She first met Paddy and the band as a fan in a groupie-gang called 'The Whitley Bay Girlies' in the early 80s. At the time, Prefab Sprout were doing the pub circuit with their shouts of 'Yowzer, Yowzer!' and wearing Wellies on stage. Although Paddy's songwriting talent was clear even then, they were a bit rough round the edges and Wendy came to the rescue with her soft voice. Her debut was on 'Lions In My Own Garden Exit Someone' on clarinet and backing vocals. That was July 1982.

Nobody has ever confirmed that Paddy and Wendy were boyfriend and girlfriend, although it certainly seemed that way for a long while, right up until Paddy's recent marriage in 1997. Whatever the case, there was a rapport between the two in the music; rough voice meets soft voice (although as time went by Paddy's voice became softer)

Wendy's most famous piece of vocals is the 'laa laa laa laa laa laa laa laa laa laa laa laa' inroduction on 'The King of Rock N Roll' (1988), though in my opinion one of her best vocals is on 'Hallelujah' (Steve McQueen/Two Wheels Good, 1986)

I'd love to interview Wendy to get the whole Sprout thing from her perspective, but she doesn't do interviews except as a supporting role to Paddy. The most recent PS album, 'Andromeda Heights' (1997) we hardly heard her voice. It's rumoured she teaches vocal technique * when Paddy is writing songs for the next album.