Kirsty MacColl

[Low D]

Ewan had no relevance in the story, that's why. Famously, when Kirsty brought him a copy of "Kite" to listen to, he read the lyric sheet, pronounced his approval of the "text" and showed not the slightest inclination to LISTEN to the album.

I always got the impression he was a bit of a cranky bugger. Would that be a fair assessment, Mr. C? I love some of his songs, but I had no idea what he was like in his relationship with Kirsty.

I think it's fair to say they were reconciled before his death, but yes, he was a hard man to please, and he seems to have especially hated that Capitalist Narcotic we know as "pop music". I think it's also fair to say that Kirsty did not pick up her own periodic stubborness off the ground.

I don't mind Kirsty, I lvoe her voice and her lyrics, but her music is just not so much my bag of tea, i spose. A few songs i love, but the rest is just too, well, poppy, i guess. The exception,is her styff with/backed by the Pogues. Put all together, it's almost an album worth of material too!

[Jon]

Sad news about the Kirsty Campaign, I hope they achieved everything else they set to achieve at the start of it all.

Other than the legacy of his output, this image of Ewan sticks in my mind at the mention of his name, probably a bit unfair - but I find it funny

[Spider Stacy]

I got a phone call from Jean, Kirsty's mum. This is the gist of what she said. A sad day.

Justice for Kirsty Campaign

5 December 2009

The committee which has led the fight to achieve justice for Kirsty MacColl has agreed to cease campaigning. It will disband and stop collecting money to fund its activities. The remaining funds will be distributed to charities of which Kirsty would have approved.

The committee recently received news that the Mexican government have closed their case file on Kirsty’s death, and regard this as the end of the matter. They said they had exhausted all avenues of investigation and taken statements and affidavits from many witnesses. None of these had led to further information as to who may have been implicated, apart from the boat hand Cen Yam, who had already been convicted of causing the accident.

Once the case was closed there was virtually nothing left for the committee to campaign for. We are not able to bring any more pressure on the Mexicans than we have achieved already.

After Kirsty’s tragic death in Cozumel, Mexico in December 2000, her mother, Jean MacColl, launched the Justice for Kirsty campaign. Its primary purpose was to establish whether the Mexican judicial system had investigated the case sufficiently thoroughly for Kirsty’s family, friends and fans to accept that justice had been done in accounting for her untimely death. It did so by rallying the outrage and anger at the accident, and raised funds to allow Jean and the committee to pay for lawyers, and to approach governments at the highest level.

The committee was successful in achieving most of its aims. The Mexican government was compelled to re-open its enquiries after pressure from the campaign and the British government exposed the clumsy cover-up that followed the accident. In the unstable circumstances in Mexico in recent years, it is unlikely that any more could be achieved: the case has been re-examined very thoroughly.

Jean intends to continue working in a personal capacity to raise public awareness of the key issues in the campaign: committee members have pledged their informal support for her efforts. She wishes to thank everyone who has contributed in any way to helping her and the campaign. The support of The Pogues and Billy Bragg have been especially important in increasing the public profile of the campaign.

The two charities receiving the remaining campaign funds are:

• Casa Alianza Mexico, which provides care and rehabilitation for homeless children and others at risk in Mexico

• Cuba Music Solidarity, which Kirsty had supported enthusiastically.

[Mike from Boston]

Forgive me if this has been answered before. In the US, even if you don't get a conviction in a criminal case, you can still go after the person in civil court
(like the OJ Simpson case). Was this done in Kirsty's case or is it even an option in Mexico?

[Zuzana]

KIRSTY MACCOLL, THE VOICE OF CHRISTMAS



Sunday, December 12, 2010
Jane Clinton
Express.co.uk

Saturday will be the 10th anniversary of the death of Fairytale Of New York singer Kirsty MacColl. In exclusive interviews, her family members speak to Jane Clinton about how her music and her love sustain them still

IT WAS a tragic end for a woman whose life was so full of promise.

The singer, songwriter and wit Kirsty MacColl was thriving professionally and personally when she was killed on December 18, 2000 by a power boat while scuba diving with her sons in a restricted diving area off Cozumel, Mexico.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of her death and for the family she left behind, including her two grown-up sons Louis and Jamie, ex-husband music producer Steve Lillywhite and her mother Jean, Christmas is understandably a time of mixed emotions.

The song Fairytale Of New York, on which she duetted with Shane MacGowan and is so associated with the season, is a constant reminder of the woman they lost.

"I just feel lucky regardless of what happened, " says Louis, now 24, who lives in London with his brother Jamie, now 25. "I feel lucky that there is a legacy.

It's possible to hear her voice every Christmas whenever I want. I still listen to her album Tropical Brainstorm all the time and so many people don't have that.

I have music videos and there are so many songs, that it's like she's still around.

