THE VIDEOS

Completely Pogued ~

This is an hour long documentary that aired on the BBC around 1988. There's lots of footage from Live at the Town & Country and interviews with band members. My personal favorite moments in the video include the footage of the studio session where The Pogues teamed up with Steve Earle to record Johnny Come Lately and the footage of Philip Cheveron returning to the record store he used to work at and performing an acoustic version of Thousands Are Sailing. I have a very good copy of this, probably third generation. It's a must have for even the casual Pogues fan.

Queen Margaret Union~
Glasgow, Scotland
December 13, '85

This is an audience shot video of a very early Pogues gig. I think it is the whole show, or close to it. The tape is fairly steady but the audio is a bit warbly. Not the best quality, a few generations old, but not the worst either. It seems to be from the back of a fairly small bar. The show itself is rockin' and The Parting Glass is included! 75 minutes.

I may be missing a few of the included songs:A Pistol For Paddy Garcia, Sick Bed of Cuchulainn, Streams of Whiskey, Repeal of the Licensing Laws, A Pair of Brown Eyes, Dirty Old Town, Wild Cats of Kilkenny, Whiskey, You're the Devil, Jesse James, Poor Paddy, And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda, Boys From the County Hell, Wild Rover, Down In the Ground Where the Dead Men Go, The Parting Glass.

Poguevision ~

This is the Pogues video collection. Depending on your personal opinion of music videos, you may or may not like this. Personally, I hate most all videos, but I admit to enjoying this video from time to time. Highlights include the mod influenced video for Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah and some great footage of original bassist Cait O'riordan on A Pair of Brown Eyes. Strangely absent is Waxie's Dargle. My copy is excellent, from Japanese laserdisc.

Streams Of Whiskey, Miss Otis Regrets & Just One Of Those Things (with Kirsty MacColl), Jacks Heroes (with The Dubliners), Summer In Siam, White City, A Pair Of Brown Eyes, Dirty Old Town, Fairytale Of New York (with Kirsty MacColl), Fiesta, If I Should Fall From Grace With God, Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah, Misty Morning, Albert Bridge, A Rainy Night In Soho.

Glastonbury Festival '86 ~

This is audience shot from the Glastonbury Festival. The crowd is wild and the camera work varies from very steady to chaotic. To make matters worse, there's some annoying blonde on someone's shoulders for a while blocking the view! The sound isn't as good as my CD copy and there are a few tunes missing, but worth checking out. The performance is very cool and I wish I were there! It's worth it for that alone.

A Pistol for Paddy Garcia, Sick bed of Cuchulainn, Streams of Whiskey, Billy's Bones, Repeal of the Licensing Laws, Transmetropolitan, Sally MacLenanne.

Live at The Town And Country ~

This is a great film recorded live on St. Patrick's Day 1988 in Glasgow. The narrator is none other than Joe Strummer, who would later fill in for the rehabilitating Shane on tour. He gives animated narratives between songs about each band member and the myth and magic of the Pogues. He even joins them onstage for a chilling rendition of London Calling. Other guests include Kirsty MacColl on several tunes and The Specials on A Message to You Rudi. This is brilliant from beginning to end. My only complaint here is that they didn't include the entire set! Well worth any collectors notice, a great look into the band in their prime.

The Broad Majestic Shannon, If I Should Fall From Grace With God, A Rainy Night in Soho, Thousands Are Sailing, Fairytale Of New York, Lullaby Of London, Dirty Old Town, London Calling, Turkish Song Of The Damned, Fiesta, The Irish Rover, Worms, A Message To You Rudi, Wild Rover.

You Scumbag, You Maggot ~

This is a half-hour documentary released around Christmastime 2001 about the song Fairytale of New York. Shown on the BBC, it hasn't been seen on TV or publicly in the states to my knowledge. It is a very fascinating view into the origins, development, performance and aura surrounding the song, which remains The Pogues biggest hit ever. You get a brief listen to the original demo and lots of cool footage from the day as well as more recent interviews with relevant figures like producer Steve Lillywhite and co-writer Jem Finer. They even discuss the cover art and the making of the video. A very cool piece about a timeless song.

Live in Japan 1988 (aka: Far From Home) ~

Here's most of a live show from either October 30th or 31st, 1988 that was recorded in Tokyo and aired on Japanese TV. The Pogues are in a great mood - really rocking out and jeering with the crowd. After returning from backstage between songs, Shane blows his nose. Well, we can use our imagination as to what he was doing back there! An audience member asks sarcastically "Have you got a cold?" to which Shane replies even more sarcatically "Yeah, I need some brandy!" We even get to see him playing the guitar for a few songs. This is a great show, but different than Town & Country in that it is on video rather than film, and includes songs from Peace And Love. The quality of picture and sound is excellent.

