L: My name is Lene Lovich.
What is your first musical memory?
L: It was probably listening to my crazy father playing classical music on a dodgy vinyl system. I think it was "March Slav" by Tchaikovsky.
What was the first record you bought?
L: I believe the first one that I actually bought was "Evenin'" by Jimmy Witherspoon. It was a blues record. I was working in a gambling club in the sixties, I was under age and shouldn't be there, but I was serving coffees etc., and they played a lot of blues music and I found that song really quite haunting.
Have you still got it, and do you still like it?
L: I'm sure I still like it, but I don't have it because I've moved around so much. I leave traces behind all the time.
What was the first gig you attended as a member of the audience?
L: I did see the Rolling Stones in the early days and that was at Hull ABC sometime in the sixties. There was a lot of screaming going on in the audience, so I didn't hear very much. But it was an exciting occasion, I liked it very much.
What was the first gig you played?
L: That was the 1978 train tour, all doing the five new albums that came out. All the artists went on tour on the train. So we went all the way around the country, right up to Wick in Scotland. It was great just turning up at hotels with fifty other people. It was like you were in your own world and it was very much fun.
Have you ever screamed or cried at a gig?
L: I try not to cry onstage because that's not good for the voice. But at other people's shows I scream all the time because I think it's just great to be in the moment and enjoy some kind of communication with the band or artist that's playing, and the best gigs I think are the ones where there's some kind of joint effort between the audience and the band, because together you make something bigger than you could ever be on your own.
So, Lene, is it true that you did the screaming for Hammer horror films? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
L: This was elaborated. I have screamed for films I think, yes, I don't know if they were Hammer horror films at all. I think the journalist that asked me that question probably made his own mind up. But I have used my voice for screaming many times on recordings and for other people and for films, so it's possible.
If you could hot-wire a time machine and tootle your way back in time to any gig in the annals of history, which gig would that be?
L: In the sixties, the late sixties, Jimi Hendrix came to Hull, where I was living with my mum and my brother and sisters. And I didn't have any money, we were really poor. I didn't have any money at all so I couldn't afford a ticket. I couldn't even afford the bus fare. So I think I walked about three miles to get to the centre of town, it was at the Skyline Ballroom. I couldn't get in, I just stood outside and listened to the music. I would have loved to being actually in the venue but I couldn't, so I'd like to do that if I could.
What is the most ridiculous item of clothing you have ever donned?
L: I like to be creative with my clothes. I'm not trying to show off but I enjoy it and I think it's part of your identity. So I have worn a lot of unusual things. I think I spent a whole year not really wearing any real clothes at all. I just had a suitcase full of fabric and curtains and bits and pieces that I found along the way. And I would every night make it into something to wear onstage.
I remember one time I was going to do a TV show in Italy, I think it was Sicily. And my case didn't arrive at the airport, the airline had lost my case. So I didn't really have anything, apart from what I was standing up in, I didn't even have a toothbrush. So when I got to the TV recording place, I just went around trying to find something interesting to wear, and I picked all the black bin bags out of the trashcans everywhere and I made them into a dress. I began just, you know, tying them together. I think the spirit of the old punk days was still within me. And on the outside it was okay. But then, when I saw a recording of the show afterwards, I didn't realise that when they turned on the studio lights, all the lights at the back of me, behind me, lit up and the dress became totally see-through. Bit of a shock, but I didn't realise it at the time, thank goodness.
Have you ever had a fight onstage? And if so, with whom, and who won?
L: Oh, I think when I did the Meltdown Festival that was organised by Yoko Ono, I think Peaches and I had a bit of a play fight onstage. I think I won in the end, because she did as she was told and behaved herself, and that's what I wanted.
Have you ever asked anyone for their autograph?
L: Oh, dear. Many years ago, I was at a gig where Chuck Berry was playing. And I was in the audience and just happened to look next to me and I thought, without thinking too much about it, I just thought 'That's Chuck Berry! He's just standing by next to me!' This was before I ever did any music myself. So I turned to him without thinking what I was saying, I just said "Are you Chuck Berry?" And then, this is a warning, you should be careful what you say, because he pinned me against the wall and, you know, snogged me within an inch of my life and made me promise to meet him backstage after the show. I didn't do that, I was smart enough not to go there. I got the autograph, but was it worth it? I don't know.
What is your most treasured possession?
L: The thing that I would probably say would be my plaits. Because I've always thought if I lose my plaits, that's probably the end of me and I probably won't be myself anymore.
What song of your own is your most favourite?
L: This is a tricky one, because I like songs for different reasons. I really... I'm very proud of my duet that I made with Nina Hagen, "Don't Kill the Animals", because for the first time in my life I felt that I had an important message to give out. And it's changed my life being involved with animal rights and I think it's the next step in human evolution to embrace this, and I think the world needs to be a better place, and that's a good place to start. But as far as my own personal songs go, I probably would say "Lucky Number", because if I hadn't made that song, I probably wouldn't be here now.
What song of your own is your least favourite?
L: Oh. Well, since we've just had Christmas, I think it has to be "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus". It was a song I recorded when I was with a soul band called The Diversions. We were just tired of not having any money, so we tried to think of something the record company would give us money for. So I made a very silly version of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus". Not many people know that, but they probably do now.
Do you have any words of wisdom or advice for our listeners?
L: The only thing I can think of that's really, really important above anything else is to keep trying. Just keep trying, whether your ideas are good or bad, whether you're happy or not happy with what you're doing - just keep trying. Because if you don't try, nothing is gonna happen. And it's better to fail and live to fight another day than to give up.
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