"Sometimes I find it difficult to listen to her music but if I am feeling sorry for myself I will stick on an album and it will give me the boost that I need. It does make me happy. When something really bad happens, and it was horrible and quite obviously a life-changing experience, you wallow for a while.

"I was 14 when it happened. I was not always completely fine with everything, but one thing that has really helped me along the way is knowing that there are so many people who have it so much worse.

"I cannot wallow in self-pity because you have only got to turn on the television to see the atrocities that go on."
In 2000, Kirsty was enjoying a new phase of her life. Musically she was thriving. She had a new partner, James Knight, and things were going well for her.

"She was a great mum and just before she was killed, all the problems of writer's block and stage fright that she had experienced in the past had pretty much passed, " says Steve, 55, from his New York home. "She was loving touring and loving playing and the future was very rosy."

STEVE, WHO has worked with U2 and The Smiths, had started a new life and family in New York when the accident happened. "I got the phone call and I had to get to my boys, " he says. "It was too late for me to get a commercial flight so I phoned Chris Blackwell of Island Records and he provided me with a plane and I flew down.

"I can always remember walking into this room and they sat watching television and giggling nervously. You have to remember that these were only boys of 14 and 15, and James was young."

Steve met Kirsty, the daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl, in 1983 when he was producing Simple Minds. She was, he admits, a "fiery redhead".

"She said what she thought when she thought it and often ruffled feathers. It was because of her talent that she was popular."

They had a star-studded wedding in 1984 with guests including Bono and Frankie Goes To Hollywood. The marriage broke down, however, and they divorced in 1994.

Relations were difficult between the couple but they decided to improve things after the death of Princess Diana.
"We agreed that we would put aside our differences for the sake of the children just in case something like that happened to one of us, " he says. It was to be a decision Steve is very glad they made, and although time has moved on, he admits he still misses Kirsty greatly. "What I miss is having Kirsty around to talk about Jamie and Louis's successes and failures. I would love to be able to share that with her but I can't."

Today, Jamie and Louis live in West London with three housemates. Jamie followed his father into the music industry and manages the Brit award-winner Ellie Goulding. He prefers not to talk of the accident.

Louis has graduated, speaks fluent French and is working temporarily in a luxury food store in West London.
The pair, according to Steve, were offered therapy at the time of the accident but decided they did not need it.
Nor did Kirsty's mother, Jean, who lives near her two grandsons. However, she admits she cannot rest until she discovers exactly what happened 10 years ago.

Although her Justice For Kirsty Campaign was wound up officially last year, Jean continues to seek the truth about her daughter's death. Controversy surrounds who was driving the boat at the time, the speed it was travelling at and why it had allegedly veered into the restricted area.

The boat that killed Kirsty belonged to wealthy Guillermo Gonzalez Nova, head of one of Mexico's largest companies Comercial Mexicana.

In 2003 a boathand, Juan Jose Cen Yam, was found guilty of negligent homicide and sentenced to two years and 10 months in jail but was freed after the trial judge allowed him to pay a fine of just £61. Jean is convinced the man was a scapegoat.

"I'll never have peace and what angers me is that I am getting on for my 88th year and her life was cut short at 41, " she says. "I would have gone willingly first if that could have happened. It was an accident that should never have happened.

"In the end £61 was the amount Kirsty's life was considered to be worth. I had to tell my grandchildren that on Mother's Day and I will never forgive the culprits for that."

Despite this pain, Jean, Jamie, Louis and Steve draw huge comfort from the music fans who come to celebrate Kirsty's birthday on the Sunday closest to the date on October 10. Their meeting place, London's Soho Square, pays homage to a song she wrote of the same name, and a bench stands as a tribute to Kirsty.

"We like to get together to celebrate her birthday with all the fans and we really have a party, " says Louis who has a girlfriend who works in the music industry. "Her fans are unbelievable, people come from as far away as Australia and Sweden, and they actually organise their holiday around the event. It is fantastic and I am totally honoured and privileged to be around these people year after year, they are amazing."

On the anniversary of Kirsty's death the mood is more sombre. "On the 18th, when mum died, I will sometimes light a candle and play a few songs with my granny but I try not to dwell on that particular date too much, " says Louis.

THIS CHRISTMAS he will spend it with Jamie, Steve and Jean, who Louis refers to as his "rock", a "warrior" and an "inspiration" as she continues to write and teach despite suffering from gradual loss of sight because of macular degeneration.

"Throughout everything she has been amazing, " he adds. Indeed Jean has admitted she took on a motherly role to her grandsons.

"I am the only woman in our little family but I do my best, " explains Jean who will be teaching movement classes in London's Swiss Cottage in January.

"We are happy together but there is a person missing and that is very, very obvious. Christmas will never be the same."

