THE POGUES Released Their Masterwork ‘RUM SODOMY & THE LASH’ 40 Years Ago Today
Significant longplayers from yesteryear
5 August 2025
Irish rooted folk-punk-pop legends THE POGUES fronted by the incomparable
Shane MacGowan (1957-2023) released their 2nd longplayer, their five-star
masterwork, named RUM SODOMY & THE LASH on 5 August 1985, today
40 years ago.
The album’s title, suggested by drummer Andrew Ranken, who said “it seemed
to sum up life in our band”, is taken from a quotation attributed to Winston
Churchill: “Don’t talk to me about naval tradition. It’s nothing but rum, sodomy,
and the lash”.
It peaked at #13 in the UK
Elvis Costello who produced the album, said at the time: “My task was to capture
them in their dilapidated glory before some more professional producer fucked them
up.”
The cover artwork was based on a painting by Théodore Géricault, with the band members’ faces replacing those of the men on the raft painted by illustrator Peter Mennim.
NME said: “It’s a collection of free-ranging stuff to be sure; from the funereal
folk ballad to the near spaghetti-western instrumental, raucous celebration to
brown study, cheerful melody to downright strangeness.
It’s never sentimental, it’s rarely polite, and it’s certainly not ordinary. Rum Sodomy
and the Lash is more than the best record The Pogues could be expected to make at
this time. It’s more than a brilliant example of a band using its resources in an
imaginative manner. It’s probably the best LP of 1985.”
KEY SINGLES
ALBUM
