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'Kirsty Anna MacColl' (10 October, 1959 – 18 December, 2000) was a British singer-songwriter.

Contents

Life and career

Death and "Justice for Kirsty" campaign

Death

Justice for Kirsty campaign

Posthumous

Discography

Studio Albums

Album discography

Charted singles

External links

Life and career

Kirsty MacColl was the daughter of dancer Jean Newlove and folk singer Ewan MacColl, and she and her brother Hamish MacColl grew up in Croydon. Her parents separated when she was young, and her father moved out of the family home (later moving in with singer Peggy Seeger).
Her initial career followed a substantially different path from that of her father; she first came to notice when Chiswick Records released an EP by local punk rock band the Drug Addix with MacColl on backing vocals under the pseudonym Mandy Doubt. Stiff Records executives were not impressed with the band, but liked her and subsequently signed her to a solo deal.
Her debut solo single "They Don't Know", released in 1979, was a huge airplay hit in the UK, but a distributors' strike interrupted sales, and the song was unable to sustain momentum for a chart success. After another single, "You Caught Me Out", failed to chart, MacColl felt she lacked Stiff's full backing and moved to Polydor Records in 1981. She had a UK #14 hit with the witty yet meaningful "There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis," taken from her critically acclaimed debut album ''Desperate Character''. Lasting success again failed to materialise, and in 1983, Polydor dropped her just as she had completed recording the songs for a planned second album. She returned to Stiff, where pop singles such as "Terry" and "He's On the Beach" went nowhere but a cover of Billy Bragg's "A New England" in 1985 got to Number 7 in the UK charts. This included two extra verses specially written by Bragg for MacColl.
MacColl was probably most recognizable in the United States as the writer of "They Don't Know". Tracey Ullman's version, helped by a video guest-starring Paul McCartney, reached Number 2 in the UK in 1983 and the Top Ten in North America. (It was also played over the closing credits of Ullman's HBO show ''Tracey Takes On'' for much of the show's run.) Ullman also recorded two more of MacColl's songs, "You Broke My Heart In 17 Places" and "You Caught Me Out", as the title tracks of her first and second albums respectively.
When Stiff went bankrupt in 1986, MacColl was left unable to record in her own right, as no record company bought her contract from the Official Receiver. However, her talents meant she was rarely short of session work as a backing vocalist, and she frequently sang on records produced or engineered by her husband, Steve Lillywhite, including tracks for The Smiths, Talking Heads, Big Country, Annifrid Lyngstad (Frida from ABBA), and The Wonder Stuff amongst others.
MacColl re-emerged in the British charts in December 1987, reaching Number 2 with The Pogues on "Fairytale of New York", a duet with Shane MacGowan. This led to her accompanying The Pogues on their British and European tour in 1988, an experience which she said helped her temporarily overcome her stage fright.
After the contract issue was resolved, MacColl made a comeback as a solo artist and received notice for her work as a songwriter and artist of substance. She received considerable acclaim upon the release of ''Kite'' (LP) in 1989. The album was widely praised by critics, and featured collaborations with David Gilmour and Johnny Marr. MacColl's lyrics addressed life in Margaret Thatcher's Britain on "Free World", ridiculed the vapidity of fame in "Fifteen Minutes", and addressed the vagaries of love in "Don't Come The Cowboy With Me, Sonny Jim!" Although ''Kite'' contained many original compositions, MacColl's biggest chart success from the album would be the cover of The Kinks' song "Days", which gave her a UK Top 20 hit. A bonus track on the CD version of ''Kite'' was a cover of the Smiths song "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby". Despite being an acclaimed songwriter in her own right, MacColl's success with these songs, as well as her version of "A New England", garnered her a reputation as being a "cover queen".
During this time, MacColl was also featured on the British sketch comedy ''French and Saunders'', appearing as herself and singing songs, including "15 Minutes" (from ''Kite''), "Girls On Bikes" (a reworking of B-side "Am I Right?" and, with comedy duo Raw Sex, the Frank and Nancy Sinatra hit "Something Stupid". [1] She continued to write and record, releasing the album ''Electric Landlady'' (a play on the Jimi Hendrix album title ''Electric Ladyland''), including her most successful chart hit in North America, "Walking Down Madison" (co-written with Marr and a Top 30 hit in the UK), in 1991. Despite its U.S. chart success, ''Landlady'' was not a hit for Virgin Records, and in 1992, when Virgin was sold to EMI, MacColl was dropped from the label.
She released ''Titanic Days'', inspired by her divorce from Lillywhite, in 1994, but again, MacColl was at the mercy of the industry; ZTT Records had agreed to release the album as a "one-off" and declined to sign her to a contract. The following year she released two new singles on Virgin, "Caroline" and a cover of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" (a duet with Evan Dando), together with the "best of" compilation ''Galore''.
''Galore'' became MacColl's only album to reach the heights of the top 10 in the UK album charts, but neither of the new singles, nor a re-released "Days", made the Top 40. MacColl would not record again for several years; her frustration with the music business was exacerbated by a lengthy case of writer's block. MacColl herself admitted that she was ready to give up her music career and become an English teacher in South America.
Several trips to Cuba and Brazil restored MacColl's creative muse, and the world music-inspired (particularly Cuban and other Latin American forms) ''Tropical Brainstorm'' was released in 2000 to critical acclaim. ''Brainstorm'' melded the Latinate music with her droll British lyrics to great effect. It included the song "In These Shoes", which garnered airplay in the U.S., was covered by Bette Midler and featured in the HBO show ''Sex and the City''. It would later (after MacColl's death) be adopted by Catherine Tate as the theme tune for her BBC TV show and feature on the soundtrack to British film ''Kinky Boots''.
MacColl's lyrics, at turns humorous, biting, and achingly sad, are hard to categorize, which sometimes presented a challenge to the commercial viability of her work. She developed a severe case of glossophobia, which first struck during her early tours and which she never truly overcame. She was also devoted to her children, and would spend long periods of time away from the spotlight to focus on raising them.

