A Furious Devotion: The Life of Shane MacGowan

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Irish Post, 2020 https://www.irishpost.com/news/the-pogues-controversially-branded-english-rather-than-irish-on-wikipedia-189680 Janet Street-Porter. "Editor-At-Large: Tasteless, rude, brilliant (not you, Shane)". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017 . Retrieved 4 April 2004. MacGowan drew upon his Irish heritage when founding The Pogues and changed his early punk style for a more traditional sound with tutoring from his extended family. Many of his songs are influenced by Irish nationalism, Irish history, the experiences of the Irish diaspora (particularly in England and the United States), and London life in general. These influences are documented in the biography Rake at the Gates of Hell: Shane MacGowan in Context. He has often cited the 19th-century Irish poet James Clarence Mangan and playwright Brendan Behan as influences. Between 1985 and 1987, he co-wrote " Fairytale of New York", which he performed with Kirsty MacColl. In the following years MacGowan and The Pogues released several albums. I saw images of him on YouTube the other week at a funeral, Frank Murray’s, very disturbing, I said a prayer for the guy, I was almost in tears seeing the state he was in because it was really horrific, and I actually like the guy, as annoying as he used to be. I haven’t seen him since the ’80s. All I see is a guy getting older and now in a wheelchair, and it’s heartbreaking, man, it’s f***ing heartbreaking. I think people are being way too indulgent with him.

MacGowan made a return to stage on 13 June 2019 at the RDS Arena in Dublin as a guest for Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders. [22] Shane MacGowan and Ed Sheeran win Ivor Novello awards". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020 . Retrieved 10 May 2020. After If I Should Fall From Grace With God, MacGowan would stay with the Pogues for two more albums, but he had wanted out after that tour ended. He was not in his right mind, gobbling insane amounts of LSD and having conversations with a dead Jimi Hendrix, among other pastimes. When the Pogues were invited to open six shows for Bob Dylan in 1989, MacGowan failed to show because he was holed up in a friend’s apartment in London, strung out like a kite. The band played the shows without him, though it’s not clear if Dylan even noticed.A Furious Devotion vividly recounts the experiences that shaped the greatest songwriter of his generation: the formative trips to his mother’s homestead in Tipperary, the explosion of punk which changed his life, and the drink and drugs that nearly ended it. A short spell at London’s hallowed Westminster school, where Clarke says he was bullied, was followed by a period of confinement for mental health problems. Both periods, Clarke believes, left their scars. More recently, MacGowan fell into what she describes as a depressive “tailspin” after a fall that has immobilised him. It was shortly followed by the sudden death of his mother: “He’d thought he’d go on for ever taking risks and nothing would get him. He didn’t want to talk or see people and it lasted years.” Disalvo, Tom (6 December 2022). "Shane MacGowan of The Pogues admitted to hospital". NME . Retrieved 12 December 2022. Balls also conducted interviews with MacGowan’s friends, family (including wife Victoria Mary Clarke), and fellow musicians, many of whom had never spoken publicly about the musician. The author spent time at the family homestead in Tipperary as well, with Shane’s sister Siobhan MacGowan, a writer in her own right who provided invaluable insight and context for the book.

Petridis, Alexis (28 November 2013). "The Pogues: 30 Years – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018 . Retrieved 10 June 2018. A fascinating portrait of ex-Pogue and folk-punk pioneer Shane MacGowan', Great books for Christmas selection, Choice MagazineHe may have drawn compulsively once but it is music that hounds him now, with tunes forming constantly in his head: “I am always writing songs. It is far more effort to draw. I am in the later stages now of recording the album with a new band and we have amazing chemistry.” Shane's Sunny Delight". Shanemacgowan.is-great.org. 21 November 2010. Archived from the original on 30 July 2013 . Retrieved 19 April 2014.