HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE HERE & NOW TOUR?
We were in LA actually, I remember hearing about the Here & Now tour, and thinking that it sounded interesting, and apparently Tony Denton was looking for us to be a part of the last tour, but couldn't get hold of us at that point, but eventually he got hold of my dad and asked us to do the December tour which we agreed to do. We were actually looking for something to bring s back to the UK that we'd be interested in doing, and we found that opportunity in the Here & Now tour!

ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT BEING INVOLVED?
Oh yeah! I can't wait... I mean we haven't played here live since 1987, but we've just played a few small shows so we've got back into being in England and the reception has been fantastic, so we're just looking to have a good time. It's a Christmas party so we'll just blast through our hits and hope that everybody enjoys it!

AM I RIGHT IS THINKING THAT THERE WILL ONLY BE THREE OF THE ORIGINAL FIVE INVOLVED IN THIS TOUR?
You are indeed... it's Denise, myself and Sted...

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHERS?
Del has been doing lots of producing in LA and he just wanted to stick with that, and Doris is doing songwriting and has been successful with that and wanted to stick with it, so we thought it would make a nice change! We didn't make a vow to stay together for ever so the people who wanted to carry on are still in the group and we're going to do it that way - it makes more space on stage for us!

IS THERE ANY CHANCE OF DELROY AND DORIS COMING BACK? FOR THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY TOUR OR SOMETHING?
Never say never... we honestly don't know - it's not a guarantee and it's not something we're putting together with the view of all five of us being there but if it happened it would be fantastic... but if it doesn't then we'll just get on with it...

IS IT A BIG MINDSHIFT FOR YOU SUDDENLY BEING BACK AND HAVING TO THINK ABOUT FIVE STAR, ABOUT DOING INTERVIEWS AND ALL THAT SORT OF THING?
Ys it is, I mean I love it, and it's great to have the best of both worlds - now that we're older we're balanced in our private lives as well as in our music - before we were just teenagers with no commitments to anything but music...

DOES IT SURPRISE YOU THAT FIVE STAR STILL HAVE SO MANY FANS?
Very surprised!Because it's so easy to forget and it's been such a long time! I mean getting fanletter and emails - just to read it and to be remembered! Looking at the entertainment industry now... looking at all these people and thinking 'will people be writing to them in twenty years time?' and we really, really appreciate it and we're so grateful for that and for them keeping the door ajar so we can come back through.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT SORT OF SET YOU'LL BE PLAYING?
We'll definitely be playing all the hits... 'Rain Or Shine', 'System Addict', 'Can't Wait', all of those, so it's just a case of getting the live vocals down, and flying Denise from LA and concentrating on getting it all down...

WILL YOU BE POPPING UP WITH ANY MORE PA'S OR CLUB APPEARANCES OR ANYTHING?
I don't think so... I think we'll do the nine date tour and then have a break over Christmas and then get into the album in January...

WILL THERE BE ANY NEW MATERIAL IN THE SET?
Unfortunately not, just because the whole idea of the tour is reminiscing from the eighties, so it's strictly the eighties hits!

ARE YOU WORKING ON NEW MATERIAL AT THE MOMENT AS WELL AS PLANNING THE TOUR?
We've just got new material in and we're picking some songs and doing some songwriting, so hopefully we'll start recording in the new year to coincide with the twentieth anniversary and launch it on the back of that.

HOW ARE YOU PLANNING TO CELEBRATE THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY?
We're putting together - touch wood - we're in the process of putting together a twenty-five date UK tour which we'll start rehearsals for in January, and start recording a new album at the same time to tie-in with that tour...

IS IT WEIRD THAT YOU'RE ABOUT TO CELEBRATE YOUR TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY?
I feels really good! We all look really good and it's nice to be thirty-five and be celebrating twenty years!

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS WHO YOU'LL BE WORKING WITH ON THE NEW MATERIAL?
Not sure yet... it's still early days!

I HEARD A RUMOUR THAT THERE WILL BE A REMIX VERSION OF 'SYSTEM ADDICT' RELEASED AS A SINGLE SOMETIME SOON...
We are looking into that, but at this stage I don't know if it'll be done or when it'll be done so I think we'll just stick with it being a rumour right now!

HOW ABOUT PLANS FOR A REMIX ALBUM AT SOME STAGE?
I hope so! I think we'll definitely consider that...

OF ALL THE SONGS FIVE STAR HAVE EVER RECORDED, WHAT'S YOUR PERSONAL FAVOURITE?
I think it would have to be a song from the 'Eclipse' album called "Tell Me What You Want' which my sister wrote. She wrote it and Delroy my brother produced it.