Death and "Justice for Kirsty" campaign

Death

MacColl had a busy, successful year in 2000, with the success of ''Tropical Brainstorm'', as well as her participation in the presentation of a radio programme she had done for the BBC on Cuba. [2] MacColl decided to take a much needed holiday, and she, her partner, musician James Knight, and her sons traveled to Cozumel, Mexico. She intended to introduce her sons during the trip to an activity she loved – scuba diving. On December 18, 2000, she and her sons went diving in Cozumel, in a specific diving area that watercraft were restricted from entering. With the group was a local veteran divemaster, Ivan Diaz. As the group was surfacing from a dive, a speeding powerboat entered the restricted area. MacColl saw the boat coming for her sons. Louis was not in the boat's path, but Jamie was. She was able to push him out of the way (he sustained minor head and rib injuries) but in doing so, she was hit by the boat and killed instantly. [3]
The boat involved in the accident was owned by Mexican supermarket millionaire Guillermo González Nova, who was on board with several members of his family. An employee of Nova's, boathand José Cen Yam, claimed to have been driving the boat at the time that the accident occurred. [4] Several published reports have included accounts from eyewitnesses that have stated Cen Yam was not at the controls; eyewitnesses also indicate that the boat was travelling much faster than the speed of one knot that Nova had claimed. Cen Yam was found guilty of culpable homicide and was sentenced to 2 years 10 months in prison. However, he was allowed under Mexican law to pay a punitive fine of 1034 pesos (about US$90) in lieu of the prison sentence. He was also ordered to pay approximately US $2150 in restitution to MacColl's family, an amount based on his wages. Published reports [5] [6] have included statements from people who spoke to Cen Yam after the accident, claiming Cen Yam had received money for taking the blame for the incident.

Justice for Kirsty campaign

MacColl's family launched the Justice For Kirsty campaign in response to the events surrounding her death. Among the group's efforts:

★ Lawyers for MacColl's family and the group have campaigned for a judicial review into the events surrounding her death. They have been in repeated contact with the Mexican government, and have made an application to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

★ MacColl's friends and family have been critical of what they have perceived as a lack of cooperation from the Mexican authorities; in May 2006, Emilio Cortez Ramirez, a federal prosecutor in Cozumel, was found liable for breach of authority in conjunction with his handling of the MacColl case. [7]

★ The BBC has featured a documentary by Olivia Lichtenstein, entitled ''Who Killed Kirsty MacColl?''. [8]

★ U2 and Bono, who was a friend of MacColl's, spoke about the incident during a concert in Monterrey, Mexico in February 2006. The Mexican government released a statement after the concert indicating they would take action. However, as of the present time, no additional details have come forth. [9]

