BETTY Boo ( aka Alison Clarkson) lit up the charts in the early nineties with her cartoony/pin up, pop/hip hop style and fun filled singles 'Doin’ The Do' and 'Where Are You Baby?'.

Much of her debut album 'Boomania' was self written and self produced in her bedroom but the "reluctant performer" gave up her singing career following her mother's death and concentrated on write chart-topping singles instead.

Her first major recognition came with Hear’Say and their number one single “Pure And Simple”. She also wrote two songs for the Girls Aloud debut album, including “Mars Attack”.

She co-wrote Paloma Faith’s single “Smoke And Mirrors” and also worked with Sophie Ellis Bextor.

But now, aged 45, she is back performing thrilling audiences on the Let's Rock festival dates that include Southampton Common on Saturday July 11.

'Boo' as people now call her again, was tempted back to the live stage last year and is loving the current shows. She told me:

"All these great live festivals have rekindled everyone's love for this music. I headlined the Penn Festival - by the same people but with a different 90's dance concept, last year and they really threw me in the deep end in front of 5,000 people and not having done anything for years that was quite daunting but I really enjoyed it. I've had the odd record out to keep me busy and I've done various Gay Prides and and I do things when it suits me- it's a nice position to be in.

"Things have changed since the old days when you brought out a record and had to heavily promote it. Now it's nice because everyone knows your records and everyone sings along and you have a few drinks- there's no pressure to promote anything.

I wouldn't be a pop star today. You really do have to be in the press all the time and have a presence . In the first place I made records in my bedroom and it was a lot more carefree- it was the golden years. No one really wanted to be a 'pop star' as such - unless you were Kylie Minogue. I just made music.

I made my first record in 1989 with Beat Masters and then from 1990-93 I was signed to Warners and toured and did lots of international stuff.

"I gave everything up to look after my mum and when she died I didn't feel like doing it any more. Madonna wanted to sign me to Maverick but to be in the limelight you have to give everything you've got and not be sad. "

Asked what she did she says:

"I took up tennis!Over the years I've played for different clubs and I'm in a league where I play nearly every day.

My husband ( Paul Toogood) is a film maker- a music documentary maker and I'm associate producer. And I do a lot of song writing for different artists. There are some great artists - such as Paloma Faith who I wrote Smoke and Mirrors for and it's a really nice video. She's very vibrant and a really hard worker. It's taken her years to get where she is. She's a born performer. She's a really good credible artist.

"I won an Ivor Novello Award for the HearSay song I wrote 'Pure and Simple' - I dip in and out of it. That was quite an old song which was originally for another artist."

The song came to prominence through the Pop Stars programme. This was the time of the emerging Popstars/Pop Idol/X-Factor age and 'Boo' adds:

"It's ironic because I feel it ( TV talent search shows) will kill creativity and people think just having a quick fix of fame is enough , where as people like me just wanted to make music ; now people just want to be famous .

Mind you, watching Glastonbury on TV there are a lot of talented kids. The best place to watch it is from your sofa. I did go last year and was given V.I.P. treatment but you are still wading through poo. I looked at the schedule and worked out I wanted to see Kodaline in 20 minutes but then you must work out how to get there . It's exhausting and if you get your timings wrong you miss everything. By the Sunday I thought I will go home and watch it on TV!"

Southampton Common and the Let's rock festival is small and intimate by Glastonbury's standards and 'Boo' says:

"There is just a lot of love in these places- no negativity. You get some haters on social media who just get off on it. I tend not to read it. 99.9 per cent of people love it. Back in the day if you got a record out you'd want to read what NME or Smash Hits wrote about you and if someone didn't like it it was something to get upset about - you had no idea who hated your stuff! You just trundled along in your little bubble and it was amazing! Now anyone can make comments about you.

It's so different being in the spotlight now. I never imagined back then that I'd be going on the stage 25 years later and people would still be singing along to my songs but it doesn't make me feel I want to be famous again! My husband says I am a reluctant performer, and Tom Bailey (of The Thompson twins) is the same and we are getting all this love!"