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(You didn't, did you? I can only apologise.)

Labels: linkage, popmusic, youtube

(An edited version of this interview appears in today's Nottingham Evening Post. This is the extended remix.)


Thanks for speaking to us at this uncomfortably early hour (8:10 am). Are you a morning person?

It depends. I’m heading to work right now, so I have to be awake! I’m in the middle of filming Torchwood, so we’re driving over to Port Talbot at the moment.

Let’s start by talking about your album Another Side, which comes out on Monday. I’d assumed this was your debut solo recording, but it actually turns out to be your fifth, right?

That’s right. My other recordings have all been geared towards the musical theatre crowd, or towards people who are more into Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hammerstein – but this is my debut recording for a more mainstream audience. A lot of people don’t know that for the last sixteen years or so, I’ve been doing shows in the West End and Broadway. When I did How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria and Any Dream Will Do, people would come up to me and say: we didn’t know you could sing, and we’d love to hear you sing some more! So it seemed like perfect timing.

You’ve already gone on record as saying that this isn’t an attempt to become a pop star. But you’re releasing an album of pop covers, and presumably you want it to sell well, so I’m a bit confused by that statement.

It’s an album of music that I love, that I’ve released because people want to hear me sing. I’m in no way wanting to be a pop star. I don’t want to be like a boy band, or Robbie Williams, or Maroon 5. I don’t only want to do concerts and albums. This is a facet of my career that I’m taking a journey with. But listen: if, five or ten weeks down the line, it proves to be hugely successful and the record company says that they need me to be a pop star for a while, then maybe I’d consider it. But it’s not the reason that I’m doing it.

So, no videos shot in glossy locations or any of that stuff?

Well, there is a promotional video for the song All Out Of Love. And I’m a businessman who wants to sell the record, so I will be going to major supermarkets to do signings. But just because I do that, it doesn’t mean that I’m being a pop star. I’d do that with my book! I’d do that with my Doctor Who merchandise! So it’s one and the same thing.

In terms of how you selected material for the album, it feels to me like a collection of your personal favourite songs.

You have got that correct. It probably took about four or five weeks for us to choose them. When Sony first approached me, they gave me a selection of their discs, which I narrowed down to songs that have actual relevance to situations and events within my life thus far. So they are very personal songs. Because there’s not enough space on the album sleeve, the listener can find out more through my website, where I will explain why I chose each one.

You’ve balanced classics – Your Song, Time After Time, Bryan Adams’ Heaven – with some more unfamiliar material. There’s one I really liked, which I’d not heard before, called Being Alive. Where’s that from?

Ha ha ha! See? I’m twisting everybody a little bit, by integrating something from a musical! That’s from a musical by Stephen Sondheim, called Company. I’m so chuffed that you said you liked it, because you might now want to go and see a musical!

Oh God, maybe now I’ll get over my block of Sondheim...

There you go – I’ve done a Sondheim number that you actually liked!

One of your more bold interpretations is Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, which is almost in a Ricky Martin Latin style. Were you nervous at re-interpreting a well known song in such a different way?

Sony said: we want you to do one song that people would never expect you to do. I went away and thought about it, and considered a song by the Foo Fighters – but we thought that wouldn’t quite fit into the scheme of things. This was one of my other choices, because my friend and I were big Police fans in high school. So I brought it forward, and said: look, please trust me on the musicality that I have, and what I know about music. Let me do this in the style of a Mexican mariachi band, with a Latin sound, and we’ll see if it works. So we recorded it, and I let the execs hear it, and they said: we think it’s great, we’re going to put it forward for Strictly Come Dancing!

So this is the song that you’ll be performing on Strictly Come Dancing?

On the [Sunday night] results show, yes. We pumped that song to them, and they went: this is great, this is perfect for our show!

You’ve also done something quite unusual for an openly gay performer, in that a lot of these songs do specifically reference women. Was that something you had to think carefully about?

Not at all, because I still like women! Just because I’m gay, it doesn’t mean that I don’t like women. It doesn’t mean that I want to sleep with them, but some of my closest friends are women. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic doesn’t necessarily relate to someone you’re having sex with. Also, the songs are for the listeners. When they listen to songs like She’s Always A Woman, my vision is of a man and a woman, partnered, married or whatever, sitting next to each other. It could even be a lesbian couple. And they’re listening to that song, and the one turns to the other, and says: that song is you to a tee. I want it to stir emotion within people. But I don’t see my homosexuality as being a guide for me.

