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
The Pogues The Pogues The Pogues were a British Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" — the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic "póg mo thóin", meaning "kiss my arse". The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s, recording several hit albums and singles. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems, but the band continued - first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals - before breaking up in 1996. The Pogues re-formed in late 2001, and played regularly across the UK