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 arose as a result of a wager made by the Pogues' producer at the time, Elvis Costello, that the band would not be able to write a Christmas hit single, while the Pogues' manager Frank Murray has stated that it was originally his idea that the band should try and write a Christmas song as he thought it would be "interesting". It was banjo player Finer who came up with the melody and the original concept for the song, which involved a sailor in New York looking out over the ocean and reminiscing about being back home in Ireland. Finer's