This book explores the role of Irish ethnicity in the lives
and work of these musicians, focusing on Kevin Rowland and Dexys Midnight
Runners, Shane MacGowan and The Pogues, and Morrissey/Marr and The Smiths. It
follows the diverse 'routes' pursued by second-generation Irish musicians,
tracing their different styles and personas. The book disputes the view of
England's Irish as a peripheral and problematic presence, seeing the second
generation as a highly active and creative presence at the forefront of both
British and Irish culture.
The book includes the following previously unpublished
material:
- An account of Kevin Rowland’s meetings with Sinn Féin
representatives in the early 1980s, leading to his plans to perform a Dexys
concert for the republican movement
- An account of The Pogues’ reception in mid-80s Ireland,
when they were viewed as suspect (English) interlopers, making unwelcome
incursions into Irish culture, leading to claims that the band were ‘anti-Irish
racists’
- An account of The Smiths’ Irish tour in 1984, when the
band received threats from paramilitary factions and were praised by An
Phoblacht
Advance praise for Irish Blood, English Heart:
'Irish Blood, English Heart’ is a constantly intriguing and
often provocative book about the complex process – and peculiar freedom – of
not wholly belonging to one culture or the other' - Sean O’Hagan, The Observer
ISBN 978-185918-461-5, €39, £35, Hbk, 234 x 156mm, 272pp
Seán Campbell is Senior Lecturer in the Department of
English and Media at Anglia Ruskin in Cambridge. He was raised in an Irish
family in the north of England in the 1970s and 80s. He is a musician and
writer, and is the co-author of Beautiful Day: Forty Years of Irish Rock (Cork
University Press, 2005) His next book will be Combat Rock: Popular Music and
the Troubles.
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