I think The Pogues are great. The mix of trad with punk works just fine. After Shane left, the band really lost most of their appeal to me. I haven't heard anything by them since they re-united.
Loved the Pogues back when I was in college, but haven't listened to them in a long time. Thanks for reminding me about them, I think I'll give them a listen tonight.
I'm into punk/post-punk/alt rock stuff as well as trad, so the Pogues are pretty much right up my alley.
Hoo, boy! The first time that I heard them on the radio, in the car, I had to pull over to the side to listen to them. And I know that I'm not the only one...
I can't cite any examples right at the moment, but some of their instrumental breaks and whatnot are just trad tunes that they've lifted and modified.
"Shane is a genius. His backing band are irrelevants."
I agree about Shane. But I also like the group as a whole so I wouldn't call them "irrelevants." The Pogues was a band after all, not just snagglepuss Shane up there drinking, smoking and singing like a barfly with the wisdom of too many years on his shoulders--I mean, when he showed up and could stand in front of the mic.
"...do you guys like the Pogues?"
I love the Pogues, but I don't listen to them as much as I used to because I've listened to them too much. But... whenever my wife and I go to southern Germany to visit her sister there are always plenty of impromptu parties with LOTS of beer swilling. A bunch of her village friends have been Pogues fans for ever, so when we start getting a little tipsy invariably on goes a Pogues CD... and many of us know ALL the lyrics so we belt them out like drunken soldiers of Shane. I tell you, those wacky Germans...
"Purists" would sneer at "The Pogues" just as they sneer at "The Dubliners" and indeed "The chieftains".
The Dubliners" popularised Irish 2folk" music, old songs and a number of tunes. Barney McKenna popularised the banjo, and they were great in spreading the message, and in Kelly they had the greatest folk singer ever.
The Chieftains popularised and spread the traditional tunes.
For many younger than me The Pogues did the same thing, it was an introduction to a lot of people to "Irish" music. Shane is a great song writer, very good group.
Strange thing was, I was convinced they modelled themselves on an "English" folk group I played in called "Gorton Tank", so much so that our singer had teeth like Shane.
I am one of those who reacted to them at the time by thinking they were truly bloody terminally bad, and now shame-facedly genuflect in their direction (Shane's, anyway) thinking, Yes, they really do make a bloody awful noise, but it's so dementedly bad it's actually good, and they know this, and make use of it as artists.
I saw a moving and informative TV prog about Shane and his upbringing in Ireland. I wish him to prolong his life and not die of drink.
i think the Pogues were great. They put a different atmosphere
on Irish music,most of them being English born other than
Terry Woods and Philip Chevron I believe. Music for everyone
especially people with some sort of an historical rather than
native Irish connection. A lot more easily digestable in a lot of ways, which I think was a good thing at the time. I thought all of the members were brilliant. The drummer was perfect and the accordian player as well. Phillip Chevron wrote "thousands are sailing" hardly an irrelevant piece of music. I wish I could write a song like that.
Shane McGowan has got more poetry in his little finger than Bob Dylan has in his whole body. Yep, Shane is right up there with Woody. Two of the finest men of the 20th century, along with George Gershwin.
i remember as a really young lad sitting in the front room watching "self aid"(a concert put on in ireland by musicians to raise money for unemployment in ireland)
the whole family were watching it and for kids it was amazing seeing all these amazing and different approaches to irish folk ,rock,trad and jazz....but when the pouges walked out on that stage live on tv......my brother and me were stunned.....when they cracked into dirty owl town....we never looked back....amazing then and forever......God bless them.....
Well, Sorry, folks, but I've got to revisit this. I simply loved the Pogues, and I really, really hope that Shane will clean up his behavior before he croaks, all too prematurely.
I'm not trying to emphasize my "Irishness", being about 25% cheerful goofy German (amongst other things), but some of the lines, like "...there was lazy drunken bastards..." sound eerily and exactly like things that my Dad, and my Uncle Don, and some of my cousins would say. Right down to the timing and inflections. Which is why I guess that they, have always um, 'resonated' so much with me.
