RSS
Entertainment


Home Page > Entertainment > ‘Fairytale of New York’ the most played Christmas classic of the century – VIDEO

‘Fairytale of New York’ the most played Christmas classic of the century – VIDEO

The Pogues and Kristy MacColl win out over Band Aid and Mariah Carey

By
BERNIE MALONE,
IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Friday, December 16, 2011, 7:35 AM
Updated Friday, December 16, 2011, 10:33 AM

print this article Print
email this articleE-mail
comment on article 22 Comments
See more: Christmas  

Kristy MacColl and Shane MacGowan
Kristy MacColl and Shane MacGowan


The Pogues and Kristy MacColl’s “Fairy Tale of New York” is officially the most played Christmas song of the 21st century.

Music body PPL totals up every public airing of the song in Britain. Its calculations include plays on the radio, TV, and as background music in shops, bars, gyms, and restaurants. They began their calculations in 2000.

The song, released in 1987, never reached number one in the charts in Britain, but is played around the world every Christmas. It has also been featured in the UK’s top 20 chart on seven occasions.

Jonathan Morrish, spokesman with PPL, said “Fairytale of New York  is a timeless classic which everyone knows and rightfully deserves its place at the top spot”.

Writing in the Irish Times, Joe Cleary, a lecturer in the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, said that the song told the story of the reality of Irish emigration and what lay behind the “American Dream”.

He wrote, “With the exception of Joyce's ‘The Dead’ or Patrick Kavanagh's ‘Advent’, no work of the 20th-century Irish imagination has managed to illuminate a particular sense of Christmas so well as that song has done…It is at once a twisted love song, an emigrant ballad, and an anthem to the capital city of the 20th century. And it is perhaps for that reason that it is the only "Christmas classic" that one can hear without wincing in July."

Here’s the list of “The most played Christmas songs”:

1. Fairytale of New York  (1987), The Pogues

2. Last Christmas  (1984), Wham

3. All I Want for Christmas is You  (1994), Mariah Carey

4. I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday  (1973), Wizzard

5. Do They Know it's Christmas?  (1984), Band Aid

6. Merry Xmas Everybody  (1973), Slade

7. Driving Home for Christmas  (1988), Chris Rea

8. Step into Christmas  (1973), Elton John

9. The Power of Love  (1984), Frankie Goes To Hollywood

10. Merry Christmas Everyone  (1985), Shakin' Stevens

Here’s the video for “Fairytale of New York”:

​
See more: Christmas ,
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail


22 Comments

See all comments

IrelandNorth | Dec 19, 2011, 07:10 AM EST
Christy Moore once describe Shane McGowan's voice as the purest channel of Irishness he ever heard. And Christie's been around since the early 1960's. It's definately a classic. Makes me feel homesick even when I'm at home! I wish Shane well in his struggle with alcohol addiction. He once described himself depreciatingly as a "plastic Paddy" (i.e. and Irishman born in England). And Kirsty - RIP!

Report abuse

ciaradexy | Dec 18, 2011, 05:54 PM EST
Best christmas song ever written! love when this comes on the radio It gets me feeling all christmasy even though I hate christmas and all its hallmark card crap.

Report abuse

ellenfromcork | Dec 17, 2011, 05:14 PM EST
I raise my glass to Searlit and ballyhip and sirpeter and to all who posted here. What a dull old world it would be if we all agreed. There would be no craic at all.

Report abuse

Searlit | Dec 16, 2011, 11:27 PM EST
I think it's a great song.

Report abuse

ballyhip | Dec 16, 2011, 10:29 PM EST
Yes, ellenfromcork, I remember the St.Stephan's Day song from the album. Elvis Costelloe I believe. We appear to be in the minority on this forum but who cares. It is the essence of discourse and we see the person revealed by the rhetoric. To be fair, it is over time. I learn a lot from the responses and hope that everyone else does.

Report abuse

sirpeter | Dec 16, 2011, 09:21 PM EST
peterson.That's the whole point of the song.You can't turn on happiness in a person because society decides this is a time to be happy.That's the meaning.I'll put it another way.A good looking confident teenage girl enjoys the attention she gets from all the boys at a party.But a fat ugly under confident girl who is left alone in the corner at the same party is miserable but is still forced to be there.Some suffer Christmas.

Report abuse

ellenfromcork | Dec 16, 2011, 07:24 PM EST
ballyhip, I believe you have grasped the essence of this song.For many, Christmas is wrapped up in pain because the reality of some peoples lives does not match the presumed joy of the season. I love this song as an antidote to the syrupy sweetness of Christmastide. Another good one is The St Steven's Day Murders on The Bells of Dublin by The Chieftains.

Report abuse

Lauraine | Dec 16, 2011, 06:06 PM EST
If this trash is the most played Christmas song, I just want to cry. The line that stood out to me was her calling him a S__bag. This garbage has nothing to do with the sacred day of Christmas. This is a drunken pub song and even then, it's ugly and degrading. If Bing Crosby doesn't cut it, how about John Lennon's "So this is Christmas"? At least he was connected to humanity and had morals. God Bless Us All.

Report abuse

TessMarie | Dec 16, 2011, 05:41 PM EST
You have got to be kidding!!!!

Report abuse

peterson | Dec 16, 2011, 05:28 PM EST
Very poor taste !! Where is the real meaning of Christmas in this tale !!

Report abuse

RedBranch | Dec 16, 2011, 04:30 PM EST
'Fairytale' doesn't jump the pond too well. Associating Christmas with drunkeness and lover's tiffs doesn't gel with the Coke endorsed version so accecpted in the States.

Report abuse

ballyhip | Dec 16, 2011, 04:05 PM EST
I get a kick out of some of these comments. I'll be 71 in March and have been listening to F...of...NY for years. As a matter of fact, heard it yesterday on WMVY (Martha's Vineyard & Newport, RI) which is also available on the internet. Love to play it to shake up the toora loora IA's out there. You could not have not heard it before! Second best Xmas song is Tom Lehrer's Christmas Carol. Here are some of the lyrics: Hark the herald tribune sings, Advertising wondrous things. God rest ye merry, merchants, May you make the yuletide pay. Angels we have heard on high Tell us to go out and buy! Catch him on YouTube.

Report abuse

sharlot | Dec 16, 2011, 04:03 PM EST
HUH??

Report abuse

SeamusMartin | Dec 16, 2011, 12:13 PM EST
The song "Fairytale if NY" has a melancholy ring to it. Never heard it 'til now. This list could not be from Amerikay unless ones looking at an group of 20 year olds. I thought John Lennon's "So This Is Christmas" and Bing Crosby and David Bowie's take on "Little Drummer Boy" would be in the top ten. I'm about 60 and have been involved in music all my life and never, ever heard of any of that top ten... not on the radio, in church, at school or on TV. Why don't you list America's Top Ten.

Report abuse

EdMahoney1 | Dec 16, 2011, 12:07 PM EST
I've never heard this trash before & hopefully will never again.

Report abuse



Our Entertainment in your INBOX!


Connect to IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or Sign-Up directly

Already Registered? Sign-In!

Welcome to IrishCentral!
Please provide the following information in order to create your account

Username:
E-Mail Address:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy


Already Registered? Sign-In!
Forgot my password

Welcome to IrishCentral!
All we need is the following information and you will be part of the #1 Irish community in the US

E-Mail Address:
First select a unique username:
Username:
Now choose a password:
Password:
Confirm Password:
I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Thank you!

Just one more step and you will be part of the largest Irish community in America! Tell us a little more about you to start enjoying all the features of IrishCentral.

Additional Information:

First Name:
Last Name:
Date of Birth:
Zip:
Gender: Male  Female 
Country:
Degree of Irishness:
Household Income:
Level of Education:

Subscribe to our newsletters:

The Best of IrishCentral - Daily Newsletter
Special Offers from our sponsors

or
Skip

You can edit your information at any time, just go to "my account" when you're logged in.

Log into IrishCentral with your Facebook account

or sign-in directly

E-Mail:
Password:
 Remember me Forgot my password
Not a member? Register Now!
submit to reddit
print this article Print
email this articleE-mail