I should really save this for the new songwriting blog I'm starting *hint, hint* but I want to revisit some of my favorite songs of the 1980s, particularly the obscure guilty pleasures.

And perhaps, from time to time, I'll be able to give you a story behind the story or a story behind the writer.

While watching the video I posted earlier this afternoon of Amy Winehouse singing "Rehab" on The Late Show with David Letterman last year, I thought about what I really dig about her. Stylistically, I've always had a thing for the 1950s although, oddly enough, I have always hated 1950s music.

Take the 1980s hit for Tracey Ullman, called "They Don't Know," which was Tracey's one and only hit. It got to about No. 10 on the Billboard charts, and Ullman still managed to earn a net worth of more than $1B dollars.

Of course, it was for comedy, not music. Nevertheless, "They Don't Know" has always been one of my favorite songs. Love the melody, the style, the arrangement. I'm not sure the lyrics have any bearing on this sentiment. It's a total guilty pleasure because it's a total chick song, and it's antithetical to my general distaste for anything 1950s-ish.

It's odd. I really hate that era of music, but I seem to dig the chicks from it and much of the style, although that whole chime vibe might be a 1960s British soul affectation.

Well, the tie-in between Ullman and Winehouse, besides the 1950s vibe, is in how much I'd like to hear Winehouse update this song. It was written by the late, great Kirsty MacColl, who was the daughter of Ewan MacColl, and he's well known the world over for writing "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face."

What you might not know about Kirsty MacColl is that she was a well-respected songwriter who, in 2000, died a horrible but heroic death. During a scuba-diving trip in a craft-restricted part of Cozumel with her boyfriend and kids, Kirsty noticed a speeding powerboat headed right toward one of her boys.

You see it in the movies, but you rarely hear about it in real life. But Kirsty jumped right in front of the boat, pushing her son to safety and dying instantly.

There has been a ton of controversy surrounding her death and Mexico's lack of cooperation in properly prosecuting the supposed boat driver. The boat driver was actually a boathand for a Mexican supermarket millionaire, and he was found guilty of negligent homicide.

But instead of serving the almost three years to which he was sentenced, the Mexican government let him go free with a $90 fine.

Anyway, that's the story behind the story of a great guilty pleasure of the 1980s, one I hope Winehouse will cover on a future CD before she cokes out.