Andrew Ranken was born on November 13, 1953. He became best known as The Pogues’ drummer, playing on recordings such as “Dirty Old Town.” He also sang and wrote songs, drawing on experience that began well before he joined the band.
Ranken started drumming at 14 and played with Lola Cobra while at art college. When that group split, he sold his kit to finance a hitchhiking trip through Europe. After returning home, he sang with The Stickers and then The Operation, whose lineup could stretch to 13 people. His neighbours in King’s Cross, Shane MacGowan and Jem Finer, invited him to join their band, but his studies and commitments to The Operation initially kept him from accepting. He reconsidered and joined in March 1983, when the group was called Pogue Mahone.
The drum job came with an unusual condition. In a 2010 interview with Ox Fanzine, Ranken recalled that MacGowan and Finer wanted him to play standing up, using only a floor tom and snare. They wanted a substantial sound from very little equipment. Ranken found the challenge appealing, although parts that sounded simple could be difficult to play. His own listening had leaned towards blues and jazz; his interest in folk developed later.
That setup eventually changed for a practical reason. During a German tour, he injured a finger on the snare’s rim and developed an infection that required hospital treatment. While recovering, he could use only one hand, so he asked for a bass drum and hi-hat that would let him play seated. His bandmates liked the added bass drum, and it stayed in the kit.
Ranken played on The Pogues’ debut album, Red Roses for Me (1984), and Rum Sodomy & the Lash (1985). His singing experience found a place in their records, too. He took the lead vocal on “Worms,” the closing track of If I Should Fall from Grace with God (1988). On Waiting for Herb (1993), he sang “My Baby’s Gone,” which he co-wrote with Finer. The drummer’s contributions extended into the words and voices of the songs themselves.
After The Pogues split in 1996, Ranken returned for their 2001 reunion and performed with them through 2014. His work with The Mysterious Wheels also put him in front of the microphone, continuing the singing career that had begun before he joined The Pogues.
With that group, he turned an encounter with a hospice nurse into “Take Me Down to St Joe’s.” According to St Joseph’s Hospice, Ranken heard the nurse describe its community work during a pulmonary rehabilitation class at Homerton Hospital. He wrote the lyrics, and the band’s pianist, Joe Korner, supplied the melody. Ranken sang lead on the recording, which The Mysterious Wheels released on July 5, 2023, to raise money for the Hackney hospice.
The song also appeared on Bare Bones, released by The Mysterious Wheels on November 8, 2024. The album paired it with songs including “Strike Up the Band,” written by Ranken alone. He co-produced most of the tracks with Korner and supplied the front-cover illustration, bringing his art-school background into the finished record. Ranken died on February 10, 2026.
