When Was The Fairytale Of New York First Produced?

"Fairytale of New York" is a Christmas song that was released for Christmas in 1987. It was written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan and featured the Irish band The Pogues singing with singer Kirsty MacColl.

It reached number one in the Irish charts and number two in the UK charts but has always proved a popular Christmas tune and in 2004 and 2005 was voted Christmas tune of all time. BBC Radio 2 listeners voted for their all time favourite songs and "Fairytale of New York was number 84.

The songs was beaten to the number one spot for Christmas 1987 by The Pet Shop Boys' version of "Always on My Mind". Shane MacGowan commented "we were beaten by 2 queens and a drum machine."

Kirsty MacColl had not been due to sing on the song originally, but producer (and her husband) Steve Lillywhite had asked her to do a demo of the female singing part and the Pogues liked it so much that they asked her appear on the final version. The song features two Irish immigrants (lovers of ex-lovers) with their youthful hopes all but crushed by alcoholism and drug addiction reminiscing and bickering on Christmas Day. The lyrics are bittersweet and sometimes just plain bitter.

In 2005, The Pogues performed the song for the first time since 1988 and they did it live for the first time ever (previous occasions they had mimed). Katie Malua sang the female part. The song was also re-released in December 2005 with half of the proceeds being donated to the Justice for Kirsty Campaign. This is the campaign started to get someone to be held accountable for the circumstances surrounding Kirsty MacColl's death in December 2000 when, while diving in Mexico, she was hit by a speedboat. At the time, she was in an area where speedboats are not allowed. Kirsty's family continue to campaign for a judicial review into the events surrounding her death. The re-released song got to number 3 in the charts.

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