THE POGUES Released Their Masterwork ‘RUM SODOMY & THE LASH’ 40 Years Ago Today

Significant longplayers from yesteryear

5 August 2025

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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


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Instagram – All Albums

BIG BLASTS FROM THE PAST – 10 Classic Albums Turning 40 In 2025

Back in time

24 December 2024

Band: NEW ORDER
Album: Low Life
Their 3rd one,
#7 in the UK.

Melody Maker said: “The album boasts the most articulate sound
since The Cocteaus’ Treasure, elevating depression to ecstasy.”

STREAM

Instagram – All Albums
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Band: THE POGUES
Album: Rum Sodomy & The Lash
2nd LP, #13 in the UK.

The album’s title 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.”

NME wrote: “A collection of free-ranging stuff to be sure. It’s never
sentimental, it’s rarely polite, and it’s certainly not ordinary.”

STREAM


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Linktree – All Albums
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Artist: TOM WAITS
Album: Rain Dogs
9th LP,
#188 in the US,
#29 in the UK.

The Village Voice wrote: “Waits worked out a unique and identifiable lounge-lizard
sound that suits his status as the poet of America’s non-nine-to-fivers.”

STREAM


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Instagram – All Albums
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Band: THE FALL
Album: This Nation’s Saving Grace
8th longplayer.

AllMusic: “This collection is ample proof of the pure confidence the group had
at this time. The Fall sound mysterious, down-to-earth, and hilarious all at the
same time.”

STREAM


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Instagram – All Albums
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Band: THE CURE
Album: The Head On The Door
6th one, #7 in the UK.

Pitchfork: “Their most focused
pop album. A tight, terrific package.”

STREAM


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Instagram – All Albums
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Artist: BRIAN ENO
Album: Thursday Afternoon

AllMusic: “Thursday Afternoon is an hour-long, uninterrupted ambient piece
created in Eno’s “holographic” compositional style, in which even the most brief
snippet of music is representative of the performance as a whole.”

STREAM


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Instagram – All Albums
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Band: TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS
Album: Southern Accents
Their 6th LP,
#7 in the US.

AllMusic: “An ambitious album, attempting to incorporate touches of soul,
psychedelia, and country into a loose concept about the modern South.”


STREAM


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Linktree – All Albums
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Band: THE CULT
Album: Love
Their second LP,
# in the UK.

AllMusic: “Considering the musical schizophrenia that would plague each
subsequent Cult release, Love just may be the band’s purest moment.”

STREAM


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Instagram – All Albums
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JesysCandy

Band: THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
Album: Psychocandy

NME said: “A great searing citadel of beauty whose wall of noise,
once scaled, offers access to endless vistas of melody and emotion.”

STREAM


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Instagram – All Albums
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Band: HÜSKER DÜ
Album: Flip Your Wig
4th longplayer
#1 Indie charts UK

AllMusic: “Flip Your Wig would be a remarkable record on its own terms, but the fact that it followed New Day Rising by a matter of months and Zen Arcade by just over a year is simply astonishing.”

STREAM


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All Albums

Single This – THE POGUES

Striking single sleeves from the past…

8 July 2020

‘Dirty Old Town’ by THE POGUES

Released in 1986. Originally written by folk singer Ewan MacColl in 1949.
Covered by The Dubliners, Rod Stewart, Simple Minds and many more.
On The Pogues second album Rum Sodomy & the Lash (5 August 1985)

Sing it Shane

THE POGUES: Facebook

YESTERDAY’S CRACKERS – This Week: 25 Killer Tracks And 3 Top LP’s From 1985…

The best of the past

Every week Turn Up The Volume! jumps into the past! Relive 25 Killer Crackers
and 3 Top Albums per year/per week. Let’s go back this week to: 1985.

The 25 Killer Crackers

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The 3 Top Albums

Rum Sodomy & The Lash by THE POGUES

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Low-Life by NEW ORDER

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Little Creatures‘ by TALKING HEADS

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