Okay, so for years, I pretty much refused to listen to anything sung by a girl. Perhaps traumatised by late 90s girl groups, I just automatically dismissed any band fronted by a girl (except for Elastica), which was just silly. I didn't realise quite how silly, until I happened to stumble upon a documentary on Kirsty MacColl.
Johnny Marr was talking about how he once found himself sitting in the same room as Keith Richards, apparently trying to record a song with Keith and Kirsty. Remembering how intimidated he was to be sitting in the same room as Keith Richards, he was talking about how he was terrified of telling Keith Richards that was not the way to play the song.. but not Kirsty - Kirsty went on to tell Keith exactly how to play the song. Now, I appreciate an arse-kicking lady when I see one.
Kirsty is mainly known as the girl who sang "You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot" with the Pogues on 'Fairytale in New York' (Christmas isn't the same without it) but her solo records are very much worth a listen as well. 2000's Tropical Brainstorm, released just nine months before her death in a scuba diving-accident, was heavily influenced by her love for Cuba. Mixing Cuban rhythm with her trademark lyrics ("He said Let's make love on a mountain top / Under the stars on a big hard rock / I said In these shoes? / I don't think so"), Tropical Brainstorm is among her best albums. Another favourite is Titanic Days, which contains heart-breakingly beautiful songs written during Kirsty's divorce.