Kirsty MacColl - Real (1983)

I already posted a version of this Kirsty MacColl album back in 2018. But in the next few days, I plan on deleting that version in favor of this one. The reason is, this is a true "lost album" that has finally emerged in full.

In 1983, Kirsty MacColl's music career wasn't going so well. She'd had a minor hit in Berlin in 1981 with the song "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis." That led to a 1981 album, "Desperate Character." But four following singles failed to set the charts on fire. So the release of this album in 1983 was cancelled at the last minute.

Some of the songs came out of the time, especially "Berlin," which was one of those failed singles, in 1983. "Rhythm of the Real Thing" was the B-side. Two more songs, "Annie" and "Roman Gardens," came out on a 1985 compilation. Then, much later, in 2005, two more songs, "Sticked and Stoned" and "Camel Crossing," came out on another compilation. 

So that still left five songs unreleased. Back in 2018, I tried my best to make a version of this album by using some other stray songs she did from around the same time. It wasn't "Real," but at least it was in the ballpark. 

Then, last month as I write this in November 2023, the box set "See That Girl" came out. That included the missing five songs. So the full album can now be properly heard, in the intended song order. 

Actually, "See That Girl" included one more song they said was part of the "Real" album, the extended version of "Berlin." I didn't include that though, because I don't believe that would have been included. This album is already fifty minutes long without it. That would add another six minutes to the album, which is way longer than any album could be made in those days, back before CDs were even a thing. Furthermore, it would have been musically pointless, since the extended version of "Berlin" is just a longer version of "Berlin," which was already on the album.

Anyway, is "Real" some kind of lost masterpiece? No. I would consider it one of her weakest albums. Some of the songs are just okay, and at times it suffers from 1980s production techniques that haven't dated well. But in my opinion MacColl set a high standard. Virtually every song she did was good, so even a "just okay" song from her is pretty good by the standards of the era.

The new version of this album, and other goodies from the box set, means I need to update some of my other MacColl albums. So look for more changes in the next few days.

As mentioned, this album is 50 minutes long.

01 Bad Dreams (Kirsty MacColl)
02 Time (Kirsty MacColl)
03 Sticked and Stoned (Kirsty MacColl)
04 Annie (Kirsty MacColl)
05 Camel Crossing (Kirsty MacColl)
06 Berlin (Kirsty MacColl)
07 Man with No Name (Kirsty MacColl)
08 Lullaby for Ezra (Kirsty MacColl)
09 Up the Grey Stairs (Kirsty MacColl)
10 Roman Gardens (Kirsty MacColl)
11 Rhythm of the Real Thing (Kirsty MacColl)

https://www.upload.ee/files/16003590/KirstyMacC_1983_Reeal_atse.zip.html

The cover here is the cover of the album as presented in the 2023 box set "See That Girl." However, I don't know if this is the actual intended cover from 1983 or if it was something created for the box set. Either way, it's more official than anything I could come up with.