Kirsty MacColl

The 100 greatest BBC music performances – ranked!

As the Beeb celebrates its centenary, we take a look at its most memorable pop moments, from the birth of grime to the first sightings of Bob Dylan and Bob Marley, plus TOTP goes Madchester and countless classic Peel sessions

Guardian music

06, Oct, 2022 @12:12 PM

Tracey Ullman: ‘I couldn’t tell a joke to save my life. I want to be taken seriously’

The actor and comedian, on Desert Island Discs, tells of her push for non-comic roles and how she stole a note from Kirsty MacColl

Vanessa Thorpe

26, Sep, 2021 @5:15 AM

Peggy Seeger: 'Folk is full of raunchy songs, but they're not often sung'

The American folk musician and activist on playful lyrics, older women and her late stepdaughter, Kirsty MacColl

Jude Rogers

11, Apr, 2021 @8:30 AM

No need to take offence to the word ‘faggot’ | Letters

Letters: Readers respond to Nick Cave’s claim that the Fairytale of New York has been mutilated by BBC censorship

Letters

08, Dec, 2020 @5:42 PM

Nick Cave accuses BBC of 'mutilating' Fairytale of New York

The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl song, to be played in a censored version on some BBC radio stations, will be ‘stripped of its value’, says Cave

Laura Snapes

01, Dec, 2020 @1:04 PM

‘England 2 Colombia 0’: the story behind Kirsty MacColl’s classic song

Kirsty MacColl’s 1999 tune takes the drama and conflict of football and uses it as a backdrop for the emotional conflicts of real life

Michael Hann

02, Jul, 2018 @2:01 PM

Various Artists: Joy of Living: A Tribute to Ewan MacColl review – an engrossing portrait

This centenary collection of Ewan MacColl covers serves brilliantly to show off his songwriting skills

Neil Spencer

25, Oct, 2015 @8:00 AM

Fairytale of New York: the story behind the Pogues' classic Christmas anthem

Twenty-five years after its release, the duet about a couple who have fallen on hard times is still considered by many to be the greatest Christmas song ever

Dorian Lynskey

06, Dec, 2012 @5:32 PM

The Pogues feat Kirsty McColl: Fairytale of New York - music video

Twenty-five years after its release, the duet about a couple who have fallen on hard times is still considered the greatest Christmas song ever. Read Dorian Lynskey's article on the two-year making of this classic anthem

06, Dec, 2012 @5:30 PM

Kirsty MacColl: the great British songwriter who never got her due

Twelve years after Kirsty MacColl's untimely death, Michael Hann talks to her friends and family as the singer-songwriter's first four albums are re-released

Michael Hann

29, Sep, 2012 @11:05 PM