BANANARAMA INTERVIEW WITH JULIEN MACDONALD

Leading fashion designer Julien Macdonald talks big hands, sheep shearing and Camilla's hats with Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward of the revitalised Eighties girl group Bananarama


Julien Macdonald: Unlike most girl groups, you created yourselves rather than being manufactured. How did you get started
Sara Dallin: We had friends in bands and we used to shake maracas and do backing vocals. That's where we got the idea from. Keren and I lived above the Sex Pistols' rehearsal room in 1980, although they were no longer the Pistols by then.
Keren Woodward: We were thrown out for keeping late hours...
SD: ...and being so rowdy. [Sex Pistols drummer] Paul Cook suggested we get a group together with Siobhan [Fahey, former member of Bananarama]. We made a demo of a cover version and Gary Crowley at Capital Radio - who was going out with Siobhan's sister - played it to his boss and we got on the radio.
KW: John Peel played it, Terry Hall bought it, and that was it.

JM: You've been away for a few years. Why have you chosen to return now?
KW: We did 10 years of working and travelling constantly, and we were just knackered. I thought: 'I've got to take a break.' I felt like I was going mad. I decided to move to Cornwall. Sara got pregnant as well.

JM: Have you written songs for anybody else?
KW: Steps made us some cash, God bless 'em.
SD: 'Last Thing on My Mind' was top 10 for eight weeks, which was fabulous. You don't have to work: you just see the royalty cheques.

JM: So you're not skint then?
SD: No. We've always written our own stuff, so publishing is massive. That comes in every three months.

JM: Who's your Venus, and what lights your fire?
KW: I'm your Venus, obviously. What lights our fire?
SD: Big hands, for me.

JM: Big hands, big feet [laughter]. What does your husband look like then?
KW: He's a model.
SD: So was the father of my child.

JM: You lucky devils. What music do you listen to these days?
SD: Goldfrapp I love, Queens of the Stone Age, Scissor Sisters. Just a real mixture.

JM: What about prospective partners? Who would you like to work with?
SD: Snoop Dogg.
KW: OutKast.
SW: They'd be cool. They're kind of, like, freaks, aren't they?

JM: If someone offered you a walk-on part in Emmerdale, would you do it?
KW: Yeah.
SD: I'd shear a sheep.

JM: Only a few women were involved in the first Band Aid single. What memories have you got of that time?
KW: I didn't expect the press, the people, the stars, and I was overwhelmed. We were quite shy at the time. We hung out with Paul Weller, then George Michael, and I felt out of my depth - until we started singing and they said: 'Can the girls keep it down a bit?' And it was only us!
SD: The boys had low voices and we had very shrill ones.

JM: What do you consider your worst fashion moment?
SD: We had a selection of hats. We just plonked them on with any outfit whether they went or not.
KW: I didn't suit any of them. It's not like they enhance you in any way, shape or form.

JM: What do you think of Camilla Parker Bowles's new hats by Philip Treacy?
KW: She looked really nice on her wedding day.

JM: She wears my tights, by the way. What about Charlotte Church? What do you think of her?
KW: I like her. I think she's got a real spirit.
SD: She likes to party, and she doesn't play the game. We were exactly like that. If you're going to be a pop star then you need that kind of edge; you don't want to be kind of prissy.
KW: We were in a dressing room with her recently doing this radio roadshow and she was singing and warming up, and the next time I saw her she was like that [gestures] with a fag in her mouth and a drink in her hand and I thought, 'Bless you'.

JM: Finally, how does it feel to see your new single, 'Move in my Direction', at number one in the dance charts?
SD: We never expected it because we've been away so long. When we tried to get a deal before it was always like, 'You're not quite right for the market'. Now everybody's - dare I say it - clamouring for our attention.