Fairytale of New York undergoing rewrites and aborted attempts at recording, and losing its original female vocalist along the way, before finally being completed in August 1987. Although the single never reached the coveted UK Christmas number one, being kept at number two on its original release in 1987 by the Pet Shop Boys' cover version of "Always on My Mind", it has proved enduringly popular with both music critics and the public: to date the song has reached the UK Top 20 on fifteen separate occasions since its original release in 1987, including every year since 2005, and was certified double platinum in
1987 in British music same time, while 'Mel & Kim' released a cover of "Rocking Around The Christmas Tree" - however, this referred to comedian Mel Smith and singer Kim Wilde rather than the girl group of the same name, proceeds went to the charity Comic Relief. A very popular Christmas song released this year was a collaboration with Irish band The Pogues and singer Kirsty MacColl, with the song "Fairytale of New York". With its bitter tale about the breakup of two lovers, it was very different from other Christmas songs around. In the end, it was the Pet Shop Boys who had