So, yup, to answer Fitz's question, I adore them. Possibly not good session tunes, though, although a friend got me to get up and sing "Jock Stewart" with her a few weeks ago...Oh, and we've stuck around and sang "Fairytale of New York" at the ensuing Karaoke a few times. Big Fun!
The Pogues without Shane just doesn't do it. Has anybody listened to The Popes? As for the rest of them - I accidentally bought a cd of James McNally's Everybreath and can't listen to it - it reminds me of awful elevator music.
Well, the comic book and me, just us, we caught the bus.
The poor little chauffeur, though, she was back in bed
On the very next day, with a nose full of pus.
Yeah heavy and a bottle of .......
Dylan or MacGowan?
Shane was denied a license to busk at Covent Garden. hows how wrong you can be.
'Shane began writing new songs like "Streams Of Whiskey" and he and Jem began rehersing together in 1981. They tried busking, but they didn't do well. In Covent Garden a man told them: "Very few people have come here and failed what we like to call The Covent Garden Seal Of Quality. I'm sorry, you have failed."'
I wonder who the man was?
my favorite shane story: when asked about 'fairytale of new york' he said something along the lines of "it's a beautiful song, i wish i could remember writing it"
i'm pretty sure this is an original but does it get much better than aisling:
"see the moon is once more rising above our land of black and green, hear the rebels' voices calling 'i shall not die though you bury me," hear the aunt in bed a-dying "where is my johnny?" faded pictures in the hallway, which one of these brown ghosts is he?"
Bless em! Broken into that many pieces and he still manages to show heart, humour and wit... Can you imagine what he'd be like without the pickling? Him and Amy Winehouse... Damn the powers that eat away at folks and make them less than they can be... Far too many, too soon, rot away, are taken from themselves and from us who have had the pleasure of their gifts...
Love 'em, always will. It was mind-blowing to hear those old folks songs punked up when I was a lad of 15 or so, opened up a whole new world for me. Taught me Irish music was more than my mother's old songs and Clancy Brothers' albums.
Besides, ain't nobody play the beer tray like Spider Stacy.
I got the chance to see them in concert in SF last year. Shane mumbled through every song drunk and deliriously. However, it was still one of if not the best concert I have ever been to. Great band and great art.
Definitely a generation thing...Why pay good money to go and hear a toothless drunk with a bloody awful voice who is liable to throw up on stage, when you can see that for nothing down the local boozer.....All together now...WE WOULD!
Reading through this thread it seems that none of the posters actually saw The Pogues in their heyday and I'm talking about 1983-1985.
I did on several occasions and can affirm that they were one of the best live bands on the planet at that time - a rhythm section as tight as The Blockheads, great banjo and accordion and the wondrous Shane to boot.
I could argue this till the cows come home, but the original version of the band was far superior to its smoothed down successor which included Terry Woods and Phil Chevron.
As for Shane, if you've never met him then your life's a little poorer.
I was very time-specific in my post and referred only to people posting on this thread - you should read its first sentence again and, maybe, stay off the rum!
Yeah, when they toured the States back then it was a bit hard for my teenage self to score a fake ID to get into the clubs they played at. Shane wasn't the kinda guy to do all-ages afternoon matinee shows at Boston punk rock dives.
It's only silly to compare Shane with Dylan for those who disagree with whatever the comparison yields. They are fairly comparable in quite a few respects. Neither can "sing" in the technically-accepted sense of the word (but hey...!) They both write songs that many have lauded as containing "poetry." But Shane's songs hit you right in the nuts whereas Dylan's are frequently obscurantist. it ain't poetry if you can't explain it. Poetry is about explaining things to people, not hiding whatever ideas may be present inside a mass of puzzling and possibly fairly meaningless lyrics. And at least Shane doesn't pretend that he can play the harmonica.
"It's only silly to compare Shane with Dylan for those who disagree with whatever the comparison yields..."
Well, isn't that obvious?
..."And at least Shane doesn't pretend that he can play the harmonica..."
