Album: Rum, Sodomy & the Lash
Artist: The Pogues
It was with MacColl's daughter Kirsty that McGowan would have his most memorable pop moment, singing arguably the greatest Christmas song of all time, Fairytale of New York. The mixture of dark (McGowan's gravelly brogue) and light (MacColl's crystal clear voice) that works so well on that track is missing from this album but, that small criticism aside, there's much to appreciate. In an era of bland rock like Dire Straits, the Pogues were bursting with energy and character. Dirty Old Town is inspired by the Dubliners version of the song and is one of many ways in which the album draws heavily on the Irish folk tradition. The cover of drinking song I'm A Man You Don't Meet Everyday is one of my favourites, featuring a brilliant vocal performance from bassist Cait O'Riordan. Other folk traditions also provide inspiration, from England (The Gentleman Soldier) to the US (Jesse James) and Australia (The Band Played Waltzing Matilda). While the Jesse James cover is weak, McGowan's rousing vocal performance on Waltzing Matilda is one of the record's highlights, singing the anti-war song with a quiet passion. McGowan's own songs, especially The Sick Bed of Cúchulaínn and A Pair Of Brown Eyes, show he was a fine lyricist himself and the extended CD version of the album (released in 2004) has plenty more evidence of this, notably Rainy Night In Soho and Body Of An American. The latter is used to brilliant effect in one of the greatest TV shows ever made, The Wire.
Artist: The Pogues
Born: King's Cross, London
Released: August 1985
Genre: Folk Punk
Influenced: Tom Waits, Nick Cave, The Decemberists, The Walkmen, The Libertines
Born in England to Irish parents, Shane McGowan drew on this dual heritage to fuse English punk with Irish folk. With his drunken exploits, slurred singing style and rotten teeth, McGowan is now somewhat of an Irish caricature, but a little-known truth is that he attended, and got expelled from, Westminster school (which now charges day pupils £7.5K per term). It was another member of the British elite, Winston Churchill, whose quote about the traditions of the Navy as First Lord of the Admiralty: "And what are they? They are rum, sodomy and the lash", which inspired the album's title. Elvis Costello produced the LP and said he wanted to capture the Pogues in their "dilapidated glory before some more professional producer f**ked them up". In the same way as Costello managed with the Specials, on Rum, Sodomy & The Lash he captures the spirit of the band as a live act with a record that sounds much less slick than the Pogues' first album, Red Roses For Me, and all the better for it. As Tom Waits said about the album at the time, it summons up a "Treasure Island kind of decadence". Like Waits, McGowan's songs are about outsiders, ex-soldiers and lowlifes; The Old Main Drag is about a London rent boy and A Pair Of Brown eyes is written from the perspective of a WW1 veteran. There are also bar room ballads full of energy and aggression like Wild Cats of Kilkenny, and imaginative covers of contemporary folk standards, such as Ewan MacColl's Dirty Old Town.
Born in England to Irish parents, Shane McGowan drew on this dual heritage to fuse English punk with Irish folk. With his drunken exploits, slurred singing style and rotten teeth, McGowan is now somewhat of an Irish caricature, but a little-known truth is that he attended, and got expelled from, Westminster school (which now charges day pupils £7.5K per term). It was another member of the British elite, Winston Churchill, whose quote about the traditions of the Navy as First Lord of the Admiralty: "And what are they? They are rum, sodomy and the lash", which inspired the album's title. Elvis Costello produced the LP and said he wanted to capture the Pogues in their "dilapidated glory before some more professional producer f**ked them up". In the same way as Costello managed with the Specials, on Rum, Sodomy & The Lash he captures the spirit of the band as a live act with a record that sounds much less slick than the Pogues' first album, Red Roses For Me, and all the better for it. As Tom Waits said about the album at the time, it summons up a "Treasure Island kind of decadence". Like Waits, McGowan's songs are about outsiders, ex-soldiers and lowlifes; The Old Main Drag is about a London rent boy and A Pair Of Brown eyes is written from the perspective of a WW1 veteran. There are also bar room ballads full of energy and aggression like Wild Cats of Kilkenny, and imaginative covers of contemporary folk standards, such as Ewan MacColl's Dirty Old Town.
It was with MacColl's daughter Kirsty that McGowan would have his most memorable pop moment, singing arguably the greatest Christmas song of all time, Fairytale of New York. The mixture of dark (McGowan's gravelly brogue) and light (MacColl's crystal clear voice) that works so well on that track is missing from this album but, that small criticism aside, there's much to appreciate. In an era of bland rock like Dire Straits, the Pogues were bursting with energy and character. Dirty Old Town is inspired by the Dubliners version of the song and is one of many ways in which the album draws heavily on the Irish folk tradition. The cover of drinking song I'm A Man You Don't Meet Everyday is one of my favourites, featuring a brilliant vocal performance from bassist Cait O'Riordan. Other folk traditions also provide inspiration, from England (The Gentleman Soldier) to the US (Jesse James) and Australia (The Band Played Waltzing Matilda). While the Jesse James cover is weak, McGowan's rousing vocal performance on Waltzing Matilda is one of the record's highlights, singing the anti-war song with a quiet passion. McGowan's own songs, especially The Sick Bed of Cúchulaínn and A Pair Of Brown Eyes, show he was a fine lyricist himself and the extended CD version of the album (released in 2004) has plenty more evidence of this, notably Rainy Night In Soho and Body Of An American. The latter is used to brilliant effect in one of the greatest TV shows ever made, The Wire.
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