Shane MacGowan

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Shane MacGowan (1990)

Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (born December 25, 1957 in Tunbridge Wells , Kent , England ) is an Irish musician who became famous as the singer and songwriter of the London band The Pogues .

Early years

MacGowan was born to Irish parents on Christmas Day 1957 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. He first grew up in Tipperary, Ireland , before the family moved back to south-east England in 1964 and lived in Brighton and London , among others .

MacGowan's mother Therese was a singer and dancer and had worked as a model in Dublin . MacGowan's childhood was thus heavily influenced by Irish folk music and culture. In 1971 MacGowan was admitted to Westminster School , a high-level school in London, but was expelled for second year drug possession.

MacGowan first appeared in public when Jane Modette injured his ear in 1976 at a concert by the English punk band The Clash . A photograph of MacGowan covered in blood hit the media with the headline Cannibalism at Clash Gig (" Cannibalism at Clash Gig "). Soon after, MacGowan formed his own punk rock band, The Nipple Erectors , later renamed The Nips .

The Pogues

Shane MacGowan, Zenith, Munich, July 6, 2011 with the Pogues

MacGowan remembered his Irish background when he founded the Pogues. Many of his songs deal with Irish nationalism, Irish history, the experiences of the Irish in London and the United States, and life in London in general. MacGowan frequently cited the Irish poet James Clarence Mangan and the playwright Brendan Behan as influences.

Between 1985 and 1987 MacGowan wrote with others what is probably his best-known song, Fairytale of New York , which he sang with Kirsty MacColl . After the Pogues kicked him out of the band for unprofessional behavior, he formed a new band, Shane MacGowan and The Popes . In 1997 MacGowan was one of the singers on the re-recording of Lou Reed's Perfect Day , which was recorded by several artists for the benefit of children in need. The single went straight to number 1 in the UK charts.

In 2001 and annually from 2004 to 2008 the Pogues went on tour with MacGowan, including as the main act at the Guilfest in Great Britain and at the Azkena Rock Festival in Spain. In 2005, the Pogues re-released Fairytale of New York to raise funds for the Justice For Kirsty Campaign and Crisis At Christmas . The single became the most successful Christmas release in 2005 and reached second place in the UK charts.

In 2006 MacGowan was voted number 50 on the NME Rock Heroes List. He often appeared with Pete Doherty , the singer for the Babyshambles . Other well-known friends include Johnny Depp , who starred in the video for That Woman's Got Me Drinking , and the late Clash singer Joe Strummer , who called MacGowan "one of the best writers of the century". Strummer made occasional appearances with MacGowan and The Pogues (and was briefly MacGowan's successor as lead singer after his expulsion).

His sister Siobhan MacGowan, journalist, writer and songwriter, released her album Chariot in 1998 and is the author of the children's book Etain's Dream . In March 2007, MacGowan announced wedding plans with longtime girlfriend Victoria Mary Clarke. In 2000 Tim Bradford used the title Is Shane MacGowan Still Alive? (“Is Shane MacGowan Still Alive?”) For a humorous book about Ireland and Irish culture.

Alcohol and drug use

Shane MacGowan (2011)

MacGowan is known for his drug use. Sinéad O'Connor reported him to the London police for drug possession in January 2000 - in an attempt, she said, to dissuade him from continuing to use heroin. After his initial anger, MacGowan expressed his gratitude for it. He claims this incident actually got him off heroin.

MacGowan goes on to claim that he was taken to alcohol and cigarettes by an aunt, on condition that he never worshiped the devil. In an interview with the Daily Mirror on the occasion of his 50th birthday, he said that he started drinking when he was four. He first tried whiskey when he was ten, and from then on he was a habitual drinker.

Robyn Hitchcock said on a BBC television show in February 2006: "I went to Hope and Anchor" - a London pub that has been used by many folk punk bands. “The Pogues were on stage, the pub was full, but they hadn't started yet. Then this figure staggered in through the door. I thought: You don't want to let this guy in? Then he took the stage. It was Shane MacGowan. "

MacGowan is notorious for his drunken appearances. On September 7, 2002, MacGowan vomited over the fans in the front row at a concert at the Olympia Theater in Dublin. Sinéad O'Connor defended MacGowan by stating that he was “an angel near the end in need of help. He hasn't been able to stop drinking for a long time, his illness is no longer curable, and as far as I can tell, the end is near. "

Although his alcoholism has temporarily ended the relationship, MacGowan's fiancée Victoria Mary Clarke said that “Shane likes to drink, but less than people believe. I haven't seen him drunk in a long time. "

today

In 2009, 2010 and 2011 MacGowan toured again successfully with the Pogues through Europe and the United States.

