The Pogues: Classic or Dud

I was more shocked by Shane's condition in a BBC documentary made ten (15? 20?) years ago. There are clips of it in Crock of Gold: in one memorable bit Shane gets lost in a pub, wandering out from the bar into the corridor and keeps shouting "Where's the pub? Where's the pub?" That was a real wrencher, but having seen it, he didn't seem too bad in this one.

What's Bobby Gillespie doing in this anyway?

Lol, seriously. What the fuck does he have to do with this story? Save it for the Stuart Adamson (RIP) doc.

We started this last night. It's really good (sad) so far, but we were wondering if Shane had had a stroke. I guess it turns out that in 2015 he suffered a fall in the studio and injured his pelvis. I'm assuming he blew off medical advice to take it easy or whatever. Hence the wheelchair.

Pretty sure Irish folk music is not a genre Primal Scream have latched on to yet. Unless someone knows better.

yeah I don't know, he just kind of shows up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceMxRE6ViIQ

I'd say him and Shane are just "mates" in the same way he and Depp are

Gaun yersel' Boab!

I read it as an attempt to have Shane interviewed not by traditional interviewer / documentarian types, but by different-yet-complementary cultural figures.

Having, say, Bob Dylan interview him would have been a surprising choice, but we as the audience wouldn't be any more enlightened or informed

And (not to be That Guy) but the cornet solo in question is from "A Rainy Night in Soho."

I point this out only because one could make a little doggerel about how (in McGowan's telling) he fired Elvis Co. for wanting an oboe solo on "Soho" and he said "No. Go."

ahh thx curse my bad memory

I was reading a bit & Temple decided since MacGowan is a pretty ornery interview in general, that to get a variety of conversations he’d gather friends/famous fans/ people he’s sat down & talked to before

i suppose in lieu of footage of macgowan telling temple to fuck off repeatedly

which … doesnt sound like the worst idea …

Rainy nights and fairy tales.

Underrated band. So many great songs.

Still need to read Here Comes Everyone

Someone loaned me that book and I read it despite never having heard a Pogues album. Fearnley is a good writer who, for some reason, has a tic of saying "I lifted my accordion into the air and shook it as the song's final chords crashed to a halt" every time he describes their stage show. I was amazed upon finishing the book to learn that Shane MacGowan was neither dead nor institutionalized. There are interesting appearance from Costello and Strummer too, including the story of how Fearnley would up marrying the latter's girlfriend.

Oh, it's Here Comes Everybody, a Joyce reference.

Yeah, sorry I misstyped.

been listening to Rum, Sodomy & the Lash for the first time in forever, how'd I go without "A Pair of Brown Eyes" for so long?

Also: "Navigator"

a pair of brown eyes is incredible - one of my alltime favorites

more beautiful and desolate than a Hank Williams song imo:

So drunk to hell I left the place
Sometimes crawling sometimes walking
A hungry sound came across the breeze
So I gave the walls a talking
And I heard the sounds of long ago
From the old canal
And the birds were whistling in the trees
Where the wind was gently laughing

That James Fearnley memoir was really good.
I really regret not getting to see them when I was hearing about them in the early days

Funnily enough I looked at the new Cat Power covers album in the shop today and the only thing that piqued my interest was that it includes A Pair Of Brown Eyes.

I've since listened to it and it's rather aimless

Growing up in Ireland, I used to see Ray Lynam and Philomena Begley albums in the shops all the time. That Country n Irish genre was on a different planet to my own tastes

I've since listened to it and it's rather aimless

It's a Cat Power album.

Yes. That's why I didn't remotely consider buying it.

This is brilliant and excruciating and funny and sad all at the same time....when @shattenstone met Shane MacGowan at home in Dublin. https://t.co/lHg2HtScZU

— Donald McRae (@donaldgmcrae) April 4, 2022

I feel like I've read several of these Simon Hattenstone I-interviewed-a-star-and-they-didn't-make-it-easy-for-me interviews. I think he did a similar one with Lou Reed. He certainly has a line in moronic questions though - what are your favourite songs, did living in London make you feel more Irish - I mean no wonder his interviewees turn surly...

"Dublin, here I come!", "MacGowan Mansions"...I find that typical Guardian jokey-without-being-actually-funny style unreadable

Desperately trying to work out who he reminds me off in that photo.

https://res.cloudinary.com/uktv/image/upload/v1512565649/oiqhiwkpev8mpzebhv5v.jpg

XP - He's an exact mix of Fred Armisen and Limmy

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/28/arts/music/shane-macgowan.html

This december 2021 NY Times piece by a freelancer didn't add too much

Oddly enough, I dreamed about Phil Chevron last night. I was as sad in my dream as I am in waking life that he is gone. I feel incredibly fortunate to have seen the band while he was still alive.

Oh, and the Pogues are an absolute fucking classic, at least for 3 1/2 albums.

