Kite (Kirsty MacColl album)

In a 1991 interview with Melody Maker, MacColl commented, "With Kite, I felt I had to prove that I wasn't this bimbo girl-next-door I'd been portrayed as. That had been hanging around my neck like a fucking albatross for so long, and I wanted to make the point that, yes, I can write a fucking song, pal!" MacColl originally wanted to call the album Al Green Was My Valet, as a parody of the 1941 film title How Green Was My Valley, but Virgin Records were not keen on it. She then had the idea of the title Kite after David Gilmour, who played guitar on two tracks, declined payment for his contribution and suggested that a "kite" [slang for cheque] be sent to Armenia instead as a donation towards the relief of the 1988 Armenian earthquake. MacColl told Ira Robbins in 1990, "I thought that was such a nice image – a little bit of hope and optimism rising above a sea of crap." In April 1990, MacColl revealed the album had sold approximately 85,000 copies in the UK. ==Critical reception==

On its release, Dave Jennings of Melody Maker described the album as a "thoughtful, mature, yet sometimes exhilarating LP" and "cerebral but instantly likeable; never wild or abandoned, but always intriguing". Aside from some "tender moments", he considered most of Kite to show MacColl "on the attack", with her "carefully-layered, deadpan vocals" suiting the "anger" in her lyrics. Simon Williams of New Musical Express considered it "an old-fashioned album" with "proper songs [and] resolutely orthodox instruments". He concluded, "Kite is charming rather than classy. Everything is pleasantly down-to-earth, sweet and sour stories from a woman's point of view which always avoid being emotionally extreme." The Rolling Stone Album Guide described the album as having a "skillfull, introspective elegance". ==Re-issues==

Kite was re-released in 2005 with ten bonus tracks, including B-sides and alternate mixes. A 2012 expanded edition released by Salvo Records features a bonus disc with seventeen bonus tracks, also with B-sides and alternate mixes. Both re-issues were remastered. Demon Records re-issued the original twelve-track album in 2018 on 180g vinyl. ==Track listing==

Adapted from the album's liner notes. 2012 edition bonus CD The first disc contains the twelve tracks from the original album. ==Personnel==

;Musicians • Kirsty MacColl – vocals, acoustic guitar (10), electric guitar (10), bass (10), lap steel guitar (6, 7), autoharp (6), percussion (6, 10) • Guy Barker – trumpet (6, 7, 15) • Mark Berrow – violin (1, 12) • Stuart Brooks – trumpet (7, 15) • Paul Crowder – percussion (2, 9, 13–15) • Ben Cruft – violin (1, 12) • James Eller – bass (2, 3, 6, 7) • Mel Gaynor – drums (1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 13–15) • Wilfred Gibson – violin (1, 7, 12) • Roy Gillard – violin (1, 7, 12) • David Gilmour – electric guitar (5), acoustic guitar (12) • Pete Glenister – acoustic guitar (1–7, 9, 11), electric guitar (1–3, 7–9, 14, 15) • Malcolm Griffiths – trombone (6, 7, 15) • Jamie Lillywhite – vocals (1) • Louis Lillywhite – vocals (1) • Steve Lillywhite – double bass (6) • Robbie McIntosh – acoustic guitar (2, 6, 7), electric guitar (3) • Johnny Marr – electric guitar (3–5, 8, 9, 11–13), acoustic guitar (4, 9), harmonica (15) • Yves N'Djock – electric guitar (1, 14, 15), backing vocals (15) • Pino Palladino – bass (1, 5, 8, 11, 14, 15) • David Palmer – drums (2, 3, 6, 7), percussion (7) • Guy Pratt – bass (9, 13), double bass (4) • Colin Stuart – acoustic guitar (1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15); electric guitar (6, 11) • Jamie Talbot – tenor saxophone (6) • Philip Todd – clarinet (6) • Fiachra Trench – string and brass arrangements (1, 6, 7, 12, 15) • Steve Turner – electric guitar (7), effects (7) • Dave Woodcock – violin (1, 12) • Gavyn Wright – violin (1, 7) ;Technical • Steve Lillywhite – producer • Steve Chase – engineer • Alan Douglas – engineer • Chris Dickie – engineer • Colin Stuart – engineer, mixing • Noel Harris – assistant engineer • Roy Spong – assistant engineer • Mark Wallis – mixing • Heidi Cannovo – assistant mixing engineer • Bill Smith Studio – design • Kirsty MacColl – design • Andrew MacPherson – photography ;Bonus tracks • Kirsty MacColl – producer ("Happy", "El Paso", "Still Life", "Please Help Me, I'm Falling", "Clubland", "Don't Run Away from Me Now", "Am I Right?") • Colin Stuart – producer ("Happy", "El Paso", "Still Life", "Please Help Me, I'm Falling", "Clubland", "Don't Run Away from Me Now", "Am I Right?") • Johnny Marr – producer ("Happy", "El Paso") ;Reissues • Steve Rooke – remastering (2005) • Chris Peyton – reissue design (2005) • Charles Dickens – inner inlay photography (2005) • Fine Splice Ltd. – remastering (2012) • Estuary English – reissue design (2012) ==Recording information==

• 1–9, 11, 13–15 recorded at The Town House • 6, 10, 12 recorded at Ealing Studios. • 1, 6, 7, 12, 15 recorded at RAK Studios • David Gilmour recorded at Olympic Studios • 1, 5, 10, 11, 13, 14 mixed at Ealing Studios. • 2–4, 6–9, 12, 15 mixed at Olympic Studios. ==Charts==