Say what you want

Scots music legends Texas play Dundee’s 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.

I’m chatting to the raven-haired frontwoman of Scots superband Texas ahead of tomorrow’s gig in Dundee’s Caird Hall.

She’s been up all night, having played the last of three Texas homecoming gigs at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Bandstand.

“I’ve not been to bed yet,” she declares, without a trace of weariness.

“Last night was absolutely unbelievable. I’m on adrenalin fuel at the moment but I’m probably going to hit a brick wall in about an hour.”

Texas made their performing debut in March 1988 at the Dundee University and Sharleen, 49, has always had a soft spot for the city.

“Dundee is always gonna be the beginning for us,” she reflects, her strong Glaswegian accent cutting through.

“We played our very first Texas gig at Dundee University, so coming to Dundee always has that romanticism. It’s a bit special because it’s where it all began.”

Her advice for tomorrow night’s gig-goers is quite simply: “Be ready to party!”

Sadly, there won’t be a chance for Sharleen to float around and enjoy the city this time.

“When you’re on tour, you’re on tour – it’s not a holiday,” she says.

“You’re there to play music, stir everybody up into a frenzy and then move on to the next place.”

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 Sharleen’s school life was not quite so happy, however, and she suffered terrible bullying at secondary school.

It was this formative experience that toughened her up, and, in her own words, made her “totally obsessed with standing up for myself”.

When Texas were getting big, she refused to “dolly up” and become a sexy pop stereotype.

She formed the band while she was working as a hairdresser and they released their debut album in 1989.

Their first hit, I Don’t 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, she chuckles.

“Yeah, that was almost three decades ago. There’s an innocence and a freshness to that record. We listen back to it and laugh because we were so young, but it’s got that energy and that wide-eyed sound to it. It’s a song we hold very dearly.”

I then make the mistake of asking Sharleen what inspired the pop song. I can almost hear her grit her teeth.

“Right, people ask these questions all the time,” she retorts.

“I’ve never ever got my head round why people ask the literal meaning of a record.

“Number one – you don’t know me. Number two – you don’t know who I’m going to talk about.

“Number three – if I tell you what it is about, I steal the record back off you.

“I love records because I can relate them to my own life.

“Whenever a writer tells you literally what it’s about, they just **** up your dreams.

I never ever tell anyone what any song’s about. It’s about whatever you want it to be about