It's hard to play harmonica with a drink in one hand and a smoke in the other
Dylan has been freakin' brilliant enough times over tha past 40 years to far outweigh his lack of singing ability (I actually like his voice) and his harmonica playing. Just wade through the catalog:
That said, I love Shane. In my band bio I cite my influences as John Lennon, Joe Strummer and Shane MacGowan. John got me in to playing music, Joe locked me into a world music and Punk ethos mentality, and Shane introduced me to the ceilidh moon.
SWFL Fiddler wrote:
"Love 'em, always will. It was mind-blowing to hear those old folks songs punked up when I was a lad of 15 or so, opened up a whole new world for me. Taught me Irish music was more than my mother's old songs and Clancy Brothers' albums.
Besides, ain't nobody play the beer tray like Spider Stacy."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I recently wrote an email to Spider Stacy about Waxies Dargle. Here's what he had to say in his reply...
..." the sound on the record is Andrew hitting an anvil with a hammer, whilst sitting in a stairwell next to the studio - I play the whistle on that one, so the only time I did head percussion on it was in a video we did, where i'm using an old beer tray. But the sound on the record is Andrew hitting an anvil with a hammer."
Oh and by the way, I'm surprised there are so many folks here who like the Pogues considering the thrashing I've received on this board for my own taste in Irish music. Pfft.... :-\
"It's hard to play harmonica with a drink in one hand and a smoke in the other "
Y'know, if you'd said that about just about any other instrument I'd have let it go, but the harmonica is one of the few that can actually be played with no hands.
Of course, trying to drink, smoke and blow harp at the same time can get tricky even with a rack.
Dylan has written a large number of songs, some hard hitting, some obscure, but nearly all memorable. Ask most people to name a Shane song and you will get one answer, and that is likely to be "Dirty Old Town".
My child is possibly a better song writer than Shane, and certainly a better harmonica player than Bob. But then he is just one of the thousands.
But as a song writer, Dylan is the man. No one comes close. Simon, Thompson, Cohen, Waits, Taylor, Davies, Mitchell, the list is endless, but Dylan is top of the tree.
The island it is silent now
But the ghosts still haunt the waves
And the torch lights up a famished man
Who fortune could not save
Did you work upon the railroad
Did you rid the streets of crime
Were your dollars from the white house
Were they from the five and dime
Did the old songs taunt or cheer you
And did they still make you cry
Did you count the months and years
Or did your teardrops quickly dry
Ah, No, says he 'twas not to be
On a coffin ship I came here
And I never even got so far
That they could change my name
Thousands are sailing
Across the Western Ocean
To a land of opportunity
That some of them will never see
Fortune prevailing
Across the Western Ocean
Their bellies full
And their spirits free
They'll break the chains of poverty
And they'll dance
In Manhattan's desert twilight
In the death of afternoon
We stepped hand in hand on Broadway
Like the first man on the moon
And "The Blackbird" broke the silence
As you whistled it so sweet
And in Brendan Behan's footsteps
I danced up and down the street
Then we said goodnight to Broadway
Giving it our best regards
Tipped our hats to Mister Cohan
Dear old Times Square's favourite bard
Then we raised a glass to J.F.K.
And a dozen more besides
When I got back to my empty room
I suppose I must have cried
Thousands are sailing
Again across the ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Postcards we're mailing
Of sky-blue skies and oceans
From rooms the daylight never sees
Where lights don't glow on Christmas trees
But we dance to the music
And we dance
Thousands are sailing
Across the Western Ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Where e'er we go, we celebrate
The land that makes us refugees
From fear of Priests with empty plates
From guilt and weeping effigies
Now we dance to the music
And we dance...
The Pogues
The Pogues
Just wondering, do you guys like the Pogues?
# Posted on July 30th 2008 by guitar101
Re: The Pogues
I love the Pogues, very underrated instrumentally. They get a bad rap with ITM people because of Shane.
# Posted on July 30th 2008 by stevequincy
Re: The Pogues
Yes
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: The Pogues
"underrated instrumentally" ? ? ? ha ha ha ha bloody ha ha.
