Desperate Character

Desperate Character
Studio album by Kirsty MacColl
Released	July 1981
Recorded	1981 at Regent Park Studios
Genre	New wave, pub rock, pop rock
Label	Polydor
Producer	Barry "Bazza" Farmer
Kirsty MacColl chronology
Desperate Character (1981) Kite (1989)

Desperate Character is the first solo album of British singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl, released in 1981. The album was re-released in March 1985 as Kirsty MacColl, with three tracks replaced with other songs. The album has been remastered and received a CD release for the first time on 8 October 2012 on the Union Square Music label and features the original twelve track listing.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Kirsty MacColl; except where indicated

Desperate Character (1981)

1. "Clock Goes Round" - 2:33
2. "See That Girl" - 2:59
3. "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" (MacColl, Philip Rambow) - 3:04
4. "Teenager in Love" (MacColl, Philip Rambow) - 2:33
5. "Mexican Sofa" (MacColl, Lu Edwards) - 3:11
6. "Until The Night" (MacColl, Phil Johnstone) - 3:07
7. "Falling For Faces" (MacColl, Lu Edwards) - 2:28
8. "Just One Look" (Doris Payne, Gregory Carroll) - 2:17
9. "The Real Ripper" (MacColl, Lu Edwards) - 3:20
10. "Hard To Believe" - 2:17
11. "He Thinks I Still Care" (Roysden D. Lipscombe, Steve Duffy) - 2:54
12. "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" (country version) - 3:42

Kirsty MacColl (1985)

Kirsty MacColl is essentially a reworked version of Desperate Character, with the following changes:

• "Mexican Sofa", "Just One Look" and the country version of "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" were dropped.
• The previously unissued tracks "Annie", "Roman Gardens" and "Berlin" were substituted in their places.
• For a "Special Edition" release of the album, two additional previously unissued tracks were added: "Man With No Name" and "Sleepless Nights".

1. "Clock Goes Round" - 2:33
2. "See That Girl" - 2:59
3. "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" - 3:04
4. "Teenager in Love" - 2:33
5. "Annie" - 4:33
6. "Until The Night" - 3:07
7. "Falling For Faces" - 2:28
8. "Roman Gardens" - 3:57
9. "The Real Ripper" - 3:20
10. "Hard To Believe" - 2:17
11. "He Thinks I Still Care" - 2:54
12. "Berlin" - 3:34
13. "Man With No Name" *
14. "Sleepless Nights" *

(* Special Edition only)

Personnel

• Kirsty MacColl - vocals
• Lu Edmonds, Billy Bremner, Malcolm Morley, Phil Rambow, Barry "Bazza" Farmer - guitar
• Glyn Havard, Paul Riley - bass
• Lee Partiss - drums
• Gavin Povey - piano
• Ben Mandelson - fiddle
• "Irish" John Earle - tenor & baritone saxophone
• Chris Gower - trombone
• Dick Hansen - trumpet
• Lew Lewis - "vamping"
• Blanche McAdorey, Billy - background vocals

External links

• Desperate Character at Kirsty MacColl.com
• Kirsty MacColl at Kirsty MacColl.com