Fairytale of New York Christmas number one by the Pet Shop Boys' cover of "Always on My Mind". MacGowan was reported to have said "We were beaten by two queens and a drum machine". MacColl later said that she did not feel they were really in competition with the Pet Shop Boys as they were doing a completely different kind of music. The song was re-released by the Pogues in the UK in 1991 (reaching #36), and again in the UK and Ireland for Christmas 2005, reaching number three in the UK. All proceeds from the latter release were donated towards a mixture of
If I Should Fall from Grace with God New York City at Christmas time. MacGowan had always intended the song to be sung as a duet, originally with O'Riordan providing the female vocal part, but despite attempts to record "Fairytale of New York" in January 1986 during the sessions for "Poguetry in Motion", the band were unhappy with the results and abandoned the song. During the sessions for the third album at RAK in May 1987, MacGowan recorded new guide vocals for the song but with O'Riordan's departure it now had no female vocalist. Lillywhite took the tapes home and recorded his singer-songwriter wife Kirsty MacColl singing the