Hmmmm... Interesting thoughts. I think he's done a lot for English music, coming as he does from Kilburn. ;) Seriously, I think it's fair to say that his writing is part of the tradition of Irish balladry - urban context obviously due to personal experience. Technique-wise, yes he's a rotten singer, but more entertaining than a lot of others, for example, in Irish Rover, Shane (IMHO) sounds a lot better than bloke from dubliners (name escapes me at the moment), Similarly, Fariytale of New York is great until Kirsty McColl (dearly missed) starts to sing. I don't think she really got the point of the song - sounds to me like she's treating it as a jolly xmas sing-a-long, which really it isn't.

Grab makes an interesting point.

"The Pogues just happened to be in the right place to cash in on punk music, for which you didn't need to be able to sing or play particularly well, you just needed to be able to hit those strings hard, shout loud and get in fights!"

This is precisely the Image that went with punk. Having said that, I can't think of too many succesful punk bands who couldn't actually play rather well.

To whit: Stiff Little Fingers, Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys, Lard, Dickies, Clash, Anti-Nowhere League, Toy dolls etc.

If you want further proof, go and learn how to play the Kennedy's "Holiday in Cambodia" -

The same is true of the Pogues. The music is better crafted than you might think at first hearing. The arrangements were very tight, certainly on record. Never seen them live, though, so I can't comment on that.

Interesting thread.

EJ