The Pogues’ Spider Stacy: ‘Punk was liberating – all you had to do was acquire an instrument, plug it in and see what you could come up with’

Before he became famous as a tin whistle player with the Pogues (his signature act was bashing his head with a beer tray in time to the music), Spider Stacy had a day job in London. From 1977 to 1979, he worked in a Renault garage as a workshop cleaner. One day, one of the directors noticed his matinee idol looks, and insisted on making him a car salesman on the spot.