Times Online - Down time: The Pogues

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Down time: The Pogues

Robert Sandall
From The Sunday Times
August 3, 2008
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In retrospect, the idea of fusing the rowdy, politically fuelled spirit of punk rock with Irish folk music seems obvious. But nobody had thought of doing it before Shane MacGowan, Jem Finer and Spider Stacy formed Pogue Mahone in London in 1982, and no other band has emerged to carry the torch since MacGowan went Awol a decade later. A lot more musically and lyrically disciplined than their drunken image suggested, the Pogues are an extremely tough act to follow.

1 Fairytale of New York A fabulous duet/vignette of Irish Americana, and the only song that tells Christmas like it really is.

2 A Pair of Brown Eyes It sounds as traditional as shamrock, but MacGowan wrote this in 1985.

3 Thousands Are Sailing The guitarist Philip Chevron’s ode to the post-potato-famine migration.

4 And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda The tale of the Aussies slaughtered at Gallipoli.

5 The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn The Pogues go pastoral, with MacGowan high on WB Yeats.

6 Turkish Song of the Damned An intoxicating hybrid of Irish jig and Levantine fiddle madness.

7 If I Should Fall from Grace with God A rare glimpse of God-fearing Catholicism.

8 A Rainy Night in Soho One of the band’s most haunting melodies, covered by Nick Cave.

9 Misty Morning, Albert Bridge A reminder that the Pogues were, at heart, a London Irish group.

10 White City A song celebrating the fact that the Pogues loved the Clash long before Joe Strummer sang with them.

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Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd.