It was the moment Wendy Matthews wished she wasn't Wendy Matthews.  Standing at the checkout queue at Kmart with a new garbage bin in hand, the renowned vocalist cringed as the distinctive strains of her signature song, "The Day You Went Away", began to echo through the store sound system.
Those in the queue in front and behind her sang every word as she shuffled her feet and stared at the floor.
She would have like to sing along, particularly as no one had recognised her, but it just wouldn't have been a good look.
It is a fine measure of the Canadian-born singer's success in this country that her songs have become part of contemporary Australian culture.
Her albums have sold hundreds of thousands of copies, concert tours are sold out, and she is respected among her peers not only for her unique voice but also her unwavering stand on a range of issues from AIDS to CD piracy.
Winning the coveted opening slot of the Bee Gees One Night Only concert at Stadium Australia on March 27 also confirms her standing as one of the country's pre-eminent recording performing artists.
As she enters her 10th year as a solo recording artist, Wendy is releasing "Stepping Stones", not a "best of" as such, but a collection of her work to date.

A new song included in the collection is her accomplished rendering of the Carly Simon hit, "I've Got To Have You".  It had been a favourite in her teen years, and Wendy rediscovered it on a friends' recommendation.
"Someone sent me Kris Kristofferson's version, where it sounds like he has had 32 glasses of wine.  It sounded completely different, but I thought, 'Why not? Let's try it.' "
Wendy recorded it with the help of producer/mixer Stuart Crichton, who she met during a Mushroom Music songwriting workshop at Michael Gudinski's country Victorian retreat.
While she has turned her hand to songwriting only relatively recently in her career, the Sydney-based singer has enjoyed radio success with co-written tracks such as "Standing Strong" and "Beloved".
"Until the Mushroom Music songwriting week, I hadn't been able to write with anybody I don't know because feelings of inadequacy."
"I don't ready music, I don't have a clue what key I sing anything in, so if I can't sing a chord and be able to say, 'please find this', then it's really hard to get out what you hear in your head."
Wendy discovered her voice as an adolescent trying to "make a big noise".
"I used to lock myself in my living room and sing along to the records with my brothers trying to crash down the door.
All our lives we're told to be quiet, so as human beings I think it's a big thing to break through the physical thing and let yourself make a big noise.
The first few times I felt that sensation hooked me and I knew I wanted to make it some part of my life."

Kathy McCabe - Sunday Telegraph - 14 February 1999

The Day Wendy Went Shopping