That sad psychodrama between a wife and her husband rang out differently in a вЂњwokeвЂќ modern world: вЂњHe said, babe, you look a mess/You look dowdy in that dress.вЂќ In her songs, women long for kisses, search for men they drove away and feed off a particular kind of immersive love. Stansfield performed вЂњAll WomanвЂќ at a secret gig at the Village Undergound in London, before Christmas. She dissected the complex paradox, вЂњI may not be a lady, but IвЂ™m all woman.вЂќ Caroline Aherne did a Fast Show sketch about Stansfield combing the airports of the world for a mislaid infant (вЂњBeen around the world and I-I-I, I canвЂ™t find my babyвЂќ). Pop songs once held such power that any idiosyncracies in the lyrics or vocal style would swell to cartoon proportions in the national consciousness. вЂњIвЂ™ve never been like Madonna, IвЂ™d never push people out of the way.вЂќ She graduated to variety shows on Granada TV, and sang Randy CrawfordвЂ™s вЂњOne Day IвЂ™ll Fly AwayвЂќ in a pink metallic space suit. Wives would elbow their husbands and say, вЂњshut up, Stan, sheвЂ™s trying to singвЂќ. The competitions began in her teens, her mother driving her through sleet and snow as far as Newcastle, where sheвЂ™d sing Motown classics in clubs, often accompanied by no more than an organ and its inbuilt drum machine. Her musical interest came from her mother вЂ“ like some real-life Little Voice, Stansfield would ape the songs of Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline and Diana Ross from the age of four. Her father became a draughtsman, and started working on the North Sea oil rigs: he was rarely at home during the week. вЂњThey donвЂ™t know that the Tories are going to shit all over them because theyвЂ™re poor.вЂќ вЂњWorking class people vote Tory because they think it makes them look a bit posh,вЂќ she says. StansfieldвЂ™s parents, she tells me, were the kind who bought the Mirror and voted Tory and saw no discrepency between the two. Rochdale was, at the time, under the conservative tenure of Wentworth Schofield MP, who was high up in cotton and formed the Manchester Yarn SpinnersвЂ™ Association.

He вЂ“ Keith вЂ“ was something of a catch, being the mill electrician or вЂњfixerвЂќ. She вЂ“ Marion вЂ“ worked the cotton bobbins, and had come from Wigan: Rochdale was a step up. Her parents met working in the Era ring mill in Woodbine Street, Rochdale, in the 1950s. Events and Offers Sign up to receive information regarding NS events, subscription offers & product updates. Ideas and Letters A newsletter showcasing the finest writing from the ideas section and the NS archive, covering political ideas, philosophy, criticism and intellectual history - sent every Wednesday. Weekly Highlights A weekly round-up of some of the best articles featured in the most recent issue of the New Statesman, sent each Saturday. The Culture Edit Our weekly culture newsletter вЂ“ from books and art to pop culture and memes вЂ“ sent every Friday. Green Times The New StatesmanвЂ™s weekly environment email on the politics, business and culture of the climate and nature crises - in your inbox every Thursday. The New Statesman Daily The best of the New Statesman, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. World Review The New StatesmanвЂ™s global affairs newsletter, every Monday and Friday.

The Crash A weekly newsletter helping you fit together the pieces of the global economic slowdown. Morning Call Quick and essential guide to domestic and global politics from the New Statesman's politics team. Sign up for The New StatesmanвЂ™s newsletters Tick the boxes of the newsletters you would like to receive. вЂњYou jump in, and then you jump out again. вЂњThere are elevators in East Germany that go round a loop rather than up and down, and they have no doors,вЂќ вЂ“ she pushes her index fingers round to illustrate. She was tiny and wiry in her black leather assemblage вЂ“ and she looked just like Lisa Stansfield. She decided she looked вЂњlike John Hurt on acidвЂќ, so she threw some shapes for a different vibe, brandishing an invisible gun like one of CharlieвЂ™s Angels. Earlier in the day, at a photo shoot in Kentish Town, she grabbed her glasses to examine the first run of portraits as they were delivered on to a laptop. Lisa does the vibrating simian to express situations in which she wasnвЂ™t entirely comfortable. Only, she had a huge perm then, which stuck out like this вЂ“ her arms arc round her head вЂ“ and made her look вЂњlike Kevin Keegan. And this is what she looked like at 14, singing in the working menвЂ™s clubs of Rochdale.

This is what she looked like, apparently, on the Pete Waterman ITV show Motown Mania in 2000, which she didnвЂ™t want to take part in because it was so вЂњfucking naffвЂќ. Head down and shoulders hunched, she draws her arms in front of her and swings them in a simian manner, her entire body and baker boy cap vibrating as if she is caught in a chill wind. Lisa Stansfield likes to do an impression of Lisa Stansfield.

Lisa stansfield