The Pogues career) was the increasingly erratic behaviour of their vocalist and principal songwriter, Shane MacGowan. Their record label, Stiff Records, went bankrupt soon after the 1987 release of the single "The Irish Rover" (with The Dubliners). Members of the band, including O'Riordan, acted in Alex Cox's "Straight to Hell", and five songs by the band were included on the film's soundtrack album. The band remained stable enough to record "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" with its Christmas hit duet with Kirsty MacColl "Fairytale of New York". "Fairytale of New York" was released as a single in 1987 and
Christmas in Harlem use of the samples. Before its official release, the track first leaked to the Internet on December 15, 2010. "Christmas in Harlem" was later released as a part of West's free music giveaway series GOOD Fridays. The version of "Christmas in Harlem" released as a part of GOOD Fridays featured additional contributions from rappers Cam'ron, Jim Jones, Vado, Pusha T and Big Sean as well as R&B singer Musiq Soulchild. The version of the track only featuring contributions from West, CyHi the Prynce and Teyana Taylor was later released as a single to the iTunes Store on December 17, 2010.