Smash Hits 1985

Article "Oh!" exclaims Kirsty MacColl disappointedly as she opens the front door of her West London home. "I thought you were the plumber!"

Not the kind of welcome I'm used to, I must say. But then one glance at Kirsty's swelling form is enough to tell you she's got rather more important things on her mind than mere trifles like hit records and interviews. You see, she's extremely pregnant. So pregnant, in fact, that the baby's due at "literally any moment". I'm just about to suggest that a midwife might prove more useful than a plumber, when Kirsty explains that her drains are in a complete state. Seems she's anticipating a bit of a nappy problem if something isn't done soon, hence my welcome.

Luckily, the elusive plumber arrives hot on my heels, and while Kirsty takes him on a guided tour of foul substances in the sink and back surge in the bath, I head for the more savoury surroundings of her sitting room.

It's a cosy, cluttered place, with little ornaments and knick-knacks lurking in every nook and cranny - a charlady's nightmare. The walls are adorned with framed prints of 20th century art (Kirsty did go to art school, after all), and in the corner there's a bookshelf absolutely stuffed with videotapes. However, try as I might, I can't spot a single U2, Big Country or Simple Minds record. I expect they're tucked away somewhere though, as Kirsty's hubby - Steve Lillywhite produces all three groups. But more of that later.

Kirsty leaves the plumber bumbling around in the back yard, and settles down for a cup of tea and a chat. She's sporting a novel line in maternity garb - a Frankie Goes To Hollywood sweatshirt and sweatpants - and looks radiantly healthy. In fact, apart from her rather large bump, she hasn't changed a bit since she appeared on the cover of the English Smash Hits four years ago on June 25.

Way back then she had a hit with a rather gimmicky little tune snappily entitled There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis. Great things were predicted for her, but they never quite happened, and she slipped into obscurity. So what's Kirsty been doing for the last four years?

"Well, I feel I've kept my cult status by only putting out records once a year," she jokes. In reality, she'd fallen victim to various "record company hassles", and it had taken perseverance to produce even that limited output. Still, it was better than going back to her old jobs I suppose. After all, she'd cleaned flats, sold advertising space, even been a washer-up for the recipe tasters on a women's magazine.

"You got to eat everything they'd made, and they were all cordon bleu cooks, so it was really good ... unless they were doing 1,000 Things To Do With Peas of course!"

She'd also been in a local punk band, the picturesquely-named Drug Addix. In those days, Kirsty could write a song in 1.5 minutes: "Yes, they were really good songs," she laughs. "Sometimes I have to take up to 5 minutes now. I must he getting old!" (She's 25, actually.)

Joking apart, it was Kirsty's skill as a songwriter which enabled her to survive this lean period. Tracey Ullman approached her for some new material, and things started looking up.

"We went for a drink, and Tracey bought me a meal. I was pretty skint at the time! She really liked my songs. I was a bit lost at the time, so it gave me the incentive to write again."

Tracey went on to have a big hit with They Don't Know, and has since recorded quite a few more of Kirsty's songs. Kirsty, meanwhile, harboured ambitions to sing with Simple Minds, her favourite group. Eventually, "after hassling them for about a year", they invited her to provide backing vocals for the LP Sparkle In The Rain. It was an event which changed her life.

"Steve was producing the album, and that's how I met him. I didn't think anything about it at the time, because I was so nervous - I just wanted to impress everybody." She obviously succeeded, because "Steve just kept ringing me up after that".

The bloke she's referring to is now her husband, Steve Lillywhite. He's a fantastically successful young producer and - apart from the aforementioned Simple Minds, Big Country and U2 he's worked with everyone from Joan Armatrading to XTC to, most recently, Frida from Abba. Kirsty provided some of the songs for that particular venture, and as a big fan of the beaming Swedish songstress, she's pretty chuffed about it.

But then, with Steve Lillywhite in tow, you're bound to meet a few 'rock heroes'. Jim Kerr, for instance.

"Before we were engaged, we went up to Glasgow for New Year's Eve - Steve was mixing the sound for a Big Country concert. All of Simple Minds were there, and Steve proposed to me on the twelfth stroke of midnight. It was really romantic, with a pipe band playing and everyone singing Auld Lang Syne. We all went back to Jim Kerr's house for New Year's Eve, which was really good fun ... and we went up to see them this New Year as well."

Someone else she's now met is Billy Bragg, of course.

"I saw him performing in different colleges about I8 months ago, and took an interest in the boy. I got talking to him, and it turned out he'd bought one of my singles. Since he was one of about five people in the world who had, it proved he was a true fan!"

Consequently, Billy was quite happy for Kirsty to cover his song A New England and even provided another verse for it, to make the record long enough for radio play.

"I always thought New England would be great with loads of harmonies, it's such a good melody. Billy does it in a very rough way, and it's like a busker doing a really good Beatles song. He's got loads like that. I just think he's a really good songwriter and should he encouraged immediately!"

And of course her version of New England has sold a lot more than his (then again Billy has never released any singles). But despite her new-found fame, Kirsty's life remains very low-key. You won't rind her out nightclubbing, for instance: "Well, at the moment I don't feel like going anywhere where you have to queue half an hour for the loo!"

Although she really likes to go and see films, even that's too much of an effort in her present condition. So these days, most evenings chez MacColl are spent round the goggle-box. Soaps, it seems, are a favourite.

"We watch Dallas, Dynasty, Brookside and Coronation Street, and we video them when Steve's working. We're keen on the snooker as well."

A picture of domestic bliss, really. Well, almost. Just as I'm about to leave, the luckless plumber pops his head round the door; he wants Kirsty to go and flush the lavatory. Not a good move, it turns out.

"Oh no, now the loo's blocked as well!" she wails from the offending water closet.

Time to leave, I think, and slip quietly away. If the plumber had any sense, he did the same.

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Smash Hits 1985

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