1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is the 2 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:21,279 Speaker 1: story of an underdog and it's the story of a 3 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: drug dealing juvenile, an acid eating Irish drunk and a 4 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:31,319 Speaker 1: rivalry with Elvis. It's the story of Shane McGowan, but 5 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: it's also the story of one of maybe the greatest 6 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: Christmas songs ever written. Great music, unlike that music I 7 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: played for you at the top of the show. That 8 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: wasn't great music. That was a preset loop from my 9 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: melotron called no Teeth All Soul MK one. I played 10 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: you that loop because I can't afford the rights to 11 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: Mony Money by Billy Idel. And why would I play 12 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: you that specific slice fist clenching, fist pumping, finger pointing cheese. 13 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: Could I afford it? Because that was the number one 14 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:10,839 Speaker 1: song in America on November twenty third, nineteen eighty seven, 15 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: And that was the day the Pogues released their single 16 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: fairy Tale of New York, an unorthodox Christmas song co 17 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,959 Speaker 1: written by a man born on Christmas Day and a 18 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:24,680 Speaker 1: song that served as a turning point both good and 19 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:30,600 Speaker 1: bad for Sheen McGowan on this episode. An Underdog's Tale, 20 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: Acid eating drunk, Madness, Arrivalry with Elvis and Sheen McGowan. 21 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 2: I'm Jake Brennan and this this Disgraceland. 22 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: Do you hear what I hear? Sleigh bells ringing, Yule 23 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: Tide carolers singing. It's that time again, the Christmas season, 24 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: which means it's Christmas song season. Songs that are everywhere, 25 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: songs that have been everywhere for weeks already. And listen, 26 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: I love Christmas songs as much as the next guy. 27 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: But for some of you psychopaths, you've been decking the 28 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 1: hall since the annual thawing of Mariah Carey began way 29 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:45,519 Speaker 1: back before Halloween. Now, if you think we are obsessed 30 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: with Christmas music here in the United States, across the Pond, 31 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: they have an entire singles chart dedicated to it. It's 32 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: called the Christmas Number One, a chart that measures the 33 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:01,000 Speaker 1: most popular single in the UK during the week of Christmas. 34 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: In the past, the Christmas Number one has gone to 35 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: Slade's Merry Xmas Everybody and Do They Know It's Christmas 36 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: by the charity supergroup Band Aid. I should mention that 37 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: the song doesn't have to be Christmas seemed, but often 38 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: they are. In nineteen fifty seven. The Christmas Number one 39 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: was Mary's Boy Child by Harry Belafonte. It was crowned 40 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,399 Speaker 1: so on December twenty fifth of that year, the very 41 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: same day that Shane McGowan was born in Kent, England, 42 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: just as Queen Elizabeth was making her first televised Christmas 43 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: broadcast to her royal subjects. Not among them were Shane's 44 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 1: Irish parents, who had emigrated to England not to serve 45 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,600 Speaker 1: her majesty, but to seek out opportunities lacking back home. 46 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: Back home for Shane's mother specifically, was an idyllic slice 47 00:03:55,040 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 1: of Irish countryside County Tipperary called the Commons, where they 48 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 1: sang traditional Irish songs about the good life and the 49 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: good Word, about drinking, and about rebellion, God and the devil, 50 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: the sacred and the profane, all mixed into one. For 51 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 1: young Shane McGowan, the Commons was the most sacred thing 52 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: on this planet. Going back there on holiday and running 53 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: around the fields, the big Elm Tree, the old barn, 54 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: It was the greatest thing ever. Leaving England, returning to 55 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 1: the place of his ancestors, connecting with his heritage. To Shane, 56 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: a kid born on Christmas, going to the Commons was 57 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: better than Christmas. Back in England, first in Kent and 58 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: later when his family moved to London. Young Shane McGowan 59 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: was a mischievous little boy at Westminster School. As in 60 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 1: Westminster Abbey, the place where no less than six of 61 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: England's prime ministers were educated, Shane was part of a 62 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:04,920 Speaker 1: complex web of drug dealers, procuring heroin, cocaine, acid and 63 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: mescaline for other school kids. The goods were sourced from 64 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 1: London's West End, specifically from known associates of Charlie Cray, 65 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 1: older brother to Ronnie and Reggie Cray aka the Cray Twins, 66 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: infamous gangsters, racketeers, degenerate gamblers who'd recently been convicted of 67 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 1: murder along with their big brother Charlie. Though Charlie, Ronnie 68 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: and Reggie were behind bars, their legacy was being carried 69 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: on by even the tiniest cogs in the criminal wheel, 70 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: like Shane McGowan, who couldn't help but live his law 71 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 1: breaking life in the shadow of the brothers Cray. Shane 72 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: lived that life as an outsider, as an underdog. He 73 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,159 Speaker 1: was self conscious of his big years and of his 74 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: fucked up teeth. He was a proud Irishman in England 75 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: at a time when being so and voicing your support 76 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:00,480 Speaker 1: for the IRA during the so called troubles have back 77 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:04,919 Speaker 1: in the homeland, which Shane did do was extremely dangerous. 