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Track Listings
| 1. They Don't Know | |||
| 2. There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis | |||
| 3. Terry | |||
| 4. A New England | |||
| 5. He's On The Beach | |||
| 6. Don't Come The Cowboy With Me, Sonny Jim! | |||
| 7. Fairytale Of New York | |||
| 8. Free World | |||
| 9. Innocence (Single Remix) | |||
| 10. Days | |||
| 11. Still Life | |||
| 12. Miss Otis Regrets | |||
| 13. Walking Down Madison (Edit) | |||
| 14. My Affair | |||
| 15. Soho Square | |||
| 16. Titanic Days (Single Edit) | |||
| 17. As Long As You Hold Me | |||
| 18. Perfect Day | |||
| 19. In These Shoes? | |||
| 20. England 2 Columbia 0 | |||
See all 21 tracks on this disc
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Product Description
Review
The album is a 21-track timeline revealing the true diversity of Kirsty's work and the minutiae of English life (just who was that guy down the chip shop who swore he was Elvis?).
Her first solo hit,1979s "They Don't Know" makes way for 80s classics likeBilly Bragg's "A New England", The Kinks cover"Days" and the Christmas favourite "Fairytale Of New York", recorded with The Pogues. The final tracks brings us right up to date with her last recordings. Heavily influenced by the Cuban sounds she grew to love - the hilarious "In These Shoes" and "England 2 Columbia 0", which will surelyappeal to scorned women everywhere. The album closes with the fitting, "Sun On The Water", a reworked demo which was recorded before her death.
As an introduction to the world of Kirsty MacColl, this Best Of does exactly what it says on the tin - it's a true celebration of a musician who spanned two decades with her quirky upbeat look at life. So don't feel embarrassed at your record store, ask loud and proud, unwrap, enjoy and decide which chapter of her life you want to explore next. --Jack Smith
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Album Description
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Customer Reviews
Kirsty Maccoll has a charm about her that if it could be bottled would make somebody incredibly wealthy. The soulful "Miss Otis Regrets", her duet with The Pogues, "Fairytale of New York", and the sassy, "My Affair" really show that Kirsty couldn't be pigeon-holed into a "Type". She had everything and more. If you've only ever considered buying a Kirsty Maccoll CD stop considering, buy this one, enjoy it and then buy the rest of stuff.
The best earlier compilation of Kirsty's music, Galore, contains four tracks (You just haven't earned it yet baby, Angel, Can't stop killing you, Caroline) that are omitted from this set, but seven other tracks not on Galore can be found here (Terry, Still life, Soho Square, As long as you hold me, In these shoes, England 2 Colombia 0 and Sun on the water). Overall, there's not much to choose between these two outstanding compilations although this new one has more tracks and covers her whole career including two tracks from her final album, Tropical brainstorm.
The final track (Sun on the water) first appeared as a demo on the triple CD Croydon to Cuba anthology but has been re-mixed for release as a single and it is that version that you will find here. While it is a great summer song reflecting much fun and happiness, it is difficult to hear Kirsty sing this song without remembering that she died while in the water on a hot, sunny day.
Most of the songs on this collection were written by Kirsty, often but not always on her own, including They don't know (a song which provided Tracey Ullman with her first hit), There's a guy works down the chip shop swears he's Elvis, He's on the beach, Free world, Don't come the cowboy with me Sonny Jim (a song covered by Kelly Willis on her Easy album) and Walking down Madison.
Kirsty was also well capable of recording distinctive covers of other people's songs. Their diverse sources show that Kirsty was not a lady that anybody could typecast. They include A new England (Billy Bragg), Miss Otis Regrets (Cole Porter - one of two duets with Irish rockers The Pogues), Days (The Kinks) and Perfect Day (Lou Reed - a duet with Evan Dando of the Lemonheads).
Kirsty's biggest UK hit was the other duet with the Pogues - a Christmas song titled Fairytale of New York. It can be found on several British Christmas compilations and is not really typical of Kirsty's music. I would describe Kirsty's music as sixties pop rock updated for the eighties with a little folk and country added into the mix.
If Kirsty had pursued her career with single-minded dedication, some say she could have been a world megastar. Maybe, but she wanted a life outside music. As a consequence, her musical legacy is limited, but the quality more than makes up for that.
That said, there are some absolute gems here and probably enough to keep anyone who likes Kirsty's music happy. I also personally think that 'England 2 Columbia 0' is one of the great undiscovered classics!
If you have heard a few Kirsty MacColl songs and liked them then this is worth buying.
Sadly-missed, her lyrical-style for well-known songs by others is quite delightful.
Rest in peace, lass. Read more
The laid-back (not the same as 'easy listening') approach Kirsty takes, the singles we know her for and the rest,... Read more
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