Billy Bragg shares his memories of the late singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl

CBC Radio · Posted: Nov 27, 2019 10:30 AM ET | Last Updated: November 27

English singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl (1959-2000) on Oct. 3, 1979. (Getty Images)

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If you've heard the 1987 single Fairytale of New York by the Pogues, then you know Kirsty MacColl's voice. This year the late singer-songwriter would have turned 60. Political singer and activist Billy Bragg was MacColl's good friend. He joined us to share his memories of MacColl and why he thinks she never truly received the recognition she deserved during her life.

Kirsty MacColl
Singer Kirsty MacColl killed by speedboat while swimming. The British singer Kirsty MacColl has died in a boating accident in Mexico. The 41year-old daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl was struck by a speedboat while swimming off the coast, said a representative of her management company.
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Kirsty MacColl
Kirsty MacColl at the Double Door in Chicago, March 1995
Background information
Birth name	Kirsty Anna Louisa MacColl
Born	10 October 1959 Croydon, South London, England
Died	18 December 2000 (aged 41) Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Genres	New wave pop rock country folk world music alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1979–2000
Labels	Stiff Polydor IRS ZTT V2
Website	kirstymaccoll.com

Kirsty Anna MacColl (10 October 1959 – 18 December 2000) was a British singer and songwriter. She recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" and cover versions of Billy Bragg's "A New England" and The Kinks' "Days". Her song "They Don't Know" was covered with great success by Tracey Ullman. MacColl also sang on recordings produced by her then-husband Steve Lillywhite, most notably "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues.

Kirsty MacColl was the daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl (1915–1989) and dancer Jean Newlove (1923–2017). Her father was born in England of Scottish parents. She and her brother, Hamish MacColl, grew up with their mother in Croydon, where Kirsty attended Park Hill Primary School, Monks Hill High School and John Newnham High School, making appearances in school plays. At the time of her birth, her father had been in a relationship with folk singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Peggy Seeger since 1956 (a relationship that would continue until his death in 1989), and already had a son with her.

She came to notice when Chiswick Records released an EP by local punk rock band the Drug Addix with MacColl on backing vocals (The Drug Addix Make A Record) under the pseudonym Mandy Doubt (1978). Stiff Records executives were not impressed with the band, but liked her and subsequently signed her to a solo deal.^[1]

— Produced by ​Ben Edwards