78 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:08,640 Speaker 1: He got his face pounded more than once for how 79 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: he looked, for what he said and for what he 80 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:15,839 Speaker 1: believed in. He found solace first in grass and then 81 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: in LSD, and later in the music of other outsiders 82 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: and underdogs like the MC five, the Stooges and Johnny Thunders. 83 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:29,479 Speaker 1: That raw, authentic rock and roll was Shane's soundtrack to 84 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: not one, but at least two expulsions from different schools, 85 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 1: and then to an expulsion from reality itself, a non 86 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: stop binge of pills and acids, suddenly manifesting disturbing hallucinations, 87 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: walking nightmares, faces and figures on the wall of his 88 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: bedroom there to feast on every one of his insecurities. 89 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 1: Shane feasted two on more drugs that he refused to sleep. 90 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 1: At the tender age of seventeen, he was to a 91 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: psychiatric hospital. When he got out, he was clean for 92 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: the moment. One of the first things he did was 93 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: go to a concert so he could bask in the 94 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: healing properties of the music that he loved. It was 95 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy five and the band performing that night was 96 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: the One O one Ers, fronted by the great Joe Strummer, 97 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: who would soon go on to form The Clash. Shane 98 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: was blown away, but not by Joe's band, by the Opener, 99 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: a band of outsider misfits calling themselves the Sex Pistols. 100 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: The pistols confrontational sound, how they took the piss and 101 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 1: gave zero fox. It all spoke so clearly to young 102 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: Shane McGowan. Punk rock didn't care about his ears. Punk 103 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 1: rock didn't care about his teeth. Punk rock didn't care 104 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:57,040 Speaker 1: about his nationality or his political beliefs either. It was 105 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: the commons back in Ireland, but being a punk was 106 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: as close as Shane McGowan could get to that Christmas feeling. 107 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:09,000 Speaker 1: Punk rock inspired Shane to form the band They initially 108 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: called the New Republicans, and they soon changed their name 109 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: to Pogue Mahone, which is Gaelic for kiss my Arse, 110 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:21,080 Speaker 1: and then finally to simply the Pogues. The band was 111 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: rooted in traditional Irish music, but just as the Pistols 112 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: had done to rock and roll, gave it a swift 113 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 1: kick in the ass. Led by Shane's poetic gutter speak. 114 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,959 Speaker 1: The Pogues played songs of rebellion and redemption, drinking songs 115 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 1: and ballads alike, and the sacred and the profane so 116 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 1: close to Shane's heart, but they did it all with 117 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 1: the energy and attitude of punk. While they were well 118 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: received by critics and peers when their debut album Read 119 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: Roses for Me it was released on Stiff Records in 120 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:54,840 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty four, they remained outsiders and underdogs, and this 121 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: was a time, remember when the musical landscape was dominated 122 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:03,559 Speaker 1: by big guitarists, big synthcisors, and even bigger hair. Into 123 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:08,440 Speaker 1: this landscape, the Pogues dared to play banjos, accordions and 124 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:12,320 Speaker 1: tin whistles. But Shane McGown could handle it being the underdog, 125 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: just like he had handled getting his ass kicked, or 126 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 1: rubbing elbows with associates of the Cray Brothers, or are 127 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: getting expelled from school, suffering hallucinations, hospitalized only to be 128 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: reborn by the sound and fury of Johnny Rotten. Shane 129 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: knew firsthand that life was not like one of those 130 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:34,760 Speaker 1: sentimental Christmas songs that took over the airways every year 131 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:38,080 Speaker 1: during the month of his birth. He knew that life 132 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:41,560 Speaker 1: was more like the best of Christmas songs, the ones 133 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: that at their core are sad laments, songs full of 134 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 1: heartache and regret, of longing for something that was gone forever, 135 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:52,960 Speaker 1: or maybe was never there in the first place. These 136 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,760 Speaker 1: songs elicited the same feeling Shane gout when he was 137 00:09:55,880 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 1: lonesome for the comments back in Ireland. I'm talking about 138 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: songs like I'll be home for Christmas, you know if 139 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: only in my dreams, or Darlene loves Christmas. And this 140 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: is the important part of the title, Baby Please Come Home. 141 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:14,040 Speaker 1: Shane was reminded that life was like the best of 142 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: those gloomy Christmas songs. Every time he was reminded of 143 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: a status as the underdog, and he was reminded of 144 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:24,360 Speaker 1: this again in nineteen eighty four, just as the Pogues 145 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:27,960 Speaker 1: were taking off, when a fellow musician previously thought to 146 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 1: be the Pogue's champion turned into an unwitting rival, and 147 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:36,440 Speaker 1: