Here’s a 25th anniversary treat, a previously unpublished recording of Kirsty on her first Canadian appearance at El Mocambo in November 1993.

Remembering Kirsty at “freeworld”

There will be an informal gathering for people to meet at Kirsty’s bench in Soho Square after 12pm tomorrow to mark the 25th anniversary.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1682359489403176

I hope to see some of you tomorrow.

Ruby

Steve spoke to Roisin O’Connor for the Independent about ‘Fairytale Of New York’ .

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-pogues-fairytale-of-new-york-steve-lillywhite-kirsy-maccoll-b2883436.html

Ruby

On BBC Radio 2 at 8pm on the 13th (My 30th birthday!), Gary Davies will include a Kirsty Mastermix on Sounds Of The 80s. Steve Lillywhite will be joining him to talk about his 80s moments.

The Mastermix starts at 20.20 into the programme. 80s Moments with Steve begins at 38.27.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002n3w8

Ruby

On the 19th, BBC Four will repeat ‘Kirsty MacColl At The BBC’ and ‘The Boxed Set’ to mark the 25th anniversary of her death.

10:40pm – Kirsty MacColl At The BBC

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0023s35

11:40pm – The Boxed Set

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0023s37

At 30 minutes past midnight on 20th, the channel will repeat the 2005 documentary, ‘The Story Of Fairytale Of New York’.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074f8x

They will be available on the iPlayer again after they have been broadcast.

From Ruby

Here’s a video of the Kirsty covers band, Kite performing at Woodfalls Village Hall in Salisbury on Saturday 29th November with excerpts of ‘Soho Square’, ‘Tread Lightly’ and ‘Chip Shop’.

From Ruby

Steve did a interview with Mark Millar for ‘The XS Noize Podcast’ discussing the new ‘Fairytale Of New York’ release featuring the previously unreleased live version of the song, recorded at Barrowlands in Glasgow in December 1987. He also talks about the making of the song and the key moments from his career.

Steve also spoke to Declan McConville for ‘GlasgowWorld’ about the live performance at Barrowlands and the story of when he proposed to Kirsty there. Fans of The Pogues also share their memories.

https://www.glasgowworld.com/whats-on/music/steve-lillywhite-proposed-to-kirsty-maccoll-glasgow-barrowland-5429394?utm_social_post_id=616536093&utm_social_handle_id=101741462124688&fbclid=IwY2xjawOiVE1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBxUDJ3dlJwanVrbmZBTkVic3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHvjrL-8ZDEKufMcm-AGnerdgQ1F2utHqLEkKzOy7T0rdGxn5zmYg-RQsMAJ2_aem_JaFt36v2X9xnKq1knEdhbQ

From Ruby

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all having a lovely week so far. On Friday 14th, I went to an event dedicated to Kirsty called ‘Kirsty MacColl – A Celebration’, which took place at Ironworks Studios in Brighton.

I travelled on the train and arrived there after 12pm. Then, I checked in to a hotel where I was staying for the night.

I had my dinner at Burger King before I went to Ironworks Studios. When I got there, I saw and spoke to Steve Jacks, who has attended Kirstyfest through the years. Gerret Lorenzen, Dong-Woo Kang and Ben Gritten, who are also huge Kirsty fans, arrived shortly after.

The show began at 8pm and was held at the main auditorium of the venue. There was also a slideshow of Kirsty photos. The compere was Paul Diello. He is a singer-songwriter who regularly hosts events celebrating a different musical act. Paul read out parts of Kirsty’s life and career before he introduced Alan Bonner, who was the first act to perform. The event was actually Alan’s idea. He spoke to Paul about doing a Kirsty night and Paul agreed as he’s a huge fan as well.

Alan first saw Kirsty on ‘French & Saunders’ and used to have the kite shaped 3” CD single of ‘Days’.

‘Still Life’ was the first song Alan performed. He dedicated it to his friend, Sebastian as it’s his favourite song. It was also Sebastian’s birthday. Alan did a wonderful version of the song along with Robin Coward on keyboards. Robin also sang ‘He’s On The Beach’ and ‘Fifteen Minutes’ with him.

