The Pogues Artistfacts

The Pogues song list

The Pogues Artistfacts

1982-2014
Shane MacGowanVocals, guitar, banjo, bodhrán1982-2014
Spider StacyVocals, tin whistle1982-2014
Jem FinerBanjo, mandola, saxophone, hurdy-gurdy, guitar1982-2014
Andrew RankenDrums, harmonica1982-2014
James FearnleyAccordion, mandolin, piano, guitar1982-2014
Philip ChevronGuitar1985-2013
Darryl HuntBass1986-2014
Terry WoodsMandolin, cittern, concertina, guitar1986-2014
Joe StrummerVocals, guitar1991-1993
The Pogues formed in London in 1982 and hit it big after opening for The Clash in 1984. They were soon signed to Stiff Records and the label released their first album in October 1984. They were originally called Pogue Mahone, an Irish slang phrase that means "Kiss me arse." The band changed their name after getting a record deal with Stiff Records in the early '80s.
Joe Strummer from The Clash became the lead singer of The Pogues when frontman Shane MacGowan was fired from the band in 1991. MacGowan was let go after missing several dates on The Pogues' tour and was unwilling to help the band promote their latest album Hell's Ditch. Spider Stacy took over lead vocals when Strummer left in 1993.
Elvis Costello helped The Pogues record their second album Rum Sodomy & the Lash in 1985. The disc's title comes from a quote commonly attributed to former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.
The Pogues became very unstable in 1987 when their label Stiff Records went bankrupt. The band held together long enough to record a new album which spawned the Christmas hit "Fairytale Of New York" in 1988.
In 2001, The Pogues reunited for a short Christmas tour. Q magazine called the band one of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die."
In 2011, The Pogues announced that they would be doing an international tour the following year. The band planned on playing festivals in Australia and Japan before returning home. That same year, the group announced they would be releasing a box set in early 2012. The collection was called Just Look Them Straight In The Eye And Say POGUEMAHONE!! and it included five discs and 109 songs of material spanning the band's three decade long career.
Shane MacGowan attended the prestigious Westminster School, but got expelled in his second year for possession of drugs. One of his classmates there was Thomas Morgan Robertson, aka British electronic musician and future '80s pop star Thomas Dolby.
Shane MacGowan passed away on November 30, 2023, from pneumonia aged 65. His funeral took place on December 8, 2023, in Tipperary, a return to the landscape of his childhood.

In a touching reunion, The Pogues took the stage for the first time since 2014 at MacGowan's funeral. They performed "The Parting Glass", a traditional Celtic song recorded by the band as the B-side to their 1985 cover of "Dirty Old Town." The Pogues' tin whistle player Spider Stacy sang the lead vocals.
Drummer Andrew "The Clobberer" Ranken spent the first two and a half years with The Pogues playing standing up, using only a tom tom, snare drum, and a saucepan lid in place of a cymbal because the band refused to let him have a stool. The arrangement only changed after he cut himself on the snare during a tour in Germany, developed blood poisoning, and had to play one-handed while he recovered. He used the opportunity to negotiate: "I said to the guys, 'I think it'll be fine if you give me a bass drum and a hi-hat so I can sit down.'"

Comments: 1

Jean Marc Chalouni from Lanhouarneau Brittany FranceJust to add that Cait O'Riordan was the original bass player for the band from 1983 to 1986

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