Shane MacGowan and the Pogues Perform at Brixton Academy (1988)

“There were six men in Birmingham, in Guildford, there’s four, That were picked up and tortured and framed by the law, And the filth got promotion, but they’re still doing time For being Irish in the wrong place and at the wrong time...“ On 20 December 1988, ITN filmed the Pogues as they performed their song, Streets of Sorrow / Birmingham Six, at Brixton Academy. The track, written by the band’s multi-instrumentalist Terry Woods and primary songwriter and frontman, Shane MacGowan, had recently been banned by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), in line with a Home Office directive banning the broadcasting of individuals supportive of terrorist groups in Northern Ireland. In fact, the song told the story of the Birmingham Six, a group of Irish men who were wrongfully imprisoned following a IRA bomb attack in Birmingham. In 1991, the British high court found the Birmingham Six to have been wrongfully convicted, and ordered their immediate release. The ban on the song was lifted soon after. Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan has died aged 65, following a long period of ill-health. Born in Kent to Irish parents, MacGowan spent much of his childhood in Tipperary. His poetic fusion of traditional and modern themes and forms, together with his raw, howling delivery, saw him recognised as one of the most distinctive performers and celebrated songwriters in his lifetime. In 2018, at a concert gala to mark his 60th birthday in Dublin, MacGowan was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by Irish President Michael D. Higgins. The same year, MacGowan was honoured with the Ivor Novello Inspiration Award for songwriting. #ShaneMacGowan #ThePogues #Pogues #BirminghamSix #Irish #IrishMusic #Folk #Punk To license the footage featured in this clip, follow the link below: To search the ITN Archive collection on Getty Images, follow the link below: 🎥 Subscribe to our YouTube channel (tap the bell icon and stay up to date with all the latest ITN Archive videos!) - @ITNArchive 🎥 Follow us on Twitter - 🎥 Like us on Facebook - 🎥 Check out our TikTok - @itnarchive1955