- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: John Blake Publishing Ltd (7 April 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1844545490
- ISBN-13: 978-1844545490
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.4 x 4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 180,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Kirsty MacColl led a dazzling life - tender, creative, heroic and full of love. This book, by her mother Jean MacColl, charts with moving insight Kirsty's early years, celebrates her brilliant career at the front rank of the music business in the 1980s and '90s, and mourns her tragic and untimely death - killed by a speedboat in Mexican waters in December 2000. It also tells, with heartfelt truth, the shocking story of the elaborate cover-up and gross miscarriage of justice that followed, and appeals for justice to be done in her name. Daughter of legendary folk-singer Ewan MacColl and dancer mother Jean, Kirsty was a precocious child, troubled by ill health, whose talent quickly blossomed into a unique artistry. She signed to the Stiff Records label and after her first tentative success moved to Polydor, which brought her her first major airplay with 'There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis', demonstrating Kirsty's trademark dry wit and social awareness. Top-ten success - and widespread acclaim as a musical postergirl of the times - followed with such hits as 'A New England' and 'Days', but it was her 1987 collaboration with The Pogues on the Christmas hit 'Fairytale of New York' which really brought her brand of feisty folk-pop to an international audience. By then married to producer Steve Lillywhite, her talents lent magic to an astonishing array of creative collaborations; this book includes new reflections on her life by many of her friends and colleagues, including Jools Holland and Billy Bragg. In 2006 Bono dedicated U2's Mexico concert performances of 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' to Kirsty's memory.But Kirsty's family, friends, and fans still haven't found what they're looking for: justice for those responsible for the needless hit-and-run accident that left her two young sons swimming in her blood. Soon after Kirsty's death, Jean and her friend and colleague John Dalby started the Justice for Kirsty Campaign, which has now grown into a worldwide organisation, ably spearheaded by human rights activist Fred Shortland. The campaign will continue until justice is done. Meanwhile, Kirsty's vivacious personality lives on in the enduring legacy of her brilliant music. This remarkable book - in equal parts a celebration and an appeal for truth - tells the story of both.
About the Author
JEAN MACCOLL is better known by her maiden name, Jean Newlove. After studying with the great dance and movement innovator, Rudolf Laban, she began a long association as an accomplished choreographer with the director Joan Littlewood and Theatre Workshop. Her marriage to the playwright and folk-singer Ewan MacColl ended soon after Kirsty was born. Singlehandedly bringing up her two children, Hamish and Kirsty, as a working mother in the 1960s, she established an international reputation for her expertise in dance and movement theory that remains much in demand. The author of two widely praised books, Laban for Actors and Dancers and (with John Dalby) Laban for All (Nick Hern Books), she lives in London, from where she continues to publicise and co-ordinate (with Fred Shortland) the Justice for Kirsty campaign.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
The glorious Indian summer of 1959 came to an end late in the Saturday afternoon of 10 October, when I remember hearing the rumble of thunder. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The glorious Indian summer of 1959 came to an end late in the Saturday afternoon of 10 October, when I remember hearing the rumble of thunder. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Kirsty MacColl was one of the most gifted singer-songwriters of her generation. Her witty lyrics demonstrated a sharp eye for the world around her. All musicians that worked with her admired her talents. Her death, run over by a powerboat in Mexico was a tragedy. People are supposed to remember exatly where they were when JFK was shot - I know exactly where I was when I heard the news of Kirsty's untimely death. The failure to secure a conviction of the boat's captain despite numerous witnesses to the even is a scandal for which the Mexican Government, and the UK's representatives in that country, ought to be deeply ashamed.
Jean MacColl is a formidable woman, and the fortitude with which she has fought her daughter's case is truly inspirational. If you have not done so you should visit the Justice for Kirsty website.
And yet, despite that I'm afraid I can't recommend this book. Jean says several times that she turned down invitations to write her own autobiography, but the present work comes across far too strongly as just that - an account of Jean's life in which Kirsty features, rather than vice versa. If I never hear about the Laban school of Movement again it will be too soon.
Alongside this, the book is just very badly written - several anecdotes are repeated; some appearing three times. Peripheral characters are introduced (and re-introduced) in far too much details. Three year's of Kirsty's punk career are dismissed in one line to the effect that she probably confided more in her friends than in her mother. When we do get input from fellow musicians it is in the format of long quotes loosely linked together.
I am genuinely sorry that I can't give Sun on the Water a ringing endorsement - Kirsty deserves for her story to be shared very widely but this is not the account I hoped it would be.