Posthumous

Since MacColl's death, Billy Bragg has always included "her" extra verses when performing "A New England". She was honoured in 2002 with a memorial concert in London at the Royal Festival Hall, featuring a number of musicians that had worked with her or been influenced by her.
In 2001, a bench was placed by the southern entrance to London's Soho Square as a memorial to her, after a lyric from one of her most poignant songs: "An empty bench in Soho Square/ If you'd have come you'd have found me there". Every year on the Sunday nearest to MacColl's birthday, 10 October, fans from all over the world hold a gathering at the bench to pay tribute to her and sing her songs.
MacColl continues to receive media exposure; in 2004 a biography of MacColl authored by Karen O'Brien, ''Kirsty MacColl:The One and Only'', was published. As for her music, a retrospective three-CD set spanning her full career, ''From Croydon To Cuba'', was released in 2005. ''Titanic Days'' was re-released in 2005 as a deluxe 2CD set, and ''Kite'' and ''Electric Landlady'' were also remastered and rereleased with additional tracks. Her first album ''Desperate Character'' remains out of print, but some tracks from that work were included in the box set. On 7 August, 2005, ''The Best of Kirsty MacColl'' (a single-disc compilation including the 'new' single "Sun on the Water") made its debut on the UK album charts at #17.
MacColl's collaboration with the Pogues, "Fairytale of New York", remains a perennial Christmas favourite. In 2004, 2005 and 2006, it was voted favourite Christmas song in a poll by music video channel VH1. [10] "Fairytale" was re-released in the UK in December 2005, 18 years after its original release, with half of the proceeds being donated to the Justice for Kirsty Campaign. The re-release reached #3 on the UK charts, and spent five weeks in the top 75 over the Christmas and New Year period. Due to newly imposed rules in 2006 "Fairytale" managed to climb back into the top 10 for the third time in its history, peaking at #6.
The 2005 movie ''Kinky Boots'' features "In these Shoes", sung by Nigerian actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (in character as Lola, during a catwalk scene in Milan). His version of the song also appears on the soundtrack. During the closing credits, MacColl's original version is played.

Discography

Studio Albums

★ ''Desperate Character'' (July 1981); reissued March 1985 with additional tracks as ''Kirsty MacColl''

★ ''Kite'' (April 1989)

★ ''Electric Landlady'' (June 1991)

★ ''Titanic Days'' (October 1993)

★ ''Galore'' (March 1995)

★ ''Tropical Brainstorm'' (March 2000)

Album discography

Year	Album	UK albums
1981	"Desperate Character"	-
1981	"Real"	-
1989	"Kite"	34
1991	"Electric Landlady"	17
1994	"Titanic Days"	46
2000	"Tropical Brainstorm"	39

Charted singles

Year	Song	UK singles	Irish Top 30	Album
1981	"There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis"	14	9	''Desperate Character''
1983	"Terry"	81	-	''-''
1985	"A New England"	7	8	''-''
1987	"Fairytale of New York" (with The Pogues)	2	'1'	''If I Should Fall from Grace with God'' (Pogues album)
1989	"Free World"	43	-	''Kite''
1989	"Days"	12	9	''Kite''
1989	"Innocence"	80	-	''Kite''
1990	"Don't Come The Cowboy With Me Sonny Jim!"	82	-	''Kite''
1990	"Miss Otis Regrets/Just One of Those Things" (with The Pogues)	85	-	''Red Hot + Blue'' (compilation album)
1991	"Walking Down Madison"	23	12	''Electric Landlady''
1991	"My Affair"	56	-	''Electric Landlady''
1991	"Fairytale of New York" (with The Pogues)''(reissue)''	36	10	''-''
1995	"Caroline"	58	-	''Galore''
1995	"Perfect Day"	75	-	''Galore''
1995	"Days" ''(reissue)''	42	-	''Kite''
1999	"Mambo De La Luna"	114	-	''Tropical Brainstorm''
2000	"In These Shoes"	82	-	''Tropical Brainstorm''
2005	"Sun On the Water" ''(download only)''	-	-	''The Best Of Kirsty MacColl''
2005	"Fairytale of New York" (with The Pogues)''(2nd reissue)''	3	4	''The Best Of Kirsty MacColl''
2006	"Fairytale of New York" (with The Pogues)''(downloads only)''	6	-	''The Best Of Kirsty MacColl''

External links

★ Official site

★ Justice for Kirsty – in-depth information regarding MacColl's death

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