SHE was the ultimate wild child. With her band Transvision Vamp, Wendy James was the pop punk poster girl of the late Eighties.

The singles I Want Your Love and Baby I Don't Care both made the top 10 and James was never out of the spotlight.

Now she's back with a new solo album which has just been entered for a Mercury Music Prize and a date headlining Darwen Live on Sunday.

"Darwen Live sounds really cool," said Wendy, "I'm really looking forward to it and I'm grateful for the opportunity to come along."

Speaking to Wendy at her flat in Paris, it's clear that she is excited as ever about her music.

For her new album, The Price of the Ticket, Wendy assembled what she describes as her dream line-up of musicians including Glen Matlock on bass and guitarist Lenny Kaye. Fans have also been involved in funding the release through Pledgemusic

"I'd got two Stooges, one Patti Smith group, one from the Bad Seeds and a Sex Pistol. They were a dream to work with," she said.

For Darwen, her live band will feature drummer James Sclavunos of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and guitarist Louis Eliot who regularly tours with Grace Jones.

"James is something to behold," she laughed. "You don't really need me there, you can just watch him. He's a real showman."

Critics agree that The Price of the Ticket is arguably Wendy's best work of her career.

"I was on a mission with this album," she said, "and all the musicians knew what we were trying to achieve."

With the album being considered for the Mercury Prize Wendy is perhaps only now being recognised for her abilities as a musician rather than for being a personality.

"When you are younger you kind of batten down the hatches and don't really care about anyone else," she said. "But as you get older you are more comfortable in your own skin and don't feel threatened by other stuff and be can be more generous.

"I think you just get to the point where you are doing what you want to do.

"Looking back I think Transvision Vamp was a very honest reflection of what it was to be a 17 or 18-year-old girl who really wanted to be famous.

"Now I'm obviously a few years older and there's no reason to do something unless I'm really into it.

"I do cringe plenty of times when I think back but I don't regret it. It's like anyone else looking at old photos of themselves.

"I don't regret it and I wouldn't want to take back any of it. It's part of who I am and part of the journey that's got me to where I am today."

Wendy was in her teens when she first set out with Transvision Vamp with the band breaking through when she was just 20.

"In a way I've done my career back to front," she said. "Usually people stay in their bedrooms they practice, they form a band and struggle and 10 years later maybe something comes along for them.

"There was a lot of hard work in Transvision Vamp but our rise to fame was fairly swift and we didn't really have to grind away for five or six years. It just kind of happened.

"After that mega curve of success I went back to the bedroom and started learning what it actually was that I did with my life."

Fans will be pleased to know Wendy has some treats in store for Darwen Live.

"Oh, the set will include some Transvision Vamp stuff," she said. "I can tell you I'll definitely be doing I Want Your Love and Baby I Don't Care.

"It's going to be fun and I want to get out there and have a look around. What the hell it's a Bank Holiday."

Wendy James headlines the main stage at Darwen Live on Sunday at 8.45pm.