xmas song of the day – “Fairytale Of New York” | THE POGUES featuring KIRSTY MacCOLL | 1987.

Happy Holidays!  Since it’s the first year of my blog, and since it’s the last year for my Annual Holiday Show on my little 20-year-old 80s radio program, STUCK IN THE 80s (on WMPG community radio in Portland, Maine), I wanted to present to you THE 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS, or, 31 of my favorite 80s holiday musical treats.

Well, it’s officially a holiday weekend – both Xmas Eve and the start of Hanukkah fall on the same day this year, and that means only a couple more blog posts after this one highlighting some truly great 80s holiday gems.  For Day 29 of THE 31 DAYS OF 80s XMAS SONGS is a wonderful holiday treasure that has prolly grown on me more than any other since its release – “Fairytale Of New York” by The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl.

Released in late November 1987, a couple of months in advance of The Pogues’ amazing third album, IF I SHOULD FALL FROM GRACE WITH GOD, “Fairytale Of New York” was the result of the brilliant pairing of The Pogues and the late, great Kirsty MacColl (the originator of the Tracey Ullman hit, “They Don’t Know,” and who died of a tragic boating accident in 2000).

In 2012, music journalist Dorian Lynsky of the British national daily newspaper, THE GUARDIAN, wrote a piece celebrating the 25th anniversary of “Fairytale Of New York,” where he states that the song is “not about snow or sleigh rides or mistletoe or miracles, but lost youth and ruined dreams; a song in which Christmas is much the problem as it is the solution.”

“Fairytale Of New York” is not only a personal and STUCK IN THE 80s favorite, but it remains as one of the most revered Xmas songs ever, and some even contend that it’s THE greatest Xmas song ever. 

The original 1987 cover art for “Fairytale Of New York.”

The video for “Fairytale Of New York” was indeed filmed in New York around the time of the single’s release, during an extremely cold Thanksgiving week in 1987.  Actor Matt Dillon, who plays a police officer in the video, was apparently a huge fan of The Pogues. 

From the “Fairytale Of New York” video…

Super-producer Steve Lillywhite (famous for producing acts like U2, Big Country, Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads and many more) was brought in to produce IF I SHOULD FALL FROM GRACE WITH GOD, and it paid off.  It was the band’s biggest-selling album ever, and for five weeks over the 1987 / 1988 holiday season, “Fairytale Of New York” was the No. 1 song in Ireland. 

All of these years later, it’s hard to believe Kirsty MacColl wasn’t even originally considered to sing the female lead.  Former Pogues bassist Cait O’Riordan left the band in 1986, the same year she married Elvis Costello (together until 2002).  So, that left a big gaping hole in the duet for this future holiday gem.  The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde was considered, as was Suzi Quatro, but when Steve Lillywhite brought in his wife, Kirsty MacColl (who, in 1984 / 1985 reached the Top 10 of the U.K. singles chart with her cover of Billy Bragg’s “A New England”), everything fell into place.

Over in The Pogues and Kirsty’s U.K. homeland, they were hoping “Fairytale Of New York” would capture the coveted “Christmas No. 1” that year, but the song was held from the No. 1 spot by the Pet Shop Boys’ “Always On My Mind” and peaked at No. 2.  It ended up being ranked No. 48 for all of 1987, which is not bad considering the song had only been out for a month…

Kirsty MacColl and The Pogues’ Shane MacGowan in a promotional shot for “Fairytale Of New York.”

After charting in the U.K. and Ireland in 1991, “Fairytale Of New York” has reappeared on the singles charts in both countries every year since 2005, and since 2007, has also made frequent appearances on the singles charts in New Zealand, Norway and Sweden. 

The legacy of the song has extended well beyond that of singles charts around the globe.  Another popular U.K. publication, THE TELEGRAPH, revealed in 2014 that “Fairytale Of New York” was the most-played Xmas song of the 21st Century in the United Kingdom.  And, with all of its reissues over the past 29 years, “Fairytale Of New York” has now accumulated (as of the official U.K. Top 75 singles chart dated December 29, 2016) a whopping 77 weeks, good enough for the seventh most-charted song of all time.

Since the 1987 original, “Fairytale Of New York” has been covered by the likes of Sinéad O’Connor, Nina Hagen and Coldplay, but for me (and many others across the planet, I’m sure), there’ll never be another version like the one I fell in love with all those years ago, and that I love and then some even more with each passing year…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9jbdgZidu8

song of the day – “They Don’t Know” | TRACEY ULLMAN | 1984.

The wonderful and talented British comedian Tracey Ullman is prolly not best known for her comedy here in America, but more for her 1984 hit, “They Don’t Know.”  Tracey Ullman, for “they” who “don’t know,” is also an author, director, dancer, the richest female comedian in Britain (the third-richest overall) and through her Fox television show, THE TRACEY ULLMAN SHOW (which aired from 1987 to 1990), she was responsible for getting The Simpsons on the air.  THE SIMPSONS debuted their own show on December 17, 1989, and is still on TV today.

In between a number of British sketch comedy shows and THE TRACEY ULLMAN SHOW, Tracey released a pop covers album in November 1983 titled, YOU BROKE MY HEART IN 17 PLACES.  The album features covers like Doris Day’s “Move Over Darling,” Blondie’s “(I’m Always Touched By Your) Presence Dear,” and two songs by the late, great Kirsty MacColl – the album’s title track and “They Don’t Know.”

The U.K. version of “They Don’t Know.”

Kirsty MacColl originally recorded “They Don’t Know” in 1979, and was a big U.K. radio hit.  When Tracey Ullman recorded her version, Kirsty reprised her original “bay-ay-be-ee” that appears in the middle of the song.  If you listen closely, you can tell it’s Kirsty there and not Tracey.

The U.S. version of “They Don’t Know.”

Tracey even got Paul McCartney to do a cameo for the “They Don’t Know” video (she had appeared in Paul’s film, out around that time, called GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROAD STREET). 

“They Don’t Know” was a big hit, reaching No. 2 in the U.K., No. 7 in Canada, and on the BILLBOARD Hot 100, it spent 2 weeks at No. 8 in April / May 1984.  She would reach the Hot 100 once more with the follow-up single, “Breakaway” (No. 70; No. 4 in the U.K.).  In her homeland, she had 3 more Top 40 hits before going back to acting.

This year, Tracey Ullman started a new British sketch comedy TV show called TRACEY ULLMAN’S SHOW, with 6 episodes having aired already and more on the way.  She also recently appeared in the 2014 Academy Award-nominated adaptation of the Broadway musical, INTO THE WOODS, starring Meryl Streep, Maine native Anna Kendrick and Johnny Depp.

As much as I love her version of “They Don’t Know,” I hope Tracey Ullman’s legacy here in the U.S. will last longer than the 3 minutes of the song, and “they” WILL KNOW and remember, like I do, how incredibly talented and funny she is…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9un119lq4c