An Old Raincoat Will Never Let You Down

NEW YORK — After the interview is over, Ana da Silva gives me a crash course on Portugese politics. Portugal is her homeland and she retains the charmingly arch inflections when she speaks, telling of the Raincoats' tour there in February 1982 — introducing her friends to her family, her family to her band, and her country to the eclectic charms of a first rate band. To compound the unusual with the confusing, Portugal's musical youth weren't used to women leaders: in the holiday resorts the showbands might well have a female singer, but those are the nomadic, ex-beauty contestants from Birmingham or Marseilles who always seem to end up mixing love for tender. Not three ordinary, intelligent, obsessed musicians who consider the U.K. and America sexist societies, let alone the once Arab colony of Portugal.