Shane MacGowan Irish in London and the United States, and London life in general. These influences are documented in the biography, "Rake at the Gates of Hell: Shane MacGowan in Context". MacGowan has often cited the 19th-century Irish poet James Clarence Mangan and playwright Brendan Behan as influences. Between 1985 and 1987, he co-wrote "Fairytale of New York", which he performed with Kirsty MacColl. In the coming years MacGowan and The Pogues released several albums. In 1997, MacGowan appeared on Lou Reed's "Perfect Day", covered by numerous artists in aid of Children in Need. It was the UK's number one single for
A Christmas Duel A Christmas Duel "A Christmas Duel" is a special Christmas duet recorded by the Swedish rock band The Hives and American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper. It was available as a single on November 19, 2008. It debuted at #6 on the Swedish Singles Charts published on December 28, and has since reached a peak at #4. It was released as a vinyl one-sided 7", a CD 5" single, and as download (all in Sweden only). The song juxtaposes "really sweet music and nasty lyrics". As for how the collaboration took place, The Hives' lead singer Pelle Almqvist stated: "We came up