Shane was born in Kent on Christmas Day, 1957, when his parents were visiting relatives in England. Three months later he was back in Ireland, where he lived with his mother's family in northwest Tipperary, on the Galway/Clare borders, until he was six and his parents relocated to England.
They moved around a lot with his father's job, living in Kent and several houses in London, but never really settled anywhere. His mother was a prize-winning traditional Irish singer and his father a frustrated office worker who aspired to be a professional writer. Their house, Shane remembers, was always full of books: "Yeats, all the Irish poets, The Ginger Man by J.P. Donleavy, Graham Greene, Catch 22. When I was about ten, I started reading stuff like Animal Farm and Steinbeck, Hemingway and Joyce. I even read Ulysses.That took me a while."
When he was 12, Shane won a semi-scholarship to Westminster, a top boys' school. Shortly after settling there, he attended his first gig: Mott The Hoople at a Fulham pub in 1971. He was instantly hooked and by the ninth grade, he had grown his hair and was listening to the MC5, the Stooges and the New York Dolls.
It was in 1975 that things started to come together for Shane: "I got this impulse to cut all my hair off and started wearing it like a '50's greaser. Then I got into the tail end of the pub rock scene Eddie And The Hot Rods, the 101ers. It was at a 101ers gig at the Nashville when I first saw the Pistols. I just couldn't believe it. There it was. The band that I'd always been waiting for, playing stuff by the Stooges and Dolls. I just thought, This is what I'm about, and I started following them."
During the early months of '77, Shane formed his own band, The Nipple Erectors: "Everybody was forming bands; it was such a laugh. It was like a competition: What's your band called then?" The group went on to release one single and developed a large live following but broke up in the middle of 1979.
Shane worked on and off in a record shop for a few years and played in another band, The Millwall Chainsaws. One night in 1982, Shane and fellow band members, Spider Stacy and drummer Ollie, decided to stage an impromptu performance of a couple of rebel songs at Cabaret Futura. Stirring up strong feedback, they teamed up with King's Cross Pub drinking partners Jem Finer, James Fearnley and Andrew Rankin to form a new group, Pogue Mahone (Gaelic for 'kiss my arse'). Cait O'Riordan, an avid Nipple Erectors fan, completed the line-up.
Their first single, "Dark Streets of London," was released on their own Pogue Mahone label in 1983 and, after a diplomatic name-trim, The Pogues signed on to Stiff Records. The following year saw the release of their internationally acclaimed debut LP Red Roses For Me. Having supported Elvis Costello on a month-long UK tour, Elvis went on to produce The Pogues "Pair of Brown Eyes" single and their second LP, 1984's Rum, Sodomy & The Lash.
The summer of '87 saw The Pogues as special guests on several of U2's stadium shows, culminating in a Madison Square Garden date; December that year saw them reaching Number 2 in the UK Christmas charts with "Fairytale Of New York," a duet by Shane and Kirsty MacColl. Their next album, If I Should Fall From Grace With God, came out in early '88 and went on to sell over a million copies worldwide.
They followed it up with 1989's Peace & Love, an album accompanied by a number of acclaimed live dates supporting Bob Dylan in America and touring Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Shane's last album with The Pogues was Hell's Ditch, which was released in 1990.
Shane left The Pogues in September 1991: "They got very progressive and all the rest of it I preferred it when it was just loud and fast and simple and funny." Since then he's been seen and heard in a series of walk-on parts with the likes of The Dubliners, Nick Cave, Van Morrison, The Jesus And Mary Chain, and even Breton harpist Alan Stivell. Shane's songwriting skills have been requested by a remarkably motley bunch including U2 and, just as unlikely, Lisa Stansfield.
Shane then teamed up with The Popes (Paul McGuinness - guitars, vocals; Bernie The Undertaker France - bass, vocals; Danny Pope - drums, percussion; Tom McAnimal - tenor, banjo; Kieran Mo OHagan - guitar, vocals; and Colm OMaonlai - whistles) and then spent much of last year writing and recording the new album.
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Bio #2 by Jim Pettijohn
Shane MacGowan was born on Christmas day, 1957 in Kent, England while his parents were visiting relatives for the holidays. Shane's mother, Therese, had grown up in Tipperary, Ireland in her grandparent's farmhouse which held a family of fourteen. Therese's kin were all musically endowed so she learned many Irish songs and dances which she practiced consistantly throughout her childhood and teen years. As Therese grew older, her good singing voice won her public appearances in the city of Dublin and in other parts of Ireland.
Therese would soon meet Maurice MacGowan, a writer by trade who had a great fondness for poetry and who also, like Therese, was quite fond of music. He listened mostly to jazz, blues and country, but also enjoyed Irish folk music as well. Maurice grew up in a middle class home in Dublin where he spent most of his time reading and writing. As an adult, he struggled to make his place in the world as a writer. Maurice and Therese wed and started a home in Therese's home town of Tipperary, on the Clare/Glaway borders of Ireland.
Three months after Shane's birth in England, the MacGowan family returned to their home in Ireland. Just like Therese, Shane spent his childhood around Irish music and had many relatives who played instruments such as the banjo, fiddle, accordian, tin whistle, etc. All of this would stay in his memory.