through that rivalry inspired Shane McGown to write the biggest 148 00:10:36,440 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: song of his life. October twelfth, nineteen eighty four, Brighton, England, 149 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 1: It was after midnight when English Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher 150 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 1: and her husband Dennis returned to the Napoleon Suite at 151 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 1: the Brighton Grand Hotel. Though she had spent all day 152 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: at the Conservative Party Congress, Thatcher had no intention of 153 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 1: going to bed. She planned to work well into the 154 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:29,560 Speaker 1: wee hours of the morning, while blearyad members of her 155 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,319 Speaker 1: staff tried their best to keep up. Thatcher had served 156 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,680 Speaker 1: as Prime Minister since nineteen seventy nine. She was a 157 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:40,199 Speaker 1: divisive leader. To put it mildly. Especially critical of her 158 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,960 Speaker 1: policies were the Irish, who for years had been caught 159 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:48,440 Speaker 1: up in their own violence struggle for identity and independence. Many, 160 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:52,000 Speaker 1: like Jerry Adams of shinfein the political arm of the 161 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 1: Irish Republican Army, found Thatcher to be an abusive tyrant 162 00:11:55,960 --> 00:12:02,040 Speaker 1: who regularly sanctioned discrimination, political censorship, even murder. Many artists 163 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 1: in the UK's thriving new wave and ska scenes were 164 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:09,080 Speaker 1: dissenting as well, with songs like The Specials ghost Town 165 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:14,040 Speaker 1: and The Beats Stand Down Margaret taking direct aim tonight. However, 166 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:18,240 Speaker 1: it wasn't a song aimed at Margaret Thatcher Tonight. Something 167 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:21,680 Speaker 1: far more deadly than a catchy melody was waiting to attack. 168 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,439 Speaker 1: It was nearly three am. Thatcher had just emerged from 169 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:29,960 Speaker 1: the hotel suite's bathroom when suddenly there was an enormous 170 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,840 Speaker 1: explosion from above. Thatcher felt her knees go weak as 171 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:38,880 Speaker 1: the entire building seemed to sway. The explosion gave way 172 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: to a loud, ominous rumble. It was coming from many 173 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:44,319 Speaker 1: floors above her room, but it seemed to be getting closer. 174 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,440 Speaker 1: Then it was moving fast. Plaster from the ceiling shook 175 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,840 Speaker 1: loose and fell to the floor. Thatcher's team was scrambling. 176 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:52,080 Speaker 2: Now. 177 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: Thatcher too, her husband Dennis, rudely awakened and stumbling around 178 00:12:56,559 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 1: in a daze. The noise was getting louder, growing close 179 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 1: right above them now, the walls shaking, people screaming, And 180 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,920 Speaker 1: then one of the hotel's old Victorian rooftop chimneys came 181 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: through the ceiling above them at an angle, slicing directly 182 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,280 Speaker 1: into the bathroom where only moments before Margaret Thatcher had 183 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:21,600 Speaker 1: been standing. Twenty four days earlier, a member of the 184 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:24,559 Speaker 1: IRA had planted one hundred pound bomb under a bathtub 185 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:28,000 Speaker 1: on the sixth floor of the hotel, a spot strategically 186 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:30,680 Speaker 1: chosen as it was close to an old chimney stack. 187 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:33,839 Speaker 1: The timer was set to go off during Thatcher's stay, 188 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 1: and the explosion would compromise the chimney and cause it 189 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:41,320 Speaker 1: to fall, collapsing through all five floors below until it 190 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 1: reached the Napoleon Suite with maximum momentum and kill Margaret 191 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:49,680 Speaker 1: Thatcher as she slept inside. The ploy would have worked 192 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:53,080 Speaker 1: perfectly if only the chimney hadn't veered off to an angle, 193 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:57,080 Speaker 1: or if Thatcher had still been inside that bathroom. As 194 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:01,480 Speaker 1: it happened, Thatcher survived with hardly a scratch. Not so 195 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 1: lucky were the more than thirty people inside the hotel 196 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 1: who were injured and five more who lost their lives, 197 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:10,400 Speaker 1: including a fifty five year old woman who was decapitated. 198 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:15,440 Speaker 1: A manhunt for the IRA bomb maker began immediately, but 199 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: first the cops made a stop in London at the 200 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:22,440 Speaker 1: offices of Stiff Records, the Pogues's record label, to arrest 201 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 1: Shane McGown, because only nine days before the hotel bombing 202 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:29,920 Speaker 1: and the attempt on Thatcher's life, Shane and the Pogues 203 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: had performed a show in that very same city, brighton 204 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:35,240 Speaker 1: a fact that the police were not willing to chalk 205 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:39,440 Speaker 1: up to a coincidence. And I'll tell you why. Shane 206 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 1: McGown sang rebel songs, songs it sympathized with Ireland's republican forces, 207 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: Or so the thinking went on the part of the 208 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 1: British authorities, those stiff upperloop types who equated the Pogue's 209 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: punk addle brand of traditional Irish music with criminal activity. 