Ireland gave us many great bands during the 80's, as well as a few who certainly sound Irish, but were formed elsewhere. Dexy's Midnight Runners formed in Birmingham, and The Pogues were from London. But no one can dispute the authenticity of The Pogues, nor the importance of the band to contemporary Irish people. The Pogues emerged out of the late 70's punk scene, and were rebels amidst the rebellion. They were certainly inspired by punk's energy, but they used that energy to drive a sound based on Irish and Celtic folk music. It's an impressive feat to be able to team up with traditionalists like the Dubliners, and yet still have absolute street cred with young Clash fans. And the connection between those two scenes had a lot to do with the Pogues' notorious frontman. Known for his heavy drinking and erratic behavior, he lead the band through the 80's, until his unpredictability lead the rest of the group to kick him out in 1991. He's been back touring with The Pogues since 2001, and was on (as well as off) stage with them this past week at the 9:30 club (special tip of the halo to Lilly for inviting the Angel along to see the show!) So what's the name of the legendary lead singer of the Pogues?

Bonus Question: The singer mentioned above was the subject of a biographical film in 2001, but way back in the 80's he had acting parts in at least two fictional films. Fans of cult movies no doubt remember "Straight To Hell," an homage of spaghetti westerns that featured members of The Clash and The Pogues, as well as Elvis Costello, Courtney Love, and Grace Jones. But that same year, our mystery singer played a terrorist in a movie that had Lemmy from Motorhead, Jools Holland from Squeeze, & Hugh Cornwell from The Stranglers, along with Angela Bowie, Bill Wyman, and both Paul and Linda McCartney (jeez I wish I had a copy). What was the title of this film?