Watch the video for the new song from Betty Boo, Shining Star
By Steve O'Brien | May 19, 2022
Betty Boo has shared the video to her new song, Shining Star.
The track is the singer’s second release after her triumphant comeback back in January with Get Me To The Weekend, her first single in nearly 30 years.
Betty Boo (real name Alison Clarkson) broke through in in 1989 when she appeared as a guest vocalist on The Beatmasters’ No.7-charting Hey DJ – I Can’t Dance (To That Music You’re Playing). Under her own moniker, she released two albums, 1990’s Boomania and 1992’s GRRR! It’s Betty Boo, and enjoyed a No.3 smash with Where Are You Baby? and a No.7 hit with Doin’ The Do.
Speaking to Classic Pop in 2019 about her stage name, she explained that it came about because of certain haircut that made her look like 1930s cartoon pin-up Betty Boop.
“That’s when I started keeping that name,” she told us. “It seemed fine, cos when you’re a rapper you need to have a persona. I just decided to drop the ‘p’ because I didn’t want to get sued.”
In 2006 she formed the shortlived duo WigWam with Blur’s Alex James, though they released just one self-titled single before disbanding.
“I met Alex at the Groucho Club and we just got on,” Clarkson said. “Blur were working with Ben Hillier on Think Tank and Ben’s a brilliant producer, he thinks outside the box. I think we wanted to make it into a project, but nothing quite gelled because, to be honest with you, Alex is a really good bass player in his group, but not necessarily a songwriter, so there wasn’t enough for us to make it work as a proper project. So it was just a bit of fun really.
“Alex and I did argue a bit, we’re a bit like brother and sister. He’d want cars picking him up, whereas I would go I’m driving myself somewhere! That was the way Blur were treated, like royalty, whereas I’m probably a bit more down to earth.”
You can read Classic Pop’s 2019 interview with Betty Boo here.
https://twitter.com/bettyboomania/status/1526610245589422080?cxt=HHwWgMCi7cL7za8qAAAA
Steve O'Brien
Steve O’Brien is a writer who specialises in music, film and TV. He has written for magazines and websites such as SFX, The Guardian, Radio Times, Esquire, The New Statesman, Digital Spy, Empire, Yours Retro, The New Statesman and MusicRadar. He’s written books about Doctor Who and Buffy The Vampire Slayer and has even featured on a BBC4 documentary about Bergerac. Apart from his work on Classic Pop, he also edits CP’s sister magazine, Vintage Rock Presents.www.steveobrienwriter.com