Tag Archives: The Pogues

October Fest!

The German football team is coming to Dublin tonight to take on their Irish counterparts as both countries take another step towards automatic qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Germany have won both their games so far and Ireland left it extremely late to take all three points in Kazakhstan in the only match they’ve played. The Germans have a stronger squad and a better qualifying record than Ireland and will start the game as favourites. The Irish team has been further weakened by injuries to some of our more experienced players and I think it’s safe to say that we’d be delighted with a point tonight. I’m making the trip to Dublin today to see the game and the picture above shows the t-shirt that I’ll be wearing at the match. The flags and numbers are attached by velcro strips and can be easily changed to match the score. Unfortunately, I lost some of the numbers on the previous occasion I wore the t-shirt, so I’ll have to use an upside-down seven if the score is 1-1 at any stage. The score of the four songs below sees Ireland comfortably winning by a margin of 3-1

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Wang Dang Doodle

If you’re new to Town Full of Losers, I’d like to welcome you to the blog. If you’ve been here before, I’d like to welcome you back. And if you’re a regular visitor, I’d like to apologise for the lengthy delay between posts. Amongst other things, I’ve moved house and that took up a lot of my summer. I’ve been meaning to write a new post for ages and felt that today’s anniversary of John Lennon’s birth would be as good as any. I knew without looking it up that he was born on this day back in 1940, but curiousity made me check who else was born on October 9th. Iturns out that quite a few musicians and singers have shared this date as their birthday and I’m going to focus on half a dozen of them below

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Good Friday At The Dogs

It’s Good Friday today and yet again all the pubs in Ireland will be closed until just before lunchtime tomorrow. It’s been like this all my life, though I have drank porter in Irish pubs on this day in the past. Two years ago, I did so legally and I’m going to be supping legal pints in a licensed premises this evening as well. Alcohol will actually be available today on trains and at train station bars, but only for people who produce a valid train ticket as proof of travel that day. I’ve no idea why commuters are given this privilege, as travelling by train is the safest form of journey you could take. However, there’s another option available for connoisseurs of drink in four Irish cities today. For some reason, greyhound racing is also exempt from Good Friday restrictions, presumably because it makes the sport more interesting. The four lucky venues are Galway Greyhound Stadium, Limerick Greyhound Stadium, Curraheen Park, Cork, and Harold’s Cross, Dublin. For just under €40, you get a four-course meal, admission & a race programme. You also get a drinks service and someone to take your bets. I was there a few weeks ago and I really enjoyed it, though only two of my dogs won. Hopefully, Jesus can bring me better luck today

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Fairytale of New York

Shane MacGowan celebrated his 53rd birthday yesterday and I’m sure that the celebrations are still in full swing. I wouldn’t be surprised if he sang a song or two and perhaps even my favourite Christmas song got an airing. My sister and I have been fans of MacGowan and The Pogues for over twenty years and I still remember the first time we heard Fairytale of New York. It was late November in 1987 and we had both been surprised to hear that the lead single from their third album would be a Christmas song. We thought that only acts like Wham! and Shakin’ Stevens released Christmas songs and couldn’t imagine The Pogues doing one. Nevertheless, Irish DJ Dave Fanning had announced that he would be giving the song its first spin on his radio show and we tuned in to listen to it. The song began with just a piano and MacGowan’s distinctive voice. The use of the piano wasn’t all that unusual as that instrument had been to the fore a year earlier on Rainy Night in Soho. As we listened, the words sounded like some of MacGowan’s best material and were as far from traditional Christmas fare as you could imagine. After a couple of verses, the rest of the group came in, the tempo increased and the familiar vocals of Kirsty MacColl proved a perfect counterpoint to Shane’s growl. The song turned into a symphony and it even sounded like there were strings on it! By the time the song reached the chorus, it was apparent that this had the makings of a fine song. Then the tone of the song completely changed and Shane and Kirsty started a slagging match as they traded insults with each other. The rather mild uses of “bum”, “punk” and “old slut on junk” gave way to a sentiment that I hadn’t heard in a Christmas song up to that point. Kirsty sings:

