Dirty Old Town Platinum Collection

[theCOOP]

I think Philip said it best (cause I can't tell that anyone else here has actually aknowledged this release:

Warner Music have undertaken to correct a substantial numbers of proofing errors which slipped through in the seasonal rush last December, but I cannot say if this has actually happened yet. I notice some of the errors are perpetuated in the Japanese releases and some not.

If you spot any on "The Platinum Collection" by the way, we had nothing to do with that release, nor would I begin to guess why it exists.

I was just at a local used-music shop and picked this up because there wasn't a single other thing I was interested in there today. FWIW Phil, all the spellings look correct.

Other than the fact that this appears to be the only official release I know of which spans "Red Roses for Me" right through to... HOLD IT!, there's nothing from Hell's Ditch on it. Strange. Well, it would appear to cover something from each album, but this is not the case afterall. We have items from Red Roses, Rum, Sodomy, Poguetry, IISFFGWG, P&L, Tuesday Morn, Tuesday Morn b-side and Pogue Mahone.

For those of you unfamiliar with it:

01 Streams of Whiskey
02 A Pair of Brown Eyes
03 Dirty Old Town
04 Sally MacLennane
05 Dingle Regatta
06 Turkish Song o/t Damned
07 Metropolis
08 Thousands Are Sailing
09 Rainy Night
10 Misty Morning
11 I'm a Man
12 Gridlock
13 Young Ned
14 Tuesday Morning
15 Paris St. Germain
16 Drunken Boat
17 Love You 'Till The End

IMO, a very strange mix of songs...and with The Best of, The Rest of the Best and The Very Best of The Pogues, quite a pointless release. If it pointed to the rereleased albums that would be fine, but it doesn't do that at all. Instead it sems to only serves as a marketing tool for Warner, as it displays other titles inside the case, offered under the platinum series such as Bad Manners, The Best of Flowered Up (???), The Best of John Nail(???)... It seems that it should carry a PROMO ONLY label on it.

The cover art is a strange selesction (coloured version of the pic inside the Yeah X5 CD single). The inside pic appears to be backstage at the Live @ Town & Country concert and includes Joe Strummer, however...Shane's in a black button-up and not in a striped shirt (as he is in Live @ Town & Country).

All of this, and the title "Dirty Old Town" makes it appear like someone's "mixed tape" or CDR.

I had no intention of buying it from AMAZON or Ebay, but since it was sitting there, in Canadian dollars at that, I figured WTF.

[Kilmichael]

I've never bothered with this CD for all the above reasons, but is there anything interesting about the tracks at all? Any different mixes, as there was for a couple of tracks on the Rest of the Best? Which version of 'Rainy Night' does it feature?

[Eckhard]

I think this will be the only official album release so far, that I won't buy. Sorry to Mr. C. and the rest of the band for not earning any royalties from me this time.

[philipchevron]

I think this will be the only official album release so far, that I won't buy. Sorry to Mr. C. and the rest of the band for not earning any royalties from me this time.

We forgive you. In truth, this release does seem to be aimed at the casual music buyer rather than the discerning Pogues fan.

[Christine]

In truth, this release does seem to be aimed at the casual music buyer rather than the discerning Pogues fan.

The discerning-Pogues-fan-to-be then. We all have to start somewhere.

[Eckhard]

We forgive you. In truth, this release does seem to be aimed at the casual music buyer rather than the discerning Pogues fan.

Thanks for forgiving me.

The problem with this compilation is that imho it is not even a real option to buy it as a present for someone you'd like to get in touch with the musical treasures of the Pogues: The choice of songs seems so random.

[firehazard]

I'm afraid I did buy it, despite the fact that it has nothing on it that I hadn't already got... but it was very cheap in HMV, and I just felt bad leaving it sitting there on the shelf.

[Simon Maguire]

Same as, I didn't go out with any indention of buying the album, but came across it for £6.99 so I went for it, I only listen to the last three songs cause I never heard them before I got the album, Honestly I think it was quite a pointless release but nice to see a change in the fairly predictable 'Greatest Hits’,’ Very Best Of', 'Ultimate Collection' albums.

[Eyeball_Kid]

I think that most people who buy this as their first Pogues record will purchase the Ultimate Collection next. And hopefully a lot of them will go on buying the rest of the Pogues' catalogue.

[theCOOP]

There is nothing special about any of the tracks...no different versions. Not really sure which version of Fairytale it is, but I think it's the same as the reissue of RS&tL.

Coop