Entertainment


The making of the Pogues ‘Fairytale of New York’ - SEE VIDEO

Greatest Christmas hit song almost wasn’t made


They made it to America in 1985 played their first gig on 2nd Street in the East Village and they were an immediate sensation.

Matt Dillon who was at their first gig later told a BBC documentary that “I really liked them, they reminded me of a mixture of the Dubliners, the Clash and the Clancy Brothers.”

In the summer of 1987 the group decided on a Christmas song and Finer and MacGowan began working on it .

They had been watching the movie  “Once Upon a time in America” over and over about the American dream and immigrants and it heavily influenced them.

The title ‘Fairytale of New York’ came from a JP Donleavy short story of the same name. Shane says the inspiration for much of the haunting lyrics came from a period when he was delirious recovering from pneumonia in a sanitarium in Sweden.

The band  had lost their main female singer Cait O Riordan who had left to marry Elvis Costello so  Kirsty MacColl, married to the album producer Steve Lillywhite, filled in.

The video was shot on location in New York, with Matt Dillon playing a cop who arrests MacGowan for drunkeness. It was filmed in an actual police precinct but almost canceled because Shane and others in the band had too much to drink. Dillon however intervened on their behalf.

The NYPD choir is really a group of   NYPD pipe and drum band members who showed up feeling no pain themselves near Washington Square Park on a bitterly cold night for their role. They were supposed to be be singing ‘Galway Bay’ but did not all knew the words so they sang the theme to Mickey Mouse instead.

Either way what emerged was a Christmas classic, perhaps one  the greatest  of all time.

It has also stood the test of time and is as famous and sought after today as it was when it was released in Christmas 1987.

Ironically it never made it to No 1 on release, finishing second in Britain to a Pet Shop Boys number, now long forgotten.

Read more: Top Irish carols and hymns to get you in the Christmas spirit - SEE VIDEOS


Nster.com


14 Comments

See all comments

Awesome Stuff!!! Always loved the Pogues!!
It's "perfect" as the Irish like to say. ellenfromcork, I hope you saw that I translated the Irish from the other article on Christmas songs. I didn't see your post until later. Happy Christmas All! Nollaig Shona Daoibh!
'Tis lovely
Raw,emotional and beautiful what a song.
Great Song..Shane McGowan exploiting the stereotypical view of the Irish as drunks,and creating a magical Christmas song,that can only be hailed as pure genius and poetry. The realism of the lyrics is what connects it to all nations and people,only the Irish can do that with real raw style.
FYI Dec 18th was the 10 year annniversary of the tragic and senseless death of Kirsty McColl in a boating accident in Mexico. It was a loss of a great talent, she is missed.
Niall Given the recent tragic death of Gerry Ryan from cocaine abuse, I find it hard to glamorize a song about "drunken addicts". The BBC loves to use Shane McGowan as a prop for their stereotypical view of the Irish as drunks. To me, the Saw Doctors are much more my cup of tea. BTW, I like the Pet Shop Boys because they resurrected the career of Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O' Brien, whose grandparents were from Tralee. You might know her better as Dusty Springfield.
Niall, I read in a piece here that Colin Farrell sang baby Henry to sleep with this song. It has a lovely lilt. I hope he will get to sing to Henry again soon.
You were always on my mind by Pet Shop Boys . Elvis cover ,What a joke . PS I'm blind drunk !
Had never seen the video - terrific. Amazing song. The best cover we ever heard is by Billy McKenna and Trudy Goodman on their album The Road to Dingle.
wel seamus the Pet Shop boys version of it is long forgotten
It's true to life. This has happened to a lot of Irish Guys in New York and other nationalities also.
With all due respect you need to be blind drunk to think that this song is in any way 'good'; it's absolute crap.
That "long forgotten Pet Shop Boys hit" wouldn't be their re-make of Willie Nelson's classic "You were always on my mind", would it?
 




Log into IrishCentral with your Facebook account


or sign-in directly

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