When the Pogues legend Shane MacGowan died last year, Bruce Springsteen posted a tribute on his website, calling him "one of my all-time favorite writers." Now, Springsteen and the E Street Band are touring and last night they opened their set in Nowlan Park, Kilkenny, Ireland by covering the Pogues' "A Rainy Night in Soho" for the first time. Stereogum has a couple of fan videos of the performance, plus the original video.
My best wishes to all for whatever you're celebrating (or not) on this day/night. 🌲 Love also for anyone struggling or grieving or missing people during this time of year. I feel you. ❤️
It's also Shane MacGowan's birthday today, or would have been. My favorite song of the season has to be this, offensive slur notwithstanding. Something of a bittersweet Christmas song. Take it easy, friends. Love.
I've been watching the funeral for #ShaneMacGowan for the past hour or so.
What a beautiful tribute to an amazing man.
I didn't realise just how much #ThePogues meant to me in my late teenage years until this week. Rum, Sodomy and the Lash was the sound of my 6th form. Seeing them play with some of my mates back then is an experience which none of us will ever forget. The energy from both the band and audience was incredible.
Shane MacGowan funeral procession to pass through the streets of Dublin so people can pay their respects. The procession will apparently end just off Fenian Street - which seems appropriate.
@historyofpunkrock Interesting 'white label' semi-bootleg release of Shane MacGowan's pre-#Pogues band The Nips from 1980. Plain white cardboard cover with a stuck-on b&w insert, in typical #bootleg style. Features the legendary 'King of the Bop' on side one - perhaps the first really cracking song that Shane ever wrote. A cross between #punk and #rockabilly.
I bought this in 'Rock On' in London's Camden Town. Three quid and seventy-five pence, at the time. @vinylrecords
Interesting 'white label' semi-bootleg release of Shane MacGowan's pre-#Pogues band The Nips from 1980.
Interesting 'white label' semi-bootleg release of Shane MacGowan's pre-#Pogues band The Nips from 1980.
The death of Shane MacGowan just before the holidays has led to lots of airplay for his classic Christmas tune, "Fairytale of New York," a duet between The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl. For Consequence, Jonah Krueger examines the appeal of the song, including how MacGowan justified the use of the f-slur.
The Pogues and MacColl seldom performed the song live. Here's one rendition from St. Patrick's Day in 1988 (note: the f-slur is used during this performance).
Banned from broadcast by the Independent Broadcasting Authority who claimed it alleged that "convicted terrorists are not guilty, the Irish people were put at a disadvantage in the courts of the United Kingdom and that it may have invited support for a terrorist organisation such as the IRA".
This morning after I heard about the death of Shane MacGowan I had a thought that if he had been born in 19th century he would have been a drunken Irish poet.
This from The Conversation this afternoon.
With The Pogues, Shane MacGowan perhaps proved himself the most important Irish writer since James Joyce
This by the BBC is just a fucking asshole move, on the news of Shane MacGowan's death.
They mention drugs & alcohol – that didn't kill him, he didn't fucking OD – before they mention what he actually died from: a long term illness that was an inflammation of his brain (encephalitis)
Like, way to bury the lede and also devalue a fucking brilliant musician. The BBC should be ashamed of themselves for this portrayal of him.