Shane is a genius. His backing band are irrelevants
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: The Pogues
I think The Pogues are great. The mix of trad with punk works just fine. After Shane left, the band really lost most of their appeal to me. I haven't heard anything by them since they re-united.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by KonaHuaNui
Re: The Pogues
Loved the Pogues back when I was in college, but haven't listened to them in a long time. Thanks for reminding me about them, I think I'll give them a listen tonight.
I'm into punk/post-punk/alt rock stuff as well as trad, so the Pogues are pretty much right up my alley.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by Marklar
Re: The Pogues
Of course. Their songs are sung around many festival fires down under.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by clogstepping
Re: The Pogues
I'm new to this site.... Sorry but what's ITM?
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by guitar101
Re: The Pogues
An Australian automatic teller machine?
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by clogstepping
Re: The Pogues
Hoo, boy! The first time that I heard them on the radio, in the car, I had to pull over to the side to listen to them. And I know that I'm not the only one...
I can't cite any examples right at the moment, but some of their instrumental breaks and whatnot are just trad tunes that they've lifted and modified.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by tomw
Re: The Pogues
"Shane is a genius. His backing band are irrelevants."
I agree about Shane. But I also like the group as a whole so I wouldn't call them "irrelevants." The Pogues was a band after all, not just snagglepuss Shane up there drinking, smoking and singing like a barfly with the wisdom of too many years on his shoulders--I mean, when he showed up and could stand in front of the mic.
"...do you guys like the Pogues?"
I love the Pogues, but I don't listen to them as much as I used to because I've listened to them too much. But... whenever my wife and I go to southern Germany to visit her sister there are always plenty of impromptu parties with LOTS of beer swilling. A bunch of her village friends have been Pogues fans for ever, so when we start getting a little tipsy invariably on goes a Pogues CD... and many of us know ALL the lyrics so we belt them out like drunken soldiers of Shane. I tell you, those wacky Germans...
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by gw
Re: The Pogues
Fitzpatrick, ITM is the abbreviation for Irish Traditional Music
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by creathana
Re: The Pogues
"Purists" would sneer at "The Pogues" just as they sneer at "The Dubliners" and indeed "The chieftains".
The Dubliners" popularised Irish 2folk" music, old songs and a number of tunes. Barney McKenna popularised the banjo, and they were great in spreading the message, and in Kelly they had the greatest folk singer ever.
The Chieftains popularised and spread the traditional tunes.
For many younger than me The Pogues did the same thing, it was an introduction to a lot of people to "Irish" music. Shane is a great song writer, very good group.
Strange thing was, I was convinced they modelled themselves on an "English" folk group I played in called "Gorton Tank", so much so that our singer had teeth like Shane.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: The Pogues
I am one of those who reacted to them at the time by thinking they were truly bloody terminally bad, and now shame-facedly genuflect in their direction (Shane's, anyway) thinking, Yes, they really do make a bloody awful noise, but it's so dementedly bad it's actually good, and they know this, and make use of it as artists.
I saw a moving and informative TV prog about Shane and his upbringing in Ireland. I wish him to prolong his life and not die of drink.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by nicholas
Re: The Pogues
i think the Pogues were great. They put a different atmosphere
on Irish music,most of them being English born other than
Terry Woods and Philip Chevron I believe. Music for everyone
especially people with some sort of an historical rather than
native Irish connection. A lot more easily digestable in a lot of ways, which I think was a good thing at the time. I thought all of the members were brilliant. The drummer was perfect and the accordian player as well. Phillip Chevron wrote "thousands are sailing" hardly an irrelevant piece of music. I wish I could write a song like that.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by chuneboi slim
Re: The Pogues
Simply the best
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by mcknowall
Re: The Pogues
Shane McGowan has got more poetry in his little finger than Bob Dylan has in his whole body. Yep, Shane is right up there with Woody. Two of the finest men of the 20th century, along with George Gershwin.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by Steve Shaw
Re: The Pogues
i remember as a really young lad sitting in the front room watching "self aid"(a concert put on in ireland by musicians to raise money for unemployment in ireland)
the whole family were watching it and for kids it was amazing seeing all these amazing and different approaches to irish folk ,rock,trad and jazz....but when the pouges walked out on that stage live on tv......my brother and me were stunned.....when they cracked into dirty owl town....we never looked back....amazing then and forever......God bless them.....
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by bud an asal
Re: The Pogues
"Shane McGowan has got more poetry in his little finger than Bob Dylan has in his whole body..."
Can't agree with this. Silly comparison actually. They're both great for different reasons.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by gw
Re: The Pogues
Oh and it Shane "MacGowan" not "McGowan."
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by gw
Re: The Pogues
*it's*...AARGH! Where's the freakin' edit feature??
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by gw
Re: The Pogues
Well, Sorry, folks, but I've got to revisit this. I simply loved the Pogues, and I really, really hope that Shane will clean up his behavior before he croaks, all too prematurely.
I'm not trying to emphasize my "Irishness", being about 25% cheerful goofy German (amongst other things), but some of the lines, like "...there was lazy drunken bastards..." sound eerily and exactly like things that my Dad, and my Uncle Don, and some of my cousins would say. Right down to the timing and inflections. Which is why I guess that they, have always um, 'resonated' so much with me.
So, yup, to answer Fitz's question, I adore them. Possibly not good session tunes, though, although a friend got me to get up and sing "Jock Stewart" with her a few weeks ago...Oh, and we've stuck around and sang "Fairytale of New York" at the ensuing Karaoke a few times. Big Fun!
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by tomw
Re: The Pogues
Oops! that's "sung", not "sang". She's moved on, and I miss her!
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by tomw
Re: The Pogues
The Pogues without Shane just doesn't do it. Has anybody listened to The Popes? As for the rest of them - I accidentally bought a cd of James McNally's Everybreath and can't listen to it - it reminds me of awful elevator music.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by Bredna
Re: The Pogues
Well, the comic book and me, just us, we caught the bus.
The poor little chauffeur, though, she was back in bed
On the very next day, with a nose full of pus.
Yeah heavy and a bottle of .......
Dylan or MacGowan?
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by chuneboi slim
Re: The Pogues
No
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by Lingpupa
Re: The Pogues
Shane was denied a license to busk at Covent Garden. hows how wrong you can be.
'Shane began writing new songs like "Streams Of Whiskey" and he and Jem began rehersing together in 1981. They tried busking, but they didn't do well. In Covent Garden a man told them: "Very few people have come here and failed what we like to call The Covent Garden Seal Of Quality. I'm sorry, you have failed."'
I wonder who the man was?
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by dafydd
Re: The Pogues
Shane is brilliant, and it would be nice to hear more from him.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by Sugarfoot Jack
Re: The Pogues
His book is a great read, gives a good insight into his early years and how the pogues started, it is also well funny and entertaining.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by peter wsll
Re: The Pogues
Shane MacGowan & The Pogues were one of the gateway drugs for me into this music.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by fidkid
Re: The Pogues
i second fidkid's sentiment.
my favorite shane story: when asked about 'fairytale of new york' he said something along the lines of "it's a beautiful song, i wish i could remember writing it"
i'm pretty sure this is an original but does it get much better than aisling:
"see the moon is once more rising above our land of black and green, hear the rebels' voices calling 'i shall not die though you bury me," hear the aunt in bed a-dying "where is my johnny?" faded pictures in the hallway, which one of these brown ghosts is he?"
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by a sheamuis
Re: The Pogues
'really hope that Shane will clean up his behavior before he croaks, all too prematurely.'
The second he does that, he'll die.
He's already 50. Thats way beyond what anyone thought.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by Hugo Chavez
Re: The Pogues
Bless em! Broken into that many pieces and he still manages to show heart, humour and wit... Can you imagine what he'd be like without the pickling? Him and Amy Winehouse... Damn the powers that eat away at folks and make them less than they can be... Far too many, too soon, rot away, are taken from themselves and from us who have had the pleasure of their gifts...
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by ceolachan
Re: The Pogues
Fitzpatrick: "I'm new to this site..." --But you seem to have managed to get round the language filters in your profile.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by Lissagriffin
Re: The Pogues
Love 'em, always will. It was mind-blowing to hear those old folks songs punked up when I was a lad of 15 or so, opened up a whole new world for me. Taught me Irish music was more than my mother's old songs and Clancy Brothers' albums.
