Shane MacGowan used to expose himself to trains from Bono’s house
The legendary frontman of The Pogues, Shane MacGowan, has revealed one of the most maniacal anecdotes from his life. When living at U2 frontman Bono’s house, he used to “wave his willy” at passing trains in the hope of passersby thinking it was the ‘With or Without You’ singer.
The house in question was on the south coast of the Irish capital Dublin, overlooking the railway line and bay. “Bono put in a glass roof and wall,” MacGowan explained in a new interview with The Times. “I used to wave my willy at the train as it passed and hope that they thought it was Bono’s.”
The Pogues frontman appeared in the interview alongside his partner Victoria Mary Clarke, who also gave a hand in recalling the story. “Bono was very patient,” she said. “We had the police round all the time because Shane kept setting off the alarm. Eventually, he asked us to move out.”
Elsewhere, MacGowan looked back on the early days of The Pogues and how they adapted the formula of traditional Irish music for the modern era. He said: “Everything was exciting. The first time we stayed in a hotel and discovered room service — that was exciting. We took Irish music and speeded it up a bit, which you can hear in ‘A Pair of Brown Eyes’ — exciting. It changed our lives. But going around America got to be a real drag.”
MacGowan has been busy as of late. He recently published his collection of writing and artwork, The Eternal Buzz And The Crock Of Gold. The artwork from the book is currently being exhibited at the Andipa Gallery in London until October 29th.
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