What's your very first memory of hearing the Pogues

[Eric V]

Thanks. Jeez, I wish I had been paying attention. 3000..... I wonder what I'll get from teh janitors.

[DrugProwlingWolf]

Discovering the Pogues is another thing I thank the Clash for.

As a kid, my favorite band was the Clash (they probably still are), and I was completely obsessed. When I was, oh, maybe 13, I got so obsessed that I started hunting down bootlegs despite the near-impossibility of downloading anything in the 56k days. I found an IRC room or something like that with something called "Joe Strummer and the Latino Rockabilly War - Live Scotland 1988." I opened the directory, and there was this song in there called If I Should Fall From Grace With God. I thought that was an exceedingly badass title for a Joe Strummer song (all of the Clash's songs were very simply and not poetically named, as opposed to this which had all KINDS of poetic gravity).

I downloaded it, and Joe, all excited-sounding, said "this is a right-good kick-in to the Pogues." The song fucking blew me away. It was a smart, poetic, thoughtful kind of punk that I thought died with the Clash.

I then downloaded the Pogues album on which that song appeared and it probably, to use the cliche, changed my life. I listened to that album probably 100 times that year.

It was everything I loved about punk rock, from the lyrics to the energy, and it was everything I loved about folk and country (as a kid), rolled into one. That sound was so amazing to me that it turned me off of country and straight folk almost forever. This was an album with all the social and political commentary, intensity, energy, and passion that those two genres pretty much never had. It was like country and folk music were totally obsolete to me.


Moral of the story? That the most amazing band I've ever heard I'd have never discovered were it not for bootlegging and piracy. Funny, eh? Also, the only reason I thought country music was cool was that I liked the sounds of the instruments used in it. Listening to the Pogues was eye-opening for that reason. "Wait, holy shit, people can rock out on these instruments?"

[Darla]

It was everything I loved about punk rock, from the lyrics to the energy, and it was everything I loved about folk and country (as a kid), rolled into one. That sound was so amazing to me that it turned me off of country and straight folk almost forever. This was an album with all the social and political commentary, intensity, energy, and passion that those two genres pretty much never had. It was like country and folk music were totally obsolete to me. ...... Also, the only reason I thought country music was cool was that I liked the sounds of the instruments used in it. Listening to the Pogues was eye-opening for that reason. "Wait, holy shit, people can rock out on these instruments?"

Well said DPW!

[treadhead1944]

It is winter 1991. I am in Saudi Arabia, scared to death. I had joined the Army Reserves to help pay for college, and was not counting on Iraq invading Kuwait. My unit was called up in November 1990, sent to Maryland to train, and on December 7th we leave for Saudi. Once we get acclimatized we start doing our job being Military Policemen. My girlfriend at the time mailed me a care package with several mix tapes, and on one of them was "If I Should Fall...".

I wore that tape out rather quickly (it also had London Calling, and Alice's Restaurant two of my favorite songs). After I returned home, missing several pints of blood and three days after an accident the tape got lost, as did I. I dropped out of college and tried to drink my problems away.

We flash forward to 1993. I am an assistant manager of a Sam Goody. The fellow assistant is an Irish nationalist American, and he and I become friends. A benefit of working in a record store is free concert tickets, and my friend Paul gets 2 to see Shane (touring for the Snake I would imagine, but not too sure). We have a grand time, I think. I can't recall much of the show other than I took on 3 men afterwards and got a broken nose, and my friend Paul got arrested for public urination. The night goes down as a success.

Flash to 2002. I am married and living in God's Waiting Room (Florida land of the newly wed and nearly dead). The wife wants me to download some "Irish" music. So I go online and download The Rovers, The Pogues, The Dubliners, The Cheiftans, and the like for her. Turns out she wanted Clannad and Enya. Meh, I love her anyway.

On this 17 year journey the Pogues have played an important role as the soundtrack to my life, from hearing them in the Persian Gulf, hearing "Fairytale" for the first time working at the record shop (I still have that X-mas compilation), to the drunken chaos at the Shelter in downtown Detroit, to my more sedate existence in Florida. Music is important to me, and my collection of Pogues CD's doubly so.

[philipchevron]

It is winter 1991. I am in Saudi Arabia, scared to death. I had joined the Army Reserves to help pay for college, and was not counting on Iraq invading Kuwait. My unit was called up in November 1990, sent to Maryland to train, and on December 7th we leave for Saudi. Once we get acclimatized we start doing our job being Military Policemen. My girlfriend at the time mailed me a care package with several mix tapes, and on one of them was "If I Should Fall...".

