Men of the Quaff

'Guts, balls and feet music, yeah?'

If there was ever a person to candidly illustrate to the nation's youngsters the stark consequences of a lifetime of excess booxing, it's Shane MacGowan. Just look at him - half of his face has gone missing, along with his capacity to speak. In the main it's down to his love, nay, obsession for getting the drinks in. Add a rather worrying crack and crystal meth habit and you can understand why he looks like he's been brushing his teeth with sulphuric acid every morning. (MacGowan actually admits he nevers brushes his teeth, with acid or otherwise.)

This legendary lush got the hang of substance abuse at an early age. His Irish family moved to London when he was six and by the time he was 13 he had a scholarship and was accepted into a top public school. After a year, he was caught with drugs on him and kicked out.

Despite exhibiting all the classic signs of alcoholism, MacGowan had always beena talented songwriter and while his first band, the Nipple Erectors, didn't go anywhere, he soon made a big impact with punk/folk outfit Pogue Mahone ('kiss my arse' in Gaelic). Changing their name to The Pogues, their mix of British punk and Irish folk struck a chord with music fans everywhere.

MacGowan's back catalogue is a testament to a life soaked in grog but his musical output has been completely overshadowed by his very public boozing, the only time radio stations play his tracks is when Fairytale of New York gets murdered at Christmas time.

Quotes:

"I'm just following the Irish tradition of songwriting, the Irish way of life, the human way of life. Cram as much pleasure into life, and rail against the pain you have to suffer as a result. Or scream and rant with the pain, and wait for it to be taken away with beautiful pleasure."

"The most important thing to remember about drunks is that drunks are far more intellegent than non-drunks. They spend a lot of time talking in pubs, unlike workaholics who concentrate on their careers and ambitions, who never develop their higher spiritual values, who never explore the insides of their head like a drunk does."

"The British press have been giving me six months to live for the past twenty years - they must be getting pissed off interviewing me by now."