401 Hello Kirsty MacColl - There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis

Chart  entered : 13  June  1981

Chart  peak : 14

Number  of  hits : 10

Kirsty's  another  artist  who  only  gets  in  here by  the  skin  of  her  teeth  as  her  success  was  pretty  intermittent  but  she's  worth  the  attention.

Kirsty  was  born  in  1959  to  the  renowned  folk  singer  Ewan  MacColl  and  his  English  wife  Jean,  not  long  before  he  dumped  her  for  Pete  Seager's  sister  with  whom  he  already  had  a  son. Kirsty  missed  a  lot  of  school  through  chronic  asthma  but  was  smart  enough  to  catch  up  and  be  featured  in  a  documentary  about  gifted  children. On  leaving  school  she drifted  into  the  punk  scene  and  joined  the  band  The  Drug  Addix  as  a  backing  singer  under  the  name  Mandy  Doubt. They  released  one  EP  on  Chiswick  "Make  A  Record "  in  June 1978. The  lead  track  was  a  Lou  Reed  pastiche  " Gay  Boys  In  Bondage"  which  with  its  blatant  references  to  buggery, drugs  and  four  letter  words  , wasn't  exactly  tailored  for  radio  play. Kirsty's  most  prominent  on  the  equally  crude  and  misogynist    "Special  Clinic"  about  catching  VD.

Stiff  checked  them  out  but  decided  that  only  Kirsty  was  worth  pursuing  and  signed  her  on  a  solo  deal. Kirsty's  first  single  for  them  was  the  gorgeous  Spector-pop  tale  of  forbidden  love  "They  Don't  Know"  in  June  1979  which  got  a  lot  of  airplay  but  failed  to  be a  hit, due, according  to  received  wisdom , to  an  untimely  strike  at  Stiff's  distributors.  It  of  course  was  a  number  two  hit  for  Tracey  Ullman  four  years  later. It  was  made  with  Kirsty's  blessing  and  she  sang  the  high  bits  that  Ullman  couldn't  manage  including  the  heart-stopping "Baby "  that  heralds  the  third  verse.

Kirsty  recorded  a   confessional  follow  up  "You  Caught  Me  Out"  with  some  of  the  Boomtown  Rats  in  a  more  conventional  New  Wave  style  , sounding  like  Martha  and  the  Muffins   ( meant  as  a  considerable  compliment ). However  Kirsty  was  disillusioned  with  the  label  and  left  before  the  single  was  due  to  be  released  resulting  in  its  cancellation. Despite  her  acrimonious  departure  from  the  label  she  remained  on  good  terms  with  some  of  the  artists  and  made  her  Top  of  the  Pops  debut  in  May  1980  backing  Jona  Lewie  on  You  Will  Always  Find  Me  In  The  Kitchen  At  Parties. 

Kirsty  found  a  new  home  on  Polydor  and  released  her  first  single  for  them  early  in  1981  , a  cover  of  "Keep  Your  Hands  Off  My  Baby"  Little  Eva's  forgotten  follow-up  to  The  Locomotion.  Kirsty's  is  a  good  version   with   excellent  vocals  and   some  nice  sax  work  but   still  feels  slightly  redundant  and   it  sank  without  trace.  

"There's  A  Guy  Works  Down  The  Chip  Shop  Swears  He's  Elvis"  was  co-written  with  pub  rock  guitarist  Phil  Rambow. It's  a  fast-paced  rock  and  roll  number; Billy  Bremner's  presence  on  guitar  makes  it  sound  like  a  Rockpile  number  though  he  was  the  only  member  on  the  recording. Over  that  Kirsty  tells  us  of  an  untrustworthy  boyfriend  in  similar  terms  to  You're  So  Vain   with  a  confusing  mix  of    British  and  American  references. The  actual  guy  at  the  chippy  is  no  more  than  a  benchmark  of  unreliability  who  has  no  other  function  in  the  tale. Kirsty  sings  with  a  country  and  western  inflection  indicating  her  willingness  to  hop  across  musical  genres  before  unleashing  a  catchy  chorus.

The  single  was  a  fair-sized  hit  after  a  lot of  airplay  on  Radio  One. Because  of  the  unusually  long  and  apparently  jokey  title  and  Kirsty's  lack  of  a  track  record  in  the  charts,  it  did  have  the  feel  of  a  one  hit  wonder  and  it  proved  quite  difficult  for  Kirsty  to  overcome  that.