Kirsty MacColl: Thank You For The Days

I miss her a lot too. My partner and I were just talking about "New England."

OP, I just posted about her in another thread! She was fabulous. Fwiw, I think one of her sons is definitely family.

Hers was truly a tragic, senseless death.

She and her sons were on vacation scuba-diving when a Mexican millionaire ran his boat right at them, injuring her son and killing her. He was speeding and the boat had trespassed into waters that were supposed to be off-limits to boats, due to fact that the area was used for scuba-divers.

A deckhand named Jose Cen Yam claimed he was the one driving the boat when it struck Maccoll. All the evidence pointed to the millionaire, but the Cen Yam was convicted of her culpable homicide and was sentenced to 2 years 10 months in prison. He was allowed under Mexican law to pay a punitive fine of 1,034 pesos (about $90) in lieu of the prison sentence. He was also ordered to pay approximately $2,150 in restitution to MacColl's family, an amount based on his wages. People who said they spoke to Cen Yam after the accident said he received money for taking the blame. What a travesty.

I miss her too--listened to her final album the other day. What's the other thread?

R2 was that you in the Tracey Ullman thread?

I've been a fan of hers for years but apparently missed the release last year of a documentary about her music career.

Just saw it this week...this makes me so, so happy to see.

I've noticed that the BBC had had no compunction in playing "you cheap lousy faggot" in recent days. I guess no one gives a fuck anymore. For the record I like the song but think they could use the word bleeped as they do for all other slurs that Auntie pretends to care about when they're not covering up child abuse scandals.

Was she a lesbian?

The way she died was crazy.

no she wasn't r8 and we're talking about her because she was a kickass songwriter and performer who died way too soon. Everything here doesn't have to be about Beyonce, Tom Hiddleston and Rihanna 24/7.

She was married to Bob Clearmountain wasn't she? Or separated from him when she died. Or was it another record producer.

She wrote and originally performed "They Don't Know" which was Tracey Ullman's big 80's pop hit. That's the Ullman link.

Steve Lillywhite.

that's right r11, thanks.

R5, yes that was me. Always think about Kirsty this time of year. "He's a liar and I'm not sure about you." So many great songs.

I regret not taking the opportunity to see Kirsty live when I had the chance. She was my favourite British artist and was devastated at her sudden death. Coolest chick ever to grace our charts.

My fave female singer. I went swimming where she was killed this past November and she's been on my mind ever since.

This crazy bitch shits her homophobia onto you via radio every christmas and you miss her?

If i were driving that boat I wouldve backed up and hit her again.

Aweeee, I loved her on Empty Nest.

Bye Kristie

Lord, R16, she was not homophobic.

She was singing a lyric in a song, in character, a song that the Pogues wrote. Not everything is literal.

That was a Pogues recording with a guest spot by Kirsty. If Phil Chevron, may he rest in peace, didn't have a problem with the lyric then I don't either. The singers weren't supposed to be omniscient narrators, they were quite flawed drunk young immigrants finding their way in and out of a stormy love affair. I'm positive that the lyrics weren't a reflection of the band's politics.

"His rope, my wrists, I never knew there might be days like this. Oh.... Dream on he says on these Titanic Days..."

Interesting, I didn't know the Irish were such boozers.

I get all MARY! about Kirsty.

Her version of A New England is glorious. The first part of the song is lovely enough, but then she does a brief break where it's all her voice and then kicks it up into the heavens to finish.

Fuck, she was amazing.

MARY!

Oops, forgot the link to A New England.

Her father, Ewan, wrote "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"...

And Phil Robertson is just repeating what he read in the bible, right R18 and R19?

Or does the licence to gay bash only extend to people you point at?

She IS NOT GAY BASHING, you STUPID PIECE OF SHIT.

R24 ...for his mistress, not his wife.

F&F the troll. "A Fairytale Of New York" is perfect, regardless of what rhymes with cheap lousy maggot.

Jesus, her father was a Stalinist, and she'd been in Cuba. Don't give a damn about her politics. She was wonderful, from "Chipshop", thru her work with the Pogues, to her covers of "A New England" and "Days", to "In These Shoes".

Here's to Kirsty, gone, never forgot.

What a tragic, senseless death. Sensible deaths are less tragic.

Walking Down Madison.

Her lyrics were so biting and clever and cruel. She should be a DL patron saint.

This whole song - almost 25 years old - reads today's reality culture for the filth it is. Go, Kirsty, go.

"Suzi Ann with her tits and curls / Where mediocrity excels..."

[quote] Her lyrics were so biting and clever and cruel. She should be a DL patron saint.

Not really. She had lots of heart.

As she replied to charges that her lyrics made her seem cynical, "I'm not, just very very cautious."