210 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: It had to look no further than the first track 211 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:00,800 Speaker 1: on the Pogue's debut album, a song called trans Metropolitan, 212 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 1: a song in which, during the very first verse, Shane 213 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: sings about getting drunk in the rosy parks of England 214 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 1: and then going to where the spirits take us to 215 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:12,920 Speaker 1: heaven or to hell and kick up bloody murder in 216 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: the town we loved so well. And if that wasn't enough, 217 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 1: And again this is some prim and proper random English 218 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:22,280 Speaker 1: police officer talking here. Just look at the quote unquote 219 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:26,920 Speaker 1: vile lyrics in this same song, piss, shite, puffs, horrors, 220 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:30,600 Speaker 1: queer as bastards. This is the world of Shane McGowan, 221 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: a drunken, politically motivated rabble rouser with rotting teeth and 222 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 1: an attitude to match, he should be silenced by any 223 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: means necessary or so want to thinking. Shane meanwhile, couldn't 224 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: care less about what the cops in London wanted to 225 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 1: do to him. He'd dealt with worse. He'd already been 226 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:53,480 Speaker 1: censored by the BBC for repeatedly saying fuck live on air, 227 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:55,640 Speaker 1: and he had the piss beaten out of him so 228 00:15:55,760 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: badly by some thugs in the basement of a London 229 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:00,080 Speaker 1: club that he suffered a concussion. It was on a 230 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 1: to perform the following evening. If the cops wanted him, 231 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,760 Speaker 1: they could come and find him, because right now, Shane 232 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 1: McGowan and the Pogues were on tour, and Shane had 233 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 1: more urgent problems than the cops. One problem, in particular 234 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 1: was riding on the tour bus with him a horn 235 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 1: room glasses wearing motherfucker who thought he was better than Shane. 236 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:24,960 Speaker 1: That guy, Elvis Costello didn't actually think he was better 237 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:27,960 Speaker 1: than Shane McGown, but Shane thought Elvis thought he was 238 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: better than Shane McGowan because everyone around them, including Shane's 239 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 1: own band, put Elvis on a pedestal, reminding Shane once 240 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: again of his underdog status. Elvis Costello was the star 241 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:45,560 Speaker 1: assigned to a major label, not Shane. Elvis Costello was 242 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:48,200 Speaker 1: the angry young man bridging the gap between the punks 243 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: and the new wave, not Shane. The only reason the 244 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:55,119 Speaker 1: Pogues were playing bigger venues, playing sessions for the influential 245 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:59,000 Speaker 1: BBC disc chockey John Peel, playing Channel four, hiring a 246 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,480 Speaker 1: real manager and so on, was because Elvis Costello hand 247 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:05,480 Speaker 1: picked them to open his tour with his band The Attractions, 248 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:10,199 Speaker 1: in support of their latest album, Goodbye Cruel World. But 249 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:16,200 Speaker 1: Shane knew that Elvis had an ulterior motive. Sure, Elvis 250 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:19,480 Speaker 1: liked the Pogues, but Elvis liked the Pogue's bass player, 251 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:22,320 Speaker 1: cat O Reardon with their spiky hair and sid Vicia 252 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:26,480 Speaker 1: sneer even better. Never mind that Elvis was thirty and 253 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:29,960 Speaker 1: Caught was just nineteen. It just rubbed Shane the wrong way, 254 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:34,200 Speaker 1: watching the bespectacled star the Pogues's meal ticket, as it were, 255 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:37,879 Speaker 1: get all handsy with his friend and ban me. So 256 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: Shane reacted in his own mischievous way. He and the 257 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 1: guys in the band painted Ira slogans on Elvis's coats 258 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,600 Speaker 1: and tour bus, and they drank all Elvis's booze, and 259 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:50,240 Speaker 1: they even poured sand into the keyboards belonging to the 260 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:54,680 Speaker 1: attraction Steve Naive. Still, Elvis refused to kick them off 261 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 1: the tour. That's how bad he had it for Cot. 262 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:01,119 Speaker 1: He had it so bad that he signed on to 263 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:05,000 Speaker 1: produce the Pogues his next record, their excellent sophomore album 264 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 1: with the equally excellent title Rum Sodomy in the Lash. 265 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:13,080 Speaker 1: But despite that great record and the increased exposure it 266 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:15,919 Speaker 1: brought to the band, Shane couldn't shake the feeling that 267 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 1: he was being looked down upon by big shot Elvis Costello. 268 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 1: The tension between the two artists continued to build until 269 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: Shane lost it while recording the song of Rainy Knight 270 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 1: and Soho for the Pogetry and Motion Repee, which Elvis 271 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:32,719 Speaker 1: also produced. Elvis wanted to use an obo in the 272 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:37,080 Speaker 1: instrumental break, perhaps inspired by the Beatles's Penny Lane, but 273 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:40,280 Speaker 1: Shane insisted it should be a cornet, and Shane wouldn't 274 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:43,639 Speaker 1: back down. He was the artist, this was his song. 275 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,320 Speaker 1: The only job Elvis had in Shane's mind was to 276 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:50,719 Speaker 1: put that artistry in that song on tape, and if 277 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:53,760 Speaker 1: he couldn't handle that. Then big shot Elvis Costello could 278 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:57,880 Speaker 1: just fuck write the hell off. So that's what Elvis did, 279 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:01,399 Speaker 1: and he took Shane mcgown's he heard, sid vicious sneering 280 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:07,000 Speaker 1: bass player with him, but not before he got inside 281 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 1: Shane's head by questioning his ability to pen a song 282 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:12,480 Speaker 1: so timeless that it would live on long after both 283 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:16,879 Speaker 1: of them were gone. Sure, Shane fancied himself an artist, 284 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:19,639 Speaker 1: and he was certainly that he worked his side of 285 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:22,919 