Personal Profile: Marcella

FULL NAME: Marcella Detroit. Well actually, that's not my real name. It's my stage name. I come from Detroit so that seems pretty logical. I'd rather not tell you what my real surname is, if you don't mind.

BORN: IN Detroit, Michigan, USA, on June 21, 1959

WHERE DO YOU LIVE NOW: In LA. in a small area called Studio City, which is just north of Bevery Hills, in the Valley (where loads of posh people live, basically). It's a nice, pleasant suburbia.

BROTHERS AND SISTERS: I have one sister called Aleda. She's not in the music business.

WHAT DID YOUR PARENTS DO WHEN YOU WERE WEE? Well, my dad was and still is a Tool and Die Maker. That's someone who makes precious parts for airplanes and cars - there's lot of heavy industry in Detroit. My mum's had lots of jobs. She's a medical secretary nowadays.

IS SHAKESPEARS SISTER YOU'RE FIRST BAND? Not really. I did a record of my own a few years ago in the Strtaes, which didn't do anything, and I had a band there and a few other ones that I've been in.

HOW DO YOU GET ALONG WITH "ROLF"? With who? Who's "Rolf"? Oh, Dave. I get along with him great. He's brilliant and he's very creative and a nice person. He's very inventive and easy to get along with. They live ten minutes drive away in the Valley too, in a place called Encino, where Michael Jackson used to live.

ARE YOU MARRIED? I'm getting married in September actually, to an Englishman. The wedding will be in L.A. I'm really looking forward to married life and having lots of babies, definately!! I wanna do that really badly. Having babies will be a wonderful phase in my life.

HAVE YOU HAD LOTS OF REALLY USELESS JOBS? Well, my first job was when I was 15, working in a really horrible place, like a Woolworths. And then I worked in a real estate office as a secretary and every time the people would go our I'd sneak into the back room with my harmonica and play some blues stuff and sing my heart out until the people came back and I'd pretent nothing had happened! (?) It was so funny!! (??) And then I quit to join my first band.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? I have a dog, a chow-chow, which is a Chinese war dog. They're ferocious and very protective dogs. A little bit too possessive. They look like teddy-bears because they're really furry. Her name's Sumi. She's hasn't attacked the Postman yet, no.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR SPECIALIST SUBJECT ON MASTERMIND? Mastermind? What's that then? Oh, that sounds much too clever. Very difficult. My specialist subject would be art or music or film actually. Maybe my subject would be on something like French Impressionist artists. I love Van Gogh. He was made - they all were, those artists.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WENT TO A CAR BOOT SALE? Well, I have lots of clothing. My closet regularly busts. I have bags and bags of clothes. Always have. And so a few years ago I had a garage sale and I made so much money out of selling my clothes that I boguht a new dining table and a anew TV. I dare say Ill have another one soon. That's really put an idea into my head. Thank You!

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE WORD THAT RHYMES WITH MARCELLA? Huhuhu!! My favoruite word? I never though of it! Oh bot, I bet you've been up all night thinking of it to try and get me haven't you? Uhmm, Marcella, the colour yella? No? I know! A band-teller!! But I guess you;d have to pronounce it bank-tella, huh?

Siobhan

FULL NAME: Siobhan Maire Deirdre Fahey Stewart.

BORN: I was born in Dublin on September 10, 1958, which makes me the big three-oh! I moved from Ireland when I was two.

WHERE DO YOU LIVE NOW? All over the place and nowhere in particular. Ehm, we've got houses in LA, London and Cannes (in France). We spend a lot of time travelling, so there's no realy answer to that question, ha, ha!

BROTHERS AND SISTERS: I've for two sisters and no brothers. One's a mother actually - well, they're both mothers actually. One doesn't work and one's a Features Editor on a women's magazine called Chat.

WHAT DID YOUR PARENTS DO WHEN YOU WERE WEE? Erm, my dad was a sort of computer engineer, whatever that is, and my mum used to be a dental nurse. They're retired now. They're quite proud of me actually. God knows why! I haven't changed from the days when they were ashamed of me. I went through a big teenage rebellion phase I'm afraid. I didn't get where I am today by not rebelling!! ha ha! I refused to finish my education and dyed my hair drastic colours. I started looking like a big gay biker and moved to a aquat in London, which must have left my parents a little concerned. I was a very, um, creative dresser.

WHY DOESN'T SHAKESPEAR'S SISTER HAVE AN "E" AT THE END OF SHAKESPEAR? Well, my friend Karen is a brilliant woodcut artists (technique whereby a design is cut mittor-image in a block of wood and then used to print with) and she designed a logo, forgot to put an 'e' in, and it just looked better without it. A happy fluke. It's good because it seperates me from The Smiths' track of the same name. The band all started about a year and a half ago and I was heavily pregnant and I was based in LA. The man across the street to me has a small writing studio in his garage. He was like this mad old professor who would with with anyone, and he introduced me to Marcella.

WHY DID YOU LEAVE BANANARAMA? Well, it was the old musical frustration thing. I was in them for eight years and for the first four I though it was really exciting and I though were were really anarchic and flouting convention. The we slipped into the mainstream and I found it a bit boring.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? I've got two dogs, Nicholai and Arthur, and a cat which some people call Voot - and I don't know why - but I call him Pussy, as you do. They haven't met yet because the dogs are in LA and the cat's in France, but I'm bringing the dogs over shortly so fur will fly I have no doubt.

DO YOU STILL CALL DAVE STEWART (SIOBHAN'S HUSBAND) "ROLF"? I never did actually. I was just something that arose in a Smash Hits interview a very long time ago. I know that Smash Hits still call him that. Dave knows too. I think Dave would really appreciate it if you stoppped calling him "Rolf" now actually.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR SPECIALIST SUBJECT ON MASTERMIND? If you'd asked me a few years go it would have been TV jungles because I used to know every word of every single one. I actually went through a phase as a teenager of speaking in TV jingles. It was rather disturbing for my family, not to mention very irritating.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE WORD THAT RHYMES WITH FAHEY? Christ! Oh no, that doesn't rhyme!! HA ha!! no, that's a difficult one, isn't it? Starry? Hmn, that's not very good, is it? Laughie... Malarkey! That's alright isn't it?

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Last Updated: 30th October, 2001