sound of the suburbs

Looks like it's that time of the year again, the shops are filling their shelves up with toys, people are looking for boxes in their attics containing Christmas decorations and of course the Pogues are out on the road again drinking their way into the forthcoming year. They have already spent the month of October playing selected gigs on Japan and the US, and now need six weeks off to help regenerate their livers before hitting the UK trail, dates can be found here. It is possible that this fixation with end of the year shows has nothing to do with making a fast buck, after all their music could be termed as festive, though arguably their best songs are more melancholic than good time, and lead bottle downer Shane MacGowan was born on December 25. One of their greatest moments, a duet with the sadly missed Kirsty MacColl, 'Fairytale of New York' is now forever associated with this period. I would like to suggest however that Shane himself, being far from the most reliable man in the business, does not himself project a good image for this festive period, being more the down side of things as the man who had too much to drink. I am, I guess lucky living where I do, as temptation to see these revival tours rarely presents itself, I often pose myself the question would I go to see for example a reformed Sex Pistols? NO! And I think the answer would be the same for the Pogues, I saw them once during the eighties supporting U2 at some enormous outdoor venue this was obviously not the ideal setting. Personally I prefer to remember them as an excellent band that delivered five classic ground breaking albums between 1984 and 1990 before disappearing up their own backsides only to come back as the cabaret act that they are today. The forementioned albums 'Red Roses For Me', 'Rum Sodomy And The Lash', 'If I Should Fall From Grace With God', 'Peace And Love ' and 'Hells Ditch' have all recently been released in remastered editions complete with bonus tracks and well written sleeve notes and all this at what is called mid price. I would like to suggest that you do as me and replace your long worn out vinyl copies with these new editions, it will last longer and be undoubtedly a more pleasant experience than catching them on stage, and you won't have the hangover the next day!
Since departing from the original Pogues, MacGowan has put together the on /off Popes, who would appear to be on hold for the moment, with whom he surprised just about everyone by releasing some more than reasonable material. Today's musical soundtrack is the Majestic and maudlin tale of 'A Rainy Night In Soho' in both its original form and also a live run through by the Popes, see which one you prefer!