Lanah P (born 1959) is an

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

English entertainer. Previously billed as Alan Pellay, Al Pillay, Al-ana Pellay, and Lana Pellay, Pillay starred in ''

The Comic Strip Presents The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The c ...

'' and as Alex in the 1987 film ''

Eat the Rich "Eat the rich" is a political slogan associated with anti-capitalism and left-wing politics, especially including anarchism. The phrase is commonly attributed to political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from a quote first popularized during t ...

''.

Early life

Pillay was born near the docks of

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...

and was the youngest of six children; her mother was a cleaner of Bajan descent; her father, of Indian descent, was an engineer on the

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets tha ...

Career

Working men's clubs

Pillay left school at 15 and went to

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, where she befriended Northern drag performers Bunny Lewis and Frank "Foo Foo" Lammar. Pillay impersonated

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the James Bond music, theme songs to three James Bond films - the only artist to officially perform more than o ...

Eartha Kitt Eartha Mae Kitt (née Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress. She was known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Baby" ...

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...

Cleo Laine Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth (born Clementine Dinah Hitching; 28 October 1927) is an English singer and actress known for her scat singing. She is the widow of jazz composer and musician Sir John Dankworth and the mother of bassist Alec D ...

, and

Dorothy Squires Dorothy Squires (born Edna May Squires, 25 March 1915 – 14 April 1998) was a Welsh singer. Her early successes were achieved with " The Gypsy", " A Tree in the Meadow" and " I'm Walking Behind You" by her partner Billy Reid, and " Say It w ...

in full drag, with no microphone, and was booked into the

working men's club Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland, Northern Ireland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education ...

s throughout the

North of England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. Officially, it is a gr ...

, as well as the

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

club circuit.

Disco diva

During a lull in Pillay's drag career, while managing the Black Market Café in

Levenshulme Levenshulme () is an area of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, bordering Fallowfield, Longsight, Gorton, Burnage, Heaton Chapel and Reddish, halfway between Stockport and Manchester city centre on the A6 road (England), A6. Levenshulm ...

and renting a room from ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' actor

Alan Rothwell Alan Rothwell (born 9 February 1937) is an England, English actor and television presenter. He played David Barlow (Coronation Street), David Barlow in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' as a regular from 1960 to 1961, and again from 1963 t ...

, Pillay was introduced to Kay Carroll and

Mark E Smith Mark Edward Smith (5 March 1957 – 24 January 2018) was an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead vocalist, lyricist and only constant member of the post-punk group the Fall. Smith formed the band after attending the June 1976 Sex Pistol ...

of The Fall. Pillay formed her own band, the I Scream Pleasures, who subsequently appeared as guest support at Fall gigs. Pillay also recorded with

Adrian Sherwood Adrian Maxwell Sherwood (born 20 January 1958) is an English record producer specialising in the genre of dub music. He has created a distinctive production style based on the application of dub effects and dub mixing techniques to other forms ...

and his dub label,

On-U Sound On-U Sound Records is an English record label known for releasing its own unique flavour of dub music since the 1980s. The label was founded by Adrian Sherwood in 1979/1980 and is home to acts such as Tackhead, Dub Syndicate, African Head Ch ...

, recording the track

post punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

punk funk Punk funk (also hyphenated as punk-funk) is a music fusion genre that typically combine punk rock and funk influences. It gave way to and is closely associated with dance-punk, avant-funk, and funk metal, all of which are also alternatively de ...

industrial music tune "Parasitic Machine" for an early compilation. The sound engineer was Mark Lusardi, who had previously worked with

Creation Rebel ''Creation Rebel'' is a 2004 compilation album by reggae artist Burning Spear. Track listing #"Door Peeper" #"This Race" #"This Population" #"Bad to Worst" #"New Civilization" #"Pick Up The Pieces" #"Zion Higher" #"Swell Headed" #"Foggy Road" ...

. Pillay metamorphosed into a disco diva as the hormone-popping

transsexual A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (incl ...

Lana Pellay, dressed in costumes by her close friend

Leigh Bowery Leigh Bowery (26 March 1961 – 31 December 1994) was an Australian performance artist, club promoter, and fashion designer. Bowery's performances featured striking costumes and make-up and were conceptual, flamboyant, outlandish, and sometime ...

, enjoying a top 40 single in Australia and New Zealand with "Pistol in My Pocket". She also accompanied

Gary Clail Gary Clail (born 1959) is an English singer and record producer, and the founder of the Gary Clail Sound System. He was part of On-U Sound Records (and also the On-U Sound System) and led Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System. They had a big hit ...

on his 1991 hit "

Human Nature Human nature comprises the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of Thought, thinking, feeling, and agency (philosophy), acting—that humans are said to have nature (philosophy), naturally. The term is often used to denote ...

", singing the couplet "Let the carnival begin... Every pleasure, every sin!"

TV and film career

While living in

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

, west London, Pillay met Keith Allen, who invited Pillay to appear on the first programme aimed at a youth audience on the recently launched

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

network. There, Pillay met his champion, Peter Richardson. The latter was an actor, comedian, writer and director for ''

'' who wrote parts for her in the episodes "Susie", "Gino", " The Bullshitters" and the feature-length film ''

The Supergrass ''The Supergrass'' is a 1985 British comedy film directed by Peter Richardson (who also plays a major role) who also wrote the screenplay with Pete Richens. The film stars Adrian Edmondson, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith Allen, Nigel P ...

''. Pillay played Ray in "Susie" (episode 8), Themself (as Alan Pellay) in "Gino: Full Story and Pics" (episode 10), Themself (as Alana Pellay) in '' The Bullshitters'' (episode 13), Mary (as Lana Pellay) in the film ''

'' and Women's Clothing Shop Employee in "Consuela (Or 'The New Mrs Saunders')" (episode 14). Richardson also wrote the lead part for Pillay in the 1987 feature film ''

''. Following ''The Comic Strip'', Pillay became a film critic on the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

late night chat show ''Funky Bunker'', alongside

Craig Charles Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2 ...

Theatre and cabaret

As Al Pillay, she performed in a one-person play, ''Glitter & Twisted'', based on her life and written by

Tim Fountain Tim Fountain (born 23 December 1967) is a British writer. Early life Fountain was born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. An only child, he was brought up in a pub in the village of West Ardsley, West Yorkshire. He was educated at Batley Grammar ...

, which had its premiere at the Beckett Theater on 42nd Street as part of the first Manhattan Musical Theatre Festival. She also appeared in her own cabaret show, ''A Life in Song'', at Pizza on the Park and the Café De Paris in London. Her cabaret performance has been released as a double CD. In 2012, she played the title role of the Welsh singer

on stage in ''Mrs Roger Moore''.

Discography

Singles

*"Pistol in My Pocket" (1986) – UK No. 96, AUS No. 17, N.B. the Kent Report chart was licensed by

ARIA In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988. NZ No. 40 *"I Can Make a Man Out of You" (1986) *"Pistol In My Pocket (Vince Clarke Erasure Mix)" (2018) *"Winter of Love" (2019) *"Human Race" (2020) *"Ghosts of Christmas Past" (2020)

References

External links

Youtube channel "Lana's Story Land"

Entry in IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanah P 1959 births English entertainers Black British actresses Living people Actors from Grimsby English people of Irish descent English people of Trinidad and Tobago descent English people of South African descent English people of Spanish descent English people of Sri Lankan descent Actresses from Lincolnshire Black British LGBTQ people Black British women comedians Black British comedians Comedians from Lincolnshire