Petridis, Alexis (28 November 2013). "The Pogues: 30 Years – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018 . Retrieved 10 June 2018. Shane MacGowan Interview– One on One". Concertlivewire.com. Archived from the original on 4 April 2009 . Retrieved 19 April 2014. A Furious Devotion vividly recounts the experiences that shaped the greatest songwriter of his generation: the formative trips to his mother’s homestead in Tipperary, the explosion of punk which changed his life, and the drink and drugs that nearly ended it.

I was always into drawing and painting, and I used to do all sorts of things,” he says, “hurlers, IRA men, teenage punks hanging around in cafes, you name it…when I was about 11 or 12 I got heavily into studying history of art and looking at old paintings and modern paintings, I knew a lot about art. It’s one of the only O Levels I got, was in art. When hearing that this book was to be published my first thought was, is this really the first? I’d read A Drink With Shane MacGowan by the man himself and his then long term partner, Victoria, when it came out in 2001, a great book, which is Shane telling his story, but this is genuinely the first official time the tale has been told in print. Watch Shane MacGowan & Friends Record I Put A Spell On You!". 5 March 2010. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010. Shane MacGowan And The Popes - The Rare Oul' Stuff". Discogs.com. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019 . Retrieved 10 May 2020. Definitive portrait of the former Pogue. Intimate, cooperative... the book's strength is that he lets MacGowan speak, and speak on, perfectly capturing the lyrical, romantic rhythms beneath the rasped whisper.' Mojo Book of the Month, 4*

Costello would go on to produce the band’s sophomore album Rum, Sodomy, & the Lash, and the Pogues started headlining their own tours. Frank Murray, who had managed the storied Irish band Thin Lizzy, became the Pogues manager and a “battle of wills commenced” between him and MacGowan that would not subside until Shane’s departure. MacGowan’s writing was getting better and becoming more multi-dimensional, evident on songs like “A Pair of Brown Eyes,” which was heavily steeped in allusions to traditional Irish music.

She described herself as “a bit of a hoarder” who collected bits of paper for years “not knowing if they had any value”. Johnny Depp, who collects MacGowan’s art, writes in a foreword for The Eternal Buzz…: “It’s rare for a creative genius like Shane to have one avenue of output. Such an incendiary talent is likely to have a multitude of facilities whereby his talent might infiltrate the atmosphere and change the climate as we know it. Thin Lizzy: Phil Lynott with Brian Downey and Gary Moore in 1974. Photograph: Michael Putland/Getty Irish Post, 2020 https://www.irishpost.com/news/the-pogues-controversially-branded-english-rather-than-irish-on-wikipedia-189680Balls also conducted interviews with MacGowan’s friends, family (including wife Victoria Mary Clarke), and fellow musicians, many of whom had never spoken publicly about the musician. The author spent time at the family homestead in Tipperary as well, with Shane’s sister Siobhan MacGowan, a writer in her own right who provided invaluable insight and context for the book. Kent concurs when I suggest that his perennial theme might be the corrosive effects of fame and privilege.