black Eyed Boy, Summer Son and Inner Smile were really what made the Scots group a household name.
The band took a break in 2005 and Sharleen launched a solo career, releasing her debut solo album, Melody, in 2008.
However, Texas guitarist Ally McErlaine collapsed with a brain aneurism in 2009 and his chances of recovery were unclear.
By July 2010, McErlaine had recovered and Texas reunited in 2011.
Six years on and they released their ninth studio album, Jump on Board, in May 2017. Itās laid-back and shows the band in fine form, with some tunes showcasing their continued love for that Americana twang.
āIād say itās music to put on, to escape to,ā muses Sharleen. āItās a very positive, upbeat record.
āWe tried to make something that people could just shut off for a little bit of time, put their hands up in the air and have a little jig in their kitchen and forget about reality.ā
Itās also a much more heart-on-sleeve, coming-of-age kind of album, with Sharleenās lyrics offering an insight into what she describes as her āweaknessesā.
āIām at a completely different point in life,ā she says.
āI say things now that Iād have never dreamt of saying maybe even 10 years ago; I would have felt it gave too much of me away ā of my weaknesses.
āAs you get older, youāre a lot more ready to show the weaknesses because I guess you appreciate that you can ride the weaknesses.
āYou realise everybody has weaknesses, but when youāre young, you try and hide them.
āYou try and kid on youāve got this punk attitude and you donāt give a flying fxxx. But the truth is that you actually really do.
āWhen you get older, you truly do not give a s*** about what anyone else says.ā
At this point, I subtly bring up the subject of Sharleenās fiery temper, which has hit the headlines a good few times.
There was a cat fight with Paris Hilton back in 2008 when Sharleen had to be pulled off the socialite by bouncers in a London club.
The pair clashed after Paris angered Sharleen by trampling on her friendsā belongings.
Liz Hurley was another celebrity to find herself on the receiving end of Sharleenās sharp tongue when she interrupted her during a private conversation with a friend and asked the singer who she was.
Sharleen, who had met Hurley several times before, responded with āAli Babaā before launching into a furious tirade.
Has she chilled out over the years?
āNo, I think Iāve probably got worse,ā she laughs.
āBad manners ā thatās just not on. At the end of the day, I grew up in Glasgow and if someone acted like an a***hole, I was first to say.
āIāve been told plenty if Iāve been acting like an a***hole, so yeah I think sometimes people need to be told when theyāre acting like idiots.ā
Itās an exciting time for Sharleen, who is marrying her fiancĆ©, 40-year-old Welsh chef Bryn Williams, next year.
Theyāve been together for 10 years, after meeting at London restaurant Odetteās where Bryn was working.
As for the wedding, Sharleen isnāt giving away any secrets, saying: āIāve no idea where or when it will be. Itāll be some time next year. It will be somewhere that no-one can find us.ā
Sharleen also has a 14-year-old daughter called Misty Kydd with her magazine editor ex, Ashley Heath, and is a close friend of Thierry Henryās.
Texas fans will know that the Arsenal legend stars in the music video for the bandās single Letās Work It Out, released earlier this year.
However, the footballer was banned from dancing in the video ā in case he upstaged Sharleen!
āWe were having lunch in his kitchen, he heard the record and was like, āI love thisā, and I said, āwhy donāt you be in the video?ā” explains Sharleen.
āHeās not dancing in it because heās a better dancer than I am. I didnāt want him to make me look bad!ā
In November, Sharleen will turn 50. But sheās not at all worried about hitting the half century mark.
āFifty is gonna be magnificent!ā she beams.
āIām literally like, āyeah, bring it onā. Honest to God, itās a number that means jack s***. If youāve got good health, good friends and youāre in a good place in your life, then whatās to whinge about?ā
In her spare time, Sharleen loves cooking, gardening ā ādeadheading and digging holes are my favourite thingsā ā a bit of DIY and āpotteringā.
When I ask what advice she would give to her younger self, she is deadpan: āNone. Absolutely none. Mistakes are important in life. Just try and make as few as you can.
āBut if youāve not got ambition in life, whatās the point of being here? Thereās lots of things I havenāt done that I look forward to doing in the future.
āThereās no point in talking about them because I havenāt done them yet, so hopefully they will come to fruition.ā
Texas have never stopped touring and their gigs ā including tomorrow nightās ā sell out in minutes. To date, they have sold around 40 million albums.
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Texas play Dundeeās Caird Hall tomorrow, September 24.
The gig, which has sold out, will promote the bandās new album Jump on Board.
For more details, see www.texas.uk.com