Times Online - Pick of the week: The Pogues

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Pick of the week: The Pogues
Carling Academy, Glasgow

Rachel Devine
December 7, 2008
Times Online / The Sunday Times
Section: Arts & Entertainment > Music

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There are certain bands and musicians that will for ever be associated with Christmas, from now until long after they have spluttered their last note.

Bing Crosby is one, Slade are another, and folk outlaws the Pogues must now be added to that list. In the case of the Pogues, and their charismatic, if vocally erratic, lead singer Shane McGowan, the last note probably will be a splutter, unless he gets his notoriously ragged teeth fixed beforehand.

For all their considerable talents and weighty punk-folk repertoire, when people think of the Pogues the first thing that comes to mind is their seasonal saga of romantic dysfunction Fairytale Of New York, a duet originally featuring McGowan and Kirsty MacColl.

Recently polled at number three in the 10 most played Christmas songs since 2003, this ballad is the gold standard in festive tunes, the one Christmas song it’s permissible for even the fashionably cynical to hum along to wistfully. Incredibly, it was beaten to the number one spot at the time of its original release in 1987 by the Pet Shop Boys’ cover of Always on My Mind.

The Pogues, who regularly tour at Christmas, have remained faithful to the song (though have been known on occasion to leave it out of their set). It has become a fitting tribute to McColl, who died in December 2000 in a scuba-diving accident in Mexico, and whose incredible vocal performance has never been matched.

It’s a strange twist of musical fate that the Pogues are growing old gracefully. They were unlikely candidates for a civilised career evolution given their reputation as rabble-rousers with a collective finger perpetually hovering over the self-destruct button.

When McGowan left the band in 1991, as a result of the fallout over his well-publicised drinking problem, it seemed unlikely that the rambling London-Irish band would be too long for this world, despite the best efforts of first Joe Strummer and then Spider Stacy to step into McGowan’s shoes.

They split altogether in the mid-1990s but by 2001 McGowan was back at the helm — though his gap-tooth grimace still scared small children and Americans.

Last year, Fairytale of New York reached No 4 in the UK charts on downloads alone — helped by the BBC’s bonkers decision to censor certain lyrics — and it is expected to make a similar impact this December.

The band have other great songs to put in their set list, of course — Dirty Old Town, written by McColl’s father Ewan, The Irish Rover, A Pair of Brown Eyes — but at this time of year, there’s only one fairytale in everybody’s head.

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Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd.