Fairytale: Behind The Pogues Holiday Hit

The Pogues released their unusually raw Holiday Song “Fairytale of New York“ in 1987. With the mournful, salty, sadly nostalgic song, the Londoners scored a #1 Christmas hit in Ireland and became a staple of cool Christmas mixes across the globe. Shane MacGowan & Kirsty MacColl nailed one of the greatest duets in Christmas music history, with The Pogues perfectly providing the instrumental support. But some language choices had media companies scrambling to censor or edit the holiday hit as it exploded in popularity. In this video we talk about how the song came about, some fun trivia about it, and the controversy surrounding it. We also have a reaction from McGowan on the subject, and we reveal the WORST COVER of Fairytale of New York... ever. RIP SHane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl. Subscribe now so you don’t miss a beat! Support the show by buying with these links! You can hear “Fairytale of New York“ on The Pogues (VINYL) IF I SHOULD FALL FROM GRACE WITH GOD: THE POGUES CD BOX SET with “Fairytale“ outtakes: THE BEST OF THE POGUES ON VINYL - a great collection, which of course has “Fairytale“ - Drawings by Ballette Music from Epidemic Sound B-Roll and snaps from ALL THE DENNIS LINKS and SHOP in one handy spot: #ThePogues #shanemacgowan #fairytaleofnewyork 00:00 A Fake Piano Player 00:17 Born On Christmas Day 01:00 The Pogues 01:18 Fairytale Of New York 02:58 The name of the song 03:18 Cait leaves the band 04:05 In The Studio with Kirsty MacColl 04:39 The Music Video 05:50 Censoring a Fairytale 07:44 Alternate version, Tik-tok and Guardians of The Galaxy 08:33 Bill Murray, Bon Jovi and other covers