Better blade then never; Razor ad finally wins worldwide fame for Scotland's secret singing superstar.

Byline: BILLY SLOAN

SINGER Angela McCluskey has enjoyed a few close shaves with pop success, but has finally become a global star as the voice of Wilkinson Sword.

Angela is the new toast of Hollywood after recording I'm Not The Girl, the theme song for the best-selling Quattro For Women Bikini Razor.

The US-based Scot is now an internet sensation on both sides of the Atlantic. One million fans have already logged on to view the sexy adverts for the Quattro.

Angela said: "I went into the studio to record I'm Not The Girl for the commercial, but the song was only 30 seconds long.

"The ad campaign features beautiful models carrying razors walking past trees and bushes which transform themselves.

"Suddenly, they were getting more than one million hits on the net. I couldn't believe it.

"Fans kept saying, 'What's that song?' So the company asked me to record a full-length version."

But there is a more serious message and a good cause behind Angela's new-found stardom - she insisted the track be put to good use raising money for charity.

And this year Wilkinson Sword will donate $50,000 from proceeds of sales of their female razor to breast cancer charities.

The cause is close to Angela's heart as, in 1987, her mother Mary died of the disease.

Angela said: "Breast cancer killed my mum so I'm delighted to do anything I can to help raise awareness of this illness.

"Statistics say one in seven women are affected by this disease so I'm happy to pin my colours to the mast to help the cause.

"Instead of just releasing I'm Not The Girl as a commercial single, I thought I would do something a bit different.

"So rather than me getting a pounds 50,000 fee to buy a couple of Prada bags - which would have been nice - we're raising funds for breast cancer care.

"All the people who download the song will make a donation to charity."

Angela, from Dennistoun in Glasgow, added: "I also joined forces with fashion designer Donna Karan in New York to host seminars for breast cancer charities.

"She told me, 'I want to do something really good for women. I don't just want to leave a dress behind'. So she launched the Urban Zen Foundation. Their work involves helping women who go into hospital for chemotherapy have a less traumatic experience. They can stay in a nice room and have aromatherapy treatments to help calm them down. So it's not all cancer, cancer, cancer."

Angela earned her spurs in the music industry working as a publicist for EMI Records in London but in 1991 she quit the UK for Hollywood.

She staged her own gigs - billed as Angela's Big Night Out - in a Tinseltown nightclub and was spotted by Chad Smith, drummer of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, who financed her first demo tape.

Angela is married to film composer Paul Cantelon, who has worked on movies such as W, Oliver Stone's biopic of former US President, George W Bush, and The Diving Bell And The Butterfly.

Her vast circle of showbiz friends include Daryl Hannah, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Stipe of REM and Lisa Marie Presley. Angela said: "Lisa Marie to see my band play and we became good fr "She's been one of my closest mates for ne years. She's a real tomboy. We have a simila of humour and she has a very Scottish w looking at things. e came riends. arly 20 r sense way of "She is making a new record too and I thi will be the one." nk this Angela is also godmother to UK pop sensati Allen, and she said: "I met Lily's father Keith the comedian, in London 20 years ago. We b best friends and I'm godmother to both of his ch "I'm over the moon with the success Li enjoyed. It drives me crazy when people say sh made it because of her dad.

Lily is so talented own right." ion Lily h Allen, became hildren. ily has he only d inher But Grammy-nominated Angela credits lat Mary for inspiring her music career. e mum She said: "I attended Our Lady And St F School and was good at art, writing and spor back then, music was a difficult one. Francis rts. But "At home my mum would say, 'Come on hen, get up and do that Shirley Bassey song for your Auntie Betty.' "I never thought I had a special voice. It was strong and big.

"Then one day in my late 20s I realised I had a very different voice.

"Sadly, my mother had died by then. She had spent years fretting that I hadn't become a singer.

"She would say, 'Look at that Lulu.

You're as good as her.' Now, every time I go on stage I say to myself, 'Mary, this is for you. Are you happy now?' "I changed overnight when she died. Maybe that's where my voice came from.

"Had my mum ever thought I would sing for Bill Clinton, Al Gore and performed alongside Cyndi Lauper, Michael Stipe, Ricky Lee Jones and Daryl Hannah she would have been over the moon.

"Every song I sing I dedicate to her in my head. It stops me getting stage fright."

Angela has released a string of records as a solo artist and also with the groups The Wild Colonials and Telepopmusik.

On September 29 she is releasing a new album whose title gives a direct clue to her Scottish roots - it's called You Could Start A Fight In An Empty House.

"I have been incredibly lucky. If I got hit by a truck tomorrow I would have a smile on my face because I've lived 10 lives and had every dream come true," said Angela.

"I have gone from Bellfield Street in Dennistoun to Madison Square Garden in New York.

"Now, I look out my window at the Hollywood sign and think, 'Well, if this isn't nice, I don't know what is'."

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