General Music Chat

top o the morning my fellow bandmixareeeeeenos....

i came by this interview with "shane macgowan" from the irish band "the pogues" im sure most of you have never heard of them so ill break it down "anthony sytle" for you.

the pogues are the first ever (punk/trad) irish band.they play all the old celtic instruments(bodurain,squeezbox,fiddle,uleen pipes,tinwhistle) etc but write there own songs,there main songwriter is "shane macgowan" one of the most gifted song writers i think we have ever produced(not many irish would argue the fact),he is also one of the most "sex and drugs and rock n roll" hellraisers that ever drew breath.he has been thrown out of the band about as many times as you have had a hot dinner for eveything from punching fellow band members to his one time heroin problem,and he is also a rampant alcoholic just for good measure...it is said that if he ever gave up his hellraising ways that the shock to his system would kill him..most people still cant understand how he is still alive but he has lost all his teeth by this stage..

well it has also been said that shane "cant sing" a fact that even his biggest fans cant argue with...but this leads to my point i would rather listen to shane sing slightly out of whack and listen to the words he is saying rather than listen to a really good singer (jeff buckley say) singing
flawlessly about something i cant quite understand....

so my point is this...i am a firm believer when it comes to singing that its "what your saying is more importaint...than how you say it"
shane macgowan is one of the few songwriters who has reduced me to tears while listening to songs like "a fairytale of new york" or "a rainy night in soho" or "the old main drag" or "a pair of brown eyes" the list is endless..and im super critical and a real tough nut at times but his use of words is nothing short of magical and when he sings it you believe it...

also if you like bands like "the dropkick murphys" or "flogging molly" you will find that they are little more than american "pogues" cover bands.

so look at the interview "and it is very f ucking funny" its from dutch tv AFTER a gig....and then at your own pace go and check out some of the pogues songs i have listed...and it will all make sence then..


slan...."cya"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SirutCHZ-QI

ah yes here is the video for "a fairytale of new york"..the sound is not great but it will do.


just a little side note but i was talking to my mother(in ireland) on the phone at christmas...and she said herself and my sister were out in the car doing christmas shopping when "a fairytale" came on the radio...she said she lasted about 30 seconds before herself and my sister started crying, it was my first chrismas in the states and the fact of distance and not being there came crashing down in big way........

and straight after i put down the phone,i put it on and what do you know i couldnt even make it through the piano into before i was choking back the tears....that is the power of music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltiY-BqvOIU

anthony-- the pogues are soon playing down here in DC. probably at the famous 9:30 Club. S O L D O U T !!!!!!!

they had some measure of success back in the 1980s, i recall. all this time i thought "shane" was a woman.

anthony-- does this ring a bell for a pogues lyric? i think its them, and the only song of theirs i know, but it may be a collaboration of shane w/ the great Sinead O'Connor, im not sure:

the guy sings:
"the first time i saw you standing the street/you looked so cool you coulda put out Viet Nam"
then girl sings:
"all the girls say "whats he like"/i say "hes kinda shy"......
then both:
"im haunted by the ghost/[repeat]/of your special love..."

it may be called "Haunted", i dunno. not finding anything similar on amazon.com.

i have to read up on this guy and check out their music samples on amazon. you got me curious-- plus, it sounds like his life might make for good reading!

hey-- maybe next year, get mum and sister over here for christmas! show them around. we're not so bad as the world makes us out to be (you may have figured that out by now!).

thanks for posting.

hey-- checked out youtube and cleared it up.

the song i talked about IS "haunted", and the version i have is the one w/ shane and Sinead. i never actually heard the original pogues version (with Caitlin vocals), but thats there on youtube as well. i prefer the one w/ sinead-- less produced, more gritty, which appeals to me. plus the contrast between sineads beautiful voice and that dude is stunning! ahaha.

will chk out more pogues later (lunch hour at work dwindling!).

I love The Pogues and Drop Kick Murhpies. I can dance and sing to that shtuff all night long!

