This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #127 (December 2006/January 2007).
The full article is in the magazine, available on newsstands, by subscription, and at the Dirty Linen webstore.

Shaking Out the Sheets: Dirty Linen Classics

by Peggy Latkovich

The Pogues
Red Roses for Me
Rhino R2-74071 (2006)

The Pogues
Rum Sodomy & The Lash
Rhino R2 74072 (2006)

The Pogues
If I Should Fall From Grace With God
Rhino R2 74069 (2006)

The Pogues
Hell's Ditch
Rhino R2 74067 (2006)

The Pogues
Peace & Love
Rhino R2 74070 (2006)

At South by Southwest a couple of years ago, we stopped in to catch Flogging Molly's set. After watching a burly, heavily tattooed fan in a green kilt take a flipping stage dive into the crowd, we thought it best to secure a safe place near an exit. "Kick-ass band," I thought, "but where's the heart?" It set me to thinking back on those godfathers of Celt-punk, the Pogues. Without the Pogues, there would be no Flogging Molly, no Dropkick Murphys, no Boys from County Hell. As nihilistic and in-your-face as the Pogues could be, Shane McGowan could always break your heart with a grittily poetic turn of phrase.

This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #127 (December 2006/January 2007).
The full article is in the magazine, available on newsstands, by subscription, and at the Dirty Linen webstore.

Copyright ©2006 Dirty Linen, Ltd, Baltimore, MD