Kirsty MacColl
b. 10 October 1959, England. The daughter of the celebrated folk singer Ewan MacColl, Kirsty has enjoyed success in her own right as an accomplished songwriter and pop vocalist. Originally signed to Stiff Records as a 16-year-old, she was most unfortunate not to secure a massive hit with the earnest They Don't Know. Many years later, the television comedienne Tracey Ullman took an inferior rendition of the song to number 2 in the UK charts. MacColl had to wait until 1981 for her first chart hit. A change of label to Polydor brought her deserved UK Top 20 success with the witty There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis. Her interest in country and pop influences was discernible on her strong debut DESPERATE CHARACTERS. In 1984, MacColl married producer Steve Lillywhite, and during the same year she returned to the charts with a stirring version of Billy Bragg's A New England. During the next couple of years, she gave birth to two children but still found herself in-demand as a backing singer. She guested on recordings by a number of prominent artists, including Simple Minds, the Smiths, the Rolling Stones, Talking Heads, Robert Plant, Van Morrison and Morrissey. In December 1987, she enjoyed her highest ever chart placing at number 2 when duetting with Shane MacGowan on the Pogues’ evocative vignette of Irish emigration, Fairytale Of New York. In 1989, she returned to recording solo with the highly-accomplished KITE. The album included the brilliant, powerful Free World and an exceptionally alluring version of the Kinks’ Days, which brought her back to the UK Top 20. Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr guested on several of the album's tracks and appeared on the excellent follow-up released in 1991. ELECTRIC LANDLADY, an amusing pun on the Jimi Hendrix Experience's ELECTRIC LADYLAND, was another strong album which demonstrated MacColl's diversity and songwriting talent. The haunting, dance-influenced Walking Down Madison gave her another Top 40 UK hit.