Anthony makes a good point. Some of the best "singers" really can't sing that well in technical vocal terms. Take Brendan Perry from the now defunct band Dead Can Dance. The guy is almost never on tune. Yet his vocal quality, and his lyrics have such a huge and provocative sound that they demand your attention.

Besides, almost everything recorded these days has some pitch correction to it anyway. It can be ridiculously overdone like many of those dance club "affirmation" songs, but when it's used lightly and with great care and caution, it can help a recording.

hey-- checked out youtube and cleared it up.

the song i talked about IS "haunted", and the version i have is the one w/ shane and Sinead. i never actually heard the original pogues version (with Caitlin vocals), but thats there on youtube as well. i prefer the one w/ sinead-- less produced, more gritty, which appeals to me. plus the contrast between sineads beautiful voice and that dude is stunning! ahaha.

will chk out more pogues later (lunch hour at work dwindling!).

cheers gi....enjoy amigo.

I've seen both Dropkick Murphies and Flogging Molly on different Warped Tours but never had the pleasure of the Pogues. I think conviction of the message is more important than technical expertise of the singer, to wit Ozzie, Stuart Adamson, Bruce, and a horde of others. In rock and roll, what you feel outweighs what you can do.

I love The Pogues and Drop Kick Murhpies. I can dance and sing to that shtuff all night long!

Anthony makes a good point. Some of the best "singers" really can't sing that well in technical vocal terms. Take Brendan Perry from the now defunct band Dead Can Dance. The guy is almost never on tune. Yet his vocal quality, and his lyrics have such a huge and provocative sound that they demand your attention.

Besides, almost everything recorded these days has some pitch correction to it anyway. It can be ridiculously overdone like many of those dance club "affirmation" songs, but when it's used lightly and with great care and caution, it can help a recording.

im right there with you on the one irminsul...and by the by myself and my wife went to see the "pogues" play the point in dublin last christmas(they reform every christmas for a gig in dublin) and the "dropkicks" were supporting..my wife loves the "dropkicks"... talk about a wild gig....savage..

and as for the pitch correction thing it really has been "hammered" to death in dance more than most styles(chers gratting "do you believe" vocoder)....i try to keep away from it...
i mean there is a point when you dont know if its a vocal or if its an effect.

the curse of the Irish....

well, that's easy..

Trying to remain humble whilst all the time basking in the knowledge that they have singlehandedly created man's most favored and scruptilicious adult beverage..

~~Guinness~~

the curse of the Irish....

well, that's easy..

Trying to remain humble whilst all the time basking in the knowledge that they have singlehandedly created man's most favored and scruptilicious adult beverage..

~~Guinness~~

you hit the nail on the head there celtic....
as the saying goes....

"why did god invent alcohol?....too stop the irish from taking over the world.."

Not that I wouldn't drink Guiness anyway (being the staff of life that it is), but it helps that they have a harp on their logo. Great PR for my gigs!

Besides, you gotta love the Irish. They are the only people with a harp on their money!

I've been a Pouges fan for over 15 years. You either get it or you don't. Like Bobbie Dylan you either love it or you hate it. Like Neil Young you either think his vocals are beautiful or it's nails on a blackboard time. Either way you can't deny the poetry and passion. I haven't listened to The Pogues in quite a while. Thanks for bringing them back to the rotation for me.

Anthony they keep trying to have Pogues-ish bands around here but it ends up being more screamo than substance. Too bad, too, because there is a great pub called "Piper Down" not even a mile from my house. I'd love to go see this style of music again but it just aint happenin'.

Anthony they keep trying to have Pogues-ish bands around here but it ends up being more screamo than substance. Too bad, too, because there is a great pub called "Piper Down" not even a mile from my house. I'd love to go see this style of music again but it just aint happenin'.

i hear what your saying irminsul but its so hard to play pogues songs with a band unless you have all the right celtic instruments... a straight up guitar band can play them but they just dont sound the same belting out what a tinwhistle should be playing on a guitar....it just doesnt hit the mark as it should.

True. We have some very talented celtic musicians here locally, but none of them have the balls or creativity to do something Pogues-ish. They are all of the "traditional" mindset which all too often translates as "I can play every note perfectly but I have no idea what to do with it".