This week on the Tom Dunne show we were delighted to have singer Tracey Thorn 'Back to Mine'.
Tracey is a familiar figure to those who came of age in the 80's and 90's. During that period she was one half of 'Everything but the Girl' - the band she founded with now husband Ben Watt at university in 1981.
The band have had a prolific career but it was a hit remix of 'Missing' (from 'Amplified Heart') by New York house don, Todd Terry which brought them to global fame. It went on to sell over three million copies, peaking at No. 2 in the US, No. 3 in the UK, and No. 1 in several other countries. Everything But The Girl have been on hiatus since 2000 as Ben concentrates on his DJ work and both devote more time to raising their children.
In this wide ranging interview Tracey talks about discovering punk, dealing with the consequences of fame and abandoning it all at the height of her career.
She also talks about her new book Bedsit Disco Queen: How I grew up and tried to be a pop star.
On whether music is an obsession in her life now as it was in her youth...
If I'm really honest - it isn't the same. It doesn't fill the same space in my life anymore. I think that's normal, in a way. There's something about those years when you're young, when music is partly about carving out your identity and creating the person you're going to be as an adult . That's something really special and however much you might carry on loving music it doesn't do the same thing anymore. I'm a fully grown adult now and I don't think I look to music now to confirm my identity.
On not realising they had a hit on their hands when they first heard Todd Terry's remix of Missing...
I think our reaction when we first heard it was the same as a lot of other people's. In all honesty, we really liked it but we thought it was just what had been commissioned - which was a great American sounding remix for American clubs. I think every one thought 'that's really great, that really does that job'. What I don't think anyone heard was a great pop hit single.
On turning down a support slot on U2's US tour...
It was pivotal in that it did mark the point I realised I had to make a decision. It was perhaps a decision I had been putting off for a little bit. People around us like managers and record companies could see we were poised to start climbing up that ladder. To be offered a tour like that seemed to be offered an obvious career move. It came at the wrong time and it represented something I wasn't at all sure I wanted.
On ruling out the possibility of an Everything but the Girl reunion tour...
Neither me or Ben are particularly nostalgic musically, and I think both of us feel that to go back to Everything but the Girl would be just taking a big step into the past. Even if we made a new album people inevitably would just want to hear old songs. We're both just interested in trying to do something new. Neither of us have the desire to do a nostalgia tour.
You can listen to the full interview here, and check out Tracey's musical choices below.
Tracey looked back in her diaries to see what she was listening to in 1976 as inspiration for her Back to Mine track choices, and it wasn't just punk!
Tracey's first choice was David Essex's Rock On...
For her second track Tracey picked Linda Lewis, This Time I'll be Sweeter...
And Tracey's final track was Can's I Want More...
Back to Mine on The Tom Dunne Show - Tuesdays from 10pm
