Stay Signed In
Do you want to access your site more quickly on this computer? Check this box, and your username and password will be remembered for two weeks. Click logout to turn this off.
Stay Safe
Do not check this box if you are using a public computer. You don't want anyone seeing your personal info or messing with your site.
Wet Wet Wet singer turned jazz crooner Marti Pellow plays two intimate shows in Dubai this week. Fellow Glasweigan Andy Buchan caught up with the sixth most Scottish man in the world to find out more.
What are you up to?
I’m in London in at the moment. I’ve just come back from Memphis and I’m still a bit giddy. And I’ve just finished an interview with someone else in Dubai.
What was the best question they asked?
Ha ha, no comment, in case you know the person. ‘Are you looking forward to coming, blah blah blah…’ They told me it’s going to be lots of congestion and lots of construction. That sounds like every major city in the world.
We were told by your PR out here that you’ve turned your back on Wet Wet Wet and become a jazz singer instead. Commercial suicide?
I have not turned my back on anything. Wet Wet Wet and its history is probably the main reason why I’m having this conversation with you right now. Let me tell you a wee bit about myself. Yeah, I do sing in Wet Wet Wet and I have my own solo projects, and I do things that float my boat. Sometimes that might have nothing to do with pop music and this is one of those instances. I’ve just finished an album of jazz. I don’t know when that will drop, but I always like to push the boat out.
Is a pop career not enough for you?
You want to know why I do both? Because I can – it ain’t no biggy. I enjoy doing both. It sometimes freaks people out when I say I’m doing jazz, as it’s a multi-faceted diamond. There’s so many different genres, but it’s all about the voice and that’s what I do. I’ve taken some songs and messed around with the arrangements. The songs are so beautifully written that you’ve got a good job as long as you don’t f*** up. I’m not trying to change the wheel with these songs; I’m just changing the spokes.
There’s recently been an 80s night out here with Tony Hadley, ABC and Go West. Would you not fancy trading off past glories?
Well, some people have to sing for their supper, so good luck to them – if they can get away with it then excellent. I know most of those guys – I loved ABC, but he does what he does. For me, music’s not about nostalgia, it’s about a sense of growth. We just finished mixing the Wet Wet Wet album in LA last week and it’s absolutely superb to be making music with them still – I’ve known those guys for a couple of hundred years now. For the 80s revival tour, I guess people are heading out there and reminiscing and enjoying themselves, but it’s about tomorrow’s music as well.
You were voted the sixth most Scottish man in a vote in 2003.
Oh was I? Quite frankly, do I care? No, I don’t give a damn. Imagine basing your career on that? [laughs]. That’s very nice of them though.
You have got some good credentials though – you had a drug habit, a bad ponytail and you’re a Glasgow Rangers football fan?
Are you having a pop there pal? Do you want me to come over and kick your a**?
Not especially. Did you expect to be higher?
Not really. It’s nice to be considered. I don’t apologise for the ponytail. And as for Rangers... that’s a way of life.
You’re playing before a small crowd in Dubai – is that a comfortable situation for you?
Aye, sure. I’ve just played to 20,000 people in Memphis and the next show in Dubai is for 200. I enjoy the luxury of doing both. I was with The Bar Kays and Dr Funkenstein and all them cats, and I just think I’m so lucky to be able to sing with so many different people. If it’s music that floats your boat and the people are connecting with it, it doesn’t matter if there’s 200 or 200,000 there.
Will you play any Wet Wet Wet jazz covers at the shows?
Hell no, it’s so not about the band at these shows. If you want to see Wet Wet Wet, come and see it under that umbrella, this is a different world. If you’re expecting ‘Love Is All Around’ then this gig’s not for you, don’t come.
Was that song an albatross for you – you must have got sick of hearing it?
An albatross? To have one of the biggest songs of all time? Nah. I really don’t think so – it has its good points and bad points. I’m so thrilled to sing my song.
It’s not your song though, is it?
Yeah it is, it’s my song.
No. It’s a cover of a Reg Presley song.
He might have written it, but it’s my song. What makes it more mine? Probably that 90 per cent of the world know it as a Wet Wet Wet song. I made it the way it is; it’s a completely different version to the original. If you point out that I won’t receive any of the publishing money then that’s fine. When I sing it, I make it my own. I’ve had more number one hits singing other people’s songs than I have my own – I don’t give a s*** who wrote it. At the end of the day, if it’s a good song, it’s a good song.
Is it not more satisfying to follow through the song from start to finish though?
It depends on your wants and needs. If you want cash then yeah, it’s better to sing your own song. But I made s***-loads of cash from ‘Love Is All Around’, but that’s not what it’s about – that’s a bonus that comes from the song.
Did you know it was going to be so successful?
Do you know what, I couldn’t tell a hit record if it fell from the sky. I haven’t got a clue. I do what I do and if other people buy into it then that’s a great thing.
What’s been the high point of your career?
The fact that I’m still writing with Wet Wet Wet is pretty amazing. That’s a high for me. To still be writing with the same group of vagabonds is pretty impressive.
And the low point?
I can think of a few, but I don’t really fancy sharing it with you or your readers. That’s my s*** and I hold it close to my chest.
What about the memoirs?
Well, I have had a few offers. But I’m 42 years old and hopefully I’m only halfway through my life. That’s my stuff I think. Anyway, I’ll lose out when everybody knows my stories when I’m being a raconteur at dinner parties. That’s the beauty of these shows – you’ll hopefully hear some great music and might get to know me a wee bit better as well.
Marti Pellow plays at Jambase on June 5 and 6. Tickets cost Dhs125 and the show starts at 8pm.
By Andy Buchan, Wednesday May 30 2007
__________________________________