Speaker 1: the street quite well, but it was a small, dimlylit 286 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:25,879 Speaker 1: street in a dirty old town where not everyone was 287 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,760 Speaker 1: willing to walk. What about the world stage, What about 288 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:33,120 Speaker 1: writing the most universal kind of song, a Christmas song, 289 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 1: even better, a Christmas duet. Elvis Costello bet Shane McGowan 290 00:19:39,119 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 1: that he couldn't do it. What Elvis wasn't betting on 291 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:46,200 Speaker 1: was how all Shane had to do was think about 292 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:50,280 Speaker 1: the comments back in Ireland, his own private Christmas which 293 00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:53,800 Speaker 1: lived rent free in his heart, and suddenly he was 294 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:57,359 Speaker 1: filled with an intense longing, the kind of longing found 295 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:01,680 Speaker 1: in the very best of Christmas songs. Shane McGowan then 296 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,240 Speaker 1: took all of that longing and put it into the 297 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: greatest Christmas song ever written. We'll be right back after 298 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 1: this word were were. I should clarify here that Elvis 299 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:29,120 Speaker 1: Costello does not remember making a bet with Shane McGowan 300 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 1: about whether or not he could write a proper Christmas song. Shane, 301 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:35,160 Speaker 1: on the other hand, swore as if it were yesterday 302 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:37,280 Speaker 1: that had happened, and he did so for the rest 303 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 1: of his life. It really doesn't matter either way whether 304 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:43,840 Speaker 1: the challenge was indeed thrown down or whether Shane simply 305 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 1: made it up as a way to amplify his talent 306 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 1: over Elvis's for the history books. In the end, the 307 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:51,679 Speaker 1: writing and recording of the pogues a song Fairytale of 308 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:55,879 Speaker 1: New York serves to underscore Shane's long held status as 309 00:20:55,920 --> 00:21:01,480 Speaker 1: an underdog. In nineteen eighty seven, music was having a moment. 310 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:05,840 Speaker 1: The compilation album A Very Special Christmas, produced by music 311 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:09,199 Speaker 1: industry mogul Jimmy Ivey, was released in October of that 312 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:12,760 Speaker 1: year to great acclaim. It featured modern covers of classic 313 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 1: Christmas songs and Christmas carols by some of the biggest 314 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,879 Speaker 1: names and music at the time, Whitney Houston singing do 315 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: you hear what I Hear? In John Cougar Mellencamp singing 316 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: I Saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus and whatnot. And this 317 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:28,000 Speaker 1: is also the album where we were blessed with run 318 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:33,119 Speaker 1: DMC's Incredible Christmas and Hollis. But without one exception, it 319 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:36,280 Speaker 1: may be also U two's version of Darlene Love's Christmas Baby, 320 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,520 Speaker 1: Please Come Home. The entire compilation is pretty much what 321 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: you'd expect in terms of sentimentality and substance, and by 322 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:45,919 Speaker 1: the time Christmas had come and gone that year, a 323 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:50,720 Speaker 1: very Special Christmas was certified quadruple platinum. Now imagine this. 324 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:55,320 Speaker 1: Just a month after that compilation was released, around Thanksgiving 325 00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:58,520 Speaker 1: of nineteen eighty seven, the Pogues dropped a new single 326 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:02,640 Speaker 1: from their forthcoming album, The Third Fairytale of New York 327 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 1: was their Christmas song, and in every way it was 328 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:09,240 Speaker 1: the exact antithesis of the songs on Jimmy Ivian's compilation. 329 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:15,119 Speaker 1: The song begins as a piano ballad, with Seane McGowan's 330 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:18,239 Speaker 1: battered voice slurring one of the greatest opening lines of 331 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:22,080 Speaker 1: all time. It was Christmas Eve Babe in the drunk 332 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,879 Speaker 1: tank from the jump. This is a Christmas song with 333 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: a wholy unique perspective that of a drunk, a gambler, 334 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:31,960 Speaker 1: a guy who's down on his luck, more often than not, 335 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:34,280 Speaker 1: trying to convince the love of his life that the 336 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:37,320 Speaker 1: days will get better, despite the fact that they are 337 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:40,640 Speaker 1: behind bars together on Christmas Eve, and when the band 338 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:44,199 Speaker 1: comes galloping in with their hypercharged Irish folk music, so 339 00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:48,120 Speaker 1: does The Drunk's Lover, sung by the englishwoman Kirsty McCall, 340 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,959 Speaker 1: Shane's dewebb partner. She's tired of hanging on to her 341 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:54,879 Speaker 1: man's broken promises and isn't afraid to tell him so. 342 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:58,879 Speaker 1: First he's handsome and she's pretty, and then all of 343 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,880 Speaker 1: a sudden, he's a bomb and a punk and she's 344 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 1: an old slut on junk. The song, co written by 345 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 1: Shane and the Pogues banjo player Jem Finer, is funny 346 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:14,360 Speaker 1: and it's sad. Ultimately, it's cautiously optimistic without losing its 347 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:18,960 Speaker 1: sense of melancholy. Just like the best Christmas songs, it's 348 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:23,160 Speaker 1: also one of the most controversial, evidenced by one particular lyric, 349 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:28,119 Speaker 1: a slur that rhymes with maggot uttered by Kirsty McCall's character, 350 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:32,159 Speaker 1: a word so offensive that the BBC eventually started bleeping 351 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:34,960 Speaker 1: it out every time it was played on air. Shane's 352 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,119 Speaker 1: defense of the use of the word was quote, not 353 