You’ve got yourself into an interesting position – and a good position, really – in that you can cover songs that reference genders in that way. I can’t think of a gay performer who has been able to do that before, without people thinking: oh, that’s a bit off. Maybe the Captain Jack character has helped in that respect?

I don’t think it’s because of the Captain Jack character. What you also have to remember is that people have changed over the last five or ten years. People realise that I am an actor, and that my duty is to entertain people. I give an illusion. I’m a gay man, but when I go on stage in the West End, as I have done for the last sixteen years, I will play a romantic leading man. I will fall in love with girls, and I will let the audience believe that. You’re not watching John Barrowman – I’m playing a character. That’s the way you have to look at it, and audiences have moved on from five, ten years ago.

You’re taking the album out on tour next year, and Nottingham will be one of the dates. Will it be primarily a singing gig, or will it be more of “An Evening With”, where you’ll be mixing the singing up with some talking as well?

At the moment, we’re still formulating some of the ideas, so I’ll give you a couple of little inside details of things that we’re currently working on. I’ve done cabaret before, and one of the things that I love about cabaret is that it’s intimate. Now, what I want to create, although it’s on a bigger scale, is some of that intimacy. So I will be telling stories and anecdotes, and certain things will be scripted – but if I diverge from the script, then I diverge. I’ve always found that in the past, audiences enjoy that. They like to go on those little journeys with me. So there will be chat, and there will also be some guest stars. I’d like to have a couple of artists that people may not have heard of before, so that we can introduce some new talent. It stems from the reality shows that I’ve done, which are based on bringing new talent to the forefront.

I like the sound of the unpredictability. It means that people can read reviews of the previous night, without being told everything that’s going to happen on the following night.

Exactly, and that’s bringing the element of where I started in live theatre, because you just don’t know what’s going to happen, on a nightly basis. So, yes, there’ll be a bit of unpredictability about it.

(photo taken at London Pride 2007 by dtank)

You seem to have the most incredibly full schedule at the moment. For instance, you’ve got a BBC1 game show coming up, called The Kids Are All Right. What’s that all about?

It’s a light entertainment show, where adults will compete against kids who are super-intelligent – not just in the academic sense, but in the social sense, and with books, and all sorts of stuff. It will be a group of kids, and that’s why we say that “the kids are all right”. I mean, they’re cool – but they’re always right. So the adults will either be glorified or shamed by these kids. We did a pilot, which worked really well. These kids are very smart; they have attitude, and they sling it around the stage. So it will be good fun.

And then you’ll be coming back as Captain Jack in the New Year…

I’m not in the Doctor Who Christmas special, but I come back in Series Four, which starts filming after Christmas. Series Two of Torchwood also starts airing on BBC2 in January.

There must be a special sort of responsibility in playing Captain Jack, in that you must get collared by fans of both Torchwood and Doctor Who, who expect you to know every last detail of all the plots. Do people delight in trying to catch you out, saying that something happened in Episode Two which was contradicted in Episode Six and so on?

Some of them do, and I’ll be honest with you - my response is to say: you have too much time on your hands, and you need to get a life. I have no problem saying that! They usually laugh back, and say: yeah, you’re right. I am a fan of Doctor Who, and I love what I do – but I don’t go into so much detail. Sometimes when we’re looking at scripts, I’ll say if something contradicts a previous episode – so I do recognise these things. But if someone challenges me on it, I’m like: dude, come on!

I mentioned to a Doctor Who fan that I’d be talking to you and he said: ask him why the Face of Boe looks nothing like him!

[Suddenly very animated] Well, you can go back and say: because the Face of Boe was designed in Series One, before that plot had actually come round to it!

Oh, but that de-mystifies the whole process, if you’re going to say that!

But you’ll probably find that if you go back to the Face of Boe now, they’ll re-configure it a little bit – because the Face of Boe is the oldest living being in the universe, and obviously he’d change. That’s the other answer: people change over time! [Shouting] He’s being too literal!