They’re great, he’s great, that was boring, but he’s really—quite boring now? Not bad, often correct, just not v interesting. His wife seems more interesting really. Interviewer 🙄.

I only saw the Pogues once and it was without McGowan, Spider Stacey was handling vocals. It was still a great show.

I saw them with Shane in 2009, he was surprisingly coherent and the show was magnificent.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-pogues/2009/tabernacle-atlanta-ga-13d6c9e5.html

They’re great, he’s great, that was boring, but he’s really—quite boring now? Not bad, often correct, just not v interesting. His wife seems more interesting really.

Years ago I read the book they did together -- A Drink with Shane MacGowan -- and I remember it being really enjoyable.

was there a different version of "Rainy Night in Soho" on the US version of Poguetry in Motion? I don't remember the arrangement being so treacly as the version that's on spotify.

True that Temple's docs can be xpost overdecorated, but/and I enjoyed his Strummer one and will check this too, thanks for posting. Speaking of Strummer as yall were anyway, here's this from Rolling Reissues 2022:

Out Now
DARK HORSE RECORDS RELEASES JOE STRUMMER 002:
THE MESCALEROS YEARS FEATURING NEVER-BEFORE-HEARD TRACKS

FIRST-EVER COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTION OF STRUMMER’S WORK WITH HIS BAND THE MESCALEROS

NEW BOX SET INCLUDES PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED TRACKS INCLUDING THE NEWLY DISCOVERED COVER OF “SECRET AGENT MAN”, “FANTASTIC”, & “OCEAN OF DREAMS”, FEATURING STEVE JONES FROM THE SEX PISTOLS, ALONGSIDE REMASTERED EDITIONS OF THE COMPLETE MESCALEROS CATALOG, EXCLUSIVE NEW INTERVIEWS, NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN IMAGES, AND MUCH MORE

JOE STRUMMER 002: THE MESCALEROS YEARS

OUT NOW VIA DARK HORSE RECORDS

If you think you miss Joe Strummer now, by the time you get to the end of this boxset, you are really going to miss the guy. What an impact, what an amazing musician, what an amazing human being, a great artist, and this boxset perfectly captures the man, the music and the moment, I’m so glad this came out.

–HENRY ROLLINS

Today Dark Horse Records releases Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years, the first-ever comprehensive collection highlighting Strummer’s work with his post-Clash band, The Mescaleros. The collection includes remastered editions of all three of the band’s studio albums, plus 15 rare and unreleased tracks spanning the first demos Joe wrote for the Mescaleros, as well as the previously unheard cover of ‘Secret Agent Man’ from 2002 that was discovered in the Joe Strummer archives and was identified as one of the last songs he recorded, along with other unreleased tracks including ‘Fantastic’ and ‘Ocean Of Dreams’, featuring Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols on guitar, as well outtakes from Joe’s final sessions with the Mescaleros. This richly curated boxset was executive produced by Joe’s widow Lucinda Tait and produced by David Zonshine and features exclusive new interviews with Joe’s friends, collaborators and Mescaleros band mates, plus never-before-seen handwritten notes, lyrics, and drawings by Strummer taken from the Joe Strummer Archive. The release arrives everywhere today on 4 CD w/72-page book and 7 LP w/32-page book, special edition packaging and exclusive 12”x12” art print.

While best known as the front man for The Clash, Strummer produced some of the most exciting work of his career with The Mescaleros. “All that’s happening for me now is just a chancer’s bluff,” Strummer said during this period. “I learned that fame is an illusion and everything about it is just a joke. I’m far more dangerous now, because I don’t care at all.”

Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years highlights this intense period of creativity from 1999-2002, collecting for the first time such extraordinary albums as Rock Art and the X-Ray Style (1999), Global A Go-Go (2001), and the posthumous Streetcore (2003), along with Vibes Compass, a brand-new compilation of 15 B-sides and rarities, spanning early demos of some of the first tracks Strummer wrote for The Mescaleros (such as “The Road To Rock ‘N’ Roll,” “X-Ray Style,” and “Techno D-Day,” as well as the previously unreleased “Secret Agent Man”) to the original recordings from Joe’s last ever sessions, including outtakes of “Get Down Moses,” “Coma Girl,” and the never-before-heard new song, “Fantastic.” All albums are remastered by three-time GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer Paul Hicks (The Beatles, John Lennon, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie) especially for the release and are packaged with extensive new liner notes, unreleased images, and four reproduction lyric sheets and chord charts from the Strummer archive.

“There’s so much great music that Joe left us in his archive,” says Strummer’s widow and Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years Executive Producer, Lucinda Tait. “We started this work last year with ‘001’, so to focus on Joe’s work with The Mescaleros was the natural second step on ‘002’ because those songs he made with them just seemed to resonate so strongly and reinvigorated his connection with his audience at a level he hadn’t experienced since his days with The Clash.

