As the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl's Irish Christmas classic becomes the topic of debate for yet another year, the United Kingdom has voted it their favorite Christmas song, which is also their most played.
In a survey carried out by PRS for Music, The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl's Fairytale of New York was voted the United Kingdom's most popular Christmas song and was also found to be the most played on radio stations.
The Irish classic beat major Christmas hits including Mariah Carey (whose mother is Irish American) with All I Want for Christmas and Wham! with Last Christmas.
PRS of Music: Most popular UK Christmas songs.
PRS for Music analyzed data from radio stations up and down the United Kingdom and found Fairytale of New York to the most played and the most popular Christmas tune.
"The oldies are definitely the goodies, as the most recent hit to make the list is Cliff Richard – The Millennium Prayer which topped the charts in 2000," PRS for Music pointed out.
Read more: Shane MacGowan reveals his favorite cover of Fairytale of New York
The Fairytale of New York was originally released as a single on Nov 23, 1987, and later the song featured on the Pogues' 1988 album If I Should Fall from Grace with God. As of September 2017, the song has sold 1,217,112 copies in the UK, with an additional 249,626 streaming equivalent sales, for a total of 1,466,737 combined sales.
The PRS for Music also "quizzed Brits" on their Christmas music knowledge asking them which tune ranked as the coveted Christmas number one. One in six, or fifty-seven percent, thought Fairytale of New York had been number one but it was in fact beaten to the top spot by the Pet Shop Boys' Always on My Mind.
Their survey also found that in the United Kingdom, Dec 10 is when most people start to feel in the Christmas spirit. Four in ten, that's 41%, say that Christmas music is the key to feeling Christmassy.
Read more: Gorgeous rendition of Christmas favorite O, Holy Night
Sing it with us, "So, Happy Christmas! I love you baby..."
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