INTERVIEW: Hazel O’Connor – Breaking Glass at Shoreham Ropetackle

But in its 30th anniversary year, the cult movie Breaking Glass in which she made her name, remains a good film and an important one,

she says.

Hazel is on the road on the back of the anniversary, touring a full concert version of the film’s iconic songs including Eighth Day, Will

You and Big Brother – and she’s particularly looking forward to playing Shoreham.

“My brother used to have a boat in Shoreham and he got married in Shoreham.

“We had the whole wedding thing on the boat.

“I remember my grand-dad hitting his head!”

This would have been about 1977 or, at Hazel puts it, “pre-fame”.

“Breaking Glass and the whole thing was very bitter-sweet; it was great and it was horrible all at once.

“I do feel sorry for these X Factor bods that think fame is what they want. It’s not.

“People just think that they want to be famous, but it’s not really what they are looking for.

“If you hear people saying that they just want people to hear their songs, then that’s the old bardic thing.

“But just to want to be famous is different.”

For Hazel, the film – and with it the accolades – brought “all the buzz that goes with recognition for what you do.

“That’s really what people are craving. We are all craving a pat on the back, and fame can be like that.

“And I was someone that had not had a lot of pats on the back, I was always running away, escaping from myself.

“But when I got it, that recognition thing was still not enough to feed the spirit inside.

“You think you are going to fill that gap inside by other people’s adoration or recognition.

“Recognition in my case. I would never cope with adoration!

“But my gap was that I came from such a disrupted childhood that I was looking for someone to recognise me.

“I can remember my grandfather getting on my case.

“He was a real misogynist. He used to build bikes in the shed and I loved that kind of thing.

“I would try to go and watch him and he would be ‘Get off and wash up with your nan and do women’s work’.

“I used to think that one day I would show him. But you’ve got to be careful what you wish for!

“But I did have some pretty horrific times as a child.

“My father used to drink too much and beat my mum. We left.

“We lived in one room at my nan’s, and I was always the live wire.

“That’s a great recipe for dissipation. I used to spend my time looking for my dissipation!”

Hazel’s Shoreham date at the Ropetackle is on November 27.

Tickets on 01273 464440 or www.ropetacklecentre.co.uk.

The brand-new album Breaking Glass launches on November 25 and is a reworking of the original material.