“The band is great,” says Chrissie. “We’ve got a guitar hero (James Walbourne) who is wild, raw, sexually charged, a bass player (Nick Wilkinson) who comes from the punk school, Mark Chambers – the most entertaining drummer alive. It’s wild, sexy . . . What more do you want?”

Following their 1978 signing to Real Records on the basis of a demo of the song The Phone Call, the band quickly rose to critical attention with the January, 1979, single, Stop Your Sobbing, written in 1964 by Ray Davies.

Their debut shot straight to number 1 on the UK Albums Chart on the week of its release and stayed there for four consecutive weeks.

Released in January, 1980, on Real Records, it was a mix of hard rock, punk, and new wave, compiling several previously-released tracks from their 1979 singles Stop Your Sobbing/The Wait, Kid/Tattooed Love Boys, and Brass In Pocket/Swinging London/Nervous But Shy.

They’ve been on the road pretty much ever since.

“Touring can be one long party where you don’t know where you are at any one time, where you don’t see daylight. It depends on how you divide up your time,” explains Chrissie.

“There have been times when we’ve partied hard, when we stumble back to the bus at 8am not a pretty sight.

“But then there have been times when I’m in bed before midnight, out seeing the sights the next day.

“People say touring is exhausting. What’s exhausting to me is doing a proper job.”

Chrissie, originally from Akron, Ohio, United States, moved to London in 1973, dated rock critic Nick Kent, and from there began writing for the New Musical Express.

After several years of false starts, including the bands Masters Of The Backside and The Moors Murderers, she moved definitively from writing to performing.

“Before I was in a band, I had 10 years of proper jobs,” she says. “I was making ends meet waitressing, selling handbags.”

Over the years, she’s collaborated with everyone from Cher and Neneh Cherry to guitar god Johnny Marr.

“Johnny and I fell in love the minute we met – we fell in band love,” she chuckles. “I love his music, his spirit.”

Over time, Chrissie has become increasingly focused on political activism, vocally supporting the environmental movement and vegetarianism.

Chrissie was a close friend of Linda McCartney’s, and she remains a pal of Paul’s.

“I can claim the distinction of being the world’s biggest Beatles fan ever,” she says. “I can still do all their autographs.”

She has a shared passion for animal rights with the couple.

“I just don’t understand those meat eaters,” she says.

“How can they justify eating those beautiful animals?