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!

H08 - DAMIEN DEMPSEY

Damien Dempsey with Sinead O'Connor - "Fairytale of New York" When I first heard about Damien's Pogues cover, I figured he and Sinead would be trading lines like Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl did in the original. That's not the case here. Though it's referred to as a duet, it's really a solo song from Damien, with Sinead doing a bit of backing vocals.

It's not bad. Just not what I was expecting. Still, nothing beats The Pogues original.(buy)

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THE POGUES

Part Two

They just announced a Pogues box set will be released next year. It’s currently slated for St. Patrick’s Day. No track listing has been given, yet, so I don’t know if any of these songs will be on it.

Which brings me to a small point. All of the songs I post here are in good quality, but not CD quality. That’s on purpose. If a Pogues fan downloads these, they will be worth it. But if that same fan buys the official releases of the same songs, they will be better quality, and so worth the money.

Anyway, this is part two of The Pogues songs not issued on the expanded remasters. Enjoy. And save up your money for the box set.

The Pogues - “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (Ennio Morricone cover) Released on the Straight To Hell soundtrack, but not on the more recent Straight To Hell Returns expanded soundtrack. (buy)
The Pogues - “The Ballinalee” (Live in Switzerland, 1987) An unreleased instrumental.
The Pogues with After Tonight - “A Message To You” (Live) Recorded on St. Patrick’s Day 1987 and released on the video Live at the Town and Country.
The Pogues - “Fiesta” (single version) An alternate recording. The original is on If I Should Fall From Grace With God. (buy)
The Pogues - “Maggie May” (Live Rod Stewart cover) Released on the “Fairytale of New York” single.
Steve Earle with The Pogues - “Johnny Come Lately” From Steve’s album Copperhead Road. (buy)
The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl - “Miss Otis Regrets / Just One of Those Things” (Cole Porter covers) Issued on the tribute album Red Hot + Blue. (buy)

**Many files deleted due to their inclusion on the now released box set. Buy it. Believe me, it's well worth the money.**

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.