Pet Shop Boys Hunt. The film was eventually released in 1988 to mixed reviews. Footage from the film was also used for the music video to "Always on My Mind", now released as a single on 30 November; it became both the duo's third number one single in the UK and the Christmas number one single for 1987, beating "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues. In November 2004, "The Daily Telegraph" newspaper placed Pet Shop Boys' version of "Always on My Mind" at number two in a list of the fifty greatest cover versions of all time. 1988 started with another collaboration.
Fairytale of New York "Fairytale of New York". Another inspiration was Sergio Leone's film "Once Upon a Time in America", which MacGowan and whistle player Spider Stacy would watch over and over again in the tour bus. Apart from shaping the ideas for the lyrics, MacGowan wrote a slow, piano-based introduction to "Fairytale of New York" influenced by the film's score by Ennio Morricone: the intro would later be edited together with the more upbeat original melody to create the final song. As 1986 went on, however, the Pogues encountered various problems that brought a halt to their recording activity. Their record label Stiff