The Pogues

After the Punk scene faded in the UK, there were many people left with which musical direction to go. Many opted for the New Wave sound, some opted for goth rock and some changed direction all together. One band that did change was the Pogues.

Following the embers of Punk the band decided the best route was to play more traditional celtic rock using more traditional instruments and the decision opened the ways for the likes of The Waterboys, Del Amitri, Hothouse Flowers through to the Levellers.

The band was originally formed in London by Shane Macgowan and Spider Stacy and soon enlisted the help of o'riordan and Ranken as there live shows were legendary and soon attracted the attention of London record label Stiff Records who had Elvis Costello and Madness on the books.

They toured with The Clash and changed there name to The Pogues, it was Pog Mo Thoin but was deemed offensive to the gaelic speakers. The next release was the infamous 'rum, sodomy and the Lash' which was loosely based on a Winston Churchill statement describing the British Navy and the songs on the depicted a poetic feel with the Old Main Drag, Waltzing Matilda and a cover of Ewan MacColl Dirty Old Town, whose daughter Kirsty would work with them at a later date.

The band released an EP as a follow up named Poguetry in Motion but the band was to see some changes in personnel with Darryl Hunt and Terry Woods joining the ranks but Cait O'Riordan exiting the band. Also Shane MacGowan erratic behaviour was causing concern with his hellish lifestyle of drink and partying.

Also the band released 'The Irish Rover' with the Dubliners to celebrate there 25 years in music and as that was released there record label Stiff Records went bankrupt. The band signed to Island Records and held it together to release 'If I should fall from grace with God' and this spawned the huge international hit 'Fairytale of New York' with Kirsty MacColl on joint lead vocals with Shane.

Although never actually reached the pivotal Christmas number one it is highly regarded as the most requested Christmas song and was kept of the top spot in the UK by Pet Shop Boys. Shane's behaviour was cause for concern as the bands commercial success was increasing, he failed to show for the start of the American tour in 1988 and was replaced by ex-Clash singer Joe Strummer, eventually MacGowan was sacked by the band in 1991 as he tried to stop the band releasing an album in 1990 named Hells Ditch.

Shane would eventually rejoin the band but not until 2001 for a reunion tour. During the 1980s the band released four studio albums with 3 going top 20 in the UK with 'If I should fall from grace with god' peaking at number three.

They also released 13 singles with four top 30 singles in the UK with 'The Irish Rover' and 'Fairytale of New York' both going top 10. However, Fairytale has been a significant entrant on the charts since 2005 based on downloads and enjoyed further top 10 entries in 2005-07 and top 20 every year since 2006! such is the popularity of the song.