Someone explain the Pogues to me

The flip side is that it isn’t that easy to start laying the groundwork for a post-music career/retirement if you’re recording albums and then going out on the road to promote them. It’s not like everybody is going to be able to hit the speaking circuit like Jello. So I’m not that mad a folks who want to license their material, considering they’ve been mortgaging their future to keep me entertained.

WAIT. We had a choice? WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME?!!

Think of it as another opportunity for new people to learn about the song/group. I’d never heard “Just Like Honey” before this discussion, so inadvertently, the car commercial got me to give it a listen, which could lead to sales of their back catalog, concert sales, life changine existential epiphanies, etc. (Okay, to be honest, not in my case, because I’ve never actually liked the Jesus and Mary Chain, but that’s beside the point. The commercial creates an opportunity.)

For my own sense, it was the reality of seeing Peter Holsapple working the customer service desk at a Borders store, or knowing that Alex Chilton spent a while washing dishes at a restaurant in New Orleans. I guess I’m just happy knowing they got paid for what they do, even if diminished for commercial use.

Let’s face it, not everyone gets to be John Curley.

For me? This.

Actually, that’s funny, because I did go and listen to the song, liked it, and may buy it and look into them some more in general.

I would recommend getting quietly soused with a close friend and listening to Rum, Sodomy and the Lash. If that doesn’t work…become a policeman in Baltimore??

The Pogues are, and will remain, the first band to fuse punk attitude and musicianship with Irish music. If you don’t like them, you don’t like them. To each his own, but nobody can say their music lacks energy, spirit, and tremendous song writing.

I tend to agree that post-If I Should Fall From Grace With God, their focus (or rather, Shane’s focus) was sorely lacking, resulting in some of the other band members overly-influencing the album creation process. Peace & Love, Hell’s Ditch, and then the ex-Shane albums were not terrible, but they only had one or two great songs on each.

Red Roses for Me, and Rum Sodomy and the Lash are classic albums you can play from start to finish. My own opinion is that they peaked with If I Should Fall From Grace With God - despite some of the new direction taken. The MacGowan songs on this album are unbelievable, and will remain part of the Pogues songbook.

Does Shane MacGowan mumble, and slur? Yes. Does it make him any less of a song writer as a result. Nope. Bob Dylan mumbles and slurs? If you want precise enunciation of lyrics, go to the opera, or listen to Coldplay.

Finally, nobody - and I mean NOBODY does a better scream than Shane MacGowan. It makes the hair on the back of your neck not only stick up, but want to leave. The only guy that is close is maybe Roger Daltrey.

I’m not discounting Joe Strummer, and his contribution to the band - as a stand in for Shane and friend to the entire group. However, having seen both in action, nothing compares to the full band, lead by Shane MacGowan. Pure electricity.

Well, I guess it’s because the punk kids who had our lives defined by a Jesus & the Mary Chain album (or, in my case, First & Last & Always with Sisters of Mercy) are now the suits that decides which song to use for our company’s next big commercial. We are, or at least our generation is, The Power these days. Fight The Power.

I know that “serious” music fans are supposed to be opposed to using music in ads, but I don’t really have an opinion on it one way or another. Whenever I hear Allen Clapp or Apples in Stereo or Architecture In Helsinki on an ad I just think “way to go, guys!”. Making any kind of meager living in music is hard enough…I don’t hold it against them for selling it while they can.

Same here - and I like to think I’m a “serious” music fan. I usually think, “good for them” and don’t even think about the context in which the music is used. It’s an advertisement, who cares? The great thing is the artist has some exposure and gets paid.

But the Pogues: I don’t own any of their albums but the live clips I’ve seen and songs I’ve heard over the years I’ve enjoyed. There’s this real raw energy that was appealing about them. And I like the sound of traditional Irish music in general, though I only know of it via it’s influence on songs recorded by non-traditional artists (Kate Bush, Sinead O’Connor, others) and the couple of times I happened to be at a bar on St. Paddy’s Day!