Reggae star Zeeteah is taking a breath before gigging new album Wat A Ting! | Music | Entertainment

Barbados-born British reggae star Zeeteah, 66, is best known for her UK hits This Is The Place and Sexual Prime and her US Billboard dance chart-topper with Arizona, Slide On The Rhythm. Her latest album, Wat A Ting!, is out now.

What was your first TV memory?

A long time ago…It was Coronation Street in black and white. I’d just arrived in the UK with my mum and my sister Wendy, I was five and we were all hooked on it. I can still remember some of those great characters.

Who was your first TV crush?

Tom Jones! What’s a girl to say? He was so hot! And then years later I got to sing with him.

What was your first TV appearance?

It was on the 29th March, 1987, on Bob Says Opportunity Knocks with Bob Monkhouse, series one, episode one. Bob was so lovely. I came third. It was a lot of fun.

I appeared on Top Of The Pops four times, once with Kim Wilde. I guested on singles with Vic Reeves and Boy George too. In 1996, I was a finalist in A Song For Europe, the UK leg of the Eurovision Song Contest with a song called A Little Love.

What is your favourite current show?

I’m heavily into 1971 – The Year That Music Changed Everything on Apple TV.

It’s quite shocking to see how much violence there was back then, and it was also the year that three music icons died – Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, all aged 27, because of drug overdoses.

It covers Nixon’s war on drugs. It’s an amazing documentary. I hardly ever watch live TV.

Which TV show would you take to a desert island?

Easy, Breaking Bad. It’s so good. We’ve watched it three or four times already.

What TV show would you like to put out of its misery?

Probably television talent shows. They have done a real injustice to the business and also to the people who appear on them.

They’re more about the panel than the acts.

They’re cruel and they target the vulnerable, exploiting anyone who has a ‘story’. It’s really sad.

Guiltiest TV pleasure?

Chilling out and watching movies with my husband Paul the whole day and night.

We like watching Tyler Perry movies, especially the funny ones – I love a good belly laugh – and ending up crying with laughter. Laughter is so good for the soul.

I enjoyed This Is Us as well. It was so gripping and so beautiful. I was in tears for days.

What are you up to at the moment?

I’m taking a breath after promoting my new album Wat A Ting! I worked very hard on it for a year and it had a lovely review in the Daily Express. The title track was just released as a single.

I’ll start gigging again in next month and then it’ll be a new album.

  • The album and single Wat A Ting by Zeeteah Massiah are streaming on all platforms

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