Shane MacGowan

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Image:Shane Macgowan.jpg Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (born 25 December 1957) is an Irish musician. He is best known for his involvement with The Pogues as their original vocalist.

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Early life

Despite being considered an "Irish National Treasure," MacGowan was born in the English town of Tunbridge Wells in Kent on December 25 1957, when his Irish parents were visiting relatives. Three months later he was back in Ireland, where he lived with his mother's family in a place called Silvermines near Nenagh in northwest Tipperary, on the Galway/Clare borders, until he was six and his parents relocated to England, where he attended Westminster School.

He had a keen interest in music as a child and as a fanzine editor and a 'face' in the early London punk scene — first rising to public prominence after his photograph (taken following an incident at a Clash gig in which his right ear was sliced open with a broken bottle) was published by NME in 1976. He was inspired by The Sex Pistols to form his own band, The Nipple Erectors (later renamed The Nips).

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Fame

MacGowan drew on his Irish heritage to create The Pogues, a band that he founded, but was away from during a long hiatus during the 1990s. He has written songs that many consider of astonishing beauty, though their lyricism is sometimes obscured by the quick, rough performance and folk-punk sound of the band, as well as his slurred voice. Many of his songs are influenced by Irish nationalism, Irish history, the experiences of the Irish in London and in London life in general. MacGowan has often cited the 19th century Irish poet, James Clarence Mangan, as well as author/poet/playwright (and IRA member), Brendan Behan, as influences.

Since leaving The Pogues, he has formed a new band, Shane MacGowan and The Popes.

The Pogues and MacGowan Reformed for a Sell Out Tour in 2001 - and reformed again in 2004 and 2005 for two further sell out tours, including Headline slots at Guilfest (UK) and Azkena Rock Fesitval (Spain). In 2005, The Pogues re-released "Fairytale of New York," one of their signature songs to raise funds for the Justice for Kirsty Campaign, and Crisis at Christmas. The single was the best-selling festive-themed single of 2005, reaching #3 in the UK Singles Charts. The newly reformed Pogues are embarking on their first US tour in over a decade - which has also completely sold out.

As of 2006, MacGowan, along with The Pogues, continue to tour to sold-out venues

His sister is Siobhan MacGowan, a songwriter and painter.

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Health & body abuse

MacGowan is an avid proponent of recreational drugs including alcohol but is strongly critical of heroin, which he says is the only drug with which he ever had "a problem". Another Irish singer, Sinéad O'Connor, reported him to the police in London for possession of the drug in an attempt to discourage him from it. He occasionally qualifies his endorsement of over-indulgence by claiming that he "has the constitution for it" where others might not. He was introduced to alcohol at the age of five by his Aunt on the promise he would not worship the devil; she also introduced him to cigarettes at the same time. Macgowan first tried whisky when he was 10 and continued to drink heavily from that point on.

He is widely considered to be severely alcoholic, and has suffered physically from his years of excess; he was notorious for performing while drunk, and for years it was impossible to find an interview with him in which he was not impaired. An example of this was on the BBC TV political magazine programme, This Week. While being interviewed by Janet Street-Porter about the public smoking ban in Ireland, MacGowan gave incoherent and slurred answers to fairly straightforward questions, much to the embarrassment of the politicians present, Diane Abbott and Michael Portillo. He has very few teeth (his dental situation has been part of his "reputation" for years) and is now bloated and pale, and speaks slowly and indistinctly, though he still has times where demonstrates quick wit.

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Teeth

Image:Shane macgowans teeth.jpg

Shane MacGowan is somewhat famous for his teeth, or lack thereof. Many of his teeth are missing; the remainder are rotten and/or crooked.

In his autobiography, A Drink With Shane MacGowan, MacGowan comments that the poor state of his oral health is due to several contributing factors:

  • Lack of brushing
  • Drunken fights in which he has been on the losing side
  • Alleged police brutality in the late 1970s
  • The use of recreational drugs such as crack and crystal meth

MacGowan's former girlfriend Victoria Clarke (see [1]), once claimed that he had further damaged his teeth by eating a copy of the Beach Boys Greatest Hits vol. 3 LP whilst under the influence of LSD.

MacGowan was quoted in the UK's Sunday Mirror newspaper as commenting that his teeth were rotten due to the effects of sugar in the many alcoholic drinks he had consumed.

Pictures of MacGowan taken following an alleged homophobic attack in 2004 — during which he was beaten about the head and face with an iron bar in an alleyway behind a London pub — show that he has very few front teeth remaining.

In December 2004, MacGowan inserted a pair of upper-jaw dentures (see [2]) during a TV interview with Frank Skinner - commenting to the amused studio audience that the false teeth made him look "fucking stupid."

It was reported in 2005 that MacGowan was considering using some of the money earned from the 2004 Pogues reunion tour to purchase a new set of teeth, due to concern that his rapidly-deteriorating dental situation is adversely affecting his singing voice.

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Quotations about Shane MacGowan

"I remember going to the Hope and Anchor [a pub where many folk punk acts played in London]. The Pogues were all on stage and ready, it was a full house, but they hadn't started yet. Then this character shambled in through the door and shambled downstairs. I thought, 'Jesus, you're not letting that guy in are you?'. Then he walked on stage. That guy was Shane MacGowan!" Robyn Hitchcock, speaking on the Folk Britannia television programme, BBC4, first broadcast February 2006

"I don't think anybody has been able to recast a tradition as well as Shane MacGowan did with the Pogues... He took a great Irish tradition and remade it without breaking it." Billy Bragg, ibid.

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Selected discography

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The Pogues

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Solo Singles

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Guest Appearance

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External links

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