Shrink Rap - Shane MacGowan

Melody Maker, January 19th 1985.

The Column that straps today's pop wallahs to a couch and puts them under scrutiny by the MM quack.

Band Aid
A lot of ugly faces on one video. If the money goes to the people in Africa at least they're doing something for somebody, I suppose. If they gave 10 percent of their earnings out of their pockets then it would probably be a lot more use.

John F. Kennedy
A great man. A symbol of how I want to end up... being shot in the back of a car in Dalls... but rich...

Bad Reputations
I've got one but it's all lies. I don't agree with reputations anyway.

Synthesisers
Don't understand them. I prefer fresh cream.

The Nips
Yawn.

The Greatest Man I Ever Met
Spider Stacey

Republicanism
I'm one. It's up to the person, and personally yeah... but it depends. It's something we can talk about all night. It's not black and white thing, but basically all people have the right to govern them selves.

The Dubliners
Well, they're the ultimate aren't they? Great beards,Great band. A big influence on us. Them and the Clancy Brothers. And Christy Moore.

Fashion
If you want to know anything about fashion, look at me. Fashion is what I'm wearing at the  time.

Television
I quite like watching television when there's nothing else to do. A the moment "Dallas" is my favourite programme, but "Minder" and "Brass" and things like that were the best when they were on.

Pop Stars
Don't like 'em. It'll be different when I'm one. But when I'm one I'm not going to hang around with the rest of 'em anyway.

Pubs
Handy places to get a drink when they're open. They're alright as long as they haven't got video games. Juke boxes and pool talbles are okay. I like 'em when they don't chuck you out to quick.

1985
Probably won't be much different to 1984. I just hope I'll have more money at the end of it.

Rich People
Oh I want to be one of 'em. But I don't like 'em.

Mrs. Thatcher
Old bag. Let's put it this way - I wish she'd been in a different room at Brighton.

The Men They Couldn't Hang
Ha! I wish they would.

Lend Me 10 And I'll Buy You A Drink
A line from "The Boys From The County Hell". It says what it means. It's something I happen to say quite a lot.

Elvis Costello
A great bloke. No honestly, I like him. He's one pop star I don't mind.

The Moners
Up the miners. I hop they win.

Ireland
Great place, great country, great people, great pubs.

Rolling Stones
A bunch of old faggots.

Videos
I like good videos but there aren't very many. "In The Neighbourhood" by Tom Waits - that was a good one. I like videos with a bit of an imagination but few of them are. Our videos will be brilliant though... if we ever make any.

The Tube
oh, I don't watch it very much. Don't watch any pop programmes much.

Sick Jokes
I've got nothing against them. In fact, the sicker the better.

Paul Weller
He's another good bloke. I hate pop stars basically unless they're me or personal friends of mine. Weller's alright.

Traditional Music
All music is traditional, it just depends which tradition it is. Personally I don't really care whether it's traditional or not. I like a lot of Irish traditional music, and Scottish traditional and some English and American traditional music. Generally speaking, I Prefer  traditional music to pop music.