"As an album it was really the point where all this expected greatness of Shane MacGowan as a songwriter, came to fruition."
Music Review | Live
61% | 5 Jul 2004
Colm O Hare
The 2004 version of The Radiators presented an intriguing prospect to the full-house, which was made up of long-time fans, ex-punks, scene-makers and assorted Horslips, not knowing quite what to expect. But they needn’t have worried. After a wobbly start, the band, which included original members Phil Chevron, Pete Holidai and Steve Rapid, quickly found their feet and proceeded to tear into their hallowed legacy with a renewed vigour.
From small-time ramshackle punk'n'Irish troubadours to 'international touring act' in the space of six incident-packed years, The Pogues have not only produced music to consistently surprise and delight - they've put it in the charts too! With the help of band members Phil Chevron and Jem Finer, Bill Graham examines The Pogues' enigma in advance of the outfit's impending Christmas single 'Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah' (phew!) and their seasonal show at The Point Depot in Dublin.
Back in their terrifying heyday, they threw pigs’ heads around on stage, covered themselves in muck, provided Marilyn Manson with a career and wrote ‘Community Games’ for Aidan Walsh. Having escaped the clutches of a sinister born-again Christian turned transvestite, they’re now making movies with Neil Jordan, dining with Damien Hirst and consorting with Tony Blair. All in all, it’s been a long, strange trip for The Virgin Prunes
Or should that be The Clash? Well no, actually, cos there's no Clash, Damned or Pistols in 1999. But there s still joe strummer, who was there when Shane got his ear bitten off and, 22 years later is back for his own second bite with THE MESCALEROS. I ve seen everything that it s possible to see go down and I ve survived it, he tells STUART CLARK who finds himself shanghaied on a ferry to Stranraer.
Main pix: MICHAEL QUINN.
In Ireland, conspicuous celebrity replaced politics. The press didn’t get to interview the Taoiseach so they documented the social activities of his Press Secretary P. J. Mara.
ON PAPER, Black 47 could've saved Irish rock 'n' roll. A mouthy, unrepentantly Republican NY-based combo with the eclectic sensibilities of Fishbone, the rebel zeal of Dexy's or Little Steven and a fired up frontman in the form of Wexford expatriate patriot Larry Kirwan,
PHIL LYNOTT would have been 50 on 20th August this year. Here, PETER MURPHY profiles the legendary Philo, and talks to other stars about his enduring influence.
The death has occurred of Joe Strummer, one of the most important British musicians of the punk era. As lead singer and chief lyricist and ideologist with The Clash, he was central to making some of the finest music of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.
