On this day, October 10, 1959, Kirsty MacColl was born.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Kirsty MacColl


MacColl at the Double Door in Chicago, March 1995

Background information
Birth name: Kirsty Anna MacColl
Born: 10 October 1959; Croydon, Surrey, England
Died: 18 December 2000 (aged 41); Cozumel, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Website: kirstymaccoll.com

Kirsty Anna MacColl (10 October 1959 – 18 December 2000) was a British singer and songwriter, daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl. She recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" and cover versions of Billy Bragg's "A New England" and The Kinks' "Days." Her song "They Don't Know" was covered with great success by Tracey Ullman. MacColl also sang on recordings produced by her then-husband Steve Lillywhite, most notably "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues. Her death in 2000 has led to the Justice for Kirsty campaign.

{snip}

1979–1986

Her debut solo single "They Don't Know", released in 1979, peaked at number two on the Music Week airplay chart. However, a distributors' strike prevented copies of the single getting into record stores, and the single consequently failed to appear on the UK Singles Chart.

MacColl recorded a follow-up single, "You Caught Me Out", but felt she lacked Stiff Records's full backing, and left the label shortly before the song was to be released. The single was pulled, and only a few "white label" promo copies of the single are known to exist.

MacColl moved to Polydor Records in 1981. She had a number 14 UK hit with "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis", from her critically acclaimed debut album Desperate Character. In 1983, Polydor dropped her just as she had completed recording the songs for a planned second album (to be called Real) which used more synthesizers and had new wave-styled tracks. She returned to Stiff, where pop singles such as "Terry" and "He's on the Beach" were unsuccessful, but a cover of Billy Bragg's "A New England" in 1985 reached number 7 on the UK charts. This included two extra verses specially written for her by Bragg. Also around this time, MacColl wrote and performed the theme song "London Girls" for Channel 4's short-lived sitcom Dream Stuffing (1984).

{snip}

Death

In 2000, following her participation in the presentation of a radio programme for the BBC in Cuba, MacColl took a holiday in Cozumel, Mexico, with her sons and her boyfriend, musician James Knight. On 18 December 2000, she and her sons went diving at the Chankanaab reef, part of the National Marine Park of Cozumel, in a designated diving area that watercraft were restricted from entering. With the group was a local veteran divemaster, Iván Díaz. As the group was surfacing from a dive, a powerboat moving at high speed entered the restricted area. MacColl saw the powerboat coming before her sons did. Louis, age 13 at the time, was not in its path, but Jamie, age 15, was. She was able to push him out of the way (he sustained minor head and rib injuries), but she was struck by the powerboat that ran over her. MacColl suffered severe chest and head injuries and died instantly. MacColl's body was repatriated to the United Kingdom and was cremated after a humanist funeral at Mortlake Crematorium in Kew.

Aftermath

The powerboat involved in the collision was controlled by Guillermo González Nova, multimillionaire president of the Comercial Mexicana supermarket chain, who was on board with members of his family. The boat was owned by Carlos González Nova, brother and founder of the chain. One employee of Guillermo González Nova, boathand José Cen Yam, stated that he was in control of the boat at the time of the incident. Eyewitnesses said that Cen Yam was not at the controls and that the boat was travelling much faster than the speed of one knot that González Nova said.

Cen Yam was found guilty of culpable homicide and was sentenced to 2 years 10 months in prison. He was allowed under Mexican law to pay a punitive fine of 1,034 pesos (about €63, £61 or US$90) in lieu of the prison sentence. He was also ordered to pay approximately US$2,150 in restitution to MacColl's family, an amount based on his wages. People who said they spoke to Cen Yam after the killing said he received money for taking the blame.

Justice for Kirsty campaign

MacColl's family launched the Justice for Kirsty campaign in response to the events surrounding her death. Among the group's efforts:

• Lawyers for MacColl's family and the group campaigned for a judicial review into the events surrounding her death. They were in repeated contact with the Mexican government and made an application to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
• MacColl's friends and family were critical of what they perceived as a lack of cooperation from the Mexican authorities. In May 2006, • Emilio Cortez Ramírez, a federal prosecutor in Cozumel, was found liable for breach of authority in his handling of the MacColl case.
• In 2004, the BBC showed a documentary by Olivia Lichtenstein entitled Who Killed Kirsty MacColl?
• U2 frontman Bono, who was a friend of MacColl, spoke about the incident during a concert in Monterrey, Mexico, in February 2006. The Mexican government released a statement after the concert indicating it would take action.

On 20 August 2009, Carlos González Nova, brother of Guillermo González Nova, died at 92, from natural causes. In December of the same year, a statement was issued by the Justice for Kirsty Campaign Committee announcing that the campaign was being terminated since it "was successful in achieving most of its aims" and "it is unlikely that any more could be achieved". The campaign's remaining funds were to be divided between two charities, Casa Alianza México and Cuba Music Solidarity, a gesture of which, the statement read, "Kirsty would have approved".

{snip}

Kirsty MacColl - There's a guy works down the chip shop, swears he's Elvis 1981
1,148,574 views Jun 30, 2010

fritz51176
15K subscribers

Kirsty MacColl - There's a guy works down the chip shop, swears he's Elvis 1981

Oh darling why d'you talk so fast
Another evening just flew past tonight
And now the daybreak's coming in
And I can't win and it ain't right
You tell me all you've done and seen
And all the places you have been without me
Well I don't really want to know
But I'll stay quiet and then I'll go
And you won't have no cause to think about me

There's a guy works down the chip shop swears he's Elvis
Just like you swore to me that you'd be true
There's a guy works down the chip shop swears he's Elvis
But he's a liar and I'm not sure about you

Oh darling you're so popular
You were the best thing new in Hicksville
With your mohair suits and foreign shoes
Lou says you changed your pickup for a Seville
And now I'm lying here alone
'Cause you're out there on the phone to some star in New York
I can hear you laughing now
And I can't help feeling that somehow
You don't mean anything you say at all

There's a guy works down the chip shop swears he's Elvis
Just like you swore to me that you'd be true
There's a guy works down the chip shop swears he's Elvis
But he's a liar and I'm not sure about you

(Instrumental)

There's a guy works down the chip shop swears he's Elvis
Just like you swore to me that you'd be true
There's a guy works down the chip shop swears he's Elvis
But he's a liar and I'm not sure about you
He's a liar and I'm not sure about you

Mon Dec 18, 2023: On this day, December 18, 2000, Kirsty MacColl was run over and killed by a powerboat.

Sat Oct 14, 2023: On October 10, 1959, Kirsty MacColl was born.

Mon Dec 19, 2022: On December 18, 2000, Kirsty MacColl was run over and killed by a powerboat.

Fri Oct 14, 2022: On October 10, 1959, Kirsty MacColl was born.

Sun Dec 19, 2021: On December 18, 2000, Kirsty MacColl was run over and killed by a powerboat.
Sat Oct 14, 2023: On October 10, 1959, Kirsty MacColl was born.