Kirsty MacColl
Album: All I Ever Wanted:The Anthology
Label: Salvo
Tracks: 43
Website: http://www.kirstymaccoll.com

Folks will probably be wondering whether there’s really a need for yet another Kirsty MacColl anthology, given that any of those already on the market (A New England being probably the best) will doubtless more than satisfy both the genuine newcomer and the wide-ranging fan who just needs a snappy overview. But hold on – for this lavish new two-disc, full-2½-hour edition really does deliver the goods; and at an absolute bargain price. Beautifully presented, and with the benefit of a magnificent 32-page booklet that includes a brilliant, insightful essay, this issue can really do no wrong.

I shouldn’t need to wax lyrical about Kirsty’s many attributes – not least her sweetly stupendous singing voice and her intense songwriting flair with its delectable signature combination of canny humour and barbed comment.

Needless to say, all aspects of her art are on display here in this abundantly generous collection which does exactly as it claims and delivers all the hits (yes, all of them! – no need to waste these column inches, you already know ’em!), a sensible selection of album tracks, some representative live session cuts, single or limited-edition remix/alternate issues, and a few rarities including one B-side available for the first time on CD (this latter cut – Over You, the B-side of Kirsty’s 1981 Polydor single See That Girl – was inexplicably omitted from its logical place on Salvo’s otherwise entirely commendable re-release of her Desperate Character LP last year). As the sheer spread of this anthology proves, Kirsty was a born polymath who eagerly responded to, absorbed, developed and well and truly soaked up all manner of musical influences from the world around her, from rock’n’roll and classic pop through to club disco and deep Latin – and made the tunes her own. Even the most broad-minded of musical tastes among fans will find the occasional “must-skip” item, but each track proves an essential and unmissable piece in the eclectic jigsaw of Kirsty’s music.

With all its timeless treatments, ever-haunting and often so very special (that iconic duet with Billy Bragg will always be an air-punching desert-island-disc moment for many of us), the continuous experience of this twin-disc set’s running parade of Kirsty’s achievements is a compelling one, like a book you just can’t put down but for the fact that you know how it all ends (so tragically as it turned out). But hers is a life worth celebrating, in style, and if anything should go like a party then here’s one that does. It’s how she would wish to be remembered. Literally, all you ever wanted from a Kirsty MacColl anthology – that is, if you can resist all temptation and really, really insist on not buying all the individual original albums (with their plethora of useful bonus tracks) that comprise Salvo’s splendid Kirsty MacColl reissue programme! Forget about hunting for the only-slightly-more-exhaustive (and now-long-deleted) From Croydon To Cuba set: instead you can just invest wisely, and with complete confidence, in All I Ever Wanted.

David Kidman