Did Shane play Piano on 'Fiarytale'?

[gwrwho]

I recently bought the poguevision video, and on the Fairytale Video, it shows Shane playing the piano, but not his whole body - at times it will show his head then pan down to (someones) hands playing the Piano. I always thought he was the pianist until I saw Town and country a few years ago, when James played the Piano part, as he did at the reunion gigs. so I was curious - does Shane actually play Piano on the song, or is it James?

[Zuzana]

The "IISFFGWG" booklet lists only James as a piano player. I guess Shane just mimics it on the video (absolutely great video, btw).

[gwrwho]

it is isn't it? probably my favourite music video ever! but I just always thought of Shane as the Pianist for that song, becuase thats what they video conveys.

[MacRua]

Look attentively at hands and at the ring... Not Shane's at all

UPDATED (after revising video trice)
or Shane's ?

UPDATED II (watching documentary about The Fairy Tale)
On Top of the Pops (1987) Shane chews gum sitting at the piano and 'singing'

UPDATED III (recollecting performance with Kirsty (RIP) on The Jack Doherty Show, 1997)
He rare bothers to move finger... as well as to open eyes...

UPDATED IV (continuing with documentary)
Lillywhite: It was very much two songs. I remember recording it in two sections. We recorded the piano section first with a live vocal. Shane did the vocal with the piano...

Jem Finer: James Fearnley played the piano. Shane sang. And I think in two or three takes they got it...

[carmen]

if i recall correctly--on the shane video, he is on the paino singing kitty is he not?

[carmen]

but then again--that doesnt answer the question about "fairytale of newyork" --so im not helpful am i?just points out that he can play paino. (or can he?)

[MacRua]

I would say he was just poking in keys with fingers...
And you may say "any playing is nothing but poking in keys..."
It doesn't look like playing. But i am not a virtuoso meself so...

[Rich]

It was only a few months ago that I was watching the "Fairytale" video for about the 9000th time that I suddenly realized that you don't really see Shane playing the piano. You see him sitting at the piano, you see him sitting at the piano moving his arms, you see some hands playing the piano, but you don't see Shane actually playing the piano. Very sly, those Pogues!



I never looked closely enough to see whether the ring on the hands playing the piano is ever seen on Shane's hand, though. Which gives me an excuse to go watch the video for the 9001st time when I get home from work today.

All this talk reminds me of that great Beautiful South video for "Song For Whoever" where you see Paul Heaton sitting at a piano moving his arms and then as the camera swings around it's revealed that he's not actually playing the piano, he's typing on a typewriter.

[Guest]

on stage in the late 80s Maestro Jimmy Fearnley played the piano intro.

[JamesFearnley]

I knew that putting on Shane's rings and wearing his jacket for the video of Fairy Tale, so it would look like Shane played the piano on the song, might come and bite me on the arse, if this is being bitten on the arse, not really. Shane can play the piano, sort of, but in a style that might best be described as - well - childlike, you know, as in 'childlike wonder' - not intended to be pejorative in any way. But those are my fingers at the piano on the video. Payrolled facilitators at the time had the idea that it would look better if it appeared that Shane was playing the piano. Didn't want to do it at the time, myself, but there you go. I've done a few things in my lfe I didn't really want to do. It's good for the soul. But I'm from Manchester.

[gwrwho]

Thanks for that Mr. Fearnley - I think its a shame really, because if it had shown you playing Piano, it would've have shown to the public how you truly deserve the title 'MAESTRO'.

[MacRua]

May I raise a question of further destiny of the ring, Mr.Fearnley?



Maybe I am wrong. Maybe... But looks like I never saw it again on Shane's fingers after FTofNY video (as well as before it, I have to admitt).
Was it really Shane's?
Is it possible that you forgot to give it back to Shane?
Or "precious" was lost in the process of shooting?

[Christine]

I am almost sure that in one of the videos (possibly that documentary on Fairytale) Shane is really incensed at the suggestion that he did not actually play piano there. Is that just his sense of humour then? or all just a part of the elaborate plot to pretend it was him?

[MacRua]

In FTof NY documentary he laughes over complaints he was chewing gum on Top Of the Pops. Something like:

yeah, we were miming...
and there were loads of complaints coz i was chewing gum doing it...
and the only reason they were now worrying becoz i was chewing gum so obviously...
you're a frog, you're a fake
you can't sing, you didn't really sing it, you didn't really write it...
the band doesn't really play
you are like monkeys...
coz we saw you were chewing gum while you were singing on top of the pops

(that's what i got at least, it's hard sometimes to decipher Shane..., so sorry for any mishearing/misunderstanding )

[Rich]

Yes, thanks so much for the inside info, James -- very interesting indeed! Even though it's misleading that we don't see that it's you playing the piano in "Fairytale," I have to admit that the image of Shane and Kirsty singing to each other as he sits at the piano and she leans on it is extremely effective. It's too bad they couldn't have come up with some way to retain that image while still making it clear who was actually playing.

If it's any consolation at all, even though we don't see that it's you playing the piano, you do look like a total bad-ass with the accordion in that one.

(And while we're on the topic, I was interested to discover in the color photo in the reissued version of IISFFGWG that Kirsty's dress, which I always imagined to be black, turns out to have been blue).