Besides, ain't nobody play the beer tray like Spider Stacy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAufzEH0ZMY
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: The Pogues
I got the chance to see them in concert in SF last year. Shane mumbled through every song drunk and deliriously. However, it was still one of if not the best concert I have ever been to. Great band and great art.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by jasten
Re: The Pogues
Definitely a generation thing...Why pay good money to go and hear a toothless drunk with a bloody awful voice who is liable to throw up on stage, when you can see that for nothing down the local boozer.....All together now...WE WOULD!
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by Free Reed
Re: The Pogues
A bit of perspective. A friend of mine is a better song writer than Shane, a lot better, and Shane has an advantage in that he doesn't drink a lot.
To compare Shane to Dylan, is like comparing Nigel Kennedy to Bach.
A good group, but I have played in better myself, so let's not get carried away.
As an influence tremendous, light years ahead of anyone I played with.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: The Pogues
Ah, the circle of life...
1963:
"Who is this kid, Dylan? Second-rate Guthrie is what he is."
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: The Pogues
Reading through this thread it seems that none of the posters actually saw The Pogues in their heyday and I'm talking about 1983-1985.
I did on several occasions and can affirm that they were one of the best live bands on the planet at that time - a rhythm section as tight as The Blockheads, great banjo and accordion and the wondrous Shane to boot.
I could argue this till the cows come home, but the original version of the band was far superior to its smoothed down successor which included Terry Woods and Phil Chevron.
As for Shane, if you've never met him then your life's a little poorer.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by Floss the Tethers
Re: The Pogues
Floss, you don't seriously think you're the only one here who lived through the 80s do you?
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by ceolachan
Re: The Pogues
No, Ceol,
I was very time-specific in my post and referred only to people posting on this thread - you should read its first sentence again and, maybe, stay off the rum!
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by Floss the Tethers
Re: The Pogues
Yeah, when they toured the States back then it was a bit hard for my teenage self to score a fake ID to get into the clubs they played at. Shane wasn't the kinda guy to do all-ages afternoon matinee shows at Boston punk rock dives.
# Posted on July 31st 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: The Pogues
It's only silly to compare Shane with Dylan for those who disagree with whatever the comparison yields. They are fairly comparable in quite a few respects. Neither can "sing" in the technically-accepted sense of the word (but hey...!) They both write songs that many have lauded as containing "poetry." But Shane's songs hit you right in the nuts whereas Dylan's are frequently obscurantist. it ain't poetry if you can't explain it. Poetry is about explaining things to people, not hiding whatever ideas may be present inside a mass of puzzling and possibly fairly meaningless lyrics. And at least Shane doesn't pretend that he can play the harmonica.
# Posted on August 1st 2008 by Steve Shaw
Re: The Pogues
Wow Steve Shaw nailed it... Well said man.
# Posted on August 1st 2008 by guitar101
Re: The Pogues
"It's only silly to compare Shane with Dylan for those who disagree with whatever the comparison yields..."
Well, isn't that obvious?
..."And at least Shane doesn't pretend that he can play the harmonica..."
It's hard to play harmonica with a drink in one hand and a smoke in the other
Dylan has been freakin' brilliant enough times over tha past 40 years to far outweigh his lack of singing ability (I actually like his voice) and his harmonica playing. Just wade through the catalog:
http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs
That said, I love Shane. In my band bio I cite my influences as John Lennon, Joe Strummer and Shane MacGowan. John got me in to playing music, Joe locked me into a world music and Punk ethos mentality, and Shane introduced me to the ceilidh moon.
There ya go...
# Posted on August 1st 2008 by gw
Re: The Pogues
SWFL Fiddler wrote:
"Love 'em, always will. It was mind-blowing to hear those old folks songs punked up when I was a lad of 15 or so, opened up a whole new world for me. Taught me Irish music was more than my mother's old songs and Clancy Brothers' albums.
