What's your very first memory of hearing the Pogues

[fermenter]

mine was listening to the janice long show many moons ago and hearing sally maclananne for the first time.
it was a late shift i was working in a cider factory ,the song got me hooked straight away,woke up next day went straight into town and bought tape of rum sodomy and the lash ,still have it as well.
still seems like only yesterday to me.

roll on cardiff

[Mick Molloy]

Fairytale of NY

So funny that there was swearing in a XMAS song

[Zuzana]

Two-phase process. Very prosaic.

Phase 1: Coincidence
Browsing through the catalogue of a CD club I’m a member of. Well, a club... they call themselves like that, but in fact they simply lend CDs just like a library lends books. Cheaply. Legally. Not a bad place. So here I was, browsing the list, trying out bands I’d never heard about before by listening to samples of their music at Amazon. Totally at random. Hard to tell why the Pogues caught my eye among thousands of other bands in the catalogue (which has 100 pages with almost microscopic letters). Maybe because of the sweet album titles including such tranquil expressions like "red roses", "peace and love" or "rum, sodomy and the lash". First thought – hooray, amidst the monotonous sea of pop finally something which resembles good old Irish music. Decided to subject them to a more thorough examination.

Phase 2: Action
Borrowing The Best Of and The Rest Of the Best. First impression – the tunes are great but the vocal is terrible. Why on earth don’t they stick to instrumentals or hire a more competent vocalist? But still I liked the CDs enough to try out more. And the times they are a-changing as everybody knows. After some time the vocals didn’t sound that much terrible, as a matter of fact they were quite acceptable, good in fact, no, not only good, great and charismatic... Well, it definitely wasn’t "love at the first sight", it took me several months to go the way from "not bad" to "my most favourite band". But before the early summer sun turned to the anemic cold rays of winter, my fall into the "Pogues abyss" had been completed.

[dave 81]

The Harp &Thistle Pub.......St Petersburg Beach, Florida....circa 1986, or so
This place was, and still is. a haven for UK retirees, and they always have a big bash on St Paddys Day.
Myself, and about 8 friends pulled in there on our Harleys to drink some green beer, a stupid tradition compliments of food coloring.
The mostly older crowd were dancing their jigs, singing along to a DJ who appeared to be about 75 years old, balancing himself on a cane, with a pint for ballast in the other hand.
Later, when the older folks filed out, a kid with a mowhawk and a sex pistols t-shirt got on the turntable. He started with a song (don't remember what,) by a band that blew the fuckin' roof off the place.
I had to inquire who the band was.........Mr. Mohawk replied, "It's the fuckin' Pogues, ya sot."
I thought I had been insulted, but was too drunk to care.
Have enjoyed the Pogues since

[Celtic.Dave]

My brother was a fan and still is.He had all the albums.
Everyday when i came home from school i would bug him to play Bottle Of Smoke.The reason,yes you guessed it.Loads of swear words.Say i was around 5.

[Eyeball_Kid]

In the computer age discovering bands is probably not as romantic as it used to be. I heard about the Pogues from Bob Dylan fans who remembered them opening for Dylan in '89 with their infamous singer. So I decided to check them out. I downloaded "Drink and Fight" from Napster and wasn't impressed (for good reason). Years later I happened upon the name Pogues again and decided to read some album reviews at amazon. When I ckecked out the tracklist for RS&TL the title "Pair of Brown Eyes" caught my eye and I listened to some 30sec file. I immediately ordered the album afterwards. you know the rest of the story...

[philipchevron]

Are Bob Dylan fans all still stoned or what? The only "infamous" thing about our singer on that tour was his absence.

[dave 81]

touche'

[soulfinger]

I was in an shebeen in Manchester - late '84 I guess. We'd been to see someone worthy like Dedanaan (sp?) or Clannad and had gone for a lock in. There was a band on in the boozer and when they took a break someone stuck a few records on. Waxie's Dargle came blaring out. Through my drunken stupour I recognised god like genius. I managed, quite impressively I thought, to remember the name of the band the next day and have been hooked ever since. Some time later I saw them live at the international and had my first go at participating in the Celtic Ruck and Maul.

[Eyeball_Kid]

Are Bob Dylan fans all still stoned or what? The only "infamous" thing about our singer on that tour was his absence.

Actually that's what I meant but somehow didn't write.







PS: not all of them

[MissWalshy]

I've had the pleasure of hearing Fairytale every year since I was a baby!

Was able to play Irish Rover on the whistle when I was 7/8

Really got into the Pogues probably last year.

Had my first moment - when shane walked out on the stage at Brixton.

[TheIrishRover]

I was watching television one night, when the infamous concert on a major comedy show appeared. I really liked them, especially that the Shane (then only known as "the singer" to me) was drinking beer on stage. Then a few years later I started buying their CD's at used CD shops and found my way to this site.

[carmen]

CELTIC DAVE: funny you say you were attracted to the Pogues at the age of 5 cuz of the swear words----same reason my nephew LOVES the Pogues!!!!! kids and bad words!!!!

[kmurray105]

Spring of 1987 and I was in high school; a friend told me his sister had an album called "Rum, Sodomy, and Lust" from an Irish punk band called the Pogues. Didn't hear the album at the time but that summer I was in Ireland visting relatives and I found a cassette of Red Roses for Me in my cousin's stash. I played the album quite a few times the rest of my visit and my cousin gave me the cassette to keep as I left for the airport.

[Celtic.Dave]

Its so true Carmen.lol