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Fairytale of New York crowned musicians’ favourite Christmas song

09/12/09 – The Pogue’s Fairytale of New York has been named the greatest Christmas song of all-time, in a new poll from musicians’ website, MusicRadar.com.

In the hunt for the ultimate festive tune, more than 1200 MusicRadar users had their say, with votes for the online poll submitted by email, Facebook and Twitter.

First released in 1987, Fairytale of New York, which also features the late Kirsty MacColl, has never made it to number one in the UK.  The song beat John & Yoko’s 1971 hit Happy Xmas (War is Over) into second place, forcing Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody into third place by a narrow margin.

Controversially, the top 10 did not feature a song first released in the last 15 years, since 1994’s All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey.

MusicRadar.com’s Greatest Christmas Song of all-time

  • Fairytale Of New York – The Pogues
  • Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – John & Yoko
  • Merry Xmas Everybody – Slade
  • White Christmas – Bing Crosby
  • I Believe in Father Christmas – Greg Lake
  • Last Christmas – Wham!
  • All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey
  • Do They Know It’s Christmas? – Band Aid
  • I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday – Wizzard
  • Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – Darlene Love

Mike Goldsmith is Editor-in-Chief of MusicRadar.com

“In the 22 years since Fairytale of New York was released it has never made number one. This is the song that really should be Christmas number one in 2009, one that musicians believe deserves more credit.  It’s technically superb and it’s a classic you can’t help sing along with and raise a glass to.  There’s a fine art to creating a perfect Christmas tune we all love.”

The full rundown of MusicRadar.com’s Greatest Christmas Song of all-time is available at : http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/25-best-christmas-songs-of-all-time-229168

ENDS

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