SHANE MACGOWAN

I've done a couple of posts on the legendary Pogues in the past. Most of those files have been removed, due to their inclusion (in far better quality) on the recent box set.(buy!)

Most out there already know that Pogues front man Shane MacGowan parted ways with them back in the nineties, and launched a solo career. While his output post-Pogues didn't match their output in their heyday, it certainly had it's moments.

A few years back, his label issued a collection of album tracks and b-sides. Not a bad collection, but they didn't catch all the rare oul' stuff. Here's some more:

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Shane MacGowan and The Popes - "A Man Called Horse" B-side of the "Lonesome Highway" single.
Shane MacGowan with the Cafe Orchestra - "An Irish Airman Forsees His Death" (W.B. Yeats) Taken from the Yeats tribute album, Now and In Time To Be.
Shane MacGowan and The Popes - "The Hippy Hippy Shake" (Chan Romero cover) From the Christmas Party EP.
The Jesus and Mary Chain with Shane MacGowan - "God Help Me" From TJ&MC's album Stoned and Dethroned.
Shane MacGowan and The Popes - "She Moved Through the Fair" (traditional) This one has been done by pretty much every Irish band ever. Shane's version is from the "Rock and Roll Paddy" single.
Shane MacGowan with Nick Cave - "Lucy" (Nick Cave cover) From Shane and Nick's "What a Wonderful World" single.
Shane MacGowan - "My Way" (Frank Sinatra cover) Recorded for a commercial, and issued as a single, but never put on any of his albums.
Shane MacGowan and The Popes - "King of the Bop" B-side of the "Church of the Holy Spook" single.

Shane MacGowan's post-Pogues discography:

The Snake, 1995
The Crock of Gold, 1997
The Rare Oul' Stuff, 2002 (buy) (best of and rare)

Of course, Shane has in recent years re-united with his Pogue mates, and all is again right with the world. For the love of everything that is good, if you don't already own it, buy The Pogues box set!

DAMIEN DEMPSEY

I’ve been listening to Damien Dempsey's music for several years. After Sinead O’Connor covered his song “It’s All Good”, I read several good reviews of his album Seize the Day, from which the aforementioned song originated. I hunted down a copy (not easy, here in the States), and have been a fan ever since.

I have heard tale that he was a boxer prior to his music career taking off. I don’t know if that is entirely true, but he certainly has that look to him. Which makes it a little odd when you hear a love song coming out of him.

His angrier stuff, however, is where he seems right at home.

Anyway, here’s a few things he didn’t put on the albums:

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Damien Dempsey - “Factories” (radio session) Recorded live in 1999. The studio version is on Seize the Day.
Damien Dempsey - “Anywhere You Go” B-side of “St. Patrick’s Day” single.
Damien Dempsey - “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” (The Darkness cover) Recorded live in studio for Today FM, and released on the Even Better Than the Real Thing compilation.
Damien Dempsey - “Colony” (radio session) Recorded for On The Verge in 2002. Original version is on They Don’t Teach This Shit In School, a re-recorded version is on Shots.
Sharon Shannon and Damien Dempsey - “Norwegian Wood” (The Beatles cover) From The Sharon Shannon Collection 1990-2005.
Damien Dempsey - “Marching Season Siege” (alternate version) Solo acoustic version of the track from Seize the Day, released through his official website.
Seanchai & The Unity Squad - “Mise Eire” Damien guests, along side Shane MacGowan and a few others. From the album Rebel Massive.

These are pretty much all the rarities I’ve hunted down by Damien. If anyone out there has others (I know there are many more), feel free to pass them along.

Damien Dempsey discography:

Dempsey, 1995 (EP)
They Don’t Teach This Shit In School, 2000 (buy)
Seize The Day, 2003 (buy)
Shots, 2004 (buy)
To Hell or Barbados, 2007 (buy)

THE POGUES

(Part One - Early Years)

All of The Pogues’ albums were reissued a couple years back, each with six or seven bonus tracks. Fantastic. If you don’t yet own them, go buy them now. All those Celtic-punk bands out there now (Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, etc.), they got it all from The Pogues. This is essential music.

But, the remasters didn’t include everything by the band. I’m here to mind the gaps.

Here’s a few things they missed:

The Pogues - “The Boys from the County Hell” (single version). The same music as the album version, but the words are cleaned up for radio play. They didn’t bleep, or mute the many many bad words. Instead, Shane re-wrote the offending bits, so the landlord who was once “a miserable bollocks, and a bitch’s bastard’s whore” is now “a miserable skin-flint, an affliction and a sore”, and so on.
The Pogues - “Danny Boy” (Peel Session, 1984). They did several Peel Sessions in the early days, this is the only song that they never released a regular version of. Alright, that’s not exactly true. There is a version of it on the Straight To Hell soundtrack (buy), but that’s an A Capella version, led by Cait O’Riordan, this is a full band version, with Shane on lead vocals.
The Pogues - “London Girl” (rough mix). “London Girl” was released on the Poguetry In Motion EP, now on the Rum Sodomy and the Lash remaster. This is an early mix of the track.
The Pogues - “Haunted” Released on the Sid and Nancy soundtrack. Also released as a single. Cait on vocals. Later re-done by Shane and Sinead O’Connor.
The Pogues - “Hot Dogs with Everything” This was the b-side to the “Haunted” single. Never released on album. I believe it’s Spider Stacy on vocals.
The Pogues - “Junk” The second of the two tracks released on the Sid and Nancy soundtrack. (buy)

**Note: All of these tracks have been removed, due to them all being available now (in far better sound quality) on The Pogues box set, available here.

More to come later. In the meantime, pick up the remasters. Rhino issued them in the US, so they aren’t very expensive. You deserve them. Go on, treat yourself.

The Pogues Discography (Shane MacGowan years):
Red Roses For Me (1984) (buy) (brilliant)
Rum Sodomy and the Lash (1985) (buy) (even more brilliant)
Poguetry In Motion (EP) (buy)
If I Should Fall From Grace With God (1987) (buy) (one of my desert island discs)
Peace and Love (1989) (buy) (good, but not quite brilliant)
Hell’s Ditch (1990) (buy) (better than Peace, but not as good as Sodomy!?)

There’s also several Best Ofs out there, but really most of the albums don’t have any bum tracks on them, so each one is as good as a best of.