I wore that tape out rather quickly (it also had London Calling, and Alice's Restaurant two of my favorite songs). After I returned home, missing several pints of blood and three days after an accident the tape got lost, as did I. I dropped out of college and tried to drink my problems away.

We flash forward to 1993. I am an assistant manager of a Sam Goody. The fellow assistant is an Irish nationalist American, and he and I become friends. A benefit of working in a record store is free concert tickets, and my friend Paul gets 2 to see Shane (touring for the Snake I would imagine, but not too sure). We have a grand time, I think. I can't recall much of the show other than I took on 3 men afterwards and got a broken nose, and my friend Paul got arrested for public urination. The night goes down as a success.

Flash to 2002. I am married and living in God's Waiting Room (Florida land of the newly wed and nearly dead). The wife wants me to download some "Irish" music. So I go online and download The Rovers, The Pogues, The Dubliners, The Cheiftans, and the like for her. Turns out she wanted Clannad and Enya. Meh, I love her anyway.

On this 17 year journey the Pogues have played an important role as the soundtrack to my life, from hearing them in the Persian Gulf, hearing "Fairytale" for the first time working at the record shop (I still have that X-mas compilation), to the drunken chaos at the Shelter in downtown Detroit, to my more sedate existence in Florida. Music is important to me, and my collection of Pogues CD's doubly so.

Goody got it. Merry Christmas. Hope you got the blood back.

[treadhead1944]

It is winter 1991. I am in Saudi Arabia, scared to death. I had joined the Army Reserves to help pay for college, and was not counting on Iraq invading Kuwait. My unit was called up in November 1990, sent to Maryland to train, and on December 7th we leave for Saudi. Once we get acclimatized we start doing our job being Military Policemen. My girlfriend at the time mailed me a care package with several mix tapes, and on one of them was "If I Should Fall...".

I wore that tape out rather quickly (it also had London Calling, and Alice's Restaurant two of my favorite songs). After I returned home, missing several pints of blood and three days after an accident the tape got lost, as did I. I dropped out of college and tried to drink my problems away.

We flash forward to 1993. I am an assistant manager of a Sam Goody. The fellow assistant is an Irish nationalist American, and he and I become friends. A benefit of working in a record store is free concert tickets, and my friend Paul gets 2 to see Shane (touring for the Snake I would imagine, but not too sure). We have a grand time, I think. I can't recall much of the show other than I took on 3 men afterwards and got a broken nose, and my friend Paul got arrested for public urination. The night goes down as a success.

Flash to 2002. I am married and living in God's Waiting Room (Florida land of the newly wed and nearly dead). The wife wants me to download some "Irish" music. So I go online and download The Rovers, The Pogues, The Dubliners, The Cheiftans, and the like for her. Turns out she wanted Clannad and Enya. Meh, I love her anyway.

On this 17 year journey the Pogues have played an important role as the soundtrack to my life, from hearing them in the Persian Gulf, hearing "Fairytale" for the first time working at the record shop (I still have that X-mas compilation), to the drunken chaos at the Shelter in downtown Detroit, to my more sedate existence in Florida. Music is important to me, and my collection of Pogues CD's doubly so.

Goody got it. Merry Christmas. Hope you got the blood back.

I did, thanks for asking. Funny that after the first time I heard "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" it became my theme song...

[DrugProwlingWolf]

It is winter 1991. I am in Saudi Arabia, scared to death. I had joined the Army Reserves to help pay for college, and was not counting on Iraq invading Kuwait. My unit was called up in November 1990, sent to Maryland to train, and on December 7th we leave for Saudi. Once we get acclimatized we start doing our job being Military Policemen. My girlfriend at the time mailed me a care package with several mix tapes, and on one of them was "If I Should Fall...".

I wore that tape out rather quickly (it also had London Calling, and Alice's Restaurant two of my favorite songs). After I returned home, missing several pints of blood and three days after an accident the tape got lost, as did I. I dropped out of college and tried to drink my problems away.

We flash forward to 1993. I am an assistant manager of a Sam Goody. The fellow assistant is an Irish nationalist American, and he and I become friends. A benefit of working in a record store is free concert tickets, and my friend Paul gets 2 to see Shane (touring for the Snake I would imagine, but not too sure). We have a grand time, I think. I can't recall much of the show other than I took on 3 men afterwards and got a broken nose, and my friend Paul got arrested for public urination. The night goes down as a success.