In March 2010 he released a cover version of the song I put a spell on you by Screamin 'Jay Hawkins under the name Shane MacGowan and friends as a benefit single for the earthquake victims in Haiti. The single is only available as a download. In addition to MacGowan, Nick Cave , Bobby Gillespie ( Primal Scream ), Glen Matlock ( Sex Pistols ), Chrissie Hynde ( The Pretenders ), Mick Jones (The Clash) , Johnny Depp , and former Pogues bassist Cait O'Riordan took part . At the same time a video was released.

In November 2010 MacGowan formed a new band called The Shane Gang , with whom he released an album under the name Rakes, Rats, Pricks & Kicks on Union Square Music in 2011 - ten years after the release of his last album . He has been reliant on the use of a wheelchair since he fell while leaving a studio in Dublin in the summer of 2015 and broke his pelvis. In mid-January 2018 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Prize of the National Concert Hall in and on the occasion of his 60th birthday a concert was given in which he, along with other well-known musicians such as Sinead O'Connor, Bono and Nick Cave, mostly passively in a wheelchair on the Stage sat. In November 2018, he married his long-time partner, journalist Victoria Mary Clarke, 12 years his junior.

Discography

With nipple erectors

  • 1978: King of the Bop (7 ")
  • 1978: All the Time in the World (7 ")
  • 1979: Gabrielle (7 ")
  • 1980: Only the End of the Beginning
  • 1981: Happy Song (7 ")
  • 1987: The Tits of Soho (posthumous best-of)

With The Pogues

With The Popes

  • 1994: The Snake; 1995: The Snake (re-release)
  • 1997: The Crock of Gold
  • 2002: Across the Broad Atlantic, live on Paddy's Day

With The Shane Gang

  • 2011: Rakes, Rats, Pricks & Kicks (with The Shane Gang)

Further

  • 2000: Sing Loud, Sing Proud! ( Dropkick Murphys , guest vocalist on Good Rats )
  • 2002: The Rare oul'Stuff

Other works

MacGowan starred in the Alex Cox film Straight to Hell (1987) alongside actors such as Dennis Hopper , Jim Jarmusch , Palme d'Or winner Kathy Burke , Dick Rude, Courtney Love , Joe Strummer and Grace Jones .

literature

  • Victoria Mary Clarke, Shane MacGowan: A Drink with Shane MacGowan, London: Pan Books, 2001.

Web links

Commons : Shane MacGowan  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pogues singer formally Cautioned in London Following heroin charge in The Irish Times of 7 March 2000
  2. ↑ Joe Merrick: Shane MacGowan: London Irish Punk Life and Music , Omnibus Press, London 2012 in the Google book search
  3. ↑ Smoking, drinking and partying keep me alive , interview in the Daily Mirror on December 24, 2007
  4. ↑ Excerpt from the BBC program "Folk Britannia - Between the War" from February 2006 (video on Youtube, 10 minutes, document from minute 5:38)
  5. ↑ Shane Really Opens Up to Crowd ... Report in ShowBizIreland.com from September 12, 2002
  6. ↑ Emma Gritt: Wheelchair bound Shane MacGowan shows off his new teeth as he attends charity event in Dublin , The Sun . December 16, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2018. 
  7. ↑ Fears grow for wheelchair-bound punk legend , Daily Mail . July 23, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2018. 
  8. ↑ Bono, Senéad O'Connor, Nick Cave and many more. They all came together to celebrate the 60th birthday of The Pogues singer. , The Rolling Stone , January 18, 2018
  9. ↑ Bruised, bloody but unbowed: the songs of Shane MacGowan will outlast us all , The Guardian , January 14, 2018
  10. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42701430 , BBC News , January 16, 2018
  11. ↑ Pogues star Shane MacGowan marries partner of more than 30 years , Irish Independent , November 27, 2018
personal data
SURNAME MacGowan, Shane
ALTERNATIVE NAMES MacGowan, Shane Patrick Lysaght (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish musician
DATE OF BIRTH December 25, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Tunbridge Wells , Kent , England