Real Gone Kid

Album: When The World Knows Your Name (1989)
Charted: 8
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Songfacts®:

  • Lead singer Ricky Ross wrote this song about Lone Justice's vocalist Maria McKee. He had seen Lone Justice in concert and was inspired by her wild behavior on stage to write a song about her lifestyle.
  • It was the first song Deacon Blue released with Lorraine McIntosh (who was Ricky Ross' girlfriend) in the band.
  • This was their biggest UK hit with their own material, however in 1990 Deacon Blue had a #2 hit with their EP "Four Bacharach And David Songs."
  • Glaswegian band Deacon Blue were one of the top-selling UK groups of the late 1980s and early 1990s. They took their name from the 1977 Steely Dan song "Deacon Blues."
  • This was not the only UK Top Ten hit about Maria McKee. Two years earlier Feargal Sharkey had a #5 hit with "You Little Thief," which was written by Tom Petty's keyboardist Benmont Tench about Maria McKee, with whom he'd recently split from.

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