Product Description

'The Best of Kirstie MacColl' brings together some of the finest moments released by MacColl before her untimely death in December 2000. Featuring many singles which graced the UKcharts including the classic Christmas song 'Fairytale Of New York' with The Pogues, the album also features 'A New England' MacColl's only other single to make it into the UK topten.

Track Listing

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 - The Pogues (Feat. Kirsty McColl)
8. Free World
9. Innocence
10. Days
11. Still Life
12. Miss Otis Regrets (Feat. The Pogues)
13. Walking Down Madison
14. My Affair
15. Soho Square
16. Titanic Days
17. As Long As You Hold Me
18. Perfect Day (Feat. Evan Dando)
19. In These Shoes?
20. England 2 Columbia 0
21. Sun On The Water

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2963 in Music
• Released on: 2005-08-01
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

WIT, INTELLIGENCE AND A GREAT VOICE - WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF KIRSTY
Kirsty MacColl died in a terrible accident whilst enjoying a family holiday. To many she was a vaguely remembered singer from the 80's who had a big hit with a cover of Billy Braggs 'A New England' and sung on the Pogues 'Fairytale Of new York'. To those in the know she was a hugely talented singer songwriter (and stunning lyricist) who released a string of critically adored albums - Kite, Electric Landlady, Titanic Days & Trophical Brainstorm throughout the late 80's, 90's and into the 00's. Whilst major chart success, for some reason eluded MacColl, she was always at the vanguard of female pop/rock and happy to experiment and push the boundaries of what could be acheived within the context of the 3 minute pop single.
This best of compilation does a stirling job of compiling her hits and misses. Despite being an excellent songwriter in her own rite MacColl scored her biggest successes with other peoples material - Ray Davies 'Days', the aforementioned 'A New England' and of course that Pogues collaboration (a number 2 hit and contender for best ever Christmas song). The original material is every bit as good - 'They Don't Know' is classic 60's girl group pastiche, 'There's A Guy Works Down The Chipshop Swears He's Elvis' may be close to novelty but it is a very catchy and clever song whilst 'Walking Down Madison' is a funky ode to New York life. She even manages to pull off a more than decent country song on 'Don't Come The Cowboy With Me Sonny Jim' and seductive Latin rythms take over on the hilarious 'In These Shoes' (from her final album 'Tropical Brainstorm'). There are many more truly wonderful tracks on this best of that illustrate what a remarkable talent Kirsty MacColl really was.
Great voice (just listen to those harmonies), intelligent and amusing lyrics and a knack for classic melody. Kirsty MacColl i salute you.

A variable talent but a great one
Kirsty MacColl seemed to vary between a range of styles. There is pop, covers of Billy Bragg and Cole Porter and her later South American-influenced songs. She didn't seem to quite hit the mark every time and her early singing was a little too emotionless compared to the wonderful 'converstional' style that she developed for the later songs.

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.

Perfect.......
should have been the title of this CD becuase that's just what it is. Kirsty Maccoll had everything to become an absolute megastar and it shines through on this greatest hits collection. Her lyrics are phenomenal, her voice wonderful and her delivery of each and every song perfect.

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.