The Pogues, an English Celtic punk band formed in 1982 in King's Cross, London, by Shane MacGowan, Spider Stacy, and Jem Finer, have left an indelible mark on the music world. Originally known as Pogue Mahone-an anglicisation of the Irish phrase póg mo thóin, meaning "kiss my arse"-the band fused Irish traditional music with punk rock influences, creating a unique and raucous sound that resonated with audiences worldwide.
The future members of the Pogues first met in the late 1970s when MacGowan, Stacy, and Finer were together in an occasional band called the Millwall Chainsaws. MacGowan was already with the Nips, but when they broke up in 1980, he concentrated more on Stacy's Millwall Chainsaws, who changed their name to The New Republicans. In 1982, MacGowan, Stacy, and Finer officially formed the band, then known as Pogue Mahone. James Fearnley, who had been a guitarist with the Nips, joined shortly afterward. Fearnley has noted that Stacy suggested the band's original name, taken from a sentence in James Joyce's Ulysses.
The band played London pubs and clubs, releasing a single, "Dark Streets of London", on their own label, gaining a small reputation - especially for their live performances, and national airplay on BBC Radio 1. The band gained more attention when the UK Channel 4's music show The Tube made a video of their version of "Waxie's Dargle" for the show.
After opening for the Clash on their 1984 tour, they released their first studio album, Red Roses for Me, featuring a mix of traditional Irish songs and original compositions by MacGowan. With the aid of producer Elvis Costello, they recorded the follow-up, Rum Sodomy & the Lash, in 1985 during which time guitarist Philip Chevron joined. The album title is a famous comment falsely attributed to Winston Churchill who was supposedly describing the "true" traditions of the British Royal Navy. The album cover featured The Raft of the Medusa, with the faces of the characters in Théodore Géricault's painting replaced with those of the band members. The album shows the band moving away from covers to original material.
The band failed to take advantage of the momentum created by the strong artistic and commercial success of their second album. They first refused to record another album (offering up the four-track EP Poguetry in Motion instead); O'Riordan married Costello and left the band, to be replaced by bassist Darryl Hunt, formerly of Plummet Airlines and Pride of the Cross; and they added a multi-instrumentalist in Terry Woods, formerly of Steeleye Span.
Read also: Is Your Lash Glue Vegan?
Their record label, Stiff Records, went bankrupt soon after the 1987 release of the single "The Irish Rover" (with the Dubliners). The band remained stable enough to record If I Should Fall from Grace with God with its Christmas hit duet with Kirsty MacColl "Fairytale of New York". "Fairytale of New York" was released as a single in 1987 and reached No. 1 in the Irish charts and No. 2 in the British charts over Christmas (the time of peak sales). The song has become a festive classic in the UK and Ireland over the years, and was voted the best Christmas song of all time three years running in 2004, 2005, and 2006 in polls by music channel VH1 UK, despite not achieving Christmas Number One when it was released.
In 1989, the band released Peace and Love, a jazzier record featuring six tracks written by MacGowan, as well as eight tracks written by band members Jem Finer, Terry Woods, Andrew Ranken, and Philip Chevron. The band was at the peak of its commercial success, with both albums making the top 5 in the UK (numbers 3 and 5 respectively), but MacGowan was increasingly unreliable.
Looming over the band at this period (as throughout their entire career) was the increasingly erratic behaviour of their vocalist and principal songwriter, Shane MacGowan. He failed to turn up for the opening dates of their 1988 tour of America, and prevented the band from promoting their 1990 album Hell's Ditch, so in 1991 the band sacked him following a chaotic live performance at the WOMAD Festival held in Japan.
Vocal duties were for a time handled by Joe Strummer. Spider Stacy took over permanently after Strummer left in the winter of 1991. Terry Woods and James Fearnley subsequently left the band and were replaced by David Coulter and James McNally respectively. Within months of their departures, ill health forced Phil Chevron to leave the band; he was replaced by his former guitar technician, Jamie Clarke. This line-up recorded the band's seventh and final studio album, Pogue Mahone. The album was a commercial failure, and, following Jem Finer's decision to leave the band in 1996, the remaining members decided it was time to quit.
According to Shane MacGowan, among the reasons of the break-up was disagreement concerning the political orientation of his songs, the band not wanting to sing too obvious pro-Republican songs - though some of their previous songs were already politically engaged: for instance, Streams of Whiskey is about the poet and IRA member Brendan Behan.
Read also: Gorgeous, Healthy Lashes
After the Pogues's break-up, the three remaining long-term members (Spider Stacy, Andrew Ranken and Darryl Hunt) played together briefly as The Vendettas. They played mainly new Stacy-penned tracks, though Darryl Hunt also contributed songs, and the band's live set included a few Pogues songs. First Ranken then Hunt left the band, the latter going on to become singer/songwriter in an indie band called Bish, whose self-titled debut album was released in 2001.
Shane MacGowan founded Shane MacGowan and The Popes in 1992. They released two studio albums and broke up in 2006 once The Pogues' reunion had become official. His autobiography A Drink With Shane MacGowan, co-written with his journalist girlfriend Victoria Mary Clarke, was released in 2001.
Jem Finer went into experimental music, playing a big part in a project known as "Longplayer", a piece of music designed to play continuously for 1,000 years without repeating itself. James Fearnley moved to the United States shortly before leaving the Pogues. He was a member of The Low And Sweet Orchestra and later the Cranky George Trio. Philip Chevron reformed his former band The Radiators, which briefly included former Pogue Cait O'Riordan. Terry Woods formed The Bucks with Ron Kavana, releasing the album Dancin' To The Ceili Band in 1994.
The band, including MacGowan, re-formed for a Christmas tour in 2001 and performed nine shows in the UK and Ireland in December 2004. In 2002 Q magazine named the Pogues one of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die".
Guitarist Phil Chevron has stated there were no plans to record new music or release a new album. Chevron said that one way to keep enjoying what they were doing was to avoid making a new album, although he did say that there still is a possibility in the future for new music, but certainly not in the near future.
Read also: Duo Lash Glue: Ingredients Explained
In a December 2015 interview with Vice magazine, when asked whether the band were still active, Shane MacGowan said: "We're not, no", saying that, since their 2001 reunion happened, "I went back with [the] Pogues and we grew to hate each other all over again", adding, "I don't hate the band at all - they're friends. I like them a lot. We were friends for years before we joined the band. We just got a bit sick of each other. We're friends as long as we don't tour together. I've done a hell of a lot of touring.
Shane MacGowan died in Dublin on 30 November 2023, at the age of 65. The band's surviving members reunited to perform "The Parting Glass" at his funeral on 8 December 2023.
The re-formed band subsequently announced that they would be touring the UK and Ireland in 2025 to mark the fortieth anniversary of their second album, Rum Sodomy & the Lash. The 6-date UK tour is commenced on 1 May in Leeds (at the O2 Academy) and to end on 8 May 2025 in Newcastle (at the O2 City Hall), making stops in Birmingham, London, Glasgow and Manchester. The band played in its entirety their 1985 LP Rum Sodomy & the Lash along with B-sides, extended version tracks and a special selection of their most known material. On 1 April 2025, Fearnley, Finer and Stacy announced a 7-date North American leg of the tour due to kick off on 5 September in Washington, D.C.
tags: #Pogues #Irish #Whiskey #Rum #Lash #collaboration
