Video hit The Pogues

The Pogues - Summer In Siam

Summer in Siam was a single by The Pogues from their 1990 album, Hell's Ditch. Composed by enigmatic frontman Shane MacGowan, it charted in the UK Top 100 at Number 64. The album was produced by Joe Strummer.

The Pogues formed in London in 1982 and hit it big after opening for The Clash in 1984. They were soon signed to Stiff Records and the label released their first album in October 1984. They were originally called Pogue Mahone, an Irish slang phrase that means "Kiss me arse." The band changed their name after getting a record deal with Stiff Records in the early '80s.

Joe Strummer from The Clash became the lead singer of The Pogues when frontman Shane MacGowan was fired from the band in 1991. MacGowan was let go after missing several dates on The Pogues' tour and was unwilling to help the band promote their latest album Hell's Ditch. Spider Stacy took over lead vocals when Strummer left in 1993.

Elvis Costello helped The Pogues record their second album Rum Sodomy & the Lash in 1985. The disc's title comes from a quote commonly attributed to former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.

The Pogues became very unstable in 1987 when their label Stiff Records went bankrupt. The band held together long enough to record a new album which spawned the Christmas hit "Fairytale Of New York" in 1988.

In 2001, The Pogues reunited for a short Christmas tour. Q magazine called the band one of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die."

In 2011, The Pogues announced that they would be doing an international tour the following year. The band planned on playing festivals in Australia and Japan before returning home. That same year, the group announced they would be releasing a box set in early 2012. The collection was called Just Look Them Straight In The Eye And Say POGUEMAHONE!! and it included five discs and 109 songs of material spanning the band's three decade long career.

The lyrics:

When it's summer in siam

And the moon is full of rainbows

When it's summer in siam

And we go through many changes

When it's summer in siam

Then all I really know

Is that I truly am

In the summer in siam