By Elliott West
“There is drinking in lots of the songs because there is drinking in life. Drinking stimulates the imagination”.
Shane MacGowan
Introduction
Musical geniuses are few and far between but Shane MacGowan, lead singer of The Pogues was one of them. A modern-day version of Luke Kelly “There is drinking in lots of the songs because there is drinking in life. Drinking stimulates the imagination” Ronnie Drew from The Dubliners, his voice was a cross between a gravelly squeezebox and liquid gold. Often inebriated or partaking in some narcotic, there was always a cigarette burning in an ashtray close to him. A poet who reworked my Irish songs and stamped his own raging, punk-style mark on them. His slurred words always seemed to be recognisable in the recording studio, producing that touched the heart and brought tears to your eyes. Tainted but blessed, Shane was one of a kind, resembling someone who had just gotten out of bed in the morning with a massive hangover.
The Irish Rover
Often thought to be Irish, Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan was born on Christmas Day in Pembury, Kent, 1957 to Irish immigrant parents, Therese and Maurice. His father was from Dublin and his Mum was from Tipperary. His father worked in the offices of C&A and his mother was a typist in a convent. He lived in much of the South-East including Brighton. Privately educated, he left Holmewood Preparatory School in 1971 with a scholarship to Westminster School. He was expelled in his second year for drug possession.
In the late 1970s, he formed the punk band, The Nipple Erectors, later known as Tge Nips which featured the bassist Shanne Bradley. After a spell with this band, Shane formed The Pogues in 1982, a band that he is most remembered for. A group that combined the true essence of Irish traditional music including the instruments with a punk feel. Their hits are countless and go far beyond A Fairytale in New York performed with the late Kirsty MacColl that MacGowan became sick of talking about despite its massive success as an iconic Christmas song. The band also wove into their songs a lot of the strife of Irish history and gave a punchy tone to them. I first fell in love with their music as a teenager in the late ’80s and quickly bought all their albums on cassette. My favourite is Rum, Sodomy & the Lash. I was lucky enough to see the band perform live in the mid-1990s at Finsbury Park. A performance where Shane was so drunk he nearly fell off the stage.
The Pogues famously fired MacGowan from the band in 1992 mid-tour for unprofessional behaviour and went on to form The Popes. This creation lasted until 2005 but Shane was welcomed back to The Pogues in 2001 which lasted until the band eventually split in 2014, citing that they were still friends but a bit sick of each other. Shane continued to make musical appearances until he couldn’t anymore.
My Rock
One of the guiding lights in his life was his deep love for his girlfriend and then wife Victoria Mary Clarke. This was a very moving relationship where the love just got stronger as the days and years passed. Married in Copenhagen in 2018, the two were inseparable and had an enviable bond, true love at its highest order. Engaged for 11 years after a relationship that had lasted decades, Victoria believed she had found her soulmate in life after their first kiss.
The Drug
Shane was a notorious drinker, having his first drink at the age of 5 when his father gave him Guinness to help him sleep. It took its toll on him and he aged rapidly and lost most of his teeth. He blamed his drinking addiction on spending too many hours in pubs and bars, combining his singing with heavy sessions. A joy that became a must. This combined with an introduction to heroin, sent this gifted singer on a spiralling downward path but a hip injury and a bout of pneumonia eventually called time on both and Shane became sober.
Despite getting a new set of teeth with one gold one and a healthier lifestyle, the past always sadly catches up with you. A fractured pelvis in 2015, following a fall leaving his Dublin studio, left him wheelchair-bound and in 2022 he was diagnosed with viral encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain which led to him being admitted to intensive care. Despite being released in November 2023, he sadly later died at his Dublin home with his wife beside him. A true genius whose light was sadly extinguished far too soon, aged 65.
