"Fairytale of New York," The Pogues with Kirsty MacColl (Warner Music)

Released in 1987 after a couple years of development, the song first appeared on the Pogues' If I Should Fall From Grace With God album. The band's bassist and singer Cait O'Riordan had originally been tapped to provide the female duet vocal, but she left the band to marry Elvis Costello before the track was completed, so producer Steve Lillywhite took the track home to his wife, Kirsty MacColl, whose vocal is arguably the hook that sells this tune, although one should not overlook the overall quality of the songwriting here. The song hit number 2 on the Christmastime UK charts in its first go-round and has returned to the UK charts in nearly two dozen holiday seasons since then. The song has also been widely compiled on Christmas anthologies and has spawned numerous covers over its life.