Quite so. I will pass on your comments! Now, in the midst of all this, you’re also writing your autobiography…?

Funny you should say that: I finished it this week! I’ve been carrying an iPod with me, on a daily basis, and I’ve been telling my story into it. I then send it off to my sister, who has been penning it. The way it has been written is like a musical. I have started at one point, and like a musical story you jump to different parts, every so often. It takes you on that kind of journey. Each chapter is named after a show – and within that show, there’s a song which relates to the chapter. It’s all done so that it’s very musical-based. It will be out around February.



And then the next event coming up is your starring role in Aladdin at the Birmingham Hippodrome…

Yes, it’s my third year in a row doing panto. My first was in Wimbledon, and my second was at the New Theatre in Cardiff, which was the biggest financial success that they’ve had in their entire history. Consequently, they put me into Birmingham, which is the largest in the nation. It’s going to be spectacular: we’ve got Daleks, we’ve got 3D, we have interactive. This production of Aladdin has been written for me. It has almost sold out, and it’s done so well that they’ve already asked me to do next year. People say to me sometimes: why are you doing panto, you don’t really have to. It’s not a question of having to, but I see it as a perfect way to introduce theatre to a young audience. That’s their first experience, and what a great way to have it.

This is an insanely busy schedule, especially for someone as lazy as me to look at. What motivates you to be so busy all the time, and do you have a lazy side?

I do have a lazy side. Funnily enough, I carry a suitcase around with me, that has all my paperwork in it. That’s my lazy side: I very rarely get around to it. My driver has to lug it every single frickin’ day, in and out of the car, and it never gets any lighter. So there is a lazy side to me – but you know what? I enjoy working. I have these golden opportunities that I am given, and I am so not going to pass them up or turn them down, because someone else says: you shouldn’t do that. My attitude is: f**k ‘em, I love what I do. I trained to be a working actor, and I’m being given work – so I’m going to take it. Listen, you’re a long time dead.

Indeed. Well, good luck with the album.

And please let the people of Nottingham know that I’m looking forward to singing for them!

Labels: celebs, eveningpost, interviews, popmusic, television

If you’ve ever hung out in a backpacker bar in Koh Samui on your gap year, necking cheap sangria, smoking roll-ups and discussing world politics, then Manu Chao’s music will need no introduction. As the spiritual heir to the late Joe Strummer, he is one of the few remaining international performers who still dares to wear his ideology on his sleeve – although with his frizzy hair, thick scarlet bandanna and lurid green shirt slashed to the navel, he owes his look more to Keith Richards.

A massive star in continental Europe, Manu is much less well known in the UK. Consequently, relatively intimate venues such as Rock City must be a welcome novelty for him and his band. Their delighted looks throughout last night’s marathon set said it all, their enthusiasm more than matched by the ecstatic crowd reaction.

That said, the band stuck to a rigid formula, alternating between loping reggae and frantic, breakneck ska-punk, laced with Latin overtones. There were more “mi corazons” than you could shake a stick at, interspersed with the sort of cod-Jamaican “ma-yo-yo-yo” chanting that Sting popularised a generation ago. For the uninitiated, the formula swiftly wore thin. For the majority, those blissful backpacking memories were skilfully evoked.

This review first appeared in the Nottingham Evening Post. I tried to be fair, as I've rarely - if ever - seen a more enthusiastic crowd at Rock City, in 27 years of going there. So maybe it was the incipient man-flu, blunting my edge. I doubt it though. Bascially, I got the point after the first ten minutes, before becoming increasingly bored and restless. How I wish I'd followed my gut instinct, and joined Tina at the Social for Okkervil River...

Labels: eveningpost, gigs, popmusic

In honour of Zoe's marvellous book (available in the shops NOW, and they really do make such marvellous gifts), based on the marvellous blog of the same name, it gives me great pleasure to host a one-off revival of that marvellous 1970s game show (revived somewhat less marvellously in the 1990s)... Mr & Mrs!!!

The aim of the game is simple. How well do Zoe and her twatty boyfriend Quarsan really know each other? In order to find out, I'll be asking them each ten questions: five about Zoe, and five about Quarsan. They will be answering these question in strict isolation, with no conferring, secret winks, sign language, telepathic mind control etc etc.

