It's been more than two decades since he achieved pop fame, but Marilyn hasn't left the building, he tells Peter Hackney.

Marilyn Monroe died in 1962, but the year that saw the screen goddess consigned to history would give rise to another famous Marilyn: Peter Robinson. Born just three months after Ms Monroe's death, Robinson would gain international fame as cross-dressing singer ‘Marilyn', a fabulous pop star at the vanguard of the early 1980s gender-bender movement.

By 1983, Marilyn – already well-established on the London drag scene as a more glamorous counterpoint to his best friend Boy George – topped charts around the world with ‘Calling Your Name', a song that stands as one of the decade's biggest singles. Such was Marilyn's star wattage that when the world's biggest musical acts united for 1984's Band Aid project to ‘feed the world', Marilyn was alongside U2, Culture Club, The Police and George Michael singing ‘Do They Know It's Christmas?', the movement's seminal single.

All of which might come as a surprise to pop fans today who may well ask: “Marilyn who?”

“What would I say to someone who asks ‘Marilyn who?'? Get an education, that's what,” says the singer. “I feel sorry for music fans today because the industry now is so bland. They don't have people like me any more! If you're not some boyband person wearing sneakers and jeans, who a nice girl can take home to Mummy for tea and scones, then you're nobody. But I don't care! I'm still a star! Who wants to be the nice boy who gets taken home to Mother?”

Speaking to SX from his own mother's home in the English countryside, where he's been based for some years, ‘Maz' (as he's known for short) wants the world to know that he's still very much alive and kicking. “They've said all sorts about me over the years. Popbitch, that website, they reported that I was dead, that I had a heroin overdose. Just wishful thinking, I'm afraid. I'm still here! Hahahahahaha!” he cackles.

Heroin, Marilyn admits now, played a large part in his demotion from A-list star. The early to mid '80s saw the singer develop a colossal habit for the drug, which he satiated with endless drug binges, often in the company of Boy George.

“George introduced me to heroin,” Marilyn recounts. “He took me to New York where we had massive binges. I tried to say no, but it was very hard. Who can resist temptation when it's in your face every day?”

Inevitably, Marilyn's habit led to a Fleet Street bounty on his head, with pictures of the star ‘chasing the dragon' pursued with vigour. While the hacks never managed to catch him, Scotland Yard had better luck and, in July 1986, Marilyn appeared in London's Marylebone Magistrates Court on charges of heroin possession along with Kevin O'Dowd, Boy George's brother. The incident sparked a media frenzy over Marilyn and George's drug use, which hit fever pitch when American musician Michael Rudetsky was found dead in George's London home the following month; the victim of a heroin overdose.

“It was George whose career should have been ruined by heroin, not mine!” Marilyn insists. “I'm not the one who had people dropping dead in my home from overdoses!”

Still, Marilyn has high praise for George, who he considers a close friend: “We still catch up and speak on the phone,” he says. “I am a very forgiving person. He's said so many nasty things about me in the press and in his books, but deep down, we'll always be soulmates. I love George. He has a good heart and he knows I do too. Not many people understand each other like we do ... We have a history in common.”

Marilyn's largesse doesn't extend to other gender-benders of the '80s, however (“They were playing catch-up with me and George,” he opines), particularly Steve Strange who, in an interview with SX in September, called Marilyn “a heroin addict who lives with his Mum”.

“Yes, I read that online, and I have two words for him: glass houses. Mr Strange obviously haven't heard that saying about throwing stones.”

So what of Marilyn today, who emerged from obscurity a few years ago to perform several shows in London, winning an award for ‘PA of the Year 2001' in the process? “I'm doing some recording in Jamaica next year,” he says. “And I'm looking at doing some new shows in London. There's still a lot of interest out there.”

A musical duet is also on the agenda if he has his way: “Diana Ross or Kylie would be nice,” he says. “Or maybe a duet with George. We're the Blanche and Baby Jane of pop. He's Baby Jane, of course.

“I'd like to come back to Australia,” says the singer who, on his '80s Australian promo tour, was punched in the face by a ‘fan' at the now-defunct Albury Hotel. (He left Australia in a huff, ranting, “All Australians are animals!”)

“It would be nice to perform at Mardi Gras. Can you put Mardi Gras in touch with me? If they offer to fly me over and put me up in a hotel, I'll consider it.”

Marilyn's official website, Maz on the Web, is at: http://mazontheweb.5u.com/nuova_grafica/entrance.html

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