Flash to 2002. I am married and living in God's Waiting Room (Florida land of the newly wed and nearly dead). The wife wants me to download some "Irish" music. So I go online and download The Rovers, The Pogues, The Dubliners, The Cheiftans, and the like for her. Turns out she wanted Clannad and Enya. Meh, I love her anyway.

On this 17 year journey the Pogues have played an important role as the soundtrack to my life, from hearing them in the Persian Gulf, hearing "Fairytale" for the first time working at the record shop (I still have that X-mas compilation), to the drunken chaos at the Shelter in downtown Detroit, to my more sedate existence in Florida. Music is important to me, and my collection of Pogues CD's doubly so.

I am exceedingly sleep-deprived, but I like to think that in a normal state of consciousness I would think this to be one of the best things I've read in a good long while. Terrific.

[Andy P. Davies]

As a teenage Mod and Jam fan I got into The Nips because Paul Weller of The Jam produced Happy Song, and he was a fan of Shane. I was a teenage Chords, Purple Hearts, Squire and Nips fan living in Birmingham at the time, following their story via the pages of the rock inkies, pop mags and John Peel Show. I can remember being in my cousin Noel's bedroom in Bromsgrove when I read the piece about the NIPS splitting up in Sounds. Surrounded by posters of Debbie Harry, The Jam, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Joy Division and Farrah Fawcett-Majors.
As I matured in the early eighties I gradually got more interested in folk and country music, courtesy of the Johnny Cash, Clancy Brothers and Dubliners records owned by my Irish parents. My Dad Phillie is of Welsh and Irish parentage, Mum is from a very strong West of Ireland (Galway County) family with a rich tradition of artistry and eccentricity. Then one night in mid-1984 whilst wanking in bed I heard the legendary BBC DJ John Peel mention the Nips and then play Dark Streets of London by The Pogues for the first time. John Peel said in his laconic, laid back style... (and I quote)... "Some of the the more regular listeners to the show might remember a band called The Nips. Well, their lead singer SHANE is now back in a new guise with an outfit called POGUEMAHONE... and this their single called "The Dark Streets of London".
That moment changed my life! I was now 18 and could get to gigs of The Pogues. I saw The Pogues 53 times in two years. Also, saw The Men They Coudn't Hang 26 times during the same period.
The first Pogues gig I went to was at the Birmingham Digbeth Civic Hall on December 6th 1984. I stood at the front of the stage in my long overcoat and befriended Julie Walsh (who I fancied big style, but quickly realised she was going out with Shane at the time) and Julie Pritchard who was going out with Darryl Hunt who was then the 'Roadie'.
After the gig, the Julies invited me and my mates Mick Cahill and Don O'Rourke upstairs to the bar where the band were allowed to have a drink after hours. I was fairly naive, slightly bemused and a badly bequiffed 18 year old, but I liked a drink and still do in 2008. All the Pogues were in the bar with their new manager, Frank Murray, who Cait O'Riordan accused of looking like Bono's Dad. Shane then walked into the bar with his mouth agape and shirt hanging out and the poor fellow was immediately harangued by Julie Pritchard and Cait, both of whom accused him of being an ugly, toothless bastard who they were going to 'sort out'. Shane responded by advising them to Fuck off and buy us all a drink! Welcome to the world of Shane and the Pogues! Shane, Cait, the Julies, Andy P. Davies and pals then spent the entire night and morning getting bladdered and increasingly absorbed in conversation about the merits of the recently disbanded Buzzccocks, Redskins and Dexys Midnight Runners. A discussion about the politics of Ireland and the oppression of many centuries was shelved as we eventually walked Shane and Julie Walsh to New Street Station (Shane had borrowed Darryl's Donkey Jacket). And then I somehow found my way home and went to Mass at The Holy Name in Great Barr.
I will always regard The Pogues as being the greatest band of all time.

[SonOfErin]

Great story Andy!

[euphoniumdude]

It was early 1985 (or late 1984) and my parents moved from Ghent to some place near Bruges. Till the summer holiday I kept going to school in Ghent, joining my father every morning by car. Sometimes they played 'Dirty old town' on the radio. Being in my early teens I was fascinated by J-M Jarre, Duran Duran and other what I'd soon call shite by synth-powered bands. DOT really changed my approach to music and changed or saved my taste if not my life.

