[quote="villajohn"][quote][/quote]Apaert from all those POGUES-influenced bands[most of whom are excellent]are there any other bands worth a honourable mention?GREAT BIG SEA,THE PUNTERS[from NEWFOUNDLAND]SPIRIT OF THE WEST [from BC]and from down under WEDDINGS PARTIES ANYTHING,ROARING JACK,THE FINNEGANS and from the US CORDELIAS DAD trad/grunge folkies who should have been HUGE! Has anyone seen or heard any of these bands?[/quote]

At their creative peak, Spirit Of The West were a powerhouse of a band. Holy shit some of those songs are powerful, and the playing & arranging superb. I felt their later releases (starting with "Two Headed") lost the plot a bit, musically. But i saw them do a quick, free, outdoor show downtown the other year, and am happy to report that they remain a killer live act. Go see 'em if they come your way. The dummer, Vince Ditrich, used to do an astounding performance of "That's Amore" live. If you don't have any albums, [i]Save This House[/i] is probably the "essential" one, tho' it's before they had the full drum kit. There's a couple greatest hits type compilations.

John Mann (the guitarist, also one of the main singer/songwriters of the band) does a lot of acting in local theatre these days. Currently he's in what looks like a good production looking at issues of colonization & anthropology, "Beyond Eden". It's a fictionalized story of a real event:

[i]Bruce Ruddell's new rock musical will have its world premiere this week, with John Mann (of Spirit of the West fame) bringing his inimitable, melancholic voice to the project. Mann stars as anthropologist Lewis Wilson, who journeys to the Haida village of Ninstints in an attempt to save a set of waterlogged, beetle-infested totem poles. Vancouver Playhouse, Saturday to Feb. 6 (vancouverplayhouse.com). [/i]

[quote="wittgensteins nanny"]Roaring Jack ,after THE POGUES are my favourite band,their lead singer ALISTAIR HULETT toured Germany a few years back,lovely man.[/quote]

This was just posted on the shitenonions mailing list, I thought some of you might be interested:

Alistair Hulett’s serious illness
January 2010

Dear Friends

You may not have heard the news, so I'd like to share with you that Alistair has been critically ill in hospital here in Glasgow for the last three weeks. He's suffering from liver failure and is in urgent need of an organ transplant.

Until now he hasn't wanted people to know but as the news has started to spread, already the messages of hope and encouragement are pouring in from friends and fans alike. This is proving to be really beneficial for Alistair's spirits and we know that if he is to beat this dreadful illness he needs to be in as positive a frame of mind as possible. If you feel like sending him an email message, please write to alistair.hulett@gmail.com, as I have access to his account and can print out the emails for him. If you prefer to send a card or letter, his address is:

Alistair Hulett
Ward 26a
Southern General Hospital
1345 Govan Road
Glasgow G51 4TF
Scotland

Thank you for your support, prayers, love and warm wishes.
Fatima

I loved the Cropdusters. I saw them once in Bristol and it was a riot. They're semi back together again.

The Cropdusters! Anyone who ever caught this band live in the late 80's will know that they were the only band that could hold a candle on stage to The Pogues - well them & Swamptrash!
In fact Spider Stacy was quoted in the early 90's as saying that the most fashionable thing to wear at a Pogues gig was a Cropdusters t-shirt.

GONE TO EARTH were a fine 5 piece band from Manchester,released 2 great albums in 1986-87,FOLK IN HELL and VEGETARIAN BULLFIGHTER as well as several 12 inch singles.GTE were signed up by Probe PLus records,the LIVERPOOL based label that was also responsible for HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT[Leg-ends!]as well as JEGSY DODD and the SONS of HARRY CROSS.Sadly GONE TO EARTH split up in the early 90S,but they were great live.

[quote="old barney greyheron"]
I've met the Miller brothers too..damn fine chaps they are.
And Blyth Power, wonderful bunch of oddballs..saw them several times in the 80s...Josef Porta..poet, drummer, singer and trainfreak! Very strange fellow...they all kipped in my mate Simmo's flat (where I had my bus-seat bed) one time, after a gig in Scunthorpe..but porta slept in their van with his missus. Probably worried about it being robbed![/quote]

Gary & Glenn and Mr Porter recorded a CD as a trio called "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" in 2000. Name of the album is "Going down with Alice" and contains some very fine material, including Gary Miller´s "A rich seam" and "Soldier on the matlepiece" and Joseph Porter´s "House of war" and "Kater Murr".

