I'm Perri Lister. I started dancing with Hot Gossip on the Kenny Everett show in the late 70's in England. Organized by disco choreographer Arlene Philips, Hot Gossip were featured as a part of DJ Kenny Everett's music video and comedy TV series. We were not confined to each week's top hits, instead picking from whatever full-length songs and pop artists we felt like highlighting. The dances were risque, wild, over-the-top, and immediately popular, as you can see in this video to The Village People's "Sleazy"
Sleazy-Hot Gossip
Sarah Brightman joined the group at the tender age of 18, and became the breakout star thanks in part to her resemblance to Kate Bush (both in look and dance style.) "I Lost My Heart To a Starship Trooper" was immensely danceable and cracked the UK top ten in 1978. View my profile video below to see this wonderfully cheesy Euro-disco track (a genre we know and love) that was inspired by the late 70's sci-fi mania and you'll see me dancing and singing along with Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip... I am the one with the dog collar ;)
Please visit my blog as well for more rare Hot Gossip videos!
When the 1980's came along, I was one of the original Blitz Kids along with Steve Strange. We were the beginning of the New Romantic scene who frequented the Blitz Nightclub. We made a music video for Visage and then flew to Italy to perform "Fade To Grey" on TV.
When music videos came on the scene, I became a 'video vixen' in the early 1980's. You may remember me as the Chauffeur dancing in the infamously banned from MTV Duran Duran video for "The Chauffeur"
The Chauffeur-Duran Duran
I was also the girl playing the harp in Def Leppard's "Foolin" video
Foolin'-Def Leppard
Digging way back into the vaults... I made an appearance in a 1980 Sparks video for "When I'm With You", perhaps slightly lesser known in the US, it scored them a massive hit single in France that year.
When I'm With You-Sparks
Probably my most famous music video appearance was the part of the bride in Billy Idol's "White Wedding" video. Placing the bloody ring on my finger was my idea, but MTV chose to ban that part from the video. Here is the original unedited version of the "White Wedding" video which unsurprisingly no longer remains banned by MTV.
White Wedding-Billy Idol
I sang backing vocals on Billy Idol's "Eyes Without A Face" and appeared live on Top of The Pops as well as in the videos for "Rebel Yell", "Eyes Without A Face" and "Hot In The City" (see opposite side of page for videos.)
I was also a backing vocalist on Kid Creole's 'Fresh Fruit In Foreign Places' album and one of the original Coconuts in Kid Creole and the Coconuts. In 1986, two of my fellow Coconuts and I created an 80's girl group called Boomerang which was short-lived, but we made a video for our remake of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'."
These Boots-Boomerang
I can also be seen as Billy Idol's Former Girlfriend on his Behind The Music episode filmed exclusively for VH1. Here is a short excerpt from the one hour video.
Behind The Music-Billy Idol
I have appeared as the lead role in Gypsy Rose Lee and Wuthering Heights amongst other productions and in many movies from Can't Stop The Music and Bad Influence to a larger role in The Apostate aka Michael Angel.
