Tim Burgess was joined this week by his fellow Absolute Radio presenter Skin for the latest episode of his podcast, Tim’s Listening Party
Skunk Anansie singer, Skin talked about the band’s debut album, Paranoid & Sunburnt, which contained hit single Weak.
She revealed that, although the song was written in just one night, it had actually been eight years in the making as it was written about a boyfriend that she had had when she was 16.
Skin told Tim: I was going out with this much older guy – not through choice but because I was a quiet, vulnerable 16-year-old Christian girl and this guy was like 29.
“He’d give you a lift home [from church] and that’s how he ended up knowing where I live. He would just turn up and say I’m taking you out. He was abusive and controlling but I actually didn’t realise that it was an abusive relationship. I didn’t know what a relationship was – I thought that was normal.”
She ended the relationship by deliberately going to university in Middlesborough 300 miles away. But that didn’t stop him as he would drive up at weekends. As a result, she moved without telling anyone, which eventually got him out of her life.
“It wasn’t until later when I did some work with a rape crisis centre and I was listening to people having conversations it just dawned on me ‘oh my god that’s what happened to me.’ I remember sitting down with my new guitar and thinking about one time when he hit me and he started crying. I remember thinking weak as I am I’ve got no tears for you,” Skin recalled.
Tim’s Listening Party first became a sensation on Twitter, with musical guests including the likes of Paul McCartney, Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp and Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon, and has now found a new home on radio and podcast.
Each week, Tim is joined by a different guest as they share stories and insights from one of their seminal albums.
You can listen to Tim’s Listening Party on all podcast platforms, on absoluteradio.co.uk or in the Absolute Radio app.
