Samantha Harman speaks to Eddi Reader the free-spirited singer from Fairground Attraction about her life and career

Eddi Reader’s inauguration into fame was sealed as the frontwoman with folk/rock band Fairground Attraction, whose hit single Perfect hit Number 1 in 1988.

When it was awarded best single at the 1989 Brits with their album ‘The First of a Million Kisses’ also getting best album, it helped launched her career during the late 80s and since then she has since gone on to have an enduring solo career.

She released her 10th studio album ‘Vagabond’ last year and is currently touring the UK, with one fo the dates at the Ropetackle Arts Centre in Shoreham this month.

In an interview discussing life before Fairground Attraction, love and shoulder pads, it’s clear Eddi is a formidable woman, although incredibly down to earth. She gives the distinct impression she doesn’t suffer fools gladly.

Free-spirited and clearly passionate about music, she expresses a deep love for her family and is fiercely proud of her Gaelic roots. Growing up in Glasgow in a two-roomed tenement block as the eldest of seven children, Eddi was the self-proclaimed second- in-command to her mother.

She explains, “I learned to be responsible from a young age - I helped my mum with many of the household chores such as winding in the washing line and building a fire in the hearth.

“Back then, it was very much a matriarchal society. Women ruled the roost until the men came home from work at 6pm and then they became quite subservient. It was an interesting daily transformation.” By night, Eddi’s parents were both gregarious musical people who would flood the home with Beatles and Elvis songs.

“My mum used to sing at house parties - everyone wanted to hear her sing because she had an amazing voice and my dad would do authentic Elvis impersonations. Everyone sang: aunts, uncles, my grandfather.

“It was my dad who bought me my first guitar when I was 10 years old because he saw that I had a desire to play and he encouraged me.”

She fondly recalls playing her cherished guitar in the outside toilet, the quietest room in the house, then due to the high demand for that particular room, her father cleared space for her to play to her heart’s content in the hall cupboard.

There’s an audible smile in her voice when she recollects, “It was my own wee space; I painted a picture of Bugs Bunny on the door to really make it my own.”

In 1976, the family moved to a bigger house in Irvine. “We had upgraded to four rooms and at the time it seemed huge, although I did share a double bed with my sister until I was 18.”

It was then that Eddie realised her voice was her travelling ticket, which initiated an incredible musical adventure. She busked on the streets of London and then around France where she connected with other like-minded musicians. After a year in Paris, Eddi returned to her beloved Scotland, securing a job as a session singer, which led to singing the backing vocals for stars including Alison Moyet and the Eurythmics.

She laughs at the memory: “The 80s were so hedonistic... for the first time I could afford to buy lipstick, I dyed my hair bright red and wore huge shoulder pads.”

Eddi has lived in Glasgow for the past 12 years after being a vagabond for 28 years; the new album of the same name was made in dedication to this.

Her stalwart family roots are echoed throughout the songs on the album, particularly ‘I’ll Never Be The Same’, a 1920s song her grandfather used to sing next to the mantelpiece.

“My grandfather was a shipyard worker and a hard drinking man, but when he would sing, all of that would melt away and the gentleness of his soul would shine through.”

n Eddi Reader appears at the Ropetackle Arts Centre, Little High Street, Shoreham, at 8pm on Friday, May 22. For more details and tickets priced £23, phone 01273 464440 or visit ropetacklecentre.co.uk