Record Mirror, 1979

Somewhere in between the hype and the hit, when the noise has died down before it lives again, there's a spell of anticipation when the singer can give a reasonably unexaggerated account of herself, and enable the journalist to paint a portrait of the artist, a young woman.

Kirsty MacColl is 19, from Croydon, and she's ... no, hang on, that line's done for already. On the the one hand, she's just another singer waiting for her first hit; on the other, she's far more worthwhile because she wrote They don't know herself, one of the cleanest cuts of pure pop of the year, as well as the B-side, the harder, pushier Turn my motor on.

"The B side is an old Addix song" she said, "it's more than the A side, which sounds like the Beach Girls". In fact she even describes They don't know as a "teen ballad".

Kirsty's musical background - daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl and then a member of such bands as Rat Alley and the Addix - might seem a little inconsistent, but she told me, "I like lots of different styles. As time goes on I might establish one particular style, but at the moment I just want to try everything. I like Steely Dan, the Beach Boys, the Ramones, the Band, the Kinks, and I'm mad on Linton Kwesi Johnson at the moment. And I like a lot of sixties music and 50s doowop."

We were speaking in the homely confines of Kirsty's current workplace, the Croydon office of Industrial Exchange and Mart. "I'd love to stay in the music business and make a living from it." she said. For the time being though, there's still the greenback consideration. Stiff Records might not be all that pleased that I've got this far without mentioning them once, but Kirsty was quite enthusiastic about them. "I think they're better than a large company, they're more personal. They've got a good reputation built on their achievements. I think they've done a good promotion job for me."

Isn't there a danger, I asked trying not to sound patronising, of being manipulated because you're young? "I think there's a danger of being manipulated by everyone. I'd like to reserve the right of some artistic say."

Kirsty wants to sell records like anyone else, but it's not the be all and end all. "It is important to be commercial, but it's more important at the business end. This sounds a bit of a cliche, but I think integrity is important."

You can't help but be aware of the music press in a position like hers, I suppose, and she's already sensibly cautious about them. "I've had pretty good publicity so far, but the papers tend to play cat and mouse. The old build 'em up knock 'em down routine, of which I hope I'm not a part. If this one's a hit, they'll probably slag off the next one. They might like it for different reasons, I don't know."

No, they don't know either. But there will be a next one, and a next one after that. The young lady's not sure about an album - it's still in the balance - but it's bound to be a natural progression once a few singles have appeared. "I'd like to do a tour, as soon as I've got a band together. It'll probably be a five-piece, nothing too big. I just want people in the band who are dedicated musicians."

Meantime it's a case of sneaking interviews at lunchtime and after work, and generally trying to lead two lives at the same time. Exchange and Mart never had this much glamour before.

- Paul Sexton

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Record Mirror, 1979

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