Poguetry in Motion features the songs "London Girl", "
Rainy Night in Soho", "The Body of an American" and "Planxty Noel Hill". The songs were recorded with producer
Elvis Costello in August 1985, in the same sessions that produced the first versions of "
Fairytale of New York" (with bass player
Cait O'Riordan singing the female part of the duet) and a
cover version of
The Lovin' Spoonful's song "
Do You Believe In Magic". Both tracks were intended to feature on the EP, but were eventually left off it. The tracks were later issued on
Just Look Them Straight in the Eye and Say... POGUE MAHONE!! "Planxty Noel Hill" refers to
Noel Hill, a renowned traditional Irish musician who, at the time of the release of the band's second album,
Rum Sodomy and the Lash, claimed that The Pogues were disrespecting the whole
Irish music tradition. Planxty has come to mean something akin to "cheers", though its use in the song's title is insincere. On the first Pogues tour of
Ireland, some members of the band participated along with Hill in a panel discussion on Irish radio, during the course of which Hill described the music of The Pogues as a "terrible abortion" (the incident is described in and the quote is taken from "The Lost Decade"). The confrontation occurred during the course of a studio debate on
RTÉ Radio hosted by
BP Fallon. The song "Body of an American" was featured prominently on the TV series
The Wire during police officer
wakes. The Pogues also played this song as their second song on the 1990
St. Patrick's Day episode of
Saturday Night Live. A cigarette-smoking MacGowan, appearing quite inebriated, finished the song smoking and drinking while sitting on the drum riser during the extended live instrumental outro. The EP was originally released only on cassette and vinyl in both 7" and 12" formats, except in Canada where it was also released on compact disc. The 7" played at 33⅓ rpm and the 12" at 45 rpm, although both contained the same tracks. The EP was re-issued, including on CD, in 1991. The EP's tracks were not originally featured on any Pogues album but are included as bonus tracks on the 2004 re-issue of
Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash. Several of the tracks have appeared on various "best of" and other compilation albums. An alternate version of "Rainy Night in Soho", a slightly longer mix featuring
oboe instead of
flugelhorn, was included on Canadian and US editions of the EP. During the recording of the EP, producer
Elvis Costello and singer/songwriter
Shane MacGowan had an argument over this, with MacGowan insisting on the flugelhorn version. The oboe version was re-issued on the 2008 boxset
Just Look Them Straight in the Eye and Say....POGUE MAHONE!! A third mix released in 1991 is available and on the remastered ''
Hell's Ditch'' album. ==Track listing==