God I miss her. If I could give a leg to bring her back I would. Even if all I ever got was her living out the rest of her life being happy, that would be enough. Her music has brought me so much happiness over the years it can't be measured. Sadly it would take a lot more than a leg to raise the dead, and I am not that gifted, or that powerful.
I first heard of her oddly enough singing back up for my favorite band ever, The Smiths. Her cracking vocals on Your Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby are as passionate and yearning as anything I've heard sung, ever. Her voice was instantly recognizable, almost intimate and yet amazing sunny and effervescent.
I went backward, discovering her solo albums starting with "Kite" from 1989 and working my way forward. There's a lot of gold in them thar hills! For someone who's Father is considered one of the godfathers of folk(Ewan MacColl- the first ever I saw your face) she had an incredible pop sensibility and enough songwriting hooks to catch fish for the 5,000.
As is sometimes the case with immense talent that arrives before their time, Kirsty never had any huge hits although Comedian Tracy Ullman took her 1983 single "They Don't Know" to number two in 1986-including leaving Kirsty's backing vocals intact from the original and right up front like a duet in the chorus. Forever a fan herself Ullman said at the time "it would have been wrong to use myself-without Kirsty's voice the song is not the same. I love her and her voice." Although a few singles charted in the lower reaches of the British charts, she never hit it big in the US, though her husband Steve Lillywhite had massive success with his production for Simple Minds, the Smiths and of course U2-almost all of whom Kirsty did backing vocals.
After her divorce from Lillywhite and the relative failure of her 'divorce' album Titanic Days, she took time off. Raising her two children and generally writing songs on her own, but sometimes with others, she mostly kept a low profile for many years. So it was with much delight when she reappeared in 2000 with the album Tropical Brainstorm(her album titles were never without a little humor-even for an English girl). I began playing the album to death-to the point where my then partner Lee asked "could you PLEASE play something else?" It wasn't just a good album-it was her best. She was often quoted as saying "There's no reason to shove your face in the public presence if you don't have anything worthwhile to say."
I thought this album deserved to be heard by everyone and I made sure I mentioned it as often as possible. I rarely use an entire album to cheer myself up but this album is so determined to be sunny you can't can't help but feel the rays beaming out of the speakers. After her divorce, licking her wounds and looking for new directions, she visited Cuba for the first time. This was WAY Before the Buenavista Social Club and the influx of Cuban music that was cool in the late 1990's. Visiting several times over the years, she immersed herself in the culture, tasting the nightlife and recapturing her verve-including falling in love again with a somewhat younger man. They began writing songs. She wrote more with a few others, leading to the songs which became Tropical Brainstorm. The woman who wrote these songs sounds about as in love with life as you can imagine.
She was taking a quick last minute vacation to Cozumel, Mexico just prior to beginning a small tour in support of the album. She rarely toured and almost never in the US so the success of the first single "in these shoes" boded well. I was all set to finally get a chance to see her live and then...one Saturday morning in September...she was dead. In fact she had been killed while snorkeling with her two small children and her new lover, by a wealthy Mexican businessman driving a powerboat in an area reserved only for swimming. Kirsty died pushing her two children out of the way of the boats path, putting herself in their place. She was struck on the back of the head while her two children watched, narrowly missing being hit themselves. She was killed instantly. The driver of the boat didn't even stop. Because he was drunk. Kirsty's elderly mother has spent the intervening 10 years devoting herself to bringing the man to justice.
I knew how corrupt the Mexican judicial system was and was not surprised that they pinned the murder on some poor guy who the businessman claimed had been piloting the boat at the time of the accident. It wasn't true. One more reason to hate the rich? At this point I was just stunned hearing about it. She was only 41, in the prime of her life and in love again doing something she loved with the most important people in her life by her side. The wrongness of her death troubles me even now. I often find myself thinking of her and begin to cry. Taken at exactly the wrong time, just when everything was starting to go her way(Bette Midler even covered 'In These Shoes'-which was released as a single after Kirsty's death)and with SUCH a great album. Not a good album...a GREAT Album. And her best. She went out on top both as an artist but also a songwriter. You can tell she was the real deal, a one-off firing on all cylinders.
Everyone loved her-even in the notoriously backstabbing record industry-and she was the kind of woman you could call a 'broad' without her taking offense. She would have probably offered you a glass of red wine and drunk you under the table instead. Smart, sassy, gifted and a voice like a fiery red-headed angel with a personality to match. Even as talented as she was, with as many truly 'famous' people that she knew she always said her greatest achievement was her children. And in a way she made sure they would live, even if she might not.
Its been 10 years since her death. I play her music all the time-nearly everything holds up-even the 80's material. But its always bittersweet-and I find myself thinking of the what if's. What if she had lived? What would she be doing-would those concerts I never got to see her perform in have been the best? I'll never know. I just keep playing her records and doing what I can to share her truly vibrant spirit with the rest of the world. She taught me to laugh when it hurts and cry because it feels so wonderful to be alive.
I miss you Kirsty. Have a Margarita and a record player waiting when I get there, would you?
Love Steve
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