Besides, ain't nobody play the beer tray like Spider Stacy."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I recently wrote an email to Spider Stacy about Waxies Dargle. Here's what he had to say in his reply...
..." the sound on the record is Andrew hitting an anvil with a hammer, whilst sitting in a stairwell next to the studio - I play the whistle on that one, so the only time I did head percussion on it was in a video we did, where i'm using an old beer tray. But the sound on the record is Andrew hitting an anvil with a hammer."
Oh and by the way, I'm surprised there are so many folks here who like the Pogues considering the thrashing I've received on this board for my own taste in Irish music. Pfft.... :-\
# Posted on August 1st 2008 by Fishmonger
Re: The Pogues
"It's hard to play harmonica with a drink in one hand and a smoke in the other
"
Y'know, if you'd said that about just about any other instrument I'd have let it go, but the harmonica is one of the few that can actually be played with no hands.
Of course, trying to drink, smoke and blow harp at the same time can get tricky even with a rack.
# Posted on August 1st 2008 by robharper
Re: The Pogues
Ah fishmonger, didja ask our man Spider about "The Battle of Brisbane" though?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAKyA2ttv0I
# Posted on August 1st 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: The Pogues
Dylan has written a large number of songs, some hard hitting, some obscure, but nearly all memorable. Ask most people to name a Shane song and you will get one answer, and that is likely to be "Dirty Old Town".
My child is possibly a better song writer than Shane, and certainly a better harmonica player than Bob. But then he is just one of the thousands.
But as a song writer, Dylan is the man. No one comes close. Simon, Thompson, Cohen, Waits, Taylor, Davies, Mitchell, the list is endless, but Dylan is top of the tree.
# Posted on August 1st 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: The Pogues
And the Pogues have little relation to traditional music, which alas Fitz will discover, if he lasts that long.
# Posted on August 1st 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: The Pogues
I thought Ewan McColl wrote "Dirty Old Town" and it was a hit for Roger Whittaker long before Shane got hold of it.
# Posted on August 2nd 2008 by chuneboi slim
Re: The Pogues
Nah SWFL, it was all about Waxies.
"...Here's a piece of sound advice, from an aul FISHMONGER
When food is scarce and ya see the hearse, you know you've died of hunger."
Oh yeah Ewan McColl did write Dirty Old Town.
# Posted on August 2nd 2008 by Fishmonger
Re: The Pogues
And "irrelevant" Phillip Chevron wrote...
"Thousands Are Sailing"
The island it is silent now
But the ghosts still haunt the waves
And the torch lights up a famished man
Who fortune could not save
Did you work upon the railroad
Did you rid the streets of crime
Were your dollars from the white house
Were they from the five and dime
Did the old songs taunt or cheer you
And did they still make you cry
Did you count the months and years
Or did your teardrops quickly dry
Ah, No, says he 'twas not to be
On a coffin ship I came here
And I never even got so far
That they could change my name
Thousands are sailing
Across the Western Ocean
To a land of opportunity
That some of them will never see
Fortune prevailing
Across the Western Ocean
Their bellies full
And their spirits free
They'll break the chains of poverty
And they'll dance
In Manhattan's desert twilight
In the death of afternoon
We stepped hand in hand on Broadway
Like the first man on the moon
And "The Blackbird" broke the silence
As you whistled it so sweet
And in Brendan Behan's footsteps
I danced up and down the street
Then we said goodnight to Broadway
Giving it our best regards
Tipped our hats to Mister Cohan
Dear old Times Square's favourite bard
Then we raised a glass to J.F.K.
And a dozen more besides
When I got back to my empty room
I suppose I must have cried
Thousands are sailing
Again across the ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Postcards we're mailing
Of sky-blue skies and oceans
From rooms the daylight never sees
Where lights don't glow on Christmas trees
But we dance to the music
And we dance
Thousands are sailing
Across the Western Ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Where e'er we go, we celebrate
The land that makes us refugees
From fear of Priests with empty plates
From guilt and weeping effigies
Now we dance to the music
And we dance...
# Posted on August 2nd 2008 by gw
Re: The Pogues
Great feckin' song!
# Posted on August 8th 2008 by Fishmonger