Authors: Shane MacGowan, Victoria Mary Clarke, Victoria Mary Clarke
ISBN-13: 9780802137906, ISBN-10: 0802137903
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Date Published: May 2001
Edition: 1 AMER ED
Best known as the cofounder of the Irish band The Pogues, Shane MacGowan has become a cult figure on the alternative-music scene. His achingly beautiful lyrics, as well as his legendary lifestyle of excess, have earned him an avid following that packs his shows and buys his albums. One of the most unusual memoirs to come along in quite a while, A Drink with Shane MacGowan is structured as a series of interviews between MacGowan and his wife, Clarke. The singer recounts his experiences growing up on a farm in Ireland, where his family began giving him two pints of Guinness a night at the tender age of five and his father took him to hang out with bookies and drunks at the local pub. He tells of moving to London and becoming part of the London club scene in the mid-1970s, just as punk was beginning to emerge, offering a firsthand portrait of a seminal time and place in music history. MacGowan also provides his own, strongly opinionated views on The Pogues' success and the reasons for his abrupt departure from the band. As he invites us into this fascinating world, MacGowan tells many hilarious stories and riffs on a wide range of subjects, from Irish history and politics to literature, film, religion, his own substance abuse, and much more. Sometimes maddening, sometimes charming, often brilliant, and always honest, A Drink with Shane MacGowan is an enjoyable romp with a truly unique personality. PRAISE FOR SHANE MACGOWAN: "MacGowan can be a dazzling songwriter, channeling his unruliness into rambunctious tales of drinking, sporting, drinking, fighting, and drinking."--Los Angeles Times
MacGowan can be a dazzling songwriter, channeling his unruliness into rambunctious tales of drinking, sporting, drinking, fighting, and drinking.
Acknowledgements | vii |
Forewords | ix |
Act One A rugged Irish cottage, night | 1 |
Act Two Filthy McNasty's Whisky Café, Islington, | |
London, night | 39 |
INTERVAL | |
Act Three | |
Scene One Plethora restaurant, Islington, London, | |
early winter evening | 93 |
Scene Two A black taxi, London, night | 111 |
REFRESHMENTS | |
Act Four Luxurious house in Hampstead, London, early | |
winter morning | 119 |
Act Five Lone tour bus, desolate highway, USA, day | 165 |
Act Six First-class cabin, transatlantic aircraft, | |
evening. Airport lounge | 251 |
Act Seven Shannon Airport, Ireland, morning | 273 |
Act Eight A rugged Irish cottage, night | 319 |