You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it’s our last

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Peeling in the Years

John Peel died on this day six years ago and Webbie over at Football & Music has decided to commemorate the great man by getting bloggers and users of social media to put up a track from a Peel session by one their favourite acts. You can read more about it and find out what other bloggers are up to over at Keeping It Peel. Peel started recording sessions in 1967 and these continued right up to his death in 2004. Unsurprisingly, The Fall recorded the most (24) with David Gedge matching that figure as part of The Wedding Present and also Cinerama. Some of the biggest acts from the British Isles such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Radiohead and U2 never recorded a Peel session, while Lulu, The Shadows, Gerry & the Pacemakers and Terence Trent D’Arby actually did. Many Irish acts made the short trip across The Irish Sea to the BBC studios and today I present a session track from eight of these

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Poguetry In Motion


I mentioned on Wednesday that I’d be spending Patrick’s Day immersing myself in Irish culture. I had planned to take it easy on St Patrick’s Eve, but shortly after writing the post I got an unexpected text from a good friend of mine. It didn’t take too much for Tom to persuade me to call over to his place for a few drinks and to watch Chelsea take on Inter Milan in the Champions League. Watching English football teams is one of the most popular pastimes amongst Irish males and the tie was nicely balanced at 2-1 to the Italian team. I brought along an 8-pack of Bulmers cider (the Irish one, not the English one). The game was quite close, but Inter scored near the end to ease their passage into the quarter-finals. As the number of cans got fewer and fewer, Thomas put on one of the best Irish films of recent years, In Bruges (it’s in Belgium). The next morning, Tom’s lovely lady Linda made an Irish breakfast for the three of us. Even though Linda was unable to offer any evidence as to the food’s heritage, I had no reason to believe that it wasn’t an Irish one. It was cooked and eaten in Ireland and it even tasted like an Irish breakfast. After that, Tom checked out Cheltenham and we watched the Irish trainers, horses and riders cleaning up. After Linda cleaned up, she dropped me home. My thanks to Thomas and Linda for a lovely Irish day

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Greetings From Paddy’s Green Shamrock Shore


I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy St Patrick’s Day. My own name is Pat, my late father’s was Paddy and my youngest nephew is called Patrick. So, here are a few songs from Irish singers about Pats, Paddys and Patricks as well as one “sung” by a Pat. I’m planning to spend the day absorbing myself in Irish culture. I’m not sure exactly what that’s going to entail, but I’ll let you know how it turns out


Uncle Pat – Ash

Poor Paddy – The Pogues

Paddy Rolling Stone – Shane MacGowan

Rock and Roll Paddy – Shane MacGowan

Paddy’s Green Shamrock Shore – Paul Brady

Paddy’s Lament – Sinéad O’Connor

St Patrick’s Day – Damien Dempsey

The Jumbo Breakfast Roll – Pat Shortt

Níl Aon Tinteáin Mar Do Thinteáin Féin*


Seachtain na Gaeilge is taking place in Ireland this week as part of the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. According to its website, “Seachtain na Gaeilge is a non-profit organisation, which promotes the use of Irish language and culture both at home and abroad within a two-week festival held in March every year”. The literal translation of “Seachtain na Gaeilge” is “Irish Week” but in Ireland the concept of time is quite fluid and arbitrary. This year’s celebration of Irish culture began on the 5th of March and will finish on Paddy’s Day. Now, your definition of what constitutes Irish culture depends upon whether you consider yourself to be Irish or not and also upon where you call home. For example, many people who’ve never been to the Emerald Isle will possess an image of the country that has been constructed by Hollywood and the tourist industry. This Ireland is full of green fields, rolling hills and winding roads. The people that populate it are as untamed as their surroundings and filled with Celtic mysticism and Catholic guilt. The men drink far too much alcohol and this usually leads to drunken brawling. The women are just as feisty but are seen as being more religious than their male counterparts and given to having lots of babies

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