MK:
Well, I've never felt moved to write about particularly obscene people - I've gotten close, writing about people who are very, very different from me like "Les Boys". You take the part of somebody else, you're just not that person. On "The Man's Too Strong", I tried to do a study in guilt and hatred and fear. On some levels, you can almost see a Hess-like figure, in the depths of Spandau. You might see somebody who's just not at peace with himself. It's always interesting to me that any kind of heavy censorship, like book burnings, has always failed in the long run. That kind of suppression. I was just trying to get in the mind of somebody who's lived his life that way. There's nothing very heavy about it, it's just an experiment in character and playwriting. That song is absolutely not me. It's like Randy Newman talking about being a closet gay truck driver.
I think if I was to sing "Private Dancer," "All the men come in these places," the audience would know it was a character, they'd be able to make that adjustment. It's really a song that a woman should sing, but to my mind, a man should be able to just as easily, and if it's done well, you should be able to make that adjustment. If it's done properly, then part of the fun is to make that jump - it's good for the imagination. I suppose there's nearly always some connection. I mean, look at "Les Boys." We're not gay, but they did cabaret and we do loads of shows. We had done our turn when we saw them and I thought, "God, what's the difference?"