Kirsty MacColl
Album: Desperate Character/Titanic Days/Kite/Electric Landlady
Label: Salvo
Tracks: 12+28+29+28
Website: http://www.kirstymaccoll.com/

It shouldn't need stating that Kirsty's premature death in that so-very-tragic accident just over a dozen years ago robbed the world of a major talent, and in some ways her recorded legacy has already been reasonably well served by sundry reissues. But her constant switching of record labels (from Stiff through Polydor and Virgin to IRS), not to mention her bewildering tally of session work and collaborations, has always presented a fairly insurmountable problem for the anthologists, not least for licensing reasons, and thus a complete edition of her recordings is beyond the wildest dreams of her fans. You can't blame the good guys at Salvo for trying valiantly with this latest series of remastered reissues, but there are still some infuriating gaps to be plugged, not least the unreleased, once-projected-second-album Real, by all accounts a strange new-wave-influenced affair, of which we've only heard tantalising glimpses on the earlier From Croydon To Cuba three-disc retrospective anthology.

The major coup here is probably that Kirsty's very first LP, 1981's Desperate Character, which originally appeared on the Polydor label, receives a CD release at long last courtesy of Salvo. This fact alone is surprising in view of the critical acclaim which it received at the time (it included her chart hit There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis too, of course, although this track has already been frequently anthologised). Desperate Character always sounded a touch uneven to my ears, possibly due to its stylistic diversity, certainly also due to the fact that I never really got on with a couple of the tracks; the Latin American vibe of Mexican Sofa passed me by (although I could appreciate her enthusiasm for the idiom), and the reggaefied cover of the Hollies' classic just left me cold. But her ingenious double-take on Chip Shop, the thrusting, energetic jangle of Clock Goes Round and of course the ultra-catchy retro-60s pop of songs like Hard To Believe and See That Girl all proved that here was a lass with an intuitive ear for what makes a good pop song, and how to communicate its essence without descending into parody; her creative reworking of Frankie Lymon's hit Teenager In Love was just another of the album's priceless moments. Kirsty sure packed a lot into the disc's 35 minutes! However, this reissue (which sports a decent booklet with full lyrics and credits) contains no bonus material (does this really mean there is nothing lurking in the Polydor vaults?…).

Moving on some years, we then encounter Kirsty having emerged from the contract hassles and numerous guest and session appearances with her next LP release Kite, which came out on Virgin in 1989. Here Kirsty was definitely revealing her true stature as both a strongly individual and versatile singer (and showcasing her by-then-well-developed penchant for Brian-Wilson-inspired multi-layering of vocal parts) and an increasingly interesting, mordant and witty yet surprisingly wistful songwriter (Don't Come The Cowboy With Me, Sonny Jim being but the tip of the creative iceberg). At the same time Kirsty consolidated her expertise in creating perfect pop singles (Free World, Innocence) and in covering - and making truly her own - other writers' material (like Ray Davies' classic Days, which Kirsty so cannily gave "the Abba treatment"). Kite, in tandem with Kirsty's two successive album releases, comes in a lavish new two-disc Salvo package that brings, alongside the original album in all its glory (a record long, and universally, acknowledged as containing much of Kirsty's best work in all her fields of musical activity) a generous full-disc supplement of bonus material. Although all of these tracks have previously appeared on CD somewhere or other, they've been scattered about on various compilations, so this fresh Salvo incarnation is a welcome (and I believe the most complete) assemblage of the many non-album B-sides and remixes from the Kite period; the only thing missing from its insightful new booklet essay is a measure of discographical background to these bonus tracks.

Kirsty's third album, Electric Landlady, appeared in 1991, and proved her most successful set to date. It took her burgeoning interest in disparate musical styles to a new level, wherein the soon-to-be-hit-singles Walking Down Madison and My Affair fully espoused the influences of streetwise hip-hop and full-on 50s-Havana respectively. While applauding Kirsty's confidence and conviction, though, I personally found (indeed, still do) that this mix felt a touch wilfully over-eclectic and blowsy; but there's no doubting that several of the non-showier songs (like Halloween) were among Kirsty's most intriguing creations (and moreover, the album sessions spawned a good number of classic performances from the cast-of-seeming-thousands); so I still wouldn't be without it. On this remastered two-disc Salvo expanded edition, the bonus disc contains 16 tracks in all, which usefully include, alongside one previously unreleased alternate take of The Hardest Road, the non-album B-sides, three different remixes of each of the aforementioned hit singles, and - best of all - four glorious acoustic BBC session tracks recorded at the time of the album's UK release (though it's still good that the entire live-in-the-studio session continues to be available on Hux Records). Like that enclosed with Kite, this edition's booklet contains full lyrics and a perceptive new essay.

The final two-disc package in this magnificent Salvo expanded edition is 1993's Titanic Days, which has already enjoyed enhanced-and-bonus-bedecked status in a previous CD incarnation. It's an unexpectedly bright-sounding collection of some of Kirsty's most personal songs, couched in often upbeat and quite catchy arrangements. And it's long been a particular favourite with many of her fans. Although the original album comes up sparkling and clear here in the Salvo spring-clean, the new reissue is worth having by virtue of the bonus disc alone. Even though you have to wade through no fewer than six different mixes of the album track Angel (including a recently unearthed, thus previously unreleased "mysterious" mix) before coming to the bonus disc's real treasure, Kirsty's fabulous live performance at the 1995 Fleadh Festival, receiving an official release for the first time I believe. This is the real deal, and arguably the best possible way to remember - and celebrate - Kirsty's unique presence. The 11-song stage set contains a marvellous rendition of Miss Otis Regrets and concludes with a storming runthrough of the Ramones number I Wanna Be Sedated. Full lyrics for the original album, together with an extensive new essay-cum-commentary, are (naturally) included in the accompanying 28-page booklet.

David Kidman