![[Go up a level]](../../../../common/elements/badge.gif "Go up a level"){kind=icon}
![[Send E-mail]](../../../../common/icons/email.gif){kind=icon}
The Kirsty MacColl web site
In early 1992 Kilkenny band Engine Alley were recording their debut album with producer Steve Lillywhite in Windmill Lane studio 2 on Stephen's Green. Back then, I was an inexperienced kid chancing my arm at being a tour manager. U2's Mother Records funded it all, and none of it belonged in the real world. Steve regaled us with tales of Morrissey and The La's. There was also the small matter of his work on U2's The Joshua Tree. Of course, he'd always be slipping in a story or two about his lovely wife, Kirsty, singing with The Wonderstuff, Billy Bragg, The Smiths or The Pogues. She'd had a solo hit with Walking Down Madison in June of the previous year and the album Electric Landlady was also a moderate success.
During the recording of the Engine Alley album Kirsty wanted to come over and see Steve. I don't think any one of us quite realised the celebrity of Steve and Kirsty. He was one of the most in demand producers in the world. She was a successful and much-loved solo singer. She was also one of the most pleasant people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Engine Alley were another band experiencing the highs and lows of the music business, destined like so many others for something between disillusionment and despair. Steve and Kirsty were definitely one of the highs (every pun intended).
It was suggested that there was interest in putting her on at the annual Trinity Ball. It was the college's quatercentenary year and they had a huge budget. I got her the gig. It cost Trinity Ents the price of a flight, a decent hotel room and some pocket money. I thought I was doing great, although in hindsight I could (and maybe should) have fleeced them. Kirsty seemed delighted although she told later me about her stage fright. She told me the way one might tell their best friend, straightforward, no bullshit. That was Kirsty.
On the evening of the show she made a guest appearance with Engine Alley in the Baggot Inn at a Rape Crisis Centre Benefit singing David Bowie's Drive In Saturday. Then it was back to the ball. Little did I know that Trinity Ents had decided on putting her on in the much hyped spot of "very special guest" at about 4am in the morning. In front of a hugely expectant open-air crowd, the disappointment was palpable. Their special guest was a red head with an acoustic guitar, it was four in the morning, and they needed to dance. It was a bit of a disaster. Most of them needed to "come up". In the distance you could hear the sound of an Ents officer being strangled. Kirsty seemed not to mind.
Back in Windmill 2 Steve wanted her to sing the female part on the Engine Alley track Song For Someone. It was definitely going to be a single. A hit. Weren't they all? Kirsty had guested with The Wonderstuff. She'd also sung on The Smiths' Ask. The band wanted drummer girl Emmaline to do the main vocal part as she did live. The band won. The logic was something to do with indie preciousness. Kirsty ended up singing a choir part. Bizarrely she's not actually credited on the single (although she is on the album).
When Engine Alley went to London to play a show, Kirsty and Steve invited the band to dinner at their house in Ealing. Instead they got band, crew and management. Nine people in all. In the distance you could hear the sound of a band manager being strangled. Kirsty and Steve were as nice as pie about it. The next night we all went to see U2 at Earl's Court. I got to sleep on the couch in her living room. In the morning I woke up to see a bleary eyed Shaun Ryder staring down at me, menacingly chanting: "Who the fook are you?" He'd come back from the gig and stayed up all night in the studio upstairs with Kirsty. Although almost an anti-star, she was still extraordinarily passionate about her music. Mostly that's how I want to remember her.
There is of course loads more to write about Kirsty, but that's for another day and probably for people who knew her better. The above is how I'll remember her: fun loving, talented, easy going and a joy to have spent time with. And of course there was her music. Like Fairytale Of New York, one of the most perfect pieces of music ever, she got it on the nail. She was good at that. Rest in peace Kirsty.
Reproduced by kind permission of Muse
© freeworld 1995 - 2008 [ www.kirstymaccoll.com ]
Style [ Standard ] [ Cool Blue ] [ Tropical ] [ Hangover ] [ Text ] [ BIG Text ]
