In the late-nineties, Lolly emerged as a bundle of energy that looked set to burst, but looking back she admits being pop’s new starlet was hard work.
Marketed to an audience of young fans, the singer, real name Anna Kumble, was 21 when she released her debut single Viva La Radio, which peaked in the UK Top 10 and was the first of five hit records from Lolly.
“We recorded it, got a deal, and it just went from there. It was so organic and actually very easy,” she admits in RETROPOP’s June 2023 issue, revealing she was, in fact, second choice for the gig.
“[The producers] were putting together S Club at the time,” recalls Anna. “They were doing other things as well and they had this idea for an artist that looked like they’d been imported from Japan or something like that. So that was the initial concept for Lolly.
“They found Rachel Stevens in a shoe shop and asked her to audition. She did a few songs but it didn’t quite work out, so they put her in S Club.”
With a runaway hit under her belt, she continued to record and entered the Top 5 with her cover of Mickey, which eventually featured on the aptly-titled ‘My First Album’ (1999)
“I did love pop music. I loved Steps and B*Witched and Spice Girls, and all that kind of stuff,” she beams. “But for me, it was a job; I put the hair up and I was Lolly, and then took it down and I was Anna. That’s how I coped with it.
“When I released it, people just thought I was this silly kid, but it was an act. But it was a fun act. It was great! It was really good fun to go around and do that.”
Following the release of her second album, ‘Pick ‘n’ Mix’, in 2000, the hitmaker gave up music and embarked on a successful TV career; a move that came about after she was dissatisfied with the label’s decision to release Girls Just Want to Have Fun as a single.
“I didn’t really agree with doing it,” Anna maintains. “I said to the record label, ‘I’ll go out and sell it, but I just think I’m alienating half of my audience’. You know, boys like to have fun as well! So I kind of lost heart and I realised it really was a machine and that I had to just do what they said, because they weren’t listening.”
But now, she’s back as Lolly and playing to crowds across the UK this summer, with a set of her classic hits and a few surprises – like a Kim Wilde-approved cover of Kids In America – thrown in for good measure.
“I’d always said no to doing gigs as Lolly, but in 2018 my music was released digitally and when I looked it had two million streams and I realised people actually wanted to listen to it,” she beams.
Lolly will perform as part of the Preston Live 2023 music festival at Moor Park, Preston on Saturday, July 22. Tickets are on sale now.
Read the full interview in the June 2023 edition of RETROPOP, out now. Order yours or subscribe via our Online Store, use our Store Finder to locate your nearest stockist, or get Digital Copies delivered direct to your devices.