Louis who will be cooking Christmas lunch, however, is heartened that Fairytale Of New York is still so loved.
"I find it fantastic that it still gets a chart position, " he adds. "People say to me that it is the only Christmas song they don't get sick of. I don't know if they say this to me because it is by my mum but I'd like to think they really mean it, as I have to agree."

For information about Jean's classes taking place in January please contact: jennyfrankel.laban@gmail.com

Copyright ©2006 Northern and Shell Media Publications.

[Guest]

10 years ago today. RIP Kirsty MacColl - 10/10/59-18/12/00. Thank you for Free world, Fairytale of NY and They dont know. Your legend lives on.

[firehazard]

RIP Kirsty. Eleven years, never forgotten.

[cagliostro]

I love Kirsty's stuff and am sad there are no albums coming out anymore from her. She had a very distinctive voice - one that I keep finding in things I listened to for years before I came to recognize her. I've never been able to marry her look with her voice, though. She always seemed to look very girly while her voice and lyrics were always so biting.

[FAY]

http://www.roughtrade.com/albums/71233

Kirsty Maccoll
A New England
Record Store Day 2013 Release. Kirsty MacColl's version of one of Mr Billy Braggs finest ever compositions, A New England, was originally available on Stiff Records. Produced by her then-husband Steve Lillywhite, it was Kirsty's biggest chart hit, reaching number seven in the UK in early 1985. The standard seven inch was available in two picture sleeves, by far the most common of which featured a monochrome portrait of Kirsty. Much more scarce was the sleeve featuring a man hoisting a Union Jack flag among the ruins of a bombed-out building. For Record Store Day 2013, it is Salvo / Stiffs resounding pleasure to reissue this wonderful record in its rarest colours in an individually numbered, limited run of 500 pieces on blue vinyl. The original b-side was 'Patrick'. Salvo elected to use 'I'm Going Out With An Eighty Year Old Millionaire' instead. Its a typically humorous MacColl composition with a marked Caribbean influence that was previously only available on vinyl on the b-side of the 12 inch single.

[Tal]

http://www.roughtrade.com/albums/71233

Kirsty Maccoll
A New England
Record Store Day 2013 Release. Kirsty MacColl's version of one of Mr Billy Braggs finest ever compositions, A New England, was originally available on Stiff Records. Produced by her then-husband Steve Lillywhite, it was Kirsty's biggest chart hit, reaching number seven in the UK in early 1985. The standard seven inch was available in two picture sleeves, by far the most common of which featured a monochrome portrait of Kirsty. Much more scarce was the sleeve featuring a man hoisting a Union Jack flag among the ruins of a bombed-out building. For Record Store Day 2013, it is Salvo / Stiffs resounding pleasure to reissue this wonderful record in its rarest colours in an individually numbered, limited run of 500 pieces on blue vinyl. The original b-side was 'Patrick'. Salvo elected to use 'I'm Going Out With An Eighty Year Old Millionaire' instead. Its a typically humorous MacColl composition with a marked Caribbean influence that was previously only available on vinyl on the b-side of the 12 inch single.

http://www.kirstymaccoll.com/2013/newengland2013.jpg



Think I own a copy of said Union flag 12" version.Had no idea it was rare.

[Doktor Avalanche]

All I Ever Wanted: The Anthology



(from Amazon UK) With a delightful, highly dexterous voice, a delicious sense of humour informing a songwriting flair that could revival any of her contemporaries, Kirsty MacColl enjoyed a sparkling career spanning over twenty years before her tragic and untimely passing in 2000. This thoughtfully-curated selection makes for a detailed study of that career, one that draws together all the hits, album cuts, rare b-sides, live sessions and more. The accompanying, fully illustrated 32-page booklet features generous and insightful notes.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IAOAYQS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00IAOAYQS&linkCode=as2&tag=sliupeyethele-21

[Low D]

Stumbled across this piece by Phil about Kirsty, originally published 2001, republished last month.

https://www.hotpress.com/music/kirsty-maccoll-60-revisiting-philip-chevrons-tribute-beloved-singer-songwriter-22791228


10 OCT 19

Kirsty MacColl at 60: Revisiting Philip Chevron's tribute to the beloved singer-songwriter
The Hot Press Newsdesk

To celebrate what would have been Kirsty MacColl's 60th birthday, we're revisiting Philip Chevron's reflections on her life and legacy, originally published in Hot Press in 2001.

South Of France, 1988: The jacket, with its silver and black chevrons, had pleaded with me from the window for two days, like some wimpering puppy in a pet shop. Finally, the jacket and the contents of Monsieur s wallet changed hands.

