Song:Fiesta
Album:If I Should Fall From Grace With God
With their mix of traditional Irish music, humour and punk rock sensibilities, The Pogues were one of the best bands of the 80s. Their classic Fairytale In New York wins annual polls as the best Christmas song of all time. But they could have been one of the greatest bands ever except that lead singer Shane MacGowan's behaviour forced them to implode. If I Should Fall From Grace With God is probably their best album and is now available on CD with several bonus tracks from Rhino. The Pogues started in 1977 when Shane MacGowan met Peter "Spider" Stacy and Jeremy "Jem" Finer. MacGowan was with The Nips but the three started an occasional band called The Millwall Chainsaws. When The Nips split up in 1980, they added accordionist James Fearmley and called themselves Pogue Mahone. They added bassist Cait O'Riordan and drummer Andrew Ranken and shortened their name to The Pogues to avoid BBC censorship. They signed with Stiff Records and opened for The Clash on their 1984 tour. They added guitarist Phil Chevron and Elvis Costello produced their 1985 album Rum, Sodomy & The Lash. But by this time Stiff was having financial problems and The Pogues weren't getting along with the label anyway. Stiff went bankrupt in 1987 and The Pogues signed with Island in England and Warner Bros. in the US. If I Should From Grace With God was produced by veteran producer Steve Lillywhite (U2) it's more focused than previous albums. Fairytale Of New York was the most popular song but Fiesta is also a great song. Finer based the melody on a song he heard at a Spanish fairground. MacGowan wrote the lyrics as usual. But MacGowan's drinking was getting worse and he wasn't showing up for gigs. He was fired in 1991 and temporarily replaced by Joe Strummer until Stacy took over lead vocals. MacGowan started Shane McGowan and the Popes while The Pogues limped along until they split in 1996. The Pogues have reunited occasionally including for a 2005 tour. Here's the video for Fiesta by The Pogues.
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