Fresh from her guest appearances with Heaven 17 on their recent tour, Mari Wilson is back with her own take on some classic pop songs from the likes of Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark, Sandie Shaw and Cilla Black from her new album.

Known as Neasden's Queen of Soul, Mari, burst onto the music scene, complete with beehive, in 1982 with the single Just What I Always Wanted.

The new album Pop Deluxe, released earlier this year, was inspired by the songs the 62-year-old listened to growing up, including Always Something There to Remind Me, 24 Hours From Tulsa, and the White Horses TV theme.

It was co-produced with friend and long time collaborator Alastair Gavin, a member of Mari’s band The Wilsations, and crowd-funded through Pledge Music.

Over the years she has also recorded the themes for BBC’s comedy Coupling and the film Dance With A Stranger and was a regular at Ronnie Scotts, as well as starring in Dusty The Musical.

My new album is mainly 1960s songs but it isn’t a Sixties album...

They were written in the 1960s but I do my own interpretation of those songs. If you are going to cover any song, whether it is one or 10 years old, I’m always of the school of thought that it’s better to change it. You can go and buy Dusty’s version, so you don’t want someone singing that – if you do it the same way you are verging on being a tribute act. That’s not really my thing. So they are very much my own interpretations.

I went into the world of jazz after the 1980s...

I left the pop world and my pop persona behind. I was in search of something – in search of myself probably! I think I didn’t know what I wanted. With jazz, it is about the performance rather than the product. You don’t have to go out and promote an album. I did it for quite a long time – about 10 years – and it made me a much better singer. But then I was singing those songs and feeling like actually I was a pop or soul singer.

I don’t have the beehive any more!

I probably stopped in 1984. I had a lot of hairstyles and they were all pretty wild. In 1985 I had my hair cut too so it had definitely gone by then. I just liked to have lots of different hairstyles. I didn’t want to have the beehive any more because I was changing direction and that was so much part of my image at that time. I don’t really put my hair up any more now.

One of the songs from my album is from right back in my childhood...

White Horses is just a lovely song. It came from the TV show. Back then there was hardly anything on TV and that’s what I watched. It’s almost in my DNA. When I come home from school, my dad and I would always do the Evening News crossword and watch The White Horses on TV.

After Dusty the Musical I did three concerts of Dusty songs...

Then I thought I should sing the songs from when I used to watch them on TV when I was a kid. The album was crowdfunded – it’s the second album I’ve done that way. We used our imagination.

There are plenty of outfits in my show...

I do like to dress up! I don’t want the show to be boring and flat. I do like to do all that. It is quite nice to be in the pop world from that point of view. I’m always in the wrong era. I’ve always been like that. Back in the 1980s I wore 1960s stuff. You can go for a full retro look when you’re young but I’m 62 now so I can’t do the full look any more.

I write a regular column for Diabetes UK’s Balance Magazine and I’m a patron of Coeliac UK...

Healthwise I can be quite delicate. Because I look so well I can work a lot but I was diagnosed with diabetes at 22. I probably had it from when I was 15. I try to exercise and eat healthily and you have to keep on top of your diabetes – you can’t just forget about it for a while.

DETAILS

Mari Wilson will play Maidstone’s Pizza Express in Earl Street on Saturday, November 12.

For the last few tickets at £20, visit pizzaexpresslive.com or call 020 7439 4962.