498 Hello The Pogues - A Pair of Brown Eyes

Chart  entered : 6  April  1985

Chart  peak : 72

Number  of  hits : 18

Back  to  1985  now  and  some  more  failed  punks  making  good.

The  Pogues  arose  from  the  ashes  of  a  punk  band  called  The  Nips. Frontman  Shane  McGowan  was  born  on  Christmas  Day  1957  to  Irish  parents  in  Kent  and  spent  his  early  years  moving  between  the  two  countries. He  won  a  literature  scholarship  to  Westminster  School  but  was  expelled  for  drug  misdemeanours. He  gravitated  towards  the  London   punk  scene, worked  in  a  record  store  and,  in  1976,  had  an  earlobe  near-bitten  off  at  a  Clash  concert  by  Jane  Crockford  ( later  of  The  Mo-dettes ). He  acquired  the  nickname  Shane  O' Hooligan  and  shortly  afterwards  helped  form  The  Nipple  Erectors  with  Shanne  Bradley.

They  released  their  first  single  "King  of  the  Bop"  in  May  1978 , a  raw  attempt  at  Stooges  garage  punk  with  Shane  barking  out  the  repetitive  lyric  in  a  style  that  makes  Billy Bragg  sound  melodic.  By  the  time  of  their  next  single  in  September  they  had  changed  their  name  to  the  slightly  more  radio-friendly  The  Nips. "All  The  Time  In  The  World" has  a  more  early  Stones  R  &  B  feel  to  it  but  it's  just  as  rough  with  little  evidence  of  Shane's  later  development  as  a  songwriter.

By  the  time  of  the third  single  "Gabrielle"  they  were  shifting  to  a  more  melodic  powerpop style  and  the  song   has  echoes  of  The  Cars' My  Best  Friend's  Girl  and  Mink  Deville's Spanish  Stroll.  Despite  it  not  having  much  of  a  chorus,  Chiswick  took  it  on  and  re-released   it  but  were  not  rewarded  with  a  hit. The  band  demoed  some  new  songs  at  the  beginning  of 1980  with  Paul  Weller  producing  but  Chiswick  weren't  impressed  with  them  and  the  band announced  they  were  splitting  after  a  gig  in  March  1980. A  live  LP  "Only  The  End  of  the Beginning  "  was  put  out  to  mark  their  passing.

Before  the  year  was  out  though  Shane  and  Shanne  had  reformed  the  band  with  a  new guitarist  James  Fearnley , a 26  year  old  Mancunian  and  Jon  Moss  on  drums. The  band started to  explore  Irish   folk  music  but  split  up  in  1981  when  Bradley  decided  she  needed  a  break.

Shane's  response  was  to  spend  more  time  with  a  side  band  he'd  been  nurturing  sporadically called  The  Millwall  Chainsaws  with  Peter "Spider" Stacy  who  played  the  tin  whistle  and English  banjo  player  Jeremy "Jem"  Finer.  They  changed  their  name  to  The  New Republicans  and  unsuccessfully  sought  a  licence  to  busk.  Shane  knew  that  James  had  taken piano  lessons  and  so  reasoned  that  he  would  be  able  to  play  the  accordion  too. James accepted  the  challenge  and  on  his  arrival  in  1982  the  band  changed  their  name  to  "Pogue Mahone "  ( "kiss  my  arse "  in  Gaelic ). Shane  next  invited  in  Cait  O'  Riordan,  a  17-year  old Irish  Nips  fan  he'd  met  at  the  record  store  to  play  bass  although  she  was  barely  familiar with  the  instrument. Andrew  Ranken  joined  on  drums.

They  immediately  started  to  build  up  a  live  following  with  their  beer-fuelled  riotous performances  and  a  sound  that  married  punk  attack  with  traditional  Irish  instruments. By  1984 they  were  touted  in  the  rock  press  as  leaders  of  the  "cow  punk "  scene  alongside  other bands showing  an  interest  in  roots  music  such  as  The  Shillelagh  Sisters  and  The  Boothill  Foot Tappers . This  was  the  backdrop  to  the  release  of  their  first  single  "Dark  Streets  of  London" released  in  May  1984  on  their  own  label  although  Stiff  quickly  signed  them  up  and  re-released  it. The  jaunty  melody  rather  belies  the  lyric  about  homeless  schizophrenics  wandering aimlessly  through  the  capital.

It  got  a  modicum  of  airplay  prompting  some  Gaelic-speaking  Scot  to  complain  about  the name  and  the  band  bowed  to  record  company  pressure  to  rename  themselves  The  Pogues. Their  first  single  under  that  name  "Boys  From  The  County  Hell"  was  released  around  the  same  time  as   their  debut  album  "Red  Roses  For  Me"  but  given  the  amount  of  expletives  in  the  lyrics,  it's  doubtful  it  would  have  been  a  hit  anyway.  The  song  is  mainly  an  account  of  drunken  violence  that  you  assume  is  taking  place  in  Ireland  although  there's  a  sudden  reference  to  Vietnam  towards  the  end. It's  one  of  Shane's  wordier  efforts  with  the  musicians  sounding  like  they're  struggling  to  keep  up  with  him.

The  album  is  a  raw  record , spartanly  produced  by  Shane's  old  boss  at  the  record  shop  Stan  Brennan. Cait  keeps  things  very  simple  on  the  bass  and  the  sound  throughout  is  a  bit  thin, perhaps  deliberately  so  as  a  protest  against  eighties  production  values.  Besides  the  singles  there  are  just  three  McGowan  original  songs  plus  an  instrumental; the  other  tracks  are  assaults  on  traditional  Irish  tunes  and  a  Brendan  Behan  theatrical  number. There  are  hints  that  better  was  to  come  but  generally  it's  a  bit  hard  on  the  ear  and  "Dark  Streets  of  London"  is  probably  the  best  track. It  got  to  number  89  in  the  charts.

"A  Pair  of  Brown  Eyes "  was  their  next  release. Shane  re-purposes  the  melody  of  Francis  McPeake's  Wild  Mountain  Thyme   for  a  tale  of  encountering  a  World  War  One  veteran  in  a  bar  and  listening  to  his  description  of   the  carnage. It  is  a  folk  lament  rather  than  a  pop  song  with  no  key  or  tempo  change  and  little  obvious  hit  potential. It's  a  testament  to  their  burgeoning  following , plus  Stiff's  enduring  skill  at  marketing  gimmicks,   that  it  snuck  into  the  bottom  end  of  the  charts.