21 March 2009

Don't they check these things?

From a profile of Hazel Blears by The Independent:
Another popular work inspired by post-war Salford was the song "Dirty Old Town", made famous in the 1980s by the Pogues, though it was written in the 1940s. I thought I'd test her knowledge of Salford cultural references by asking if she knew "that song by Ewan MacColl". Like a true Salford girl, she comes straight out with the opening line: "I met my love by the gas works wall". I dare say she would have sung all three verses, if asked.

Actually, the opening line of the original (MacColl) version was "I met my love by the gasworks croft". So the "true Salford girl" seems more taken with the version by the Irish Pogues.

Petty of me, I know. But it's one of the great anthems of modern folk music which deserves respect.

1 comment:

Stuart Winton said...

Well spotted, but I suppose it's a generational thing.

Indeed, given the references to Shelagh Delaney the interviewer may well have asked Blears about The Smiths/Morrissey, who are associated with Salford and feature Delaney on a couple of their record sleeves.

After all, if David Cameron can visit Salford Lads Club to pay homage to The Smiths and Blears can comment on it, then maybe she knows them even better than the Pogues!!