Dana Gillespie thought Morrissey was a very charming man.
The iconic singer recently had tea with the former Smiths frontman after he got in touch to praise her version of his track ‘Spent the Day in Bed’ and despite what she’d heard about the controversial star before they met, she found him to be “very pleasant”.
She exclusively told BANG Showbiz: “I've always heard he's weird, but he was very pleasant.”
Ultimately, all Dana cared about was Morrissey’s talent.
She added: “I know he's super talented, and that song is brilliant.”
Dana hadn’t been aware of the track – which has given the 75-year-old star her very first UK singles chart entry, placing at number six, nearly 50 years after her career began - until collaborators Tris Penna and Marc Almond suggested it to her for her new album ‘First Love', and she found the sentiment very fitting for modern times.
She said: “I don't listen to Morrissey much, and I have to eat my words…
“It's so true. Who wants to look at the news at the moment? It's totally depressing and awful. It doesn't seem to get any better, and he's summed it up perfectly.
“Tris Penna found that song for me and I’m very grateful.”
Tris and Marc pushed Dana out of her comfort zone with ‘First Love’.
She said: “Tris Penna and Marc Almond came to me because we're good mates, and we'd sometimes have funny little lunches where we could talk about everything non-PC and have a giggle.
“They always said, ‘You know, really, I think you should do an album that takes people to another place, not just my usual blues stuff.’
“I do blues because I can do it well, and I work every day of the week if I want to.
“But with this, Marc and Tris chose two-thirds, and I chose a third.
“For example, I never would have thought of doing a Lana Del Rey song because I never used to listen to that, but Marc found it.”
Watch the video for ‘Spent the Day in Bed’ – which also reached number three in the official vinyl singles chart at number 3 – at https://youtu.be/9796QPid1pY
