[FM] The Music of Kristy MacColl

[Pmkennedy@aol.com]

When I was in high school, I used to hang out in a really cool used record 
(vinyl!) shop near the Syracuse University campus.  My friends and I would 
take the S&O bus line from North Syracuse into Syracuse, and we'd walk the 
rest of the way from downtown up the hill to SU.  We spent hours and hours in 
that store, driving the salespeople crazy, constantly asking them to play 
this and that...whatever looked interesting, or whatever we had just heard 
about, but hadn't actually listened to yet.   As the clerks got to know us 
and our musical tastes, they would suggest records that they thought we would 
enjoy.  As soon as we'd step in the door they'd shout, "You've GOT to hear 
this!" and throw singles at us.  

That's how I first heard Kirsty MacColl.  It's a single that I still have, 
and one that I have always considered a pop masterpiece.  The song is "He's 
On The Beach," but it's the sound of the wall of Kirsty's vocals that got me 
-- really close harmonies filled with suspensions and dissonances that never 
sounded so sweet.  Her melodies were incredible to me -- the perfect blend of 
folk and pop.  I bought other singles by Kirsty including "A New England" 
(the B-side, self-produced "Patrick" just as worthy of an A-side), and the 
classic "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis."  

I bought my first four-track tape recorder around that time and did some 
harmony-dense demos of my own songs, keeping the Kirsty MacColl sound in my 
head, but never successfully translating it onto tape.  Her music and humor 
has always remained a huge influence for me.  As a teenage girl-with-guitar, 
I discovered Kirsty MacColl at just the right time.  Her music was uplifting 
and hopeful.  She represented a strong female songwriter, arranger, and 
producer, and I thought that just maybe there was hope for me.  

He says it's brilliant there
There's something in the air
And sunshine everywhere
He's on the beach
I know he's changed somehow
He sends us postcards now
I'm not sure where he 
But he's out of reach.
-"He's On The Beach" by Kirsty MacColl

If you don't own any of her music, give yourself a gift this holiday.  God 
rest her.

Maura Kennedy