The Pogues / The Effing Sea’s 1984 – 1991
1984 - 1987
1. Dark Streets Of London / Single A Side May 1984
2. Transmetropolitan / Red Roses For Me September 1984
3. The Auld Triangle / Red Roses For Me September 1984
4. Waxies Dargle / Red Roses For Me September 1984
5. Boys From The County Hell / Red Roses For Me September 1984
6. Sea Shanty / Red Roses For Me September 1984
7. Streams Of Whiskey / Red Roses For Me September 1984
8. Down In The Ground Where The Dead Men Go / Red Roses For Me September 1984
9. A Pair Of Brown Eyes / Single A Side March 1985
10. Muirshin Durkin / Single B Side March 1985
11. Sally Maclennane / Single A Side June 1985
12. Leaving Of Liverpool / Single B Side June 1985
13. The Sickbed Of Cuchulainn / Rum, Sodamy & The Lash August 1985
14. The Old Main Drag / Rum, Sodamy & The Lash August 1985
15. Dirty Old Town / Rum, Sodamy & The Lash August 1985
16. Jesse James / Rum, Sodamy & The Lash August 1985
17. Navigator / Rum, Sodamy & The Lash August 1985
18. Billy Bones / Rum, Sodamy & The Lash August 1985
19. And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda / Rum, Sodamy & The Lash August 1985
20. Rainy Night In Soho / Poguetry In Motion EP February 1986
21. Body Of An American / Poguetry In Motion EP February 1986
22. London Girl / Poguetry In Motion EP February 1986
23. The Irish Rover / Single A Side March 1987
1987 - 1991
1. Fairytale Of New York / Single A Side November 1987
2. If I Should Fall From Grace With God / If I Should Fall From Grace With God January 1988
3. Turkish Song Of The Damned / If I Should Fall From Grace With God January 1988
4. Thousands Are Sailing / If I Should Fall From Grace With God January 1988
5. Lullaby Of London / If I Should Fall From Grace With God January 1988
6. Sit Down By The Fire / If I Should Fall From Grace With God January 1988
7. The Broad Majestic Shannon / If I Should Fall From Grace With God January 1988
8. South Australia / Single B Side July 1988
9. The Limerick Rake / Peace And Love July 1989
10. MIsty Morning Albert Bridge / Peace And Love July 1989
11. White City / Peace And Love July 1989
12. Down All The Days / Peace And Love July 1989
13. Boat Train / Peace And Love July 1989
14. London You're A Lady / Peace And Love July 1989
15. Whiskey In The Jar / Single B Side May 1990
16. Bastard Landlord / Single B Side August 1990
17. Sunnyside Of The Street / Hell's Ditch September 1990
18. Ghost Of A Smile / Hell's Ditch September 1990
19. Hell's Ditch / Hell's Ditch September 1990
20. Lorca's Novena / Hell's Ditch September 1990
21. Rain Street / Hell's Ditch September 1990
22. House Of The Gods / Hell's Ditch September 1990
23. Curse Of Love / Single B Side April 1991
24. Infinity / Single B Side April 1991
My old man used to love The Dubliners, The Chieftains and the host of Irish folk groups who used to pass through the Val Doonican show and the like. But never in a million years did I believe there would ever be any connection between all that ‘Ninny nanny no’ stuff and punk. There were a thousand directions for punk to go in and it did, but locating a part of its afterlife in some hellish mix of Irish myth, abandoned folk jigs and the drunken raising of ghosts seemed as unlikely as Bob Geldof asking the Pogues to follow Queen at Live Aid.
And yet in 1984/85 The Pogues were London’s only genuinely great group, a fucking great whirlwind of rip roaring Irish folk punk action especially in their natural live habitat where they conducted an incredible, wild celebration of adrenalised chaos. It was impossible to hear the words amongst the sweat, the swagger and Shane MacGowan’s mumbled garble, but on Red Roses For Me, and Rum Sodomy & The Lash, somehow he used all his powers to mix centuries of Irish rebellion and London history with 80’s rent boys, football thugs, fucked up Falklands vets and teenage runaways puked onto the streets by Thatcher’s Britain. The characters, places and curses fermenting in his tormented mind deserve books of their own, his bilious, bloody words and The Pogues rabid folk punk shaking a defiant drunken fist at the devil.
But it wasn’t all 100 mile an hour romps, there were also songs of great beauty and poeticism. Listen to ‘Rainy Night In Soho’, ‘The Broad Majestic Shannon’ and ‘Lullaby of London’, wherein Shane MacGowan drops the garish and garrulous exterior garb of a drunken Brendan Behan to offer the lilt and lyrical lushness of W.B. Yeats: ‘“May the ghosts that howled ‘round the house that night/Never keep you from your sleep/May they all sleep tight down in Hell tonight/Or wherever they may be.’
Unfortunately, after If I Should Fall From Grace With God The Pogues decline became precipitous and predictable. Their on-off nature, with Joe Strummer or Spider Stacy handling the vocal chores when MacGowan’s substance abuse became too outrageous even for the hard partying Pogues, made Peace And Love and Hell’s Ditch largely uneven and unsatisfying. But greatness is rarely measured in longevity and few can offer more than a handful of stellar albums, burning brightly before fading away and The Pogues burned much brighter than most. These days Shane MacGowan may be a wreck of a man bumming drinks off everyone, his face like a busted concertina, but I reckon that long ago his genius earned him the right to do whatever the fuck he wants. God bless him.
April 2012