DO YOU THINK IT'S MORE DIFFICULT TO WORK WITH YOUR FAMILY THAN IN A REGULAR BAND RELATIONSHIP?
No, because you can always find your brothers and sisters, and it's easier to apologise to them that it would be to anyone else. You know each other so well that you can just fight and get back together...

ARE THERE ANY DISTINCT PERSONALITIES AMONG YOU?
We all have our own things... we're all crazy... well I talk so much, which is why I do the interviews, Sted's pretty much laid back and he's quite shy, but he loves to dance - he's mister entertainer, and Denise is just a fantastic vocalist, and a one hundred percent performer - I admire her a lot, I think she was totally born to do it, and I really respect and admire her talent...

HAS THERE EVER BEEN A TIME WHEN FIVE STAR HASN'T BEEN AROUND - I MEAN IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE WE SAW YOU HERE, BUT I KNOW THAT YOU'VE HAD LOADS OF SUCCESS IN AMERICA...
Yes, we continued to work for twelve years in America, just not here, promoting and album we did called 'Heart & Soul' so we continuously worked there, but here we've been in and out, but we haven't really been here...

IS IT DIFFICULT THAT HERE IN THE UK - YOUR HOME - THE MARKET DIDN'T STICK WITH YOU SO MUCH?
I think the market did! People say that everyone has their run, and I think if you know yourself to get out then you're doing the right thing. We were overexposed and I think that if you can see that in yourself then it's time to get away and take a break, so that's what we did and now I think we've come back again at the right time, where people say 'Oh, Five Star, they're great!' - you know it wasn't just a two year break but pretty much a twelve year period of not being here - just being in and out a few times and now just being comfortable being back.

WHERE'S HOME FOR YOU NOW?
It's here... we all live in LA but home will always be here.

LOOKING BACK ON IT ALL, AND YOU JUST MENTIONED ABOUT BEING OVER EXPOSED, IT MUST HAVE BEEN A MAD, MAD TIME ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE AGES YOU WERE...
It was, and it was continuous - it was continuous for seven or eight years and we were grateful for all that success and for being successful for so long, but at the same time there's only so much you can do when you're coming into your twenties and you need to relax and relate to people outside the group, and we wanted some sunshine and some peace and quiet so we went to LA - it wasn't meant to be a permanent thing but it ended up being for twelve years which was good for us and we tried to figure out what we wanted to do, what was a good thing to do to come back to England and when - just to wait for the right time and project.

IN THIS WORLD OF FAME ACADEMY, POP-IDOL, AND EVERYTHING, WOULD YOU STILL WANT TO BE STARTING OUT NOW?
No! I watch all of that and I think that in our time we were raised watching The Jacksons and Diana Ross and people like that and you watch them and you see special people, people that you go 'wow, I wish I could be like them!'. But the whole look today is just so very general - entertainers today look like people at work! Not to be rude but there's no star quality or substance...

WAS THERE EVER A TIME WHEN YOU THOUGHT THAT THE WHOLE THING JUST WASN'T FOR YOU?
No...

HAVE YOU ANY IDEA WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE ENDED UP DOING IF YOU HADN'T BEEN IN THE GROUP?
Oh I always knew I'd end up being a legal secretary, I always wanted to do that. I don't know why... or an actress maybe - I wanted to be famous but not in music maybe...

HAVE YOU EVER HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRY YOUR HAND AT ACTING?
I wouldn't do it because I'm not good enough... maybe comedy but not serious acting at all, I know what I'm good at!

ARE YOU ENJOYING BEING BACK?
Oh yes! You know I'm enjoying it more now than I did back then! My dad was asking 'do you remember when you did this thing and that thing?' and I'm just 'No!', and in interview too - people are going 'you've done this and that' and I'm just thinking 'Did we? Wow!'. We think about it all a lot more now, and we're so grateful for everything - our fans have pretty much kept us going for the last twelve years - on the internet, in clubs, everything! We're so grateful for that because it could have disappeared so easily!

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR YOU, BECAUSE ALREADY YOU'VE ACHIEVED SO MUCH IN SUCH A RELATIVELY SHORT TIME...
We're taking one step at a time you know, and just getting right back into England, preparing the new album and the Anniversary tour - we're planning on travelling quite a bit, through Australia and Japan and everywhere! But right now we're just taking one step at a time...

WHAT'S IMPORTANT TO YOU NOW?
Family, my husband, Five Star - getting back into that, and getting back into 24/7 recording and everything...

DO YOU STILL HAVE ANY AMBITIONS?
yeah, to go back to writing, to have a few children, and for as long as we can walk to just keep playing a few gigs with Five Star, and just making a great history really...

OCTOBER 2002

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