“He was so excited to work with the Mescaleros and the reception he got from the press and fans was incredible, it gave him a whirlwind of energy and confidence and he was creatively fulfilled and happy.

“His words are so beautiful and honest and together with the Mescaleros some fantastic tunes were created and to listen to some of the tunes recorded as outtakes for me was really special.”

2022 marks twenty years since the passing of the legendary Joe Strummer. Punk poet, musician, composer, actor, and style icon, Strummer spent his life smashing musical and cultural boundaries both as the singer of The Clash and as a solo artist. His songs sound as urgent and vital today as when they were written. Calling out social injustices and giving a voice to the struggles of the working class, Strummer’s politically charged lyrics struck a chord with legions of fans and the press alike, with Rolling Stone calling The Clash “the greatest rock & roll band in the world.” He famously once said, “Without people, you’re nothing.” Through his art, Joe Strummer played his part in shaping the musical landscape of the world and with it left an unrivaled and timeless legacy.

# # #

JOE STRUMMER

JOE STRUMMER 002: THE MESCALEROS YEARS

(Dark Horse/BMG)

Release Date: Friday, September 16

TRACKLISTING

Rock Art and the X-Ray Style

1. Tony Adams

2. Sandpaper Blues

3. X-Ray Style

4. Techno D-Day

5. The Road to Rock 'N' Roll

6. Diggin' The New

7. Nitcomb

8. Forbidden City

9. Yalla Yalla

10. Willesden To Cricklewood

Global A Go-Go

1. Johnny Appleseed

2. Cool ’N’ Out

3. Global A Go-Go

4. Bhindi Bhagee

5. Gamma Ray

6. Mega Bottle Ride

7. Shaktar Donetsk

8. Mondo Bongo

9. Bummed Out City

10. At The Border, Guy

11. Minstrel Boy (full-length version)

Streetcore

1. Coma Girl

2. Get Down Moses

3. Long Shadow

4. Arms Aloft

5. Ramshackle Day Parade

6. Redemption Song

7. All In A Day

8. Burnin' Streets

9. Midnight Jam

10. Silver and Gold

Vibes Compass

1. Time And The Tide

2. Techno D-Day (Demo)

3. Ocean Of Dreams (feat. Steve Jones)

4. Forbidden City (Demo)

5. X-Ray Style (Demo)

6. The Road To Rock ‘N’ Roll (Demo)

7. Tony Adams (Demo)

8. Cool ‘N’ Out (Demo)

9. Global A Go-Go (Demo)

10. Secret Agent Man

11. All In A Day (Demo)

12. London Is Burning

13. Get Down Moses (Outtake)

14. Fantastic

15. Coma Girl (Outtake)

ABOUT DARK HORSE RECORDS

George Harrison’s passion for introducing the world to new music expressed itself in May of 1974 when he created his own new label – Dark Horse Records. The label contained a variety of talented artists on its roster, including George himself. Alongside Joe Strummer, the newly relaunched Dark Horse Records roster also includes Billy Idol, Leon Russell, Benmont Tench and others. For more information, please visit www.darkhorserecords.com.

# # #

FOLLOW JOE STRUMMER

JOESTRUMMER.COM | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | YOUTUBE

THE JOE STRUMMER FOUNDATION | DARK HORSE RECORDS

PRESS CONTACT:

Jim Merlis

jim at bighassle.com

Mentioned somewhere else that I recently read the "Redemption Song" bio and learned *so much* about Strummer that it changed the way I listen to his songs.

Bloody hell, it's been 20 years?

was there a different version of "Rainy Night in Soho" on the US version of Poguetry in Motion? I don't remember the arrangement being so treacly as the version that's on spotify.

Not sure what's on US Spotify but afaik there are three widely available versions:

From the UK Poguetry in Motion EP (Shane's preferred version)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNdeQda2fDg

From the US/Canadian Poguetry in Motion EP (Elvis Costello's preferred version)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwPJDfvV6Fc

1991 remix by Steve Lillywhite from the reissue of the EP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSyL-TrD_2g

yes! that second version is the one i remember. elvis is right!

i guess the lillywhite version splits the difference.

thanks!

The picture I saw of Shane just now looked so terrible I 1) won't post it and 2) first thought it had been altered. Sad.

Pretty much every photo I've seen of Shane (including the ones from Springsteen's visit) were a shock to me. I didn't realize he was in such poor health.

This one was *far* worse than the Springsteen one ...

He's being released from hospital though, at least there's that

Of course I love his music, but he's been physically declining for quite a while.

Being constantly drunk and ravaged and a bit unhinged has been his brand for decades.

Obviously I wish peace and love to him and his family and friends and fans. But you can't simultaneously dance on the edge of the abyss and be offended about the existence of the abyss.