Dirty old town...

The Pogues is an English group formed in London in 1982 by Shane MacGowan, Peter Stacy, Jem Finer and James Fearnley. At the beginning, the group took the pretty name (!) Of Pogue Mahone, a name which would in fact come from the anglicization of the Irish term 'póg mo thóin' (which means: "Kiss my a .."!).

Their first Single "Dark streets of London" allowed them to make a name for themselves, but it was only from 1984 that things suddenly picked up. They first stood out when they opened for the Clashs tour. Then when their first album "Red roses for me" came out.

A year later in 1985 released the album "Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash", the first flagship album of their discography. Album carried by a cover that has become cult which represents Géricault's “Raft of the Medusa” where the faces of the castaways have been replaced by those of the members of the group. Album from which will be issued the enormous Single "Dirty old town", Single which will literally explode the notoriety of the group.

But the band failed to capitalize on the album's enormous success, refused to record a new album and only released a mini album "Poguetry in motion". Which will only be relatively successful. Not to mention the increasingly unstable and problematic behavior of Shane MacGowan.

The group returned to grace in 1987 when the Single "The Irish rover" was released, which they performed with the group "The Dubliners" and "Fairytale of New-York" which they performed with Kirsty MacColl.

The supreme consecration came in 1988 with the album "If I should fall from grace with god" notably thanks to the flagship Single of the same name. Success confirmed a year later in 1989 with the album "Peace and love" on the one hand and the release of the Single "Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah" on the other. Single which gives them one of their greatest successes in the USA.

This beautiful picture is unfortunately tarnished by the behavior of MacGowan who becomes unmanageable to the point that the group "dismisses" him definitively in 1991.

This will not prevent the group from releasing other albums that will meet with some success and even obtain their biggest hit in the United States in 1993 with the flagship Single "Tuesday morning".

To discover or rediscover...

Discography (among others ...) :

80s Decade :

Dark street of London 1984
Boys froim the county hell 1984
A pair of brown eyes 1985
Sally MacLennane 1985
Dirty old town 1985
A rainy night in Soho 1986
London girl 1986
Haunted 1986
Irish rover 1987
Fairytale of New-York 1987
If I should fall from grace with God 1988
Fiesta 1988
Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah 1989
Misty morning, Albert bridge 1989
White city 1989

90s Decade :

Summer in Siam 1990
Jack’s heroes 1990
Miss Otis regrets/Just one of those things 1990
Sunny side of the street 1991
Honky tonk women1992
Tuesday morning 1993
Once upon a time 1993
How come 1996
Anniversary 1996
Four O'clock in the morning 1996
Oretown 1996

Tracks :

1984...a first title which immediately shows the color : this group will do folklore and purely local musical roots...

1984...it's really hard to imagine that they will succeed in reaching the highest level with a musical style dating from ancient times. And yet they will achieve the feat !

1985 ... two titles remained without a future then comes THIS title. A first classified title which launches for good the career of a group with Celtic influences of the first order and which will very quickly become one of the biggest phenomena of the decade...

1985...a year 1985 which will see them clearly gain momentum and begin to impose their style which is, to say the least, atypical for the time...

1985 ... the planetary shock. The group signs here an incredible title, half-country, half-Irish folklore, which is in truth a cover of the title of Dubliners dating from 1968. A title which will shatter everything in its path and overnight make Shane MacGowan a star and this despite a physical not very advantageous ...

1986 ... the band confirms that what happened the previous year was anything but an accident. And surely do not intend to stop there ...

1986...the dynamic of success is now well in place and all that remains for the group to do is unroll. And to unroll, it will unroll !

1986 ... Beauty and the Beast. When 2 of the biggest phenomena from across the Channel of the moment join forces to make a beef, we imagine that the result will be up to the task. And he is. He is !

1987 ... in a style that is as unmistakable as ever, the group achieves its biggest commercial success to date. Thank you the Dubliners !

1987...but that's without counting on THIS title ! With a new remix of Beauty and the Beast. Clearly, singing along in charming company is becoming a habit for MacGowan and above all it allows him to simply obtain his direct ticket for posterity, the same for the group. HU-GE !

1988...a second part of the 80s which will undoubtedly remain the group's best period. All is well in the best of all possible worlds...

1988 ... and yes, this title is not from Patrick Sébastien but indeed from the Pogues. A festive and playful title that we could never have imagined coming from this particular group ...

1989 ... we had to wait for 1989 to see the group a hit both across the Channel and in the USA. It is enough to see the evolution of sound to understand why ...

1989 ... a big year 1989 with several titles of big caliber and which confirms, once again, that we must always and again count on them...

1989...it now remains to be seen with what musical project they intend to return the following decade. Because they will come back, that's for sure...

1990 ... after a decade of 80 which saw them literally explode, the group begins a new decade which will see MacGowan's days within the group numbered ...

1990 ... new association with the Dubliners and like the first time, the title is a success. The opposite would have surprised us ...

1990...as much as their previous collaboration with Kirsty MacColl had worked, this title will go somewhat unnoticed. Hard law of the trade...

1991...we're not going to lie, the best years are now behind them and the rest will prove to be much more complicated to manage than expected...

1992...level of productivity plummeting just like the level of success in the Charts. In short, all the lights have turned orange...

1993 ... the last major hit. After MacGowan's disembarkation, the group will never find the momentum that took them to the height of the Charts. A great adventure that lasted more than ten years and made this group one of the most emblematic of the time

1993...the adventure will still continue thereafter but the group will only be a shadow of himself. Such is life...

1996...the last opus which will mark the end of the adventure. A final opus of more than certain quality and which shows that the group could possibly have pushed the adventure a little further...

1996...unfortunately fate decided otherwise and the group will never recover from the departure of the very controversial Macgowan. Controversial character but who carried the group on his frail shoulders...

1996...the group's image will have remained too attached to this very particular face and it will therefore have been impossible to continue the adventure in these conditions...