And now Shane McGowan has gone. I doubt he needs any introduction.
There is really only one song that I can use to illustrate his legacy. It is most people’s favourite “Christmas” song. It does not deal with traditional Christmas themes.
I note this is not the version with the “cleaned-up” lyric. (Though the person typing out the lyrics did misspell a four letter word.)
The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl: Fairy Tale of New York
Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan: 25/12/1957 – 30/11/2023. So it goes.
A rather typical mid-1960s piece this. The Parade were one of those harmony based US groups so abundant in the mid-1960s. Sunshine Girl was their only notable success.
The Parade: Sunshine Girl
This Sunshine Girl is not to be confused with the song of the same title which was a no 8 hit in the UK for Herman’s Hermits in 1968.
I saw this week that Katherine Anderson of The Marvelettes who recorded the first ever Motown release to reach the US no 1, (Please Mr Postman) has died.
The Marvelettes perhaps exemplified the Motown sound but only ever had the one hit in the UK, the untypical When You’re Young and in Love.
This is one of their US hits.
The Marvelettes: Too Many Fish in the Sea
Katherine Elaine Anderson Schaffner; 16/1/1944 – September 20/9/2023. So it goes.