I´ve followed the Whisky Priests over quite some years, must have seen them 20 - 25 times. A few times they were supported either by Blyth Power or just by Mr Porter himself. Still remember fondly when Joseph Porter played "Burning Joan", after I told him that it was my favourite BP song. And Gary once dedicated a song to me, saying "This next song is for The Duke of Ingmar, it´s called `The man who would be king´". :D

ANI DI FRANCO,is there anyone else out there in Pogueland who is a fan of Ani D?i saw her in Italy in 2003 and she was AMAZING!Have been to more of her shows since,breathtakingly brilliant.P.S.Come on Scunthorpe!

I saw Great Big Sea in Germany in the mid -late 90s ,and what a superb band they were,Alan Doyle was without doubt one of the best front men from any genre in music.Apparently GBS began life as a Pogues tribute band of sorts playing the various pubs and clubs in their native ST.JOHNS Newfoundland,they were originally known as Rankin Street.Could they have been the first ever POGUES tribute band?Roaring Jack ,after THE POGUES are my favourite band,their lead singer ALISTAIR HULETT toured Germany a few years back,lovely man.Is Villajohn the same character that used to follow THE POGUES all over the place?John Mcgovern was always in GERMANY when ever The POGUES toured there ,i just assumed he lived there!Through John,i and some of my friends got to meet the band,marvellous times for us young ,mark-less GERMANS.I last saw Villajohn at a festival in HOLLAND in 1997 along with his beautiful girlfriend,he came over and spoke to us or rather he wanted to know the footie scores !He.John even got a mention in SHANES book.very funny!

Whisky Priests..I mentioned them on another thread..had an old tape from mid-eighties and it snapped recently..was gutted, but have found a copy i must've done and forgot about, so big happy smiles :D :D :D
I've met the Miller brothers too..damn fine chaps they are.
And Blyth Power, wonderful bunch of oddballs..saw them several times in the 80s...Josef Porta..poet, drummer, singer and trainfreak! Very strange fellow...they all kipped in my mate Simmo's flat (where I had my bus-seat bed) one time, after a gig in Scunthorpe..but porta slept in their van with his missus. Probably worried about it being robbed!

[quote][/quote]The Whisky Priests of course ,silly me forgeting GARY and GLENN MILLER.Great blokes too we often met at gigs and festivals,the first time i saw them was in Amsterdam where they opened for The Pogues in December 1995.Gary Miller was also a member of Blyth Power for a time,what a band they were,JOSEF PORTA ace drummer and avid trainspotter![OH!]Mr.Porta also drummed for The Whisky Priests so they saved some money there.......Do any great trios spring to mind?Apart from EMERSON,LAKE AND PALMER[should that be DICK palmer?] CREAM for example,are Peter,Paul and Bjorn any good?Of course old farts such as i can recall THE KING BROTHERS,THE KINGSTON TRIO,AND Liverpools very own THE BIG THREE,nostalgia dont you love/hate it?

[quote="villajohn"][quote][/quote]Apaert from all those POGUES-influenced bands[most of whom are excellent]are there any other bands worth a honourable mention?GREAT BIG SEA,THE PUNTERS[from NEWFOUNDLAND]SPIRIT OF THE WEST [from BC]and from down under WEDDINGS PARTIES ANYTHING,ROARING JACK,THE FINNEGANS and from the US CORDELIAS DAD trad/grunge folkies who should have been HUGE! Has anyone seen or heard any of these bands?[/quote]

Never seen any of them, but got CDs from Great Big Sea (which are okay) and Roaring Jack (they´re great).

I guess I posted it before some time ago but check out THE WHISKY PRIESTS from Durham, UK. They released some great punkfolk CDs in between 1989 and 2000. Try to find "Nee gud luck" (1989), "The first few drops" (1991), "Bleeding sketches" (1995), "Think positive" (1998) and their first live-CD "Bloody well live" (1993) in particular.

They tend to appear on ebay quite regularly.

[quote][/quote]Apaert from all those POGUES-influenced bands[most of whom are excellent]are there any other bands worth a honourable mention?GREAT BIG SEA,THE PUNTERS[from NEWFOUNDLAND]SPIRIT OF THE WEST [from BC]and from down under WEDDINGS PARTIES ANYTHING,ROARING JACK,THE FINNEGANS and from the US CORDELIAS DAD trad/grunge folkies who should have been HUGE! Has anyone seen or heard any of these bands?