She was warm and vulnerable too, R31, but she also knew how to cut a bitch.

Her goodbye song to her husband - Dear John - is heartbreaking. But so ON. THE. MARK.

I'm surprised that her songs haven't been covered more. I'd have expected several sensitive gay boys with acoustic guitars to have covered "Don't Come The Cowboy With Me, Sonny Jim" by now.

I'm so happy others actually know Kirsty I could just pee!

I just couldn't get into her. Didn't dislike her, just never got the attraction.

.

Kelly Willis did a good cover of Don't Come the Cowboy. Not a sensitive gay boy with a guitar, though. More great lines: "Don't be too rough on my cold, cold heart, it's all I've got left to me now. I fell out of favor with heaven somewhere and I'm here for the hell of it now."

Another detail, R3, her last act on earth was to push one of her sons out of the way of the oncoming boat, saving his life. Imagine those kids seeing their mother die like that. Fucking hell.

Thanks to r29 for posting "Walking Down Madison." There was a period in the early 1990s when club music was actually good, and this was one of the songs I liked.

For the poster who claimed Kirsty was homophobic for singing a lyric as a character -- she was one of the artists on the first "Red White + Blues" album, which was a collection of Cole Porter songs performed by pop stars for AIDS research. Kirsty did "Miss Otis Regrets."

Thanks for making me think about her; I hadn't thought of her music in years. When I lived in NYC, I always used to sing "Walking Down Madison" to myself when I was, uh, walking down Madison, which was often, since that's where my office was! I also love "In These Shoes," which always cracks me up. I think she would have been more successful if she had been more consistent. Some of her stuff was brilliant, but some just sounded like filler to me, but her best was incredible.

Her father also wrote Dirty Old Town.

To add to the MARY!-ing about Kirsty, she absolutely makes the Pogues' Lorelei, with her heart-rending backup vocals. A great song already, to be sure, but her wails just make you feel the pain of that lost love long after the song ends.

Ok, that's enough fan-gurling tonight, but I could talk about Kirsty all day. I'm so glad to find a pocket of fans here on DL!

R24, thank you for posting that about her father. I love that song and didn't know who wrote it. About to look it up now.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

I had to google this woman. Im assuming this thread is filled with British dataloungers.

Same OP. Would love to make it to the gathering in London at her bench in Soho Square one year. I really admire her mother Jean for conducting and ultimately winding down the justice for Kirsty campaign with such dignity too. So sad.

I am American, R44.

But your assessment is not inaccurate. MacColl, like many of my favorites, is far better known in the UK than here.

Most people who do know her here beyond her small core group of fans have heard of her because (a) they remember Tracey Ullman covering her song They Don't Know, (b) they've heard Fairytale of New York, or (c) they heard In These Shoes, either in a club, on a TV show, or heard Bette Midler's (hideous) cover of it.

Kirsty is surely now part of the DL pantheon. Her voice is so pure, lyrical and effortless.

I can hardly bear to hear 'Thank You For The Days' or 'Fairytale', specially at this time of year (don't ask) - but I'll probably now get out her 'Greatest' compilation in tribute. Thanks for the thread, OP.

She WAS Amay-zeeng.

She was the youngest emmy winner ever for the HIT series Family starring Ms. Sada Jean Thompson.

She was also DARLING on The Empty Nest series, starring Ms. Dinah Manoff Grant.

SO sorry to hear she passed as last time knew she was working as a hairdresser in the Sears beauty salon?

Not Kristy McNichol you creep.

MacColl is known to American people who listen to a lot of good music.

r46s list isn't exhaustive. She covered Billy Bragg, etc. Her own songs have been used on TV commercials and in shows and movies. People covering her dont do her justice.

I saw her in a small club in NYC in the 1990's and she was phenomenal! She encored with I Wanna Be Sedated. One of only two artists that I went to see alone because my boyfriend was working and none of my friends knew who she was (other artist being Mary Margaret O'Hara at St. Ann's in Brooklyn, and she deserves her own thread!).

Hi r46! Another American Kirsty fan here. I would add to your list that she sang background vocals on a couple of Smiths tracks too. And also on Billy Bragg's Sexuality-- she's in the video too. Love her!

R50 She did the Bragg song, she sang backup for a lot of what her husband produced, and she was a featured singer on a Happy Mondays song, too.

For someone who was such an amazing songwriter, she had a lot of hits with covers - Days (a Kinks song), New England (Billy Bragg), and You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby (a Smiths cover) to name a few. But even cunty Morrissey loved her.

The Smiths' version of "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby" is morose as hell (no surprise).

Kirsty's is fun and far more clever.

Re-listening to Tracey Ullman's version of "They Don't Know".....it's so obvious that Kirsty's voice is all through the backup vocals....