Jean MacColl is a formidable woman, and the fortitude with which she has fought her daughter's case is truly inspirational. If you have not done so you should visit the Justice for Kirsty website.
And yet, despite that I'm afraid I can't recommend this book. Jean says several times that she turned down invitations to write her own autobiography, but the present work comes across far too strongly as just that - an account of Jean's life in which Kirsty features, rather than vice versa. If I never hear about the Laban school of Movement again it will be too soon.
Alongside this, the book is just very badly written - several anecdotes are repeated; some appearing three times. Peripheral characters are introduced (and re-introduced) in far too much details. Three year's of Kirsty's punk career are dismissed in one line to the effect that she probably confided more in her friends than in her mother. When we do get input from fellow musicians it is in the format of long quotes loosely linked together.
I am genuinely sorry that I can't give Sun on the Water a ringing endorsement - Kirsty deserves for her story to be shared very widely but this is not the account I hoped it would be.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The fact that this has been written by Kirsty MacColl's mother adds to the tragedy of the story. From her childhood, to burgeoning musical career, personal life and tragic death this book gives a full account of the life of a great talent. Some may feel the book deals with her life too quickly as a large part of the book details the ongoing fight for justice following her death. However the inclusion of excerpts and memories by a range of known (and lesser known) musicians and as I said the fact the book is written by her mother and not some faceless writer who never met her (something dealt with in the book itself) more than covers for this.
This is a touching mother's tribute to her tragically killed daughter.
This is a touching mother's tribute to her tragically killed daughter.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Kirsty MacColl's tragic death in December 2000 robbed the music world of a great singer/songwriter but it also robbed Jean MacColl of her youngest child and in her heartfelt, loving book she tells us of her relationship with Kirsty and the anger that fuels her search for justice for Kirsty's manslaughter off the coast of Cozumel that sunny afternoon.
In her book which had me smiling then moist-eyed then angry, Jean shares memories of her exceptionally bright and inquisitive little girl who captivated all who met her. They shared a unique relationship due to the fact that because Kirsty had chronic asthma as a child she was rarely well enough to go to school so mother and daughter were rarely parted.
This is a biography where for once the subject's showbiz career is sketched in as Jean is more interested in Kirsty's life offstage with her friends & family and above all her devotion to her two sons. This is done so well that while reading of the aftermath of Kirsty's death I again felt the feeling I had when I first heard the news.. that I had lost a friend.
The failure of the Cozumel and wider Mexican judiciary to conduct a proper investigation into Kirsty's death is still a shocking indictment of the corruption inherent in the system - no doubt helped along by the fact that the man who owns and was on board the speedboat that killed Kirsty is Guillermo Gonzalez Nova, one of the richest men in Mexico.
This is a book that ultimately one wishes should never have been written but for it's central core of love and pride I am glad Jean did.
In her book which had me smiling then moist-eyed then angry, Jean shares memories of her exceptionally bright and inquisitive little girl who captivated all who met her. They shared a unique relationship due to the fact that because Kirsty had chronic asthma as a child she was rarely well enough to go to school so mother and daughter were rarely parted.
This is a biography where for once the subject's showbiz career is sketched in as Jean is more interested in Kirsty's life offstage with her friends & family and above all her devotion to her two sons. This is done so well that while reading of the aftermath of Kirsty's death I again felt the feeling I had when I first heard the news.. that I had lost a friend.
The failure of the Cozumel and wider Mexican judiciary to conduct a proper investigation into Kirsty's death is still a shocking indictment of the corruption inherent in the system - no doubt helped along by the fact that the man who owns and was on board the speedboat that killed Kirsty is Guillermo Gonzalez Nova, one of the richest men in Mexico.
This is a book that ultimately one wishes should never have been written but for it's central core of love and pride I am glad Jean did.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Heart-felt and Passionate Biography
Kirsty MacColl has been one of my favourite singer song-writers since I was a teenager and I heard her debut single 'They Don't Know'. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Lincs Reader
Sun on the Water The Brilliant Life and Tragic Death of my Daughter...
Jean MacColl tells the life story of her daughter Kirsty MacColl from her childhood through to the fame and success she has in the music business and celebrates her brilliant... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Nikki Bywater
SUN ON THE WATER DEATH OF KIRSTY MACCOLL
I THOUGHT THAT THIS NOVEL WOULD BE ALL ABOUT KIRSTY MACCOLL BUT ALOT OF IT WAS JUST ABOUT HER MOTHER WHO WROTE THE BOOK AND IN THE END PUT THE BOOK DOWN BECAUSE IT GOT RATHER... Read more
Published on 10 Mar 2010 by Mr. G. Honey
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