The Battle March Medley, The Broad Majestic Shannon, Streams Of Whiskey, If I Should Fall From Grace With God, The Body Of An American, Lullaby Of London, USA, Boat Train, Metropolis, A Rainy Night In Soho, Johnny Come Lately, Bottle Of Smoke, Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah, Thousands Are Sailing, Streets Of Sorrow-Birmingham Six, Turkish Song Of The Damned, Fiesta, Sally MacLennane, The Sick Bed Of Cuchulainn, Dirty Old Town, Honky Tonk Women, Japan, The Irish Rover.

Live in Japan 1991 ~

Here's a sad portrayal of the decline of a great band... Although the quality of picture and sound are immaculate, the same can't be said for Shane's condition & performance. When I first watched the band take the stage and break into Streams of Whiskey, My eyes lit up at the fantastic picture and sound, but once Mr. MacGowan took the mic, I was quickly brought back to the realization that this was not The Pogues in their prime. Shane has trouble in every song - he's either dragging about 2 bars behind the musicians, mumbling incoherently into the microphone, or forgetting entire verses all together. You can even sense the shame and pity felt by Terry Woods, Spider Stacy, and Philip Cheveron, whose vocals and songs for the first time carried more weight than Shane's. The band is in great form and the video is watchable for that reason alone, but after seeing Town & Country and Live in Japan 1988, this one doesn't hold up as well.

Streams of Whiskey, If I Should Fall From Grace With God, Cotton Fields, Young Ned of the Hill, Main Street, Sayonara, Repeal of the Licensing Laws, Body of an American, Greenland Whale Fisheries, Gartloney Rats, Summer in Siam, Thousands are Sailing, Sunny Side of the Street, Dirty Old Town, Sick Bed of Cuchalaain, Sally Maclenanne, Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah, The Irish Rover.

The Great Hunger ~

This is a documentary about the life of Shane MacGowan. It aired on the BBC around '95 and is an excellent, entertaining, and informative look into this great musician. There's live footage of the Nips, Pogues and Popes, as well as interviews and performances of Shane's songs by a ton of cool people like Cristy Moore, Nick Cave, and Sinead O'Connor as well as additional insight provided by Bono, Shane's parents, and his girlfriend (ex?) Victoria, to name a few. Shane also lends a few interviews, and if you can decipher what he's saying, or mumbling, it's actually very intriguing. It opens with some cool footage of Shane going to the horse track and emptying several airplane bottles while watching the races, all the while Bottle of Smoke from ...Grace With God plays in the background. My copy is excellent.

If I Should Fall From Grace ~

Like You Scumbag, You Maggot, this film was released around Christmas 2001. The premise is very similar to The Great Hunger - a documentary about Shane MacGowan. This film, however, catches Shane in a much more coherent light and offers up a bit of a different perspective. It doesn't really tread a whole lot of new ground after the other documentary, but it does offer some awesome footage of Shane and The Popes playing live. And, since Shane is a bit more coherent, there is some different and at least more intelligible input from him. If I Should Fall From Grace has been shown in theaters in the UK as well as major markets in the states, and there are rumors of a DVD release.

Fleadh Mor ~
Tramore, Waterford, Ireland
July 4, '93

I think this was one of Shane's first gigs with The Popes. It shows. Very sloppy performance and lots of mess-ups. Siobhan joins Shane for Fairytale. It's at an outdoor festival, audience shot. I thought it was cool that Phil Lynott's Solo in Soho was playing over the PA before they took the stage. Fairly bouncy with fair audio but nothing really to write home about, except the historical significance.

Sally Maclenanne, Church of the Holy Spook, If I Should Fall From Grace With God, Snake With Eyes of Garnet, Nancy Whiskey, Dirty Old Town, Greenland Whale Fisheries, Her Father Didn't Like Me Anyway, Streets of Baltimore, That Woman's Got Me Drinkin', The Irish Rover, Fairytale Of New York.

Lund, Sweden ~
March 2, '95

This is not a pro shot video but it's surprisingly easy to watch. Looks like this person was standing on a chair or table in the middle or back of a crowded bar. There are lots of zooms and not too many annoying shots of the ceiling or the back of someone's head. Performance wise, Shane is looking well in his wife-beater under shirt and rockin' out pretty well. This is worth having to those not bothered by camcorder recorded concerts. It seems to be the whole set too!

Streams of Whiskey, If I Should Fall From Grace With God, Donegal Express, Nancy Whiskey, Aisling, Pair of Brown Eyes, Popes Instrumental, Church Of The Holy Spook, I'll be your Handbag, Rainy Night in Soho, The Body of an American, Broad Majestic Shannon, Greenland Whale Fisheries, Dark Streets of London, Sick Bed of Cuchulainn, Irish Rover, Sally MacLenanne, Sayonara, White City, Boys From the County Hell, Bottle of Smoke.