MacGowan’s attraction to Fairytale singer Kirsty
THE Pogues star Shane MacGowan has revealed he was attracted to Kirsty MacColl during the making of Fairytale in New York.
In an RTÉ documentary which delves into the chemistry between the pair during the famous duet, his sister Siobhán said: ‘Shane liked Kirsty a lot, in lots of different ways. They got on very, very well. Kirsty would be Shane’s type of girl: ballsy, down-to-earth and kind of give as good as she got.’
Kirsty MacColl died on a diving holiday in Mexico in 2000 when she was hit by a speedboat which was in an area reserved for swimming.
MacGowan’s girlfriend, Victoria Mary Clarke, also alluded to her boyfriend’s fondness for MacColl.
‘I guess I was jealous of Kirsty with good reason because Shane really fancied her as well, didn’t you?’ she asked him.
‘Yeah,’ he said before adding, ‘Cáit [O’Riordan] originally did the female part and she was very good but Kirsty was better.’
The Irish singer, who turns 60 on Christmas Day, listed off Kirsty’s definitive line in the song noting how she carried it off: ‘You know, she really f***ing delivers stuff like that really well. She did a great job on that. She always did.’
The song was produced by Kirsty’s husband Steve Lillywhite. Kirsty’s son, Louis Lillywhite, said ‘I think my mum and Shane did gel well together. I don’t think, to be honest, she would have worked with anyone for so long if they didn’t gel well together.’
Fairytale of New York is on RTÉ One, Thursday, December 21, at 9.35pm.