On parade in the dressing room later, Kirsty took time out from the ritual, therapeutic construction of her hairdo to cast a doubtful eye over the garment. Her face brightened as she isolated the cause of her unease: with a single tug, the eminent designer s name, ostentatiously attached to the left sleeve, was among the debris in an adjacent ashtray. Now, she announced, you got yourself a jacket! I still have.

In The Pogues, we were fortunate that Kirsty accompanied us on tour as often as her priorities (her boys, Jamie and Louis) allowed. Unmistakably, the tour bus was a classier joint with her on board, as she genuinely brought out the best in everyone. Hotel bars at four in the morning were good too: a solicitous Kirsty holding forth to whichever Pogue she had not yet managed to drink under the table about the dangers of The Lifestyle.

She shared our insatiable musical curiosity and our appetite for hair-brained schemes. A folk-punk opera, say, or an all-Pogue recording of West Side Story. We did get as far as doing a brace of Cole Porter songs together for her husband, Steve Lillywhite's Red, Hot And Blue project. She performed Miss Otis Regrets like an Antipodean death-ballad and made it sound like that had been Porter's intention all along. And then there was her strangely irreplaceable performance of 'Fairytale'.

"I could have been someone". The rueful sound of Shane MacGowan cursing the emigrant's luck. This was it, the moment when, every night without fail, the tear ducts would do battle with the heartstrings. Two thousand, ten thousand voices raised in reproach, united with our flame-haired cheerleader, our big sister, the Maureen O Hara of our brighter dreams: "Well so could anyone!!"

I would try to catch her eye in the midst of the moment and would sometimes be rewarded with a conspiratorial wink: it was an open secret that chronic stage fright had long since separated Kirsty from her public. Now, kidding herself that she was somehow camouflaged by this octet of ramshackle guys she became, well, Kirsty Galore. She made short work of the nightly challenge of waltzing with Mac during the duet and then added her warmth to 'Dirty Old Town', a song which, since it was written by her father and not Brian Wilson, she'd had to learn just like the rest of us.

The apple doesn't fall very far from the tree, or so they say. But perhaps it was her need to undermine that very assumption that drove Kirsty to forge quite such an original and unique place for herself as a songwriter. Ewan MacColl, though he wrote many a fine song, did not have the sort of suburban-London worldview that could produce 'You Broke My Heart In Seventeen Places (Shepherd's Bush Was Only One)', 'Don't Come The Cowboy With Me, Sonny Jim' or 'There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis'. How great a songwriter was she? Just ask MacGowan, Morrissey or Billy 'New England' Bragg for a start: those guys thought she was the best. Lesser writers thought she was not bad for a girl.

Like Billy, Shane, Joe Strummer and myself, Kirsty began her recording career in the Seventies at Chiswick Records in Camden Town. She was singer Mandy Doubt with the Drug Addix, Croydon contemporaries of The Damned and Johnny Moped who were also, indeed, on the label. But her lustre did not really become apparent until They Don t Know , her first solo single for Stiff Records. The exact moment I fell in love with Kirsty MacColl was just 113 seconds into first hearing that record on the radio

BA-I-BE-Y!!

A moment so perfect in pop music that when, four years later, Tracey Ullman covered the song (reaching No.2 on the charts), she did not trouble herself to compete with it; she simply had Kirsty do it again.

Fast forward to Kirsty's final single, the wonderful 'In These Shoes', and she's still a tough act to follow, as Bette Midler's oddly mirthless cover of the song confirms. Galore, a 1995 collection of the best of 16 years of Kirsty's pop masterpieces, finally gave her something like the album sales she deserved. But some of her other albums, in particular Electric Landlady and Kite, are indispensable.

If you'd dropped in on her at home in the past few years, you'd have found the kitchen table stacked with countless Cuban music CDs along with advanced Spanish and Portuguese grammars. A passion that began with the single My Affair in 1991 was about to blossom into the astoundingly accomplished Tropical Brainstorm album. It was not quite her swansong, though.

For some time, Kirsty had been enthusiastic about a stage show myself and Declan Lynch have been writing, called Jack Rooney: In Person. Last month, with characteristic generosity, she agreed to perform one of the principal roles in our recording of the score. She bestowed on the character all the wit, warmth, resilience and tenderness Declan and I had dared hope for.

One looks for small consolations at times like these. Mine is that the last time I saw her, she was happy with life, happy in matters of the heart (the charming James Knight), happy with her work (including her imminent BBC Radio 2 series on Cuban music) and happy to be spending Christmas in Mexico with James and her two sons.

Thanks, Kirsty, Thank You For The Days.

Philip Chevron, Nottingham, January 13, 2001

[Mike from Boston]

Thanks for posting this.

[Low D]

Billy Bragg shares his memories of the late singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/q/wednesday-no ... -1.5374052

[Robert Calvin]

I always try and make it to this, it's a lovely thing Kirsty's fans do for her.

I was also trying to create this.