SPOTLIGHT
50/50; some people hated it and some people loved it. So, we called it Mimó for that reason and also we didn’t want it to sound like Erasure; that was quite a hard thing for me to get over in the first place. Because instantly when people hear my voice, they think it’s Erasure—to hide your name and voice seems ridiculous.” If there’s one thing you need to know about Bell, it’s
that you can’t box him in, and if you try...you’d better be sure that you have a big glittery bow ready to attempt to tie him up with. This is the man who has taken to the stage in a tutu
during concerts, and had a leave-no-questions-to-the- imagination approach in videos, such as “Chains Of Love” and dressed as ABBA member Frida Lyngstad for their Abba-esque video version of “Take A Chance On Me.” “The whole other thing, of course, is really homopho- bia—people don’t understand it if you say it,” he ex- plained. “The whole music industry press is homopho- bic, you know, we’re never ever in Rolling Stone, or any of those magazines. It’s like Erasure never even existed. Because we’re not macho and guitar-strumming, we’re not in the ‘100 Best Frontmen,’ or anything like that.” “And I think it’s interesting with the whole Ricky
Martin coming out story,” he exclaimed. “They seem to give more coverage to a closet case, than to somebody who’s been honest from the very beginning. It seems like everything’s all the wrong way around. Maybe I should be a priest.” Talk about a blow to the music world, thankfully, Fa-
ther Bell came to his senses and informed me of a dream project he’s intrigued by. “I’d love to do an album of duets,” Bell said. “But only
with female singers, like—dare I say it? Barbara Stre- isand. And Annie Lennox and other amazing female singers. I love harmonizing and I love the sensuality of their voices; that’s the thrill I would get with working with Debbie, as well, because hers is like candy coating, isn’t it?” First though, he’s renewing his vows with Clarke on
their forthcoming 14th studio LP. “By doing Non-Stop, I feel like I’ve blown out a few
cobwebs,” Bell stated. “And I think Vince is really exicted about making music, I mean, he always is. But, I think it’s kind of shaken us up a little bit. From what we’ve done so far, I’m really excited about it. But, I’m way behind on lyrics now, and it’s funny though, I loved doing Non-Stop, but I can’t wait to do Erasure. I’m greedy.” Apparently greed is good, since this year marks his
25th anniversary of being in the music business, the “Call On Me” (that’s the first single off Non-Stop) singer imparted some wisdom about his longevity. “The most important thing, really, in the end, is your
sanity,” he answered laughingly. “Remaining sane by being creative, I think. And, you can’t take yourself or the whole thing too seriously, even though you do. If you’re making music, hopefully lots and lots of people will enjoy it, and really being thankful for what you do and what you have.”
To keep up with all things Andy Bell, log onto
andybell.com.
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RAGE monthly | JUNE 2010
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