Kirsty MacColl And The Smiths
English singer and songwriter Kirsty MacColl (1959 - 2000) collaborated with the Smiths, providing backing vocals for them on 'Bigmouth Strikes Again'1, 'Ask' and 'Golden Lights'.
MacColl also performed a cover of the Smiths' song 'You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby', which she released in 1989 on the deluxe CD format of her Kite studio album.
In addition to co-writing two of the Kite tracks with MacColl, Johnny Marr played guitar on several of the album's songs, including the aforementioned 'You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby' cover. Kite was produced by McColl's then-husband, Steve Lillywhite, who had previously mixed 'Ask' for the Smiths, as well as producing three studio albums for Morrissey: Vauxhall And I, Southpaw Grammar, and Maladjusted.
Listen to Kirsty MacColl's beautiful cover of the Smiths’ 'You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby' here:
"Kirsty MacColl had entered my life in 1985. She had arrived at RAK Studios in north London to sing backing vocals on Bigmouth strikes again. She walked towards me carrying a bulging Londis bag. ‘Today’s laundry?’ are my first words to her. She laughs and opens the bag to reveal a cluster clutter of canned beer. ‘If I’m gonna sing with Morrissey I want us both to have a good time,’ she says, and chuckles that warm deep-in-the-chest giggle of hers. A friendship for life is born."
-Morrissey, Autobiography
"The first song we recorded was ‘Bigmouth Strikes Again’, which we’d been playing in soundchecks and which sounded to me like a single. It was good to kick the sessions off with a banger, and it was good too because we’d invited Kirsty MacColl to come down and sing backing vocals. It was the first time we’d met Kirsty. She was immediately great to have around, outgoing, smart and funny, and she knew a lot about making records. She and I stayed in the studio playing songs and singing until early the next morning, and from that night my relationship with Kirsty would become one of the great friendships of my life."
-Johnny Marr, Set The Boy Free
Daily Telegraph: There are also nice anecdotes about working with the late Kirsty MacColl.
Johnny Marr: She was a really unique person. There’s a lot of joy in the book and a lot of fondness and happy memories, but like anyone’s life there’s some tragedy in it. That was probably the biggest tragedy to happen, I don’t know how you ever get over those things, you just have to live with them. Kirsty was so important to me. And so sadly missed. I was glad to pay tribute to her.
-From Johnny Marr’s December 2016 interview with The Daily Telegraph on the release of his autobiography, Set The Boy Free
Tragically, Kirsty MacColl was killed at the age of 41 while on holiday in Mexico with her sons and her boyfriend, musician James Knight. On December 18, 2000, MacColl 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. As the group was surfacing from a dive, a powerboat moving at high speed entered the restricted area. MacColl saw the boat 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, which 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 funeral service at Mortlake Crematorium in Kew.
In late 1985 the Smiths asked MacColl to contribute backing vocals on 'Bigmouth Strikes Again'; however, Marr found her harmonies "really weird" and they were left off the final recording. Instead, the backing vocals were recorded by Morrissey and altered to a higher pitch. This is credited to "Ann Coates", a reference to the Manchester district of Ancoats.