Kirsty MacColl (B. Bragg and T. Ullmann fans take note)

[emory!colm@GATECH.EDU (Colm Mulcahy)]

well, some people have been losing sleep at night while I prepared this,
so it better be good ......


                     KIRSTY MACCOLL DISCOGRAPHY


              (compiled by Colm Mulcahy, September 1988)


She started on Stiff records, with a classic girl group number:

They Don't Know (About Us)/
(Turn My) Motor On

BUY 47, also available as a picture disc (Stiff's first). Released 1st
June 1979 Backing band was The Edge (aka The Belvederes of Jane Aire
fame). Produced by Liam Sternberg (who else).


You Caught Me Out

BUY 57. This one's hard to find, basically because it was NOT released
at the end of October 1979, or indeed at any other time. Allegedly
superb, supposedly withdrawn at last monemt as she had signed with
Polydor. Planned B-side ????  A-side recorded with "most of Boomtown
Rats".

Finally, decades later ....(in February 1981), on Polydor:

Keep Your Hands Off My Baby/
(unknown)

Finally she gets her act together, with The Edge (and Billy Bremner)
in support:

Desparate Characters LP (July 1981)

Clock Goes Round
See That Girl
There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis
Teenager In Love
Mexican Sofa (great tune, but they dumped it later ... keep reading !)
Until The Night
Falling For Faces
Just One Look
The Real Ripper
Hard To Believe
He Thinks I Still Care (her second all time classic, actually it's not hers)
There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis (country version)

Then in September 1981 came:

See That Girl/
Over You

And in November 1981: 

You Still Believe In Me/
(unknown)

Far as I can tell, a pregnant silence followed. Then a single on Now
records:

August 1983

Berlin/
Rhythm Of The Real Thing
(3rd cut on 12"?)

Stiff gets sense and takes her back, for one last great single (and some duds)

October 1983

Terry/
Quietly Alone 
(3rd cut on 12"?)

Brace yourself, Kirsty now tries for the big one, with help from
producer hubby:

December 1984

New England (Bragg)/
Patrick
I'm Going Out With An 80 Year Old Millionaire (3rd cut on 12")

February 1985

The baby arrives (7lb 6oz), Steve Lillywhite is the daddy (he used to
be married to U2), New England becomes mega hit in parts of Europe.
Billy Bragg is almost famous, but for all the wrong reasons.

May 1985 sees Polydor cashing in, by rereleasing the LP with alterations:

Kirsty MacColl LP

Clock Goes Round
See That Girl
There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis
Teenager In Love
Annie (decent "new song")
Until The Night
Falling For Faces
Roman Gardens (another acceptable new one)
The Real Ripper
Hard To Believe
He Thinks I Still Care
Berlin (presumably the single)

Sometime later 1985

He's On The Beach/
Please, Go To Sleep
(3rd cut on 12"?)

She helped Tracey Ullmann get a start in life, arranging, singing
backing vocals and generally doing all the work on some of her great
songs, including one she seems not to have recorded herself: the
brilliantly titled You Broke My Heart In 17 Place (One Of Them Was
Sheppard's Bush).

That's all I'm aware of folks. Please let me know of corrections/additions.

PS, while Kirsty IS the daughter of Ewan MacColl, the 73 year old
Scottish folkie who wrote "Dirty Old Town", "The First Time I Ever Saw
Her Face", "Shoals Of Herring" and (literally) hundreds more, she is
NOT the daughter of his companion since 1958, Peggy Seeger (half
sister of yer man himself).  This is sometimes claimed by the music
media in Blitain, but a check of any LP of Peggy's reveals that she
has had three kids with Ewan, the eldest being Neill (born ~1959), the
next Calum (~1963). Kirsty is supposed to have been around 20 when she
started on Stiff, but her mother is some other (former ?)  companion
of Ewan's. Kirsty does sing backing vocals on several on Peggy's 1970s
LPs however !

-- 
Colm Mulcahy         |  colm@mathcs.emory.edu             PREFERRED
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