At the piano : Texas
from Jools Holland / May 4, 1999

Jools: Please welcome, over at the piano for an intimate moment, Sharleen Spiteri. I should say welcome back because you’ve been here a couple of times before. You’re a bit of a hip-hop fan have you seen The Roots before?
Sharleen: I haven’t seen them live before but I’ve got the record. I really love them a lot.

Jools: Is it true that you’ve given their record to your dad?
Sharleen: My dad actually went out and bought it. He heard us playing it in the house.

Jools: Is that the sort of music that he normally likes?
Sharleen: He likes a lot of different stuff. When I was growing up, it didn’t have to be a certain kind of genre of music. You either like the sound or you don’t like the sound. That has always been the way that I’ve bought my music. If I like a record I’ll go out and buy it.

Jools: Was your father an influence? What were the first records you were hearing?
Sharleen: My mother was very much into R&B. She liked stuff like Al Green and Marvin Gaye. My dad was very much into The Beatles, The Stones and The Byrds. There was a really good combination of stuff.

Jools: When did you first join a group?
Sharleen: The first band I joined was Texas when I was eighteen. Johnny and I met each other through a mutual friend and we started Texas. Until that point, I never thought I would be in a band. I mean, I came out of school and got into hairdressing. I had a really good time doing that. I was really lucky because I used to travel around and stuff like that. Then the band came along. I never really wanted to be on the TV with a big cheesy smile.

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