"It won't stop us singing" - The Pogues Interview on Being Banned From Radio (1988)

"There were six men in Birmingham, in Guildford, there's four,
That were picked up and tortured and framed by the law,
And the filth got promotion, but they're still doing time
For being Irish in the wrong place and at the wrong time..."
On 20 December 1988, Celtic punk band The Pogues were interviewed by ITN's Penny Marshall backstage at the Brixton Academy, where the band were about to perform. Band members Terry Woods, Darryl Hunt, and Philip Chevron spoke about the decision by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) to ban their new song, Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six, after the Home Office issued a directive to ban the broadcasting of individuals supportive of terrorist groups in Northern Ireland. Written by the Pogues' multi-instrumentalist, Terry Woods, and primary singer and songwriter Shane MacGowan, the song in fact told the story of the Birmingham Six, a group of Irish men who, the song alleged, had been wrongfully imprisoned following an IRA bomb attack in Birmingham. In 1991, the British high court found that the Birmingham Six had indeed been wrongfully convicted, and ordered their immediate release. The ban on the song was lifted soon after.
Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan has died aged 65, following a long period of ill-health. Born in Kent to Irish parents, MacGowan spent much of his childhood between Tipperary and London. His poetic fusion of traditional and modern themes and forms, together with his raw, howling delivery, saw him recognised as one of the most distinctive performers and celebrated songwriters in his lifetime. In 2018, MacGowan was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Irish President Michael D. Higgins, and later honoured with the Ivor Novello Inspiration Award for songwriting. Tributes to the power and influence of his songwriting have been paid by his fellow band members as well as artists across the music industry.
#ShaneMacGowan #ThePogues #Pogues #BirminghamSix #Irish #IrishMusic #Folk #Punk #Celtic #CelticMusic
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[@highbury1972]

Sadly Darryl and Phil are no longer with us. RIP ✝️

[@robbiemontgomery581]

Such a great band. Glad I caught them a few times. Never experienced anything like it before or since.

[@paulgreen1821]

Laughable this was allowed to happen. The Guildford Four were cleared a year later and the Birmingham Six 18 months after that.

[@clonmanytidytowns]

These are brilliant clips Thanks

[@voodoochile804]

The thinking person's band.

[@oinkooink]

Look how politically correct things are today. All dissent, any opposition is immediately destroyed and shouted down as bigotry, racism, sexism, some kind of phobia or hate speech. Opinion has been snookered today. Toe the party line or lose your job, or worse.

[@seanogorman3617]

Came here to say this. Especially here in Canada. Very bright lads were the pogues.

[@blackferdinand2260]

Mate, you’ve got it the wrong way. Today is much freer than ever before. Your generation had things like the parental advisory stickers invented. The people of today have standards and expect things of those we give a platform and money to. Don’t let American propaganda from their corporations tell you how the world is. The Irish should strive to be any of those -isms anyway because we were victims of it

[@oinkooink]

@@blackferdinand2260 "Freedom" creates gluttony and degeneracy. Freedom opens vice. The people of today have prescribed standards and expect to be able to fulfill every perverted fantasy and they do. My generation knew restraint and responsibility. The wheels have fallen off today, no matter how you slice it or dice it.

[@irishroverandthecrew]

Exactly, "free west", if they could only see what they are doing to us now !

[@otaku1524]

Politicians whinging on about 'ah, you make us look bad so we ban your song -1988. Judiciary and politicians find out songwriters were right and free prisoners. Later lift ban - 1991.

[@B2Unit]

if these old tapes are being digitised can they at least be deinterlaced for uploading to youtube? many channels are doing it properly uploading them at 50fps to preserve the deinterlaced picture.