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 1: all characters and songs and stories are angels, are even 354 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:45,680 Speaker 1: decent and respectable unquote. These are real, fleshed out characters here, 355 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:48,719 Speaker 1: characters you'd be more likely to find in a novel 356 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:51,439 Speaker 1: than in a Christmas song. And I think it's what 357 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 1: makes Fairytale of New York so great. Listening to it 358 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:58,560 Speaker 1: really does feel like the dialogue between Shane and Christy 359 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:00,840 Speaker 1: was ripped directly from a drunk in a New York 360 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:04,120 Speaker 1: City police station. In the face of much more popular 361 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:09,439 Speaker 1: artists offering up safe, sanitized covers of classic Christmas cheese, Shane, 362 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,879 Speaker 1: Jem Christi and the Pogues delivered a masterclass in how 363 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 1: to create something new and exciting and provocative. The song 364 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 1: was a top ten hit in the UK upon its 365 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,639 Speaker 1: original release. In Ireland, it went to number one and 366 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,399 Speaker 1: stayed there for five weeks, and when it came to 367 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,560 Speaker 1: the nineteen eighty seven Christmas number one chart, the odds 368 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:30,920 Speaker 1: were on Fairytale of New York to win that by 369 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:35,480 Speaker 1: a landslide. This would be no minor achievement for Shane McGowan. 370 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,600 Speaker 1: In fact, it was quite the opposite. The song was 371 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,000 Speaker 1: featured on The Pogues's third album, If I Should Fall 372 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,719 Speaker 1: from Grace with God, produced not by Elvis, who had 373 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 1: successfully stolen Caught O Reared In permanently from the band, 374 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 1: but by Steve Lillywhite, known for his work with Peter 375 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,160 Speaker 1: Gabriel and You Two. It was the Pogues's biggest record 376 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:58,360 Speaker 1: to date, but that record, the creative act of making it, 377 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:00,720 Speaker 1: and of making Fairytale of New Us Or under the 378 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,440 Speaker 1: pressure of proving his worth to a rival singer songwriter, 379 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: whether it was imagined or not, had an immediate and 380 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:12,720 Speaker 1: adverse effect on Shane McGowan. It was the middle of 381 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,680 Speaker 1: the evening when Victoria Mary Clark's phone began to ring. 382 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,639 Speaker 1: The Irish journalist wasn't expecting the voice on the other end. 383 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:24,120 Speaker 1: It was her boyfriend's landlady calling about her boyfriend Shane McGowan. 384 00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:28,399 Speaker 1: Something was wrong with him, something so wrong that his 385 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:31,119 Speaker 1: landlady felt compelled to wring up his girlfriend in the 386 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:35,480 Speaker 1: dead of night. Shane's love of and sometimes over love 387 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: of alcohol is well documented. He was rarely seen on 388 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:41,760 Speaker 1: stage or off without a pint a bottle or a 389 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:44,439 Speaker 1: glass of wine in his hand, but it wasn't the 390 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:48,480 Speaker 1: drink that his landlady was concerned about. No, Lately, he'd 391 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:52,239 Speaker 1: been taking loads of LSD. One day, she found him 392 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:56,200 Speaker 1: in his room, tripping his balls off, clutching a Samurai 393 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:59,040 Speaker 1: sword and staring at a chair that he just slashed 394 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:02,800 Speaker 1: to pieces. Another time, he chased her to the stairway 395 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,480 Speaker 1: and threw his favorite guitar at her. Victoria quickly put 396 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:08,719 Speaker 1: on some clothes and made a beeline for Shane's flat, 397 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:11,000 Speaker 1: and when she arrived, she found him in his kitchen, 398 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: his eyes bouncing around in his head. He told her 399 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:18,680 Speaker 1: he dropped fifteen, maybe twenty tabs of acid. He'd lost count. 400 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,120 Speaker 1: He was holding a copy of The Beach Boy's Greatest Hits, 401 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,480 Speaker 1: Volume three, but he wasn't listening to it. He was 402 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:28,600 Speaker 1: trying to eat it. Blood was running down his face, 403 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:31,359 Speaker 1: just oozing from his mouth, and there was blood and 404 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 1: bite marks all over the LP jacket. Shane was rambling. 405 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: World War three was imminent. He knew it, which is 406 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,879 Speaker 1: why he was holding an emergency meeting in his kitchen 407 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:44,720 Speaker 1: with the heads of the world's superpowers, and he Shane McGowan, 408 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,960 Speaker 1: as leader of the Irish Republic, was demonstrating the cultural 409 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:54,160 Speaker 1: inferiority of America by eating a Beach Boys record. From there, 410 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:58,399 Speaker 1: things got even worse, if you can imagine. Shane kept 411 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:03,200 Speaker 1: taking loads of ellist and ecstasy. He started using heroin too, 412 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:05,879 Speaker 1: and he was hit by a car more than once. 413 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:10,040 Speaker 1: He jumped from a moving taxi. He started fires. He 414 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:14,120 Speaker 1: was committed to a psychiatric hospital. He was released, relapsed, 415 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:16,679 Speaker 1: randomly attacked a guy and was sent back to the 416 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,840 Speaker 1: psych ward again. He was released again. He relapsed again. 