As those who know me may be aware, the chances of me doing something specific for Christmas are pretty slim.
But in at least a brief nod to the time of year, we start this episode of Six Degrees of Kevin Shields with someone who is now forever connected to Christmas. If you know nothing else about Kirsty MacColl, you know of her performance with The Pogues on the Fairytale Of New York - a perennial favourite at this time of year.
Of course, there is a much sadder extra connection to December, as it was on 18 December 2000 that Kirsty was struck and killed by a speedboat on the Mexican coast, whilst bravely protecting her two young sons. In that moment we lost a truly talented (and vastly underrated) singer and songwriter.
It turns out that there is another sad connection to this episode too, although I wasn't to know what was to come as I started to put this together over last weekend. All will become apparent as we go through the connections...
There were so many directions we could have gone with out first connection. There is Kirsty's aforementioned duetting with the Pogues, her folk singer father Ewan, or maybe her cover of the Kinks classic Days. Then there is the fact that she wrote (and recorded) They Don't Know, which would become a US Top10 hit for Tracey Ullman. One of her finest moments was her take on the Billy Bragg song A New England, for which he wrote several new verses especially for her. We could also throw in her marriage to legendary producer Steve Lillywhite, who produced the first three U2 albums, Big Country's debut The Crossing and Simple Minds' Sparkle In The Rain (Kirsty sings backing vocals on two tracks). But we ignored all of those excellent links and instead focus on Pete Glenister.
A New England: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnzpg5GgQCo
Pete Glenister was a long time collaborator with Kirsty, playing guitar on her records and co-writing many songs with her. He also worked with the likes of Terence Trent D'Arby, Bruce Foxton (ex- The Jam) and Bros. He had started out with The Hitmen, who put out two albums in 1980 and 1981. But aside from MacColl, he is perhaps best known for working with Alison Moyet, joining her 1987 solo tour and appearing on multiple albums; 1991's Hoodoo, Essex in 1994; 2002's Hometime and The Turn in 2007.
Alison Moyet, with her strong blues voice, came to our attention as part of Yazoo, formed in 1982 with Vince Clarke who had recently departed Depeche Mode. But before that, Moyet had been a part of the punk and pub rock scenes, as well as training as a piano tuner. But with Yazoo, she recorded two albums and had several large hits, such as Don't Go, Only You and Situation. By 1984, Yazoo was done and Moyet went solo, scoring an instant monster hit with debut album Alf, which made the UK number one spot. In 1986, she had a number three hit with the single Is This Love? which was co-written with Dave Stewart.
Dave Stewart will forever be linked with Annie Lennox as part of the Eurythmics and before that The Tourists (whose best known moment was a cover of Dusty's I Only Want To Be With You). He is in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame (inducted as part of the Eurythmics earlier this year) and the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2020). He was also part of musical marriage for a while, with Siobhan Fahey of Bananarama and Shakespear's Sister. In 1992 he teamed up with Terry Hall to form Vegas, who put out one self-titled album.
So, this is the bit that has obviously ended up sadly being very topical. On Sunday 18th we lost Terry Hall to cancer. Terry, through his various bands in the early 80s, formed a key part of the musical backdrop to my childhood. There probably wasn't a week, and certainly not a month, between about 1980 and 1984, where I wouldn't have seen him on Top of the Pops, or heard him singing on Radio 1. I digress a little - but it is important to remember a man who has been such a vital part of the UK music scene for forty years!
When The Specials disintegrated in 1981 after a run of seven hit singles, Terry Hall took bandmates Lynval Golding and Neville Staples with him on his next venture, Fun Boy Three. They are best known for the songs The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum (still appropriate?) and their collaboration with Bananarama, It Ain't What You Do (It's The Way That You Do It). What perhaps was less well known, was his brief romantic liaison with Go-Go Jane Wiedlin, which also resulted in the creation of Our Lips Are Sealed, a break out hit for the Go-Go's (and later a hit for Fun Boy Three). Following on from Fun Boy Three, Hall formed The Colourfield, which didn't make too many dents on the charts, but did keep him occupied through the rest of the decade.
Our Lips Are Sealed (Fun Boy Three version): https://youtu.be/JdlhLfwCE6c
Ghost Town: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ2oXzrnti4
Jane Wiedlin formed the Go-Go's in 1978 with Belinda Carlisle (who had already made a mark on the west coast punk scene, briefly being the drummer for The Germs - as Dottie Danger). Wiedlin would go on to get some acting credits post-Go-Go's, including Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Star Trek IV and Sleeping Beauty. In 1988 she released her second solo album, Fur, which wasn't a huge hit, only making #48 in the UK and #105 in the US. But it did spawn the single Rush Hour, which made the Top20 in both countries. The album features both Simon Climie (well known in the UK at the time as part of Climie Fisher) and brass section for hire, The Kick Horns.
The Kick Horns are a UK based session group, formed around Simon C Clarke, Tim Sanders (both saxophone) and Roddy Lorimer (trumpet). Their list of recordings and tours is very long and full of A-listers. They have worked with Blur, The Spice Girls, Beyonce and The Stones on record, and toured with the likes of Eric Clapton, The Who and The Waterboys. They have their own studio space in southeast London (The Tall Place in Nunhead). They appear on a couple of recordings by Primal Scream (also suffering a tragic loss this week, with the passing of keyboard player Martin Duffy) made in 1992 - the legendary Screamadelica album, which won the first ever Mercury Music Prize, and the less well known Dixie Narco EP.
Primal Scream's 2000 album XTRMNTR, which made number three on the album charts, was a political statement, with songs about the police, the government and big corporations. It was more aggressive and harsh than much of their earlier work. The man bought in to produce the track Shoot Speed / Kill Light and mix Accelerator and MBV Arkestra, was none other than KEVIN SHIELDS.
Shoot Speed / Kill Light (live): https://youtu.be/zjgtKurydCE