Song · Kirsty MacColl
“In These Shoes” by Kirsty MacColl
From the album Tropical Brainstorm (2000)
“In These Shoes” by Kirsty MacColl appears on 18 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 2001 and 2026. It was first released in 2000 on the album Tropical Brainstorm. Its best result is #2 on the WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #13 indie & aaa song of 2001, #161 indie & aaa song of all time and #264 of the '00s.
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Kirsty MacColl went dancing in heels on "In These Shoes?", the second single from Tropical Brainstorm, her fifth album, in 2000. She wrote it with Pete Glenister and produced it with him and Dave Ruffy, and it sways on a hefty sample of "Spanish Grease", the Willie Bobo track he first recorded in 1965, while MacColl plays the sly, knowing narrator.
On Later... with Jools Holland she explained that it's about being a fashion victim, so devoted to looking good that you hobble yourself doing it, and the joke lands because she sings it so sweetly. BBC Radio 2 gave it heavy play while most other UK stations ignored it, and it turned out to be her last chart entry of her own in Britain.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 13 (tie) | 93XRT Chicago, IL | WXRT Listener Poll: Top 30 Songs of 2001 | 30 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 351 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2007 | 356 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2009 | 2 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade | 913 |
| 2009 | 5 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2009 | 179 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) | 885 |
| 2010 | 603 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2014 | 537 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) | 885 |
| 2016 | 23 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 | 913 |
| 2019 | 44 | WYEP | WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 | 1099 |
| 2019 | 44 | WYEP | WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 | 1017 |
| 2020 | 1606 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2021 | 71 | WYEP | WYEP 2021 Labor Day Countdown | 168 |
| 2023 | 126 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 | 1229 |
| 2024 | 113 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years | 1049 |
| 2024 | 835 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century | 1055 |
| 2025 | 187 | WYEP | WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far) | 714 |
| 2026 | 161 | KXT | KXT 917 Song Countdown | 917 |
Also listed as: In These Shoes?.
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