大象传媒

It's the end of the night. You've had one too many pints and you're about to head home, but something stops you in your tracks. At the end of the bar you see a rangy guy, with a shock of hair, teeth like a graveyard, and wide staring eyes. He starts to sing. And once you begin to comprehend the words, rather than the slurred, drawling way in which they are delivered, you realise that this is some of the greatest poetry ever written.

That's what it was like to hear Shane MacGowan sing, at his very best.

For many Irish people in London in the 1970s and 80s, The Pogues - and Shane MacGowan - embodied the London Irish experience, combining the sound of their homeland, with the vivid backdrop of the tough city they now called home.

For 大象传媒 Radio London and 大象传媒 Radio Ulster, Steven Rainey pays tribute to MacGowan, and explores how the capital inspired his unique brand of London-Irish Celtic punk.

(Image Credit: Getty Images)