Cultural Roots: Southside Glasgow-based.
Texas are: Sharleen Spiteri, Ally McErlaine, Eddie Campbell, Richard Hyne and John McElhone. They were formed in the late 1980s, broke through with Spiteri's I Don't Want A Lover, and are currently making a surprise comeback courtesy of the album White On Blonde.
Previous albums: Southside, Mother's Heaven and Rick's Road.
Latest Recording: New single, released this week, a "summer re-mix" of Black Eyed Boy from the album. <
Sharleen Spiteri knows there are those who will say, "so, what is she, a model or a musician?" as they see her stare from the cover of the current issue of GQ. Likewise in relation to the fashion-spread Sharleen did for Tatler, or the news that she is to do another for Vogue and is now widely known as "The Face of 1997". She accepts that cynics will claim that the so-called "revamp" of her band, Texas, and the surprise success of their White On Blonde album have less to do with music than marketing, stemming largely from Spiteri's new-found status as a cultural icon, particularly for twentysomethings. None of these accusations is new to her. She knows exactly how she'd respond if someone held up that issue of GQ and asked, "Well, Ms Spiteri, are you a model or a musician?" "I'd say, `thank you very much, isn't it amazing what a photograph can do? Especially when they use computers!' " she responds, laughing, her Scottish accent as deep as the Tyne. "I've no problem with questions like that. There's nothing wrong with being seen as talented, and attractive. And when it comes to whether or not my `new-found status' is based more on my reputation as a cultural icon or talent as a musician, I'd say it's a bit of both. But if we hadn't made a good album, people wouldn't be paying attention to me at all."
Sharleen has been asked by influential Italian designer Miuccia Prada to model her young, hip Miu Miu range and "American casual clothes designer du jour" Tommy Hilfiger says he wants to sponsor the next Texas tour. Meanwhile, the band used Vogue photographer Jurgen Teller to do the portrait of Spiteri on the new album-cover and her boyfriend, Ashley Heath, is a fashion journalist with The Face. Shouldn't fans fear that style and packaging may get out of hand,? "I certainly don't want to be in a fashion show," says Sharleen. "I'll stick to what I do best, which is making music. And, no, I don't think the music will suffer because of all this, or think it has. "Using Jurgen Teller to do that portrait just reflects the fact that I'm now fully aware that being a pop star does involve an overall package. And I have an advantage - I know some of the best photographers in the world. You've got to be clever, one step ahead of everybody else. You've got to find a way of representing the music with a particular image and that's what we really worked hard at doing for this album. But it's not like the record company told us to do this. We're a band that controls these things. "Years ago, when the record company wanted to plaster my face all over the place, I wasn't ready to be a glamour-puss. This time round, I am . . .
"And that's what the band wanted. And it's obviously worked!"
Obviously.Recently, Sharleen claimed she can't "see the point in women in short skirts". So where do the "glamour-puss" looks fit in? "A woman is a woman. It's either there or it's not. And if you try too hard, you'll get it wrong. You should always please yourself first. I do. So, yeah, I would say to fans, `don't wear minis, don't dye your hair, don't wear make-up, don't do anything' for other people.
"I've always been lucky in this respect. I was brought up by parents who always told me to be who I am. That's why I can go from dressing in dungarees at home to wearing, say, a Ralph Lauren gown."
The same is true of Spiteri's base as a musician. If the Texas hit, Say What You Want is what she describes as an homage to Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing, that's because this 29-year-old Glaswegian, of part-Italian extraction, grew up listening to classic rock, pop and soul courtesy of her parents' musical preferences. She also claims she "found" her "own voice " as a singer roughly five years ago when Texas recorded their version of Al Green's soul classic Tired Of Being Alone.
"That was a big turning point for me because those are the songs I listened to as a kid," she says. "And Tired Of Being Alone was one of the songs I did at a sound-check to get my vocals right. But let's not forget my Scottish background. Like the Irish, Scottish people love to sing! In bars, at parties, when you go to your granny's house, you find a piano and have a good old sing-song, right? In fact, everybody in my family sings. So, for me, getting up to sing is natural. The only difference now is that I get paid to do it!"
Nice plus, but these days Spiteri also wins much-coveted awards. Such as recently being voted Female Vocalist of the Year by London's Capital Radio, on the back of the success of White On Blonde. Sharleen suggests that "the songs, pure and simple" are the "real key" to the popularity of the album, suggesting that "songs are back, in a big way. People want something that gives them a wee tune they can hum". And it's true: songs such as Breathless have a characteristically soulful Sharleen Spiteri vocal line and, indeed, a harmonica solo that could have come straight out of her daddy's beloved collection of Dylan albums. But White On Blonde also embraces some of the better elements of 1990s dance music. As in looping, sampling and chopping. Spiteri admits Massive Attack's ground-breaking Blue Lines album was a "huge influence": it was orchestrated by ex-Texas member Craig Armstrong. "Those are specific references, but there are tons more influences on White On Blonde," she explains. "My listening to the likes of MC Solaar, working with Grand Central. Or hearing the way Radiohead use guitars on The Bends, in a very modern sense that avoids the big solo and made us try and take instruments in a different direction. All that proves to me is that Texas are a band willing to grow and change, if that is necessary."
But wasn't White On Blonde a matter of do-or-die for Texas in that they hadn't had a major hit in at least five years and surely, desperately needed to prove themselves again? "I definitely didn't feel desperate!" Sharleen responds. "And, at the end of the day the only people that make a record happen are the musicians themselves. You can have a million people saying, `try this, try that,' but if your heart's not in it you won't make music that works. You've got to believe in yourself, believe in your music. And we've always had that faith, no matter what happened. Texas is a band who fight for what they believe in, fight for their music. So, to me, White On Blonde, above everything else, is an album that captures the sound of a band coming to maturity, not the sound of desperation, in any sense. It's an album we could have only made at this stage of our lives."
"But if we hadn't made a good album, people wouldn't be paying attention to me at all."