And that is TOTALLY all Kirsty saying BAY-BEE! in the middle of the song.

Years ago, I had to scour every record store in my city to find her greatest hits compilation, "Galore"... It had just come out, but only one place had it, even though the alternative station here (Memphis) had played several of her songs--"Angel" and "Can't Stop KillingYou" mostly.

Few years later I bought her final cd, "Tropical Brainstorm" as an import. It was only a few weeks later when she died. I was pretty crushed.

It's a great cd--I love "Autumngirlsoup" and "England 2 Columbia Nil" but "Us Amazonians" is my favorite. I listen to it all the time.

Galore was spooky - I bought it shortly after she died and there was all these warm comments from Morrissey, Johnny Marr and Bono, and then a comment from Kirsty along the lines of "wow, I heard all these tributes and didn't even have to die."

I'm torn between Tropical Brainstorm and Kite as my favorite. I think Kite is her all time masterpiece, but Brainstorm is a definite triumph, too.

Us Amazonians is great, as is Treachery.

And the funny "Here Comes That Man Again" about a man in the Netherlands who she has cyber sex with, with the fabulous line:

"Who'd have known I'd have as much fun/With an anonymous Dutchman!"

I'm the guy who posted the video for her version of "In These Shoes." I'm an American. She never really was popular here, but there was a moment when a lot of great music was coming out of England -- the Smiths, Joy Division, et al -- so a lot of music buffs discovered her then while seeing what else was out there. And: I didn't know Bette Midler covered "In These Shoes." I don't understand Bette's appeal; she added nothing to the song. Everything she does lacks real humor and subtlety.

[qupte] I don't understand Bette's appeal; she added nothing to the song. Everything she does lacks real humor and subtlety.

You are truly my new best friend.

The fun "Here Comes That Man Again."

Anymore anecdotes? I love this thread

Another favorite of mine talks about Kirsty:

"I wouldn't say we were exactly mates, Kirsty and I, we neither of us got out much, we meant to be but it never really happened but there was a connection and I do have some great memories of her. I was in New York when she was recording Electric Land Lady. She took me to her hotel room to play me her tracks. She was really excited about them. Buzzing. We did some bars together, me and Pete Glenister, Kirsty and Steve Lillywhite. I remember Steve saying how shocking it was that she and I were so similar."

"My other memory is of driving back from a gig one time. I don't remember whose it was or how we got together but we were in a car together singing Burlesque by Family. We both loved that record and happily shared it. The last time I saw her was in Metropolis when I was mixing some tracks for Hometime and she was mastering her new album. She was really happy and we said we'd get together. Soon after we heard the news. Devastating."

- Alison Moyet

She was OK on "Family" but she really showed her comedy flair on "Empty Nest."

OK, that joke MIGHT have been funny the first time, but it's played out now.

Her first flirtation with world music from the mid90s - check those gams out!

How did I NOT know she was in this Talking Heads video?

I loved Kirtsy's quirky singles and british voice. Miss her so much too. She had a comeback album and then she died the same year. I didn't hear about it until later and could not believe it. Such a bizarre and tragic death. So sad for her family.

me saw da

Kirsty MacColl recorded the song the year after its release by Bragg, produced by her then-husband Steve Lillywhite.[3] It was her biggest solo hit - reaching number 7 in the UK Singles Chart[4] and number 8 in the Irish Singles Chart.[5]

Bragg's original version of the song had only two verses. MacColl thought the song was too short, and so Bragg wrote a further two verses for her, which she consolidated into one. Since MacColl's death, Bragg has included the additional verse in performances of the song as a tribute.[6] -- wiki

Glad this thread got bumped. I've been listening to her this week...still love her music so much, and her death is still so very sad. She was freaking brilliant.

Love the video for one of her early songs, "Terry."

Tracey Ullmann covered this one, too.

[quote] I think she would have been more successful if she had been more consistent. Some of her stuff was brilliant, but some just sounded like filler to me,

I couldn't disagree more. Kirsty was very consistent. Not every song was killer, but the killer stuf FAR outweighed the filler (e.g. Designer Life).

Ullman uses the exact same backing track. Stiff Records were cheap cheap cheap.

x

She was kind of fat.

At least we still have Kristy McNichol.

Who is Kristy MacColl?

A Concert for Kirsty MacColl (Live) by Various Artists

Kirsty's son managed Ellie Goulding for a time, which is why she's on that tribute.

I've no idea why Kim Wilde and Andrea Corr both sang "They Didn't Know" at the same tribute.

Eighteen years today.

Still miss her presence so much.

Reposted since R69 is a stinky linky.

She did not take herself seriously at all and it's one of the things I loved about her.