"Belfast Telegraph" 'Sunday Life' article by David Gordon from Sunday 27 February, 2005.
SHE KNOWS US SO WELL
When Barbara Dickson takes to the stage of the Millennium Forum on Tuesday evening, it will mark a return visit to a city that the singer has been looking forward to for a very long time.
"I love getting to Northern Ireland," Barbara told Sunday Life.
"I've been visiting the province for over 30 years, through good times and bad, and have never forgotten the dedication of my fans and friends during that time."
Born in Dunfermline in 1947, Barbara has had many achievements in her career, including hitting the top of the charts and attaining success on stage and screen, not to mention an honorary Masters degree and her OBE.
An acclaimed folk singer who emerged from the Scottish club circuit in the Sixties and Seventies, she took her first major role in a stage musical in 1974, singing the songs of The Beatles in Willy Russell's 'John, Paul, George, Ringo. . . & Bert'.
That subsequently led to a pop career, regular television appearances, and, after being seen in the Russell show, an invitation to sing on the huge-selling studio cast recording of Evita, and her being brought into the Lloyd-Webber fold.
The audience at her Derry show will hear the best of Barbara's broad range of musical styles.
Her new album - Full Circle - is one that allows her to return to her folk roots.
"There's a lot of folk music on it, which I have a big connection with from a long time ago, and there are two classical songs, and two songs from the 20th century, which were written about the 1960s," says the 57-year-old.
"So, it's really a great, big mixture of stuff. I see my career as a tapestry, involving many different elements."
Barbara found her direction changing in the 1980s when I Know Him So Well, her duet with Elaine Paige, climbed to No.1 in the charts and stayed there for 16 weeks - making it the biggest-selling record ever by a female duo.
Despite her enormous success in musicals, she doesn't think of herself as a stage actress, but rather "as a folk singer who's had a bit of luck".
"I'm in a really enviable position nowadays in that if something appeals to me, I do it, and if it doesn't, I don't," she explains.
Barbara is also aware of the fact that 'fame' means different things to different people.
She watches the 'get-famous-quick' programmes, where people grab their 15 minutes to try to get to the top of the ladder.
Describing her own fame as a "gradual ascent", she remembers that she was a singer on the folk circuit for 10 years, before her name got known in the 1970s.
"I didn't do it to become famous, I did it because I wanted to do that job," she adds.
Singing is in Barbara's blood, and she remembers fondly her own childhood, and the encouragement from her parents.
"I believe that plenty of music in the home is a real asset for children as they grow up," she says.
"I was always singing at home, and am told I showed a talent for music at a young age.
"Mum and dad decided I was a musical child and sent me for piano lessons, but I preferred the guitar because I could accompany myself singing.
"I played folk music in a Dunfermline folk club when I was 17 - it was an education. I learned a huge repertoire of songs and I got better and better."
Although Barbara is assured of a rapturous reception when she plays the Millennium Forum, she is disappointed that she won't be able to thrill audiences in the rest of the province, or over the border.
"I couldn't get the promoter to extend the tour," she explains.
"It's such a pity that I'm not playing in Belfast or Dublin, as I'm not in Ireland as much as I would like to be.
"I haven't been in Derry for a long time, and friends have told me how much it has changed, so I can't wait to get back, to see what's new."