Having two rather conservative parents, I had to wait for my first Pogues gig until 1989, when I saw them in Deinze (with Sons Of The Desert as brilliant support act), with Terry unfortunately missing. Pukkelpop 1991 I had to miss because of my exams and I had to wait until 1993 (when Shane had already left). Later I saw them in 1995 (WindoRock, after James and Terry left) and what would be their last Belgian gig in Ghent in 1996 for more than a decade.
I had to wait till 2001 at Manchester Academy - bought boat & train tickets and then hired a car as I don't fly) - to see the band in full line-up, which would also be the case in 2004 (Man Arena) and 2006 (the almost cancelled Brixton gig).
Last year in Lokeren I just had to go, but as Philip was ill, I still can't but hope to see them in Belgium for the first time as a full band.

Before 1989 I didn't have anything and bought my first Pogues-cd ('Rum, Sodomy & the Lash'). Strange enough, when buying a Pogues cd, it always happened in the same way: I entered the store, listened for a first time and honestly didn't really like it as a hole, so I didn't purchase. However, on my way home (or my room, as a student) things came back little by little and after two or three days, I returned to the record store as if being drawn by a magnet.

[irish hillbilly]

Sometime in the mid 80's a friend of mine was in the Army, stationed in Germany. When he returned to the states he brought me a tape of the Pogues. We played bluegrass and some old-time music, and the Pogues were like a natural fit because of the similarity of stringed instruments. I've been addicted ever since. On a lesser note, he also brought me King Kurt, Demented Are-Go and a Sid Vicious shirt. Cool, huh?

[wendylou]

Back when Rum Sodomy and the Lash had come out, I was living at home with my parents. One day, I had cranked up the stereo and was listening to "Jesse James". Then my dad got home from work. Normally, he would yell at me to turn down the music. But this time, there was no yelling. I couldn't understand it. I mean, this was the Pogues blasting throughout the entire house. Then I hear my dad saying, "Hey! I know this song! Who is this? Who's singing??!!" He came upstairs to the living room and started dancing around and singing along with my Pogues record!! WTF? I could not believe my eyes. He knew all the words, better than I did!

Unbeknownst to me at the time, "Jesse James" is a traditional folk song, and my grandfather used to sing it when my dad was a kid. I thought it was an original Pogues song, so I totally freaked out when my dad walked in the house and could sing along.

[Sportin' Life]

My roommate in college left one summer (90 I believe?) and left me in charge of his voluminous record collection and huge stereo. There was a little bit of punk, but most of it was metal or speed metal, but buried beneath the Megadeth, Ozzy, and Slayer was a beautiful vinyl copy of If I Should Fall From Grace With God. I played the shit out of that record that summer, and soon got every Pogues album I could get my hands on. Still it took me years to finally get a copy of Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash.

I had heard The Pogues and liked them before that summer, but that is what hooked me. I never minded listening to music that was a little bit dated. I figured I missed a fair deal of good stuff growing up in the sticks, and just because some of it wasn't brand new didn't mean I should've ignored it. Besides with all the grunge coming into fashion in the Northwest, I had to do something to be different. I mean I was wearing crappy ill fitting threadbare clothing waaaay before those bastards made it trendy, so I had to have some way to not just be part of the trend.

[jgd4321]

I'm new here so this looked like a good place to start. As a teenager I used to trade records with a couple of friends. Sometimes they were just loans others were for keeps. During one of our swaps I was given Red Roses For Me. Because my parents were from Ireland and we were brought up with Irish music played in the house, I might like this. I had no interest in Irish music at the time so I never listened to it and gave it to my Father and Mother. About 2 days later my father gave it back to me and said it wasn't "proper" Irish music. He never got past the "language"
in transmetro and took the record off. The music might be good he said, but if I ever gave my mother another record with such language there'd be hell to pay. I was now curious and gave it a listen and have been a fan ever since. My father softened a little after hearing "Thousands are Sailing". He thinks it's one of the most beautiful songs ever written, if only that guy would sing properly.

[ConnDevi]

The first album I heard of the Pogues was "Hells Ditch". My father always played music around the house when i was very little. I remember listing to hells ditch constantly when i was a little boy. Looking back I was probably too young to be listening to i do to the strong language but It's now one of my favorites mainly because It's a childhood memory of mind. When I listen to the album, it allways reminds me of trips to Cape Cod.

sorry i diddn't see this thread