1987 in British music the Christmas number one of 1987, with their cover of Elvis Presley's "Always on My Mind". The Pogues peaked at number 2 and has been re-issued several times since, reaching the top 10 in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In the world of classical music, Nicholas Maw's new work "Odyssey" made an impact, and veteran composer Malcolm Arnold produced his "Salute to Thomas Merritt", Op. 98, whilst Michael Nyman and Judith Weir both brought new operas to the stage. The BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition was won by Italian soprano Valeria Esposito, and the Lieder prize was introduced into
Fairytale of New York Maker" in its 1985 Christmas issue: MacGowan had decided to name the song after J. P. Donleavy's 1973 novel "A Fairy Tale of New York", which Finer was reading at the time and had left lying around the recording studio. In the same "Melody Maker" interview MacGowan expressed regret that the song had not been completed in time to be released for Christmas that year, and hinted that the track would appear on an EP that the Pogues were due to record shortly. In January 1986 the group recorded the song during the sessions with Costello that would produce the