For every pair of matching answers, I shall be awarding one point.

If Zoe and Quarsan agree on all ten of their answers, they will have achieved maximum compatibility.

If they disagree on all ten... well, maybe we won't be surprised.

OK, Let the game commence!

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Zoe, will you please approach the witness stand. My, you do scrub up well. Firstly, I'm going to ask you five questions about yourself. Are you ready? Bonne chance!

1. If your house was on fire, which ONE object would you save? (Please note that the object must be inanimate, and carryable.)

What does inanimate mean? Oh right, I've looked it up.
Just the ONE object? Ermmmm - my laptop.

2. If you were obliged to perform karaoke in a public place, which song would you pick?

I would never, ever sing in public - I think people deserve the right never to hear me sing. But IF I really had to, it would be 'Perfect Day' had I thought about it, but I just know I'd end up singing 'Bohemian Raphsody'. Or however you spell it.

3. Which is your favourite post on the acclaimed and award-winning My Boyfriend Is A Twat weblog?

Probably a guest-blogger's. Or one of the 'Twat's Quotes of the Day'.

4. Your household has been described as “a mixture of The Osbournes, Absolutely Fabulous and My Family” – but which character do you resemble the most?

• Sharon Osbourne (played by Sharon Osbourne)
• Edina Monsoon (played by Jennifer Saunders)
• Patsy Stone (played by Joanna Lumley)
• Susan Harper (played by Zoe Wanamaker)

Edina Monsoon, I'm afraid.

5. Which ONE item of Quarsan’s clothing would you most like to destroy?

His poncy-poofy-tracky-trainers, without a doubt.

Thank you for your answers, Zoe. We'll be talking to you again later. Now please stand down.

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Quarsan, will you please approach the witness stand. Ah, I see that you're wearing your favourite hooded sweatshirt. The one with gibbons on it. No, you haven't got time to make a political speech. OK, is Zoe wearing her headphones in the isolation booth? Then we may proceed.

Quarsan, here are five questions about Zoe. Please answer them truthfully - and remember: each matching answer that you give will earn you one point. Once again, bonne chance!

1. If your house was on fire, which ONE object would Zoe save? (Please note that the object must be inanimate, and carryable.)

This is impossible. She'd be running round like a badger with it's arse on fire. She could pick up anything, anything at all. I'll go for her laptop or failing that a hairdryer.

As you both said "laptop", you score ONE POINT!

2. If Zoe was obliged to perform karaoke in a public place, which song would she pick?

She would sing Bohemian Rhapsody. Loudly and badly. She would also fail to get the words right. This has happened frequently. Next time i'm going to put it on You Tube.

Ooh, tricky. You both said "Bohemian Rhapsody", but Zoe's first answer was "Perfect Day". However, as Zoe said that she "just knows" she'd end up singing Bo Rhap, I shall give you the benefit of the doubt, and award you a SECOND POINT!

3. Which is Zoe’s favourite post on the acclaimed and award-winning My Boyfriend Is A Twat weblog?

Dunno. Probably one of the guest posts, probably yours.

Ah, how you flatter me. In which case, as you both said "guest post", you can have a THIRD POINT! How long can this lucky streak last?

4. Your household has been described as “a mixture of The Osbournes, Absolutely Fabulous and My Family” – but which character does Zoe resemble the most?

• Sharon Osbourne (played by Sharon Osbourne)
• Edina Monsoon (played by Jennifer Saunders)
• Patsy Stone (played by Joanna Lumley)
• Susan Harper (played by Zoe Wanamaker)

Ih give me a chance here. She's as bossy as Sharon, as batshit as Edina, as pissed as Patsy. But out of the shower she looks just like Susan, so i'll go for Susan Harper.

QUACK QUACK OOPS! As Zoe went for Edina Monsoon, you earn your first fail. Tant pis! Chin up!

5. Which ONE item of your clothing would Zoe most like to destroy?

My tracksuit bottoms. They're excellent made by small asian children for Mr Ron Hill. Suitable for all occasions, combning comfort, practicability and style. For some unaccountable reason Zoe takes exception to them and tries to tear them up at every opportunity, even when I am wearing them. In a restaurant.