When he was about six years old, his parents took Shane and his sister Siobhan from Ireland to live in central London where Shane would discover his singing and writing abilities. As the years went by the MacGowan family moved from place to place in London. During this time Maurice was not having much luck finding a steady job to support his family. Through their time of financial struggle, Shane spent his hours reading old Irish poetry and in time learned to write his own rhymes. His keen ability to write amazed his parents and teachers.
At the of age fourteen Shane won second place in a poetry contest at his school, which would have helped to reserve him a spot in the Westminster school had it not been for his expulsion for possesion of illegal drugs. Since he was no longer a part of the school system, Shane spent his time working odd jobs and wandering the streets looking for something new. His main interest at the time was music and at one point he worked in a record shop called "Soho Records." While spending time in clubs and pubs he soon discovered something that would alter his path forever.
On the night of June 15th, 1976 as Shane waited for the "101ers" to play their scheduled gig, he saw four punks on stage setting up band equipment. They were known as "The Sex Pistols." As the four characters began to play their set of fast paced, distorted rock 'n' roll, a light blinked on in Shane's head. Here was a band of kids his age on stage, doing whatever the hell they wanted, not giving a shit what people thought of their appearance or music. After having experienced the Sex Pistols gig, the eighteen year old Shane discovered that this is what he he was all about.
The Sex Pistols as with many other punk bands of the time, changed views and lives of the youth in England. After that night, Shane became a regular face at the local punk shows. Getting to know the music well, he was inspired to start his own punk band, "The Nipple Erectors."
The Nipple Erectors
At the start, the Nipple Erectors consisted of Shane MacGowan (vocals), Shanne Bradley (bass), Roger Towndrow (guitar) and Gerry Mcllduff (drums). Just like any other punk band of the time period, the Nipple Erectors were an original bunch dressed in tacky clothes and had developed a sound all their own. Their style was regarded as punkabilly. Not exactly punk, not exactly rockabilly, but an crazy mixture of the two. Shane and Shanne were the members who originaly put the band together.
In June of 1978, the Nipple Erectors recorded their first single, "King of the Bop." "Nervous Wreck" was on the B-side. At that same session they recorded "Stavordale Road N5" and "So Pissed Off" which were not released until the release of "Bops, Babes, Booze and Bovver" (singles collection LP, released in 1987).
After having released their first single, the eager band played more shows, succeding in the development in a nice sized local following. Deciding the Nipple Erectors was too corny a title for the band , they shortened their name to "The Nips." Then going by their new name, they released a second single, "All the Time in the World" w/ B-side "Private Eye" also on the Soho label, near the end of 1978.
The next couple of years saw a change in the band line up and two more singles were released as well as a live recorded LP "Only the end of the Beginning" (1980). According to the "Bops, Babes, Booze and Bovver" record folder, the line up had changed from Roger Towndrow to Gavin Dougles (guiter) and from Gerry Mcllduff to a guy named Grinny (drums). In addition to their live LP from 1980, they released yet another single, "Gabrielle" w/ B-side "Vengeance" on Chiswik Records. "Gabrielle" was sort of a poppier love ballad which wasn't all that bad but it didn't make it to the top of the charts like the band had hoped for. The B-side, "Vengeance" on the other hand was sort of a "You screwed my girlfriend, so I'm gonna break your head" type of song. Their last single "Happy Song" w/ B-side "Nobody" to Love" was released in 1981 on Test Pressing Records and was produced by the well known singer of the "Jam" Paul Weller.
According to "The Lost Decade" (a Pogues documentary by Ann Scanlon), there were a few more band line up changes throughout the existence the Nips. I am not sure of all the names but I do know that one of the temporary guitarists was James Fearnley, soon to be the accordianist of the Pogues. The only two members who stayed in the band from start to finish were Shanne Bradley and Shane MacGowan. After the disbandment of the Nips in late 1980, the band members went their seperate ways. Shane started working at a record store and eventually acted as a occasional replacement in (future Pogues member) Spider Stacy's band "The Millwall Chainsaws." Immidiatly following the break up of the Chainsaws, Shane and Jem Finer (future Pogue) started "Pogue Mahone", soon to be rechristened "The Pogues." Sometime in the early 80's Shanne Bradley joined a pop/Irish band called "The Men They Couldn't Hang." James Fearnley went on to attempt to a writing career but instead was talked into joining Pogue Mahone. As for the many other temporary Nips members I haven't a clue.
The Pogues
As I had mentioned in the Nips bio, Shane started working at a record store and sometimes filled in on guitar and vocals for Spider Stacey's band, "The Millwall Chainsaws." Around 1981 Shane was part of a nameless band led by a school teacher, which was not going anywhere and soon hit a dead end. Shane played bass, his good friend Jem Finer played guitar and Chainsaws member Ollie played drums.
As time passed by Shane became more partial to Irish traditional music than punk. In the company of his friends (namingly Jem and Spider), Shane would always play or sing Irish songs which began to rub off on them. On many a drunken night Shane and Spider would sit in their flat listening to The Dubliners and other various Irish traditional groups.
