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
Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End) UK singles chart, but was beaten by the relatively unknown Gary Jules and Michael Andrews with a cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World", and thus, the band had to settle for the number two position, joining a list of acts including The Pogues, Mariah Carey and Cliff Richard to miss out on the top spot (though Cliff did make number 1 with differing releases too). According to sales information from Music Week, The Darkness were at #1 all week and lost out on Saturday sales - one of the closest battles for Christmas number one in recent years. According