Last night Chris took me along to a book launch at Kettner's in Soho, 'Sun On The Water', Jean MacColl's book about her daughter, Kirsty. The book is subtitled, 'The Brilliant Life and Tragic Death of Kirsty MacColl'.I suspect that most people reading this blog, at least those of you in the UK, will know something about Kirsty. The daughter of Ewan MacColl, the man who re-invented folk music in the '50s, and Jean. Her early work in the late '70s and her hit 'Chip Shop' followed by a few quiet years married to Steve Lillywhite and then her everlasting duet with the Pogues, 'Fairytale Of New York' and her classic album, 'Kite' in 1989 with the single 'Days'. After that came an album every few years until 2000 when she was killed in a diving accident off the coast of Cozumel in Mexico (and I remember that being on the national BBC news the day after it happened).
Whenever I hear 'Days' I whiz back to 1989 and the bus strike that summer when I used to walk across Clapham Common to Clapham Junction on my way to Fulham (where I worked at the time), singing along to the song. More recently I have memories of walking along a beach in Sri Lanka, plodging in the surf and singing it. Her version is far superior to the original, mainly due to her lovely voice. That single led me to buy the cassette of 'Kite' to play it endlessly on my Walkman. I bought all her subsequent albums with the exception of what was to be her final album. 'Tropical Brainstorm'. I can't remember why I didn't get it but Chris gave it to me for Christmas years ago and I've loved it ever since.
It was quite fun to be at the book launch and offer what little support I can to the Justice for Kirsty campaign. At one point it was a case of spot the celebrity and it was nice to see Billy Bragg and Alison Steadman there, not just for the drinks but to stay for the meal as well, and not sit on the top table. Chris noticed Holly Johnson and Janice Long but I didn't see them. There would've been other arty folk that I probably wouldn't know and various 'political' people. It was packed, a good turnout to support Jean and our memories of Kirsty. It was also nice to meet some of the Kirsty bench crew (who arranged for the bench in Soho Square and hold the annual birthday get together in October). Kirsty touched so many lives in different ways and it's heartening to know that people still care about her.
I bought the book and Jean kindly signed it, which was nice. 'Sun on the Water', the title of the book, was Kirsty's last song and the song we listened to when we got the ferry back from Cozumel to mainland Mexico a couple of years ago after paying respects. It's a lovely song but with sad memories attached to it. I hope the book does well.
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