"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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