Well, that one was always going to be an easy lob, wasn't it? Congratulations, Quarsan and Zoe: after the first round, you have scored an impressive FOUR POINTS OUT OF FIVE.

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Now, let's see how you fare on Round Two. Quarsan, please enter the isolation booth. Zoe, welcome back. Here are your five questions on Quarsan.

1. What is Quarsan’s most annoying habit? (Please note that you may only pick ONE answer. Nobody said this was going to be easy.)

His farting. Light a match and this house would go up in flames. He is also capable of farting so loudly during the night that he wakes me up.

2. As an ex-pat Brit living in Belgium, which ONE aspect of British life does Quarsan miss the most?

Mountains. Do they count? If not, then bacon butties.

3. And which ONE aspect of Belgian life annoys Quarsan the most?

Shops being shut on Sunday. This isn't fair - just the ONE?

4. Many otherwise sane and well-balanced couples have instigated an exemption clause known as the “Celebrity Bye” into their relationship. This permits each partner, should the opportunity arise, to enjoy extra-marital physical relations with ONE previously named celebrity, on ONE occasion, with no fear of sanction. If you and Quarsan were ever barmy enough to instigate a “Celebrity Bye”, which lucky celebrity would Quarsan nominate as his Bonk of Choice?

That goes without saying: Kylie bloody Minogue.

5. Finally, and in the interests of balance: which is Quarsan’s ONE most lovable quality?

His ability to make me laugh so much.

Merci bien, Zoe. You did good.

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Quarsan, let's see whether your answers match Zoe's. Here we go...

1. What is your most annoying habit?

I have no annoying habits. I have innocent habits that Zoe, in her unreasonable way, interprets as annoying. She'd probably have to decide between bottom burps and my ability to totally ignore her, something many have tried but few achieve. It's a bit like tuning out the static in your head when listening to Radio Luxembourg. I think the gastrinal aerobics.

Ooh, we were on the edge of our seats with that one, weren't we, readers? But you got there in the end, Quarsan. Farts it is! ONE POINT!

2. As an ex-pat Brit living in Belgium, which ONE aspect of British life do you miss the most?

Bacon. And mountains. And mountains of bacon.

Well, you both said "bacon", and you both said "mountains". That's almost worth two points! But let's not get carried away here.

3. And which ONE aspect of Belgian life annoys you the most?

The fact that there are three seperate languages/ governments/ nations in Belgium and this causes confusion and an almost apartheid system. I've said that Belgium mostly resembles Rwanda with an economy.

QUACK QUACK OOPS! Ah, y'see? If you go dragging politics into the equation, then you're bound to come a cropper where Zoe's concerned. Nul points for this one, I'm afraid.

4. Many otherwise sane and well-balanced couples have instigated an exemption clause known as the “Celebrity Bye” into their relationship. This permits each partner, should the opportunity arise, to enjoy extra-marital physical relations with ONE previously named celebrity, on ONE occasion, with no fear of sanction. If you and Zoe were ever barmy enough to instigate a “Celebrity Bye”, which lucky celebrity would you nominate as your Bonk of Choice?

Apart from Kylie, you mean? Actually, she is beginning to look a bit odd, what's that thing with the pernamently raised eyebrow? I'm seriously considering turning my attentions to Konnie Huq.

Again, an easy lob where Kylie is concerned. (I know what you're thinking, but I won't stoop so low.) Have another point.

5. Finally, and in the interests of balance: which is your ONE most lovable quality? (Please note that you may only pick ONE answer. Nobody said this was going to be easy.)

I can catch spiders.

QUACK QUACK OOPS! Or maybe the way you catch spiders is in itself mirth-inducing? Well, maybe we'll find out in the next book.

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OK, you two. Shall we look at the final scores?

Well, sacré bleu, zut alors and chouette: you have scored a combined Compatability Quotient of...

... (dramatic pause) ....

70%. How healthy and functional is that? Many congratulations! No, you haven't won a car! Cue credits!

(Enjoyed the show? Then BUY THE BOOK. I've read it! It's great! And I don't even read books! What greater endorsement could there be?)

Labels: blogs, books, questions