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24 September 2014
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Damon Gough
Talented, intelligent and modest. The world needs more Badly Drawn Boys as we discovered backstage at the Pops with Damon Gough...

At the Royal Festival Hall gig during Meltdown, you described your new track, 'You Were Right' as the best you have every written. Do you still stand by that?
Damon: I set myself up really. I'm constantly challenging myself with what I do. I knew it was a foolish thing to say as it was the first time anyone had heard the song and I don't want to influence people's feelings. I don't think it's better than other songs I've written, I just think it reaches a new level in terms of what I've said.

Do you regret turning Madonna down then?
Damon: No, I had to turn Madonna down when the offer came. It's a tribute to Madonna, in a sense. I hope she sees it that way if she ever hears the song because not many people make it into my songs. But the name fits the rhythm and she is the ultimate female icon, surpassing Marilyn Monroe probably. She's cool, sexy, good-looking, talented. So, she's the ultimate person to turn down - it's a symbol of my confidence within the song. It's a metaphor.

What is the story behind releasing and deleting the single on the same day?
Damon: To me, the singles market is nonsense. Everybody has to do what everybody else does in order to have a hit single. It's not something I applaud as an approach, but, for once, I'm going to see what happens. Every single that's released these days is deleted after a week anyway. Singles don't stick around that long, there's no shelf life anymore. It's not a true reflection of your success anyway. It's just a trial and error thing. I'm relaxed enough to see how it works.

Simply Red
"That's a bit supermarket, isn't it. I'm not making that many bottles. "
Robin Gibb
"There's been great moments both as a songwriter and as a performer."
Paul Roberts - The Stranglers
"We certainly weren't going to call ourselves The Bay City Rollers."
Lisa Stansfield
"I just thought, how many times do I have to sing this song?"
Soft Cell
"I think it's the only time that a banjo's been played in the Ministry of Sound."
Erasure
"Agnetha said she liked it. If I met them I would curtsey."
INXS
"We really surprised lots of people by simply hanging in there."
Kim Wilde
"I used to be really jealous of Claire Grogan...I thought she was gorgeous."
Dollar
"Failure was not an option, we were materialistic and greed was good."
Human League
"We did a US tour with Culture Club and Howard Jones...solely for the cash."
Altered Images
"Women were treated as a bit of a novelty in the music business in 1981."
Belle Stars
"The pop music lark just seems like a lifetime away now."
Steve Strange
"Look, you’re playing me like a bitchy queen and I’m not like that."
Five Star
"We all grew up wanting to be famous and we lived our dream..."
Phillip from Ruby Flipper
"At my age, I'd find it difficult to get my legs where they used to go..."
Glen Campbell
"I got to work with literally everyone in the business; Nat King Cole, Sinatra..."
David Gray
"Lots of tension in the camp. We're battling Gareth Gates for the No.1 spot"
Robert Palmer
"There's this homegenised force feeding of what is hip."
Marilyn
"I think George manipulated our relationship for publicity"
Tom Jones
"I'm pulling all my old jewellery out now and comparing my rings with Wyclef"
Ruth From Pan's People
"I could show you dozens of times I forgot the moves..."
Badly Drawn Boy
"Everybody has to do what everybody else does in order to have a hit single"
John Otway
"I think the music business is probably not happy with what we've done..."
Jimmy Cliff
"I look at someone like Ms Dynamite, I come away with a positive feeling."
Human League
"We wouldn't trust anyone that didn't wear eyeliner."
Status Quo
"I probably went about four or five years with a pair of stage jeans"
Gary Numan
"There are so many things in my past that you could make fun of."
McAlmont and Butler
"We were big enough to get over any-thing that may have been exchanged."
Primal Scream
"The producer at the time told us we'd never work again."
Oasis
"I prefer miming, I prefer if we weren’t playing live."


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