One night, Shane and Ollie went to the Cabaret Futura to have a few drinks. Ollie, who was feeling a bit tipsy walked up to Richard Strange, the manager of the Futura, and told him that he is in a band which plays Irish music and asked if they could play a gig there sometime. Richard, who was open to any type of music agreed to the proposal. In two weeks time they had come up with a set list of Irish rebel songs to play for their debut show. Shane got on guitar and vocals, Matt Jacobson, another member of the Millwall Chainsaws got on bass , John (last name?) also got on guitar and Ollie played drums. Jem Finer was not a part of this line up. Spider had lost his voice before the show, so he proved useless. That night they presented themselves as the New Republicans.
As they went through their set of Irish rebel songs, the crowd flung French fries at the band. Despite the hostility of the audience, Shane was still inspired by the performance. The management pulled the plugs on the gig and the New Republicans ceased to exist.
Although the Caberet Futura show was just a temporary arrangement, Shane still wanted to do Irish music more than ever. It was at that he decided to start an Irish traditional band. After a few months, Jem asked Shane if he could play guitar for this new band of his and he happily agreed. The first original song Shane had written was "Streams of Whiskey." After arranging a good amount of songs (mostly covers), they played for money wherever they could. Many places didn't think the music was appropriate and the audiences were few, but that would'nt last for long.
In the early summer of 82' Jem and Shane began searching for more members. The first member they found was Andrew Ranken, a drummer who was already in a Cajun R 'n' B band called "The Operation." Although he was perfect for the job, Andrew was going to be away for the whole summer so they had to find someone else for the time being. Near the end of the summer they sought out for an Accordian player. Shane remembered that his fellow band mate from the Nips, James Fearnley. He was a very skilled pianist so Shane was convinced that he could get the hang of the accordian easily. So Shane and Jem showed up at Fearnley's doorstep and presented him with an accordian. At first James took the whole idea as a joke. For one, he hadn't the slightest idea how to play the accordian and secondly, he was in the midst of his writing career. But, after he gave the accordian a go and and after he learned the songs that Shane and Jem had come up with, his enthusiasm increased considerably. Just as James had learned an instrument that was completely foriegn to him, Jem decided to lose the guitar and pick up the banjo. He learned Irish songs by playing the banjo in a country style, which he was more atuned to. A month later they found a temporary drummer, John Hasler. Though not as skilled as Ranken, he would do for the time being. Jem and Shane set up a show on October 4, 1982 at the Pinder of Wakefield. All they needed then was a band name. They thought up a few different names but couldn't decide on which was the best. This was taken care of by Spider Stacey who suggested Pogue Mahone, which in Gaelic terms means, "Kiss my ass." They agreed that Pogue Mahone was the right title for them.
On the night of the Pinder of Wakefield show, they played a set of mostly Irish traditional covers with a couple orignials such as "Streams of Whiskey" and "Dark Streets of London." Spider was included as part of the line up for the show. At the time, he couldn't play any instruments so he just screamed into the microphone and acted obnoxious on stage. Although the show turned out to be a success, Jem and James were less than thrilled by the behaviour of Spider. Shane, who still wanted Spider to stay in the band, presented him with a tin whistle. Spider had never played one before in his life, but after daily practice he soon proved excellent.
The following day Shane was at the "Hog in the Pound" on South Molton Street, where he ran into Caitlin O'Riordan. Cait, being a Nips fan noticed Shane. As he talked on about the Pinder of Wakefield gig with some people, Cait listened in. When Shane had mentioned that the band was minus a bass player, she interupted the conversation, and told him that she could play. Shane, as well as the rest of Pogue Mahone decided to give her a chance. After a couple of practices with Cait, the band gave her acceptance. Cait's first gig with Pogue Mahone was on October, 23 at the 101 club. By December, Pogue Mahone had played a few more shows and it became clear to them that they needed a new drummer. John Hasler was unreliable and useless to them and before they could even tell him he was out of the band, he quit. While they were searching for another drummer, they transformed the drums into a two piece kit, consisting of a floor tom-tom and a snare drum. This proved to be more suitable for their upbeat style of Irish music. Remembering their first choice they sought out to find Andrew Ranken. Once they found Andrew and talked it over with him, he agreed to give it a second go. After his first practice with the band and the new drum set, Andrew was obviously Pogue Mahone material. Although he was still in his outlet "The Operation", he still wanted to stay a part of Pogue Mahone.
Within the next few months, the band had played several more shows around London, and their following grew rapidly and had earned quite a reputation for their unique sound, essence and drunkeness. That's what people loved about them. They were unlike anything anyone had ever heard before. "Irish music played with the spirit of punk" is the way most fans describe their musical creation. To hear them live you'd think it was Stiff Little Fingers playing with Irish traditional instruments! Although the members were usually trashed during most gigs, they still gave the crowd their money's worth. And no matter how bad they were at times they always got great cheers. As with most bands, the members got into arguments and brawls with one another over certain disagreements, but despite this, Pogue Mahone managed to remain a tight band. Mid summer had come and it was at that time that they decided to record a demo. Of the five songs recorded, "Streams of Whiskey" proved to be the best.