‘Twin’ chomps in Chch

Press, 25 January 1986, Page 1

‘Twin’ chomps in Chch

A craving for Buzz bars, hokey-pokey ice-cream and helicopter rides over the Southern Alps took up much of Alannah Currie’s time in Christchurch yesterday.

Ms Currie arrived with the Thompson Twins trio from Auckland at 10.30 a.m. The Auckland-born musician admitted a craving for the chocolate bars and ice-cream in a radio Interview — and Noah’s Hotel became inundated with them.

“I feel thoroughly sick now,” she said yesterday afternoon, just before taking off on a 1/2-hour helicopter ride to Arthur’s Pass.

Ms Currie, aged 27, said she was “terrified” at the prospect of playing in New Zealand at first.

“But now it’s getting more exciting. I guess you always feel more selfconscious playing in front of people who know you, you can’t just pack your suitcase and walk away — you have to see them the

next day, and they might have thought it was terrible.” '

The Twins have just completed a three-month tour of North America, playing to packed venues in places such as Madison Square Garden.

While in New Zealand, the husky-toned Alannah Currie plans to see a lot of her friends and family. “It’s not really a holiday. — when I want that I’ll sneak back in a wig and won’t tell anyone." Holidays have been few and far between for the trio since they first hit the international pop scene in 1982.

“We only allow ourselves two weeks holiday a year,” said Ms Currie. “You just can’t stop and cruise around in limousines all day once you’ve had a hit. The more popular you are the harder it becomes and the more work you have to do.”

All three work on making Thompson Twins

music, Ms Currie writing the lyrics and making the videos. Alannah Currie’s ideas come from things she has read, movies, fantasies in her head, and obsessions. Her interest in music has not been long-stand-ing. She left New Zealand when she was 17, “looking for open ended adventures and excitement.” She had no history or interest in music.

When she arrived in Britain, punk was taking over the music scene, and she started going to see punk bands with friends. “And we thought — we can do that.”

She bought a saxophone, a friend bought a guitar, and they got some gigs. Then she met the other two twins, Tom Bailey and Joe Leeway, and joined them as part of a larger band. This split up and the three formed their own group — and never looked back. She describes their songs as "great pop music.” “I write about what I feel strongly about, about emotions and. things that

are uplifting and inspiring."

The group has been criticised for abandoning its original politically-in-spired base and turning to commercialism. Ms Currie rejects this, saying their work is both political and commercial at the same time. > < . <

: As for being a woman in the maledominated rock world, she says she has “taken it bit by bit, made mistakes and regretted things, but hopefully done a good job. When the tour is over, after concerts in Australia and Japan, the group will return to Los Angeles to make the score for a bigbudget movie. Then it will be back to London. In the meantime, it’s good to be home.

“New Zealand still smells the same, there’s something very earthy about it, and the coffee shop downstairs smells of ham and mustard sandwiches, just like when I was a kid.”

The group will play at the Addington Showgrounds this evening, and in Auckland on February 1.