Bradley's Buzz

bubbaTUNESday - bub131 Kirsty MacColl

December brought a final rush of Bubbatunes that I just didn’t have time to talk about – plus most of them were made to be gifts for people who could maybe stumble upon my blog and then there would be no big surprise come Christmas time.

But now the holidays are over (sob!) and it’s back to BubbaTUNESday. Today we start with a very rare one indeed. A long lost gem of an album from a not so famous, but so should be gal named Kirsty MacColl and her very first album ever 1981’s Desperate Character – a mish mash of bar songs, fun little 60’s throw backs and a little new wavey thrown in for good measure.





bub131 KIRSTY MacCOLL - DESPERATE CHARACTER
Released December 12, 2008 - Original Release 1981

If you don’t know who Kirsty is, all I can say is I feel bad for you :0) – actually she was such a great lyricist and singer – sassy, funny, spirited. She only released 5 albums in her entire recording career, coming out every 5 years or so but for all the tid bits and good morsels check out www.kirstymaccoll.com as it’s one of the best celebrity websites ever.

Kirsty came into the public eye in 1979 when she launched her single “They Don’t Know” on Stiff Records – yes the very same song Tracey Ullman would sing in 1984 and bring to top ten fame. The MacColl record didn’t do all that well but it did bring her into our world.

She launched one more single before coming out with her first full length album Desperate Character in 1981. The album actually gave her a hit (in the UK) with “There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Chop Swears He’s Elvis” though it was passed off by some to be more of a novelty song. But if you listen to the biting words you’ll know it’s so much more than that – “there’s a guy works down the chip chop swears he’s Elvis/ but he’s a liar and I’m not sure about you…”

The second single from the album brought out the Beach Boys-esque New Wave style Kirsty had going for her – “See That Girl” was another witty song about lost and untrusting love that Kirsty would deliver.

I had never heard all of the Desperate Character album as it is waaaaaaaaay out of print on vinyl and never ever released on CD (though a few songs pop up on compilations here and there). The surprising thing on the debut album is Kirsty’s take on some cover songs. She comes up with a whole new rendition to “Just One Look” with tons of overdubbed bliss and her take on “He Thinks I Still Care” comes complete with a homage to “Blue Moon” and the Shangri-La’s type of bad girl rap. They are both excellent.

The complete riots on here are “Mexican Sofa” a poppy mix of Latin flavor which is especially poignant figuring Kirsty would dabble with Latin music later in her career; particularly on her last album Tropical Brainstorm which won rave reviews just months before she was killed off the Mexican shore by a rogue speed boat. But if you just put that nastiness out of your mind for a sec and enjoy the luminous “16 dollars a day/ sitting on a Mexicana sofa…” “Tijuana cup of coffee/ Tijuana cup of tea…” it’s excellent.

My other fav is a rock abilly-ish take on teenage love called (poetically) “Teenager In Love” but this teenager has bigger issues than the typical girl group songs – you see her parents won’t let her be with her man so she hangs out at home chugging Tequila – “I’m just a lonely alcoholic teenager inn love…” I love it, I love her.

"The Real Ripper" is a pure classic in all it's glory - a pub song with swinging keyboards and a biting take on that elusive love - it's something for everyone to hear.

The original album ends with the “country” version of “Chip Chop” though I have to admit it’s a real bore – and the original is more than country enough I think. Incidentally the song was released as a single in the US dubbed “There’s A Guy Works Down The Truck Stop Swears He’s Elvis” and unfortunately that too is the slow countrified version I’m not too fond of – but its here as a bonus track.

After the fairly dismal returns for Desperate Character, Kirsty headed back to the studio to do some more work – one single popped up – a Beach Boys cover while her second album tentatively titled The Real MacColl – a mixture of synth new wave and biting commentary – was shelved when Polydor records dumped her contract; though they did release the single “Berlin” from those sessions.

Before the Desperate Character album and after "They Don't Know" other singles were released notably "You Caught Me Out" (another Tracey Ullman would redo) and "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby" a super cool little girl group bash. After the album came even more singles including "Terry" (one of my favs and yet another Ullman would be cover). By 1984, Kirsty was back at Stiff Records and released her biggest hit “A New England” and “He’s On The Beach” – all of which are here on this special edition of Desperate Character.

Other bonus tracks include the b-sides from several of those singles - (Turn My) Motor On is a rocking gem from the "They Don't Know" 7", "I'm Going Out With An 80 Year Old Millionaire" is pure Kirsty sass and the B side to "A New England" and one of my all time favs "Quietly Alone" the flip to "Terry."

After the “He’s On The Beach” single Kirsty went back to prepare a full album band came up with the brillz—“Kite” album which HAS been reissued with bonus tracks. Her next albums Electric Landlady and Titanic Days (My favorite) have also been reissued with bonus tracks and by then she was absolutely brilliant so you owe it to yourself to check them out.

In the meantime this is how it all started.

bub131 KIRSTY MacCOLL – DESPERATE CHARACTER
Track List:
01. Clock Goes Round 02. See That Girl 03. There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Chop Swears He's Elvis 04. Teenager In Love 05. Mexican Sofa 06. Until The Night 07. Falling For Faces 08. Just One Look 09. The Real Ripper 10. Hard To Believe 11. He Thinks I Still Care 12. There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Chop Swears He's Elvis (Country Version)

Bonus Tracks - 13. They Don't Know 14. (Turn My) Motor On 15. You Caught Me Out 16. Keep Your Hands Off My Baby 17. There's A Guy Works Down The Truck Stop Swears He's Elvis 18. You Still Believe In Me 19. Berlin 20. Terry 21. Quietly Alone 22. A New England 23. I'm Going Out With An 80 Year Old Millionaire 24. He's On The Beach 25. Please Go To Sleep

for a limited time:
Download music:
bub131 Kirsty MacColl - Desperate Character part 1

Download artwork (including lyrics):
bub131 Kirsty MacColl - Desperate Character part 2

Labels: bub131, BubbaTUNESday, Desperate Character, Kirsty MacColl

posted by swivek @ 7:21 AM