All I Ever Wanted (Kirsty MacColl song)

Background

MacColl said the song was written with Marshall Crenshaw some time earlier, initially by post. Crenshaw sent a cassette of chord patterns from New York; MacColl added vocals and lyrics and returned it.

Crenshaw felt it was a girl's song, so it was set aside until MacColl recorded it in New York with a Latin band. She described the result as sounding like Buddy Holly and Acapulco. Crenshaw later submitted the song for the film That Thing You Do! but it was not selected.

Critical reception

Andrew Hirst of the Huddersfield Daily Examiner called it a "flighty folk number" but a strange single choice given stronger tracks on the album. Andrew Collins of NME said it sounded like an album track and a kid's TV theme made out of "American Pie", adding that he hoped it would go to number one for 14 weeks so Virgin would feel bad about refusing to fund MacColl's first tour. John Greenwood of the Halifax Evening Courier described it as a "wistful slice of pop" with a touch of class.

Steve Pick of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted how the song implicitly connects early Beatles with bossa nova. Mike Curtin of The Post-Star called it the best 10,000 Maniacs song the band never wrote. John Kovalic of the Wisconsin State Journal wrote that its solid, catchy pop may be the album's strongest selling point. Barbara Jaeger of The Record highlighted it as one of the catchiest folk-rock tunes on the collection, with a melody that lets MacColl's voice soar.

Ira A. Robbins of The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock said the 1995 compilation Galore gave the album short shrift by omitting this pure pop delight.

Did You Know?

• Three live tracks were included across formats: "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis", "Walk Right Back" and "A New England".
• The live tracks were recorded for BBC Radio 1's Into the Night on 26 June 1991.