Paul came back on and read out another part of Kirsty’s life to the audience before he introduced Tig Savage.

Tig was a teenager when Kirsty came on to the scene and grew up with folk music, so she knew who Ewan MacColl was. She liked the songs that were hits for Kirsty, but didn’t know more about her than that.  She has had a listen to her songs and is a new Kirsty fan. Tig decided to perform songs Kirsty covered as she thought Kirsty’s own songs were hard to do. She also shared a Kirsty anecdote, when she came to Brighton as a teenager thinking she was going to see her and her father Ewan, but it was actually Martin Carthy and his daughter Eliza!

Tig did a lovely version of ‘A New England’ on the guitar before her partner, Trevor joined her. Like Kirsty, he has lived in Ealing. He drank in a pub called The North Star, where she also used to go. The reason why Kirsty liked this pub so much was because it was the only pub in Ealing that didn’t have bouncers on the door! Next, Tig sang ‘I’ll Tell Me Ma’ accompanied by Trevor on guitar, although Kirsty never did a cover of it. However, the version of the song by Sham Rock was uploaded by Gary Rigby back in 2008 as ‘Kirsty MacColl – Belle of Belfast City’.

For her last song, Tig did a wonderful rendition of ‘Miss Otis Regrets’.

Robin returned to the stage and performed ‘They Don’t Know’, ‘Days’ and ‘Don’t Come The Cowboy With Me, Sonny Jim!’.

Paul and Alan hosted a multiple choice Kirsty quiz and they both read out the questions to everyone. There was a break before Amy Whitington came on and sang ‘Free World’, ‘Chip Shop’ (She started performing it again after forgetting the lyrics to the first verse) and duetted with Robin on ‘Perfect Day’.

The quiz results were announced afterwards. A few of the teams, including mine, got 10 out of 10. Due to this, a team name was randomly picked out of a hat. The chosen team were ‘Thank You For The Days’ consisting of Di and Sian. Their prizes were ‘My Kirsty – End Of The Fairytale’, a 2014 reprinted version of the ‘Sun On The Water’ book by her mother Jean and the 2CD edition of ‘Free World: The Best Of Kirsty MacColl 1979 – 2000’.

Paul performed ‘Innocence’, ‘What Do Pretty Girls Do?’, ‘Mother’s Ruin’ and ‘In These Shoes?’, where he wore high heels! He said they looked good with his socks! Paul did excellent versions of the songs, accompanied by Francesco Bonini on guitar.

Steve Jacks uploaded a short video of ‘Mother’s Ruin’ on the ‘Kirsty MacColl Fan Gang’ Facebook group.

https://www.facebook.com/steve.jacks.7/videos/1137249825195785/?idorvanity=191172489226

Alan uploaded a video of himself singing ‘Fairytale Of New York’ with Paul accompanied by Robin on keyboards. Amy also joined them.

https://www.facebook.com/ALANDAVID7783/videos/819486247504314/?idorvanity=191172489226

After the show, there was a Kirsty afterparty at the bar where Paul and Alan played her classic songs and fan favourites until midnight.

It was great to meet Kirsty’s close friend, Frances ‘Fuz’ Boniface for the first time. They were mates since they were teenagers. She wore a Frida Kahlo brooch, which she gave to Kirsty. As some of you may know, Kirsty wore it in a few TV appearances.

I had a brilliant time there and walked back to the hotel safely.

The next day, I visited the beach where Kirsty filmed parts of her video for ‘He’s On The Beach’ before I went back home.

Alan has confirmed that the event will be happening again next year!

From Ruby

For anyone in Salisbury, the Kirsty covers band, Kite along with The Sky At Night will be performing at Woodfalls Village Hall for free this Saturday the 29th. Doors will open at 7:30pm and the show will start at 8pm.

Ruby

Louis has been interviewed for the Express about his mum Kirsty as the 25th anniversary of her tragic death approaches.

https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/2136113/my-pop-star-mums-tragic-death

Ruby