Eighties pop icon and gender bender Steve Strange speaks to Peter Hackney as his group Visage reforms.

As lead singer of synth-pop group Visage and founder of legendary London club Blitz, Steve Strange was at the forefront of pop's
so-called
“new romantic” movement. His androgynous image and theatrical make-up
earned him a prime place among the “gender benders”, alongside Boy George,
Marilyn, Divine and Pete Burns. Now, after some years keeping a low
profile, battling heroin addiction and financial ruin, the visage of
Steve Strange is once again in the spotlight.

“I'm ready for
my close-up Mr DeMille,” jokes the ‘Fade to Grey'singer, speaking to SX
from London. “A ‘comeback' sounds a bit GloriaSwanson, but I've never
stopped loving pop and all that goes with it.
There's always been a
fan base for Visage, even in the '90s when grunge was the thing, and
with the Electroclash movement and '80s revival I thought, ‘If other
artists are out there, taking inspiration from me, why can't I?'”
Hence, Strange has re-formed Visage, albeit with four new members replacing the initial band mates of Rusty Egan and Midge Ure.

“They're
four young, very talented artists from other electronic bands and
projects,” he explains. “So the Visage project has been
re-activated,
but in a different form. We've already released Visage Videos on DVD,
and now we're recording demos and shopping them around to record
companies for release.”
“I think the other thing that's led to this point is Taboo [Boy George's musical, which played the West End and Broadway from
2002-2004]. It generated a lot of interest in the scene we were part of, so Boy George is partly to thank,” Strange adds.

The
positive reference to George is somewhat surprising, given the public
feuds between the two performers in the '80s, conducted under the
auspices of Fleet Street's tabloids.

“We definitely used to
have a love-hate relationship. Often, it was just hate-hate. But we've
both moved on,” Strange says. “It was a case of jealousy and rivalry on
both our parts. George was a cloakroom attendant at my club, and he was
livid when I got into the charts before he did. Then when Culture Club
went on to have huge success, he gave me this ‘Who's the star now?'
attitude. And I wasn't any better. I did rub it in his face when Visage
hit big,” he chuckles.

“The turning point was when George
released ‘Mr Strange' in the mid-'90s, which was his way of saying
sorry. The lyrics were ‘forgive the hateful things I say and do' and
there's a line that said something like ‘I never liked myself it's
true, so I took it out on you'. I couldn't hate him after that. And I
was very touched with my character in Taboo; I thought that was
fantastic,” Strange says.

“Ultimately, George is brilliant,
extremely talented. If you look at all he's done: singing, songwriting,
acting, theatre, DJ-ing, his own
fashion label – he's a powerhouse.
I think history will be very kind to George. He will go down as a queer
icon like Quentin Crisp.”

However, Strange gives
Marilyn, Boy George's '80s sidekick who had a  global smash hit
with ‘Calling Your Name' in 1983, a less than glowing reference. 
“That's
one person who hasn't changed – in fact he's only gotten worse,”
Strange says. “I met him a few years ago, for the first time in years,
and the first thing out of his mouth was, ‘How does failure  feel?
Do you like being a nobody?' This coming from a heroin addict who lives
with Mum! I can relate to him in some ways, because I was addicted to
heroin, too, but I like to think that I was never that bitter, even at
my lowest point, which thankfully is all in the past now.”
 

So what's in the future for Steve Strange and Visage mark II? 
“The
main things we're doing are finishing our album and hopefully lining up
some shows around the world. I'd love to come to Australia actually, if
a promoter there wants to bring us out. I've always got along so well
with Australians. Kylie and Jason Donovan are good friends of mine – in
fact Kylie and I have had joint birthday parties because we share the
same birth date – and Michael Hutchence was a great friend, rest his
soul. A trip to Australia would be very nice.”