The pogues are to ireland as ? is to scotland?

[Bertram Henze]

I never found the Pogues "vulgar"

Now try and tell that Mr. Yeats
Thinking back to his face looking at me from the old 20 pound note, I can imagine what a culture shock a "modern" song about drink must have been to him - I mean a song explicitly calling it "drink", not "Nancy"...

[Bertram Henze]

You could also make a good case for the Proclaimers.

I understand what you mean - they are quite far away from traditional music, but they have the crowd hopping. It's a bit like a soccer championship atmosphere (the modern battle).

[Bren]

Yes, the Pogues are about the songs first and foremost.

You also have to consider the social impact at the time they came along - "all things Irish" were not as trendy in the UK as they became in the late 80s/early 90s. In fact there was quite a lot of hatred and mockery. Irish trad music thrived in the folkie ghetto culturally but was becoming a bit polite and parlour-musicky when it reached the general public, compared to the lusty heyday of the Dubliners.

Punk music had mutated into a rather bombastic "New Romantic" style and wasn't providing much satisfaction.

The Pogues gave a good boot up the backside to both folk and pop music and gave voice to a frustrated subculture that valued tunes and songs and trad music but not twee-ness.

[Jill McAuley]

Bren's hit the nail on the head here - great post!

Cheers,
Jill

[Canoedad]

Bren's hit the nail on the head here - great post!

Yep. And to give a bit of an example of Bren's point, the Pogues first hit the airwaves as "Pogue Mahone" (kissmyass in gaelic) till the BBC figured out what it meant and refused to say it

[mrmando]

The lyrics Shane wrote were head and shoulders above what all the pretenders to his throne have spewed out.

Yes, too bad they were indecipherable.

I saw the Pogues on Saturday Night Live once, with Shane in rare form. You could tell he was on about something, but not what. Song finishes, camera switches to Dennis Miller, who ad libs: "You know, you've gotta love the Pogues. But then I always was a sucker for lyrics."

[Loretta Callahan]

Great ... two new groups to add to my music collection: Wolfstone and the Proclaimers, even if the latter dress a bit like the Beach Boys. Always learn something new at the cafe.

[Bren]

too bad they were indecipherable

Well, Shane could mumble a bit live (although his singing is always clearer than his speech) but the lyrics on the records are mostly very clear, clearer than, say, most Elvis records and we seem to be able to accommodate them.

To answer the question though, I don't think there are any direct equivalents in Scotland in "songs" bands although the burgeoning alternative ceilidh band scene definitely acquired a bit of a punk edge about that time which has carried through into what are now well-established bands. I remember hearing early releases of "The Dark Streets of London" and "The Boys from County Hell" one night on John Peel and thinking "this is it" and bumping into a bass player (in a soul band at the time) in the pub the next day who was similarly enthused and went straight off to start/join a ceilidh band which is still going.

[Bertram Henze]

...One similar solution for Scotland would probably sound completely different. Here is one suggestion:
1 - the stereotype: hardy warriors, the stench of blood, sweat and testosterone
2 - the existing musical genre: pipes and drums marching bands
3 - the other musical genre: Heavy Metal

Whatever that results in, i guess it is a mixture of Bannockburn and Kiss, or "Tossin' the Guitar"

I am now able to reference an example which is approximately what I was aiming at (just replace the Irish tune by a pipe march):

[ISU Trout Bum]

Check out The Peatbog Faeries from Skye, if you don't know them. Not 'punk' in the way that the Pogues were/are, and they are primarily a tunes band, rather than a song band. More a blend of Scottish Folk, rock, electronica and jazz. Fun stuff though!

And here is a nice interview with them for their most recent disk.

[Darren Bailey]

The Pogues are to ireland as Sheena Easton is to Scotland.

[neil argonaut]

The Pogues are to ireland as Sheena Easton is to Scotland.

[Bertram Henze]

The Pogues are to ireland as Sheena Easton is to Scotland.

Now there's an approach I totally missed out on

[sean cannon]

Try john mccusker he is an amazing scots instrumentalist