Rock'n'Roll Mutha?

Kirsty MacColl is as un-rock 'n' roll as they come. The only thing she really has in common with legendary metalsters Bad News is the way she'll throw up before a gig, not because she's out of her skull on drink 'n' drugs, just that she's nervous. "I have to be responsible now I've got children. I can only be reckless at certain times," she says.

Polite she most certainly is. Polite, though, to the point of disinterest. "I can't see why anyone in their right mind would ever want to do an interview," she spits. "Except a journalist..."

Kirsty, you may recall, sung on the Pogues' 1987 Christmas hit, Fairytale Of New York. If you catch a snatch of Closer To God, the flipside of her new rough 'n' tumble firecracker of a single, Free World, you'll realise they left their mark after Kirsty toured with them, doing backing vocals. Riotous, was it? "Hardly. A couple of them drink but that's not unusual out of a bunch of eight guys. It's a large group, you shouldn't generalise. That's a load of boring old nonsense anyway. They're great musicians, anything else is superfluous."

Back in '77 Kirsty was a hippy in punk's clothing, eager for kicks and bored with the schools of Croydon. She did the obvious thing and became a pop star. There's A Guy Works Down Our Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis was the one that did it together with They Don't Know and a re-vamping of Billy Bragg's A New England. And then nothing. Well, almost. Kirsty fell in love with producer Steve Lillywhite (of Simple Minds and U2 fame, and who produced her new LP Kite), started a family and became a backing singer. The artist in her was struggling and worrying.

"I spent too much time on other people's work. My ideas went completely, the longer it went before I got down to writing the worse it got. It's such a relief to have finished the LP and the best thing about it is that I don't have to apologise to anyone if I play it to them!"

Kirsty, if she wasn't entirely forgotten by the kids, had become merely famous by association. She was a pop bridesmaid, helping out while others had the hits. Although Free World should change all that, it's a fair enough description, but one that's angered Kirsty. "It's like saying Tracey UIIman's famous 'cause she did my song. It's because she's a great, funny actress. If you like working with as many interesting people as possible you don't go round worrying about whether they're more famous than you. You'd never achieve anything."

You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby is the latest MacColl/famous person collaboration. This time it's a cover of a Smiths song. It should be the last for a while though. "I've almost run out of people I admire. There's only Brian Wilson left."

Kirsty MacCoIl isn't "that bothered" about becoming a pop star again, her family's more important for a start, and she'd never consider appearing on 'Blankety Blank' because she's "not that desperate". Kirsty wants success, sure, but it's not a necessity. She's in no mood to be a celeb. "I don't need that kind of hassle, people nudging each other and pointing at you when you go shopping. It's not on."

Pity Free World's so good then, isn't it?

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Rock'n'Roll Mutha?

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