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Natalie Appleton, the Canadian quarter
of Britain's new pop divas All Saints, has
been so busy promoting the group's debut
album in Europe, that she wasn't aware of
the controversy surrounding Canadian Olympic
snowboarder Ross Rebagliati and his
marijuana mishap.
"Every time I put on the news, it's about
Clinton and Iraq. That's all I ever see,
`cause when you're away, you get into CNN,"
she says, on the phone from Hamburg,
Germany, still a little curious about the
story of his revoked gold medal.
"It's not like pot would have helped him
anyway," she says, echoing the feelings of
many Canadians. "What's the big deal? It's
not even like it's a steroid or anything
where it enhances his performance."
"So he got it back?" she asks. "Cool."
Appleton, 24 -- whose younger sister Nicole,
22, is also in All Saints which includes
Shaznay T. Lewis, 21, and Melanie Blatt, 21
-- is a proud Canadian. Born in Mississauga,
Ont, to British parents, she recently got a
tattoo in Los Angeles of a red maple leaf,
but admits the only thing she remembers from
her formative years in Toronto are Hostess
sour cream and onion chips.
"I can't wait to go back there," she
enthuses. "I went there once to see my
cousins when I was 17, and I haven't been
back since. I'm going there next month (to
do press and appear on MuchMusic's SnowJob
in B.C.), so I'm really excited."
The group currently has a top 10 hit in
Canada with the single, "I Know Where It's
At" (the single "Never Ever" has already
sold over a million copies in the U.K.). The
album won't hit the stores until next week.
When Appleton's parents divorced when she
was a kid, her father went back to England
and her mother tried to stick it out in
Canada. Appleton always wanted to sing,
inspired, she says, by the metal group Kiss.
"I'd pretend I had my fake guitar and put
the make-up on," she recalls. "It never
looked the same. I'd put talcum powder on
for the white face."
Her mother finally relocated the family
(four sisters) to London, England, before
marrying an American gentleman and uprooting
again to New York. Appleton attended high
school there and eventually quit to sing
standards and pop classics in a country club
in the Catskills.
"I quit school to do that," she says, joking
how she learned to play tambourine and
maracas for the bill. "What else to you play
in a nightclub bar? When I do get time, I'm
going to start learning how to play the
guitar."
After several years in New York, she
returned to London and joined All Saints,
after her sister Nicole had run into her old
friend Blatt from her days at Sylvia Young
Theatre School (whose alumnus includes Emma
"Baby Spice" Bunton).
"We spent a lot of time in the studio just
putting demos together, working for
producers who would do us favours because we
had no money at the time," Appleton
recounts.
"When Spice Girls first came out, it was hot
and new and fresh and whenever we did
showcases record labels expected that. We
couldn't change who we are and be who they
wanted us to be, it wouldn't have lasted."
"A tape ended up in the hands of friends of
friends of friends and eventually to London
Records. Half way through listening to the
song, (the A&R rep) called us in to a
meeting and signed us up."
Quickly the tabloids started invading these
young women's private lives. Old beaus
talked and All Saints became instant celebs
of a stature that was not always welcome.
"It's strange how people can be so into your
personal life. It's so stupid," says
Appleton, whose former husband distorted the
truth about their marriage which yielded a
daughter, now 5.
"I feel stupid that I used to read and
believe that shit. I like trashy stuff. I
like Jerry Springer. I wouldn't go as far as
the Enquirer. But I do like to read the
tabloids, I like gossip, but when it's about
you, it's not real.
"It's totally changed my whole view of the
press. Everything I read now, I take with a
pinch of salt," she says.
She's also a little taken aback by the
treatment she receives from strangers, since
her newfound fame. "I was out with nay
friend the other day and I'm not used to
people looking at me and knowing my name and
shouting at me. I was quite scared. I've
also had a few people singing outside my
door. It's weird. If I was home a lot, maybe
I'd get used to it.
"I hear from family members I've never met
before and I don't really like that. They
didn't care for me before, why should they
care for me now? It's just a job."
A job that's going to make this Canadian
quite rich and famous.
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