The Medusa Fora

I to can't remember the first time I heard The Pogues because it was something I grew up with from an early age it was just there I didn't think anything of it but the first I remember really actually listening to it........

My dad use to drink in this workers man club in Chiswick where it was all Irish & Scotts so alot of Celtic songs were played, I must of been about three at the most and hearing Thousands are Sailing on the Juke box and thats the first time I went 'huh......thats not bad.' and thats how it all started with me.

I was a fan of Flogging Molly and DKM, so I picked up "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" without ever hearing it before. One of the best decisions I have ever made!

AllBusiness37 wrote:I was a fan of Flogging Molly and DKM, so I picked up "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" without ever hearing it before. One of the best decisions I have ever made!

It certainly was, Olly, it certainly was. Hi! Now have you gone out and gotten the rest yet?

winter 1993 in the back of a british rail van somewhere near gatwick trying to get some sleep after a big breakfast, angry at being woken by a worn tape of rum sodomy & the lash. copied the tape to get navigator but had to endure lectures on irish opression as a result. don't know what ever happened to the tape's owner, last i heard he was up on a disciplinary for following a badger into a hedge instead of looking out for trains whilst we dug the track. probably still in the hedge. cracking album though, real grower

at my aunts house when I was a little kid
she put on a Pogues vinyl record and we started dancing around the room like little leprechauns

justanotheronethen wrote:last i heard he was up on a disciplinary for following a badger into a hedge instead of looking out for trains whilst we dug the track.

Is that "dug the track" as in, "hey man this song Navigator is great. I really dig that track, it's cool"?
Sorry, couldn't resist.

p.s. Welcome to the forum!

1986, saturday afternoon, watching BBC2. Four hour docu about politically inspired songs. next thing A Pair Of Brown Eyes comes on! What the hell is this???? Called my dad (you have to understand I was reard to the sound of the Wolfe Tones, Dubliners and Jonny Cash) he didn't know.

Monday down to the record shop...

"Have you got any Pogues?" says me

"Yes" says he...."Poguetry in Motion on 12 inch" says he.

The rest is history.

Pardon me in advance for the length of the piece-it's really just a trifle, and a bit of a wander down an aging punk's memory lane.

In high school and before college, I was still dabbling in this and that, picking up on bands I to this day like (say, ABBA, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles) and trying out some other music that frankly makes me wonder what I was thinking (I'll just drop Men at Work here and slink away in shame).

This was the mid-80s, so at that time, we're talkin' Wham!, Robert Palmer, Human League, the horrific Van Halen, and Nushooz hitting the charts! And just to drive home the state of the public at that time, Eddie Murphy had a hit single around then called "Party All The Time", and this is perhaps as poor a song as has ever been spun (and I'm counting Run, Joey, Run! and Energy Crisis '74 [by Dickie Goodman]).

A trip to Europe (with a group of high-school kids) had me meet a young woman named Nicci (well, two years younger than I, anyway-I'll spare her the embarassment of printing her last name!) who started me down the path of non-mainstream music.

So on this trip this fair-skinned, black-haired darling hit me with Public Image Limited (which led me to the Sex Pistols, Ramones, and punk-my first great love), Bauhaus (which gave me Joy Division and Love and Rockets), and Dead Can Dance (ipso facto Cocteau Twins). Yes, she did dress in black all the time. For giving me this music, I am ever grateful, Nicci!

Anyway, this newfound interest in non-mainstream music led me to take an interest in my college radio station (KUCI 88.9 in Irvine, if anyone cares), and I really wanted an on-air gig. In order to become more familiar with the scene, I hit up Peer Records (yes, LPs) for some alternative artists like about-to-hit-it-big REM.

As you may have guessed (and if you haven't drifted off into some peaceful daydream yet), The Pogues and their latest record IISFFGWG came home with me (and is still in my collection).

I was back in the dorm room (after a few beers and a toke or two with my Aussie suitemate) and I dropped that disc on the platter, plugged in the headphones, and listened to the finest record I had ever heard in my young life. I danced, laughed, and cried as I listened.

Sorry again for the length, and thanks for indulging me. This memory is one I hope to always remember.

LittleCupcakes wrote:Sorry again for the length, and thanks for indulging me. This memory is one I hope to always remember.

No need to apologise, LittleCupcakes. Great story, glad you shared it. Hang on to those memories!

(Wish I could remember when I first heard The Pogues. It's sort of lost in the haze of the years...)

firehazard wrote:(Wish I could remember when I first heard The Pogues. It's sort of lost in the haze of the years...)

Surely your not that old?

Heather wrote:

firehazard wrote:(Wish I could remember when I first heard The Pogues. It's sort of lost in the haze of the years...)

Surely your not that old?

actually, Heather, I believe "haze" may be the operative word here.

TheIrishRover wrote: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.

Ah, The first time i heard the Pogues is when you told me to watch a music video of the Pogues singing "Tuesday Morning" Which you told me that was Shane singing. lol

Ahh, My first memory of listening was when i heard "A Pair Of Brown Eyes" and it's been one of my favorite songs since!

territa wrote:

Heather wrote:

firehazard wrote:(Wish I could remember when I first heard The Pogues. It's sort of lost in the haze of the years...)

Surely your not that old?

actually, Heather, I believe "haze" may be the operative word here.

Well, yes, Heather, I probably am that old.
But yes also, territa, I think the haze is more significant.

1986- Three of us visited my friend Pete at Worcester State College(MA). He was a college DJ and played Rum... for us. Of course, we spent the rest of the night drinking and singing Dirty Old Town. We were all hooked.

Fast forwarding to 2006 The three of us that made the trip to Worcester St
all went the 3/14 Boston Orpheum show. Poor Pete couldn't go, his
wife had a PTA meeting and he couldn't get a baby sitter for the kids

PS to Little Cupcakes-nice Dickie Goodman reference I still have the 45
of Mr. Jaws!!

Some time last year, I was high and idly watching TV...and "The Top 10 Banned Songs" Came one...obviously with the sex pistols at number 1 - John Lydon presented it actually...anyway, about number 6 or 7 was The Pogues "Birmingham 6" the few clips of the song I heard from that programme stuck in my head for quite some time, and so I actively sought down and bought the album with it on If I Should Fall From Grace With God...I don't have all the albums yet, but I'm getting there...They're now my favourite band...