Guest of the Week : Sharleen Spiteri
from GMTV, January 5, 2001

At 15 she was working for a Glasgow hairdresser. Almost two decades on, she's one of the biggest names in British pop. No wonder Sharleen Spiteri has called her latest single Inner Smile...

For such a natural, it's hard to believe Sharleen Spiteri had to be pushed into a singing career.

She was 18 years old and working as a hair stylist, when a guitar player called Johnny McElhone got wind that she "could sing a bit".

He persuaded her to audition for a band he was putting together, which was when, according to Sharleen on GMTV this morning. "I realised this is what I really wanted to do."

The pair got together and wrote a song called "I Don't Want A Lover" - which became a worldwide hit. Fame and fortune beckoned.

Except it didn't. Because after the phenomenal success of their debut single, they failed to achieve another Top 10 hit in Britain for eight long years.

Asked how it felt to go from international fame to relative obscurity, Sharleen said the band had only ever been mildly aware of its success:

"You really have no idea of your success when its happening - it wasn't until it went away… when that's happened you're a bit "what's going on?"..."

She admits, however, that the tough period gave Texas an appetite for further success: "We kept putting records out and we were selling records in Europe", she says - and eventually the hard work paid off.

And when White On Blonde album hit the big time in 1997, they were ready to reap the rewards: "When we got the taste of success again, we knew how to enjoy it."

These days, Texas is one of Britain's biggest exports - and Sharleen is an international star. So much so, that Madonna asked her to do the warm-up at her recent sell-out Brixton gig.

"I was really flattered she asked me," says Sharleen.

"It was really great - but a nightmare with the guest list , I swear to god. As soon as it was announced on radio the phone was ringing with "can you get me a ticket?"

Ahh, the pressures of fame...


by Victoria Brown


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