Artist · chart history · #229 in indie & aaa artist polls
The Pogues
Band London United Kingdom Active 1982–2014 Irish‐British Celtic punk band
The Pogues formed in 1982 in London, United Kingdom and was active until 2014. The Pogues has 114 chart appearances on 66 radio countdowns from 17 stations on RockLists, spanning 1984–2026. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Fairytale of New York”, which appears on 22 lists with a best position of #54. The station that charted The Pogues most often is CD101 (Columbus, OH), with 42 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1985.
The Pogues came roaring out of King's Cross, London, in 1982, founded by Shane MacGowan, Spider Stacy and Jem Finer under a name, Pogue Mahone, that was a rude Irish phrase telling you exactly where to kiss. The idea was simple and combustible: Irish traditional music played with punk's fury and a bar tab running. James Fearnley's accordion, Cait O'Riordan's bass, tin whistles, banjos and bodhrán all piled in, and MacGowan, ragged-voiced and brilliant, wrote songs that could make a pub weep or riot.
They made their name in London's pubs and clubs, then on record: Red Roses for Me in 1984, and Rum Sodomy & the Lash in 1985, home of "A Pair of Brown Eyes", "Sally MacLennane" and "Dirty Old Town". If I Should Fall from Grace with God widened the map with "Fiesta" and "Fairytale of New York", a Christmas duet between MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl that went to number two in Britain and has returned every December since.
Drink and drugs wore MacGowan down, and the band fired him during a 1991 tour. Joe Strummer and then Stacy fronted the band for a while, and "Tuesday Morning" came from Waiting for Herb, before a split. They re-formed with MacGowan in 2001 and ended again in 2014 after guitarist Philip Chevron died. MacGowan died in November 2023, and in 2024 Stacy, Finer and Fearnley brought the Pogues back once more.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by The Pogues on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fairytale of New York | 22 | #54 | – | – | |
| 2 | Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah | 24 | #85 | – | 1989 | |
| 3 | Tuesday Morning | 10 | #70 | – | 1993 | |
| 4 | Dirty Old Town | 13 | #163 | – | – | |
| 5 | Honky Tonk Woman | 7 | #796 | – | – | |
| 6 | Sunny Side of the Street | 9 | #389 | – | – | |
| 7 | Rainy Night In Soho | 4 | #407 | – | – | |
| 8 | The Sunnyside Of The Street | 8 | #423 | – | – | |
| 9 | If I Should Fall From Grace With God | 4 | #202 | – | – | |
| 10 | Sally Maclennane | 2 | #13 | – | 1985 | |
| 11 | A Pair Of Brown Eyes | 2 | #20 | – | 1985 | |
| 12 | Fiesta | 2 | #18 | – | 1988 | |
| 13 | Dark Streets Of London | 2 | #45 | – | 1984 | |
| 14 | I'm A Man You Don't Meet Every Day | 1 | #25 | – | 1985 | |
| 15 | Pair of Long Brown Eyes | 2 | #424 | – | – | |
| 16 | Body Of An American | 1 | #50 | – | 1986 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
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