417 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:22,359 Speaker 1: He was knocking back ten twenty acid tabs at a time. 418 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:26,359 Speaker 1: He missed shows, including dates opening for Bob Dylan, and 419 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:28,200 Speaker 1: when he did make it to the stage, he forgot 420 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 1: the lyrics. He was drunk and high twenty four to seven. Finally, 421 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:38,720 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety one, during a tour of Japan, the 422 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:41,600 Speaker 1: band convened a meeting in a hotel room. It was 423 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:44,480 Speaker 1: there that the Pogues informed Shane McGown that they were 424 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 1: firing him from the Pogues, to which Shane replied, what 425 00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:53,639 Speaker 1: took you so long? This was a four year period 426 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:55,800 Speaker 1: of free fall that can be traced all the way 427 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:59,040 Speaker 1: back to the start December of nineteen eighty seven, the 428 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,879 Speaker 1: week of Christmas, and to the crowning of that year's 429 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:05,880 Speaker 1: Christmas number one song in the UK, because that year's 430 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:09,560 Speaker 1: Christmas number one was not the Pogues's fairy Tale of 431 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 1: New York as had been predicted. Instead, it was the 432 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:16,640 Speaker 1: Pet Shop Boys who were the ones to reach number 433 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:20,320 Speaker 1: one with Always on My Mind. The Pogues only made 434 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 1: it to number two. Just like not all characters and 435 00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:27,360 Speaker 1: songs and stories our angels are even decent and respectable. 436 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:30,879 Speaker 1: Not all artists and songwriters get the chart topping recognition 437 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 1: they deserve. Some of them are destined to be underdogs 438 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 1: for life. Hey guys, real quick, there was this crazy 439 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:55,520 Speaker 1: story that we unearthed in the research for this Shame 440 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:57,960 Speaker 1: of Gown episode that involves the Pogues, Tom Wade's and 441 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: Elvis Costello drunkenly re creating the killing of gangster John 442 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:05,760 Speaker 1: Dillinger in a Chicago alleyway back in the nineteen eighties. 443 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:08,760 Speaker 1: That sounds like fun. I mean, this is so on 444 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:12,040 Speaker 1: brand for us because it's got the legendary true crime 445 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:16,360 Speaker 1: figure John Dillinger, it's got icons the music history, the Pogues, 446 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:19,240 Speaker 1: Tom Waits Elvis Costello, and it also features one of 447 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 1: the wildest impromptu pickup band performances that nobody ever saw. 448 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:25,960 Speaker 1: But here's the thing, we just didn't have enough time 449 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,280 Speaker 1: or space in our full episode to talk about this fully. 450 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: But we do have time in this week's brand new 451 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,160 Speaker 1: mini episode of Disgraceland, which is part of the exclusive 452 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:35,880 Speaker 1: content for All Access members. If you're not a member 453 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:38,040 Speaker 1: of All Access and you want to hear why in 454 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:40,160 Speaker 1: the hell Tom Waits, Elvis Costello and the Pogues made 455 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:41,920 Speaker 1: a pub crawl that ended with a visit to a 456 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: notorious Ali. Just go to disgrace lampod dot com to 457 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:46,680 Speaker 1: sign up and listen to that today. All right, now, 458 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,200 Speaker 1: let's get back to our story here all about Shane McGowan. 459 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:56,760 Speaker 1: Autumn two thousand and one. Jem Finer the Poges is 460 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:00,320 Speaker 1: banjo player and co songwriter knocked hard on the wooden 461 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:03,400 Speaker 1: door of a small and assuming cottage to his back. 462 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:06,880 Speaker 1: The Commons splayed out in all of its natural, breathtaking 463 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: wonder County Tipperary was far from Dublin. Compared to a 464 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: place like London, it was a whole other world here. 465 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 1: Life was slow and quiet at least on the outside. 466 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:24,520 Speaker 1: On the inside, behind the front door of that cottage, 467 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:29,360 Speaker 1: jem could hear singing, yelling, and bottles emptying and glasses clinking. 468 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 1: He knocked again, Still nothing. He pulled a cell phone 469 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:38,280 Speaker 1: from his jacket and dialed a number. It rang, and 470 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:42,440 Speaker 1: then someone picked up. It was Shane. Many many sheets 471 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,680 Speaker 1: to the wind for folks sake, Jemmy yelled into the phone, 472 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:49,680 Speaker 1: come open the fucking door. Seconds later, the wooden door 473 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:53,040 Speaker 1: swung open and there was Shane Agown, the guy whom 474 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:55,240 Speaker 1: jem and the others had fired from the Pogue some 475 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:58,960 Speaker 1: ten years prior, the same guy who had started a 476 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:03,000 Speaker 1: new band, Sane McGowan and the Popes, but it continued 477 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,800 Speaker 1: to be plagued by junk cocaine and fetamines and by 478 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:11,400 Speaker 1: a bottomless bottle. He looked haggard, perhaps worse than ever. 479 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:15,160 Speaker 1: He'd watched not one but two friends overdose in his 480 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,240 Speaker 1: flat back in the city. He'd been arrested after fellow 481 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:21,520 Speaker 1: Irish singer Snead O'Connor squealed on his drug use to 482 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:24,320 Speaker 1: the cops, and he was pissed at Shanaid when she 483 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:27,080 Speaker 1: did that, although he later came around and he actually 484 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:31,080 Speaker 1: thanked her. Shanade's squealing and led Shane to kick heroin. 