I believe there's no such thing as an ordinary life. And, like Christina Baldwin, the eloquent author of Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives Through the Power and Practice of Story, I take delight in the "subtle magnificence of ordinary people". I also believe that it's vital for magnificently "ordinary" people to share their stories. As Baldwin says, "We require story in order to link our … [Read more...] about Why I co-founded The Story Party
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A birthday story about reaching grandmother age
Let's play a numbers game. I was born in 1957. I am 57 years old today. Two of my grandparents were born in 1900, so they were 57 when I was born. I have zero children, therefore zero grandchildren. Yet I have reached grandmother age. What does this mean? I am indebted to my friend Mary Ann Mhina, who recently published a beautiful book of interviews with older women, Listening to our … [Read more...] about A birthday story about reaching grandmother age
The day Soft Cell saved me from the dance for perfection
In the fifth extract from my memoir Hit Girl: My Bizarre Double Life in the Pop World of the Eighties, I recall my first meeting with Marc Almond and Dave Ball - otherwise known as Soft Cell - who would play a big part in my unfolding story... I first became aware of Soft Cell in 1981, when I heard their haunting track The Girl With The Patent Leather Face. My alter ego Betty Page and I were … [Read more...] about The day Soft Cell saved me from the dance for perfection
The day I met four terrified teenagers called Depeche Mode
In the fourth extract from my Eighties memoir, another brand-new pop group gets interviewed by Sounds' Betty Page, who is fast establishing herself as the go-to writer for up-and-coming New Romantics and Futurists (early adopters of the latest in electronic music gadgetry). Depeche Mode had named themselves after a French fashion magazine. It was an unlikely handle for a bunch of … [Read more...] about The day I met four terrified teenagers called Depeche Mode
How I discovered Duran Duran. Or did they discover me?
In the third extract from my memoir Hit Girl: My Bizarre Double Life in the Pop World of the Eighties, I tell the story of my first encounter with a bunch of young upstarts who would go on to conquer the globe with their aspirational videos, pretty-boy looks and pop-rock tunes. The resulting interview in Sounds, published in December 1980, was the band's first-ever mainstream press … [Read more...] about How I discovered Duran Duran. Or did they discover me?
How I played my part in inventing the New Romantics
Here is the second extract from my memoir Hit Girl: My Bizarre Double Life in the Pop World of the Eighties. It is September 1980 and, under my pen name Betty Page, I have just been appointed a staff writer at the music paper Sounds after spending a year being the editor's secretary by day and secret music journalist by night. My first assignment is a tough one: to secure the first music press … [Read more...] about How I played my part in inventing the New Romantics