485 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:35,240 Speaker 1: He kept his other vices. Though we'd lost Victoria, his 486 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 1: longtime girlfriend, at least for the time being. Sometimes it 487 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 1: seemed like all Shane had was this place. The Commons. Jem, 488 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:48,840 Speaker 1: on the other hand, had something else to offer. He 489 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:50,880 Speaker 1: was there to ask Shane if he wanted to reunite 490 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:53,320 Speaker 1: with the Pogues for a handful of Christmas shows that year. 491 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:58,200 Speaker 1: Shane was all in. They booked dates for one week 492 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:04,360 Speaker 1: only that December Glasgow, Birmingham, Dublin, Manchester and three nights 493 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:08,320 Speaker 1: at the Brixton Academy in London. Demand was high, as 494 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:10,960 Speaker 1: were spirits, and for any fan of the Pogues it 495 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:14,480 Speaker 1: was the best Christmas present they could ask for. More 496 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:18,040 Speaker 1: Christmases came and went, one in which Shane received twenty 497 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:21,200 Speaker 1: eight implants on a titanium frame to fix his bad teeth, 498 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:25,000 Speaker 1: an occasion so momentous that a documentary was made about it. 499 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:28,480 Speaker 1: And there was also the Christmas in which Shane reconciled 500 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:31,240 Speaker 1: with Victoria, not to mention the one where the two 501 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:36,080 Speaker 1: finally tied the knot after an eleven year engagement. Christmas 502 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:39,120 Speaker 1: of twenty twenty two was nearly spent in the hospital 503 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:43,080 Speaker 1: where Shane was laid up with viral encephalitis and inflammation 504 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:46,760 Speaker 1: of the brain. Doctors cleared him right before the holiday, 505 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:50,720 Speaker 1: but six months later he was back hospitalized, this time 506 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:54,840 Speaker 1: with pneumonia. He was there from June to November, but 507 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:58,360 Speaker 1: just one day after his release he went into septic shock, 508 00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:02,880 Speaker 1: and six days later, on November thirtieth, twenty twenty three, 509 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:08,840 Speaker 1: Shane McGowan was dead. He was sixty five years old. 510 00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:13,960 Speaker 1: Immediately after Shane's death, Fairytale of New York went straight 511 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:17,320 Speaker 1: to number one in Ireland. The band then reissued the 512 00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:19,800 Speaker 1: single on seven inch final in hopes that a combination 513 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:22,520 Speaker 1: of sales and mourning for Shane would finally cement the 514 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:26,640 Speaker 1: song as that year's Christmas number one once again. However, 515 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:30,800 Speaker 1: the Pogues were denied the Christmas number one in the 516 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:33,760 Speaker 1: UK on December twenty fifth, twenty twenty three was not 517 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:38,120 Speaker 1: Fairytale of New York as many would have expected. Instead, 518 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:42,800 Speaker 1: that honor went to Wham's Last Christmas, which earned its 519 00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:47,320 Speaker 1: first Christmas number one thirty nine years after its original release. 520 00:33:48,840 --> 00:33:51,160 Speaker 1: Some thought that it was Shane McGowan's final wish to 521 00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:54,720 Speaker 1: get a Christmas number one. In reality, he only cared 522 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:58,080 Speaker 1: if the song went to number one in Ireland, County Tipperary, 523 00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:01,640 Speaker 1: the Commons, the people, the colure. That's where his heart 524 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:07,200 Speaker 1: remained even in death. Besides, everyone knew what his final 525 00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:11,359 Speaker 1: wish was. It was right there in his will. Seane 526 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:14,279 Speaker 1: McGowan left behind ten thousand dollars for an open bar 527 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:17,680 Speaker 1: tab at his favorite pub and Tipperary, where locals who 528 00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:20,360 Speaker 1: packed the place after a funeral procession in the streets 529 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:24,080 Speaker 1: of Dublin saw crowds erupt into a spontaneous rendition of 530 00:34:24,160 --> 00:34:27,920 Speaker 1: Fairytale of New York. It's a song that remains a 531 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:30,960 Speaker 1: standard of the holiday season, even if it never hit 532 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:34,760 Speaker 1: the top of the holiday chart. As its producer Steve 533 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:37,640 Speaker 1: Lillywhite said, I love the fact that it's never been 534 00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:42,840 Speaker 1: number one. It's for the underdog. In fact, it's for everyone, 535 00:34:43,480 --> 00:34:47,680 Speaker 1: for those who find salvation, for those who fall from grace. 536 00:34:49,719 --> 00:35:08,440 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgraceland. All right, guys, 537 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:11,560 Speaker 1: Merry Christmas, and thanks for listening to this episode of Disgraceland. 538 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:13,959 Speaker 1: This week's question of the Week is an obvious one. 539 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:17,000 Speaker 1: What's your number one Christmas song? Let me know which 540 00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:20,040 Speaker 1: Christmas song is your favorite and why? Six one seven 541 00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:22,600 Speaker 1: nine oh six six six three eight. Leave me a voicemail, 542 00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:24,160 Speaker 1: send me a text to hit me up on the 543 00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:28,800 Speaker 1: socials at disgraceslampod dot com. All right, here comes some credits. 544 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,799 Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 545 00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:37,239 Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be 546 00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:40,879 Speaker 1: found on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 547 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:44,040 Speaker 1: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank 548 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:46,759 Speaker 1: you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it, and 549 00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:49,120 Speaker 1: if not, you can become a member right now by 550 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:53,800 Speaker 1: going to disgracelampod dot com slash. Membership members can listen 551 00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:57,960 Speaker 1: to every episode of Disgraceland ad free, rate and review 552 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:00,400 Speaker 1: the show, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and 553 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:04,560 Speaker 1: Facebook at disgracelandpod and on YouTube at YouTube dot com 554 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:08,120 Speaker 1: slash at disgracelamdpod Rock a Roller 555 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:13,839 Speaker 2: He's a bad don man.