Tom Grennan is a British singer-songwriter known for his powerful voice and emotionally charged pop-soul music. His rise to fame began with his feature on Chase & Status’s track ‘All Goes Wrong’ (2016), followed by his 2018 debut album ‘Lighting Matches’. Grennan’s subsequent albums, ‘Evering Road’ (2021) and ‘What Ifs & Maybes’ (2023), earned critical acclaim, with hits like ‘Little Bit of Love’ and ‘How Does It Feel’ solidifying his place as one of the UK’s leading artists. ‘Little Bit of Love’ (2021) reached number 7 on the UK Singles Chart, earning Grennan his first top-ten single.

In addition to his collaboration aspirations, Grennan has been focusing on his own music. He released a festive single titled ‘It Can’t Be Christmas’ this year and has been working diligently on a new album set for release in 2025. He describes the upcoming album as a reinvention of his sound, adding, “I wanna try and reinvent myself, and my sound, and put out music that I really love.”

Raye is open to collaborations and has a history of working with various artists across different genres. She has collaborated with notable musicians such as Lewis Capaldi, Tom Walker, and Rag’n’Bone Man. In a 2021 interview, Raye mentioned writing with Lewis Capaldi and planning sessions with Tom Walker and Rag’n’Bone Man, expressing her interest in exploring new perspectives through these collaborations.

Raye gained recognition with hits such as ‘You Don’t Know Me’ and ‘Secrets’, showcasing her versatility across pop, R&B, and dance genres. In 2023, she independently released her critically acclaimed debut album ‘My 21st Century Blues‘, featuring the global hit ‘Escapism’. It reached number one in January 2023, becoming the first chart-topping single for both Raye and 070 Shake.

Additionally, Raye has contributed her songwriting talents to other artists. She has written songs for Little Mix and Rihanna, showcasing her versatility and openness to working with a diverse range of musicians. Given her extensive experience and enthusiasm for collaborations, it is likely that Raye would be receptive to working with Tom Grennan on a project like a cover of ‘Fairytale of New York’.

Returning to SNL for a second time, the Irish musician played two tracks, the first ‘Too Sweet’ from his 2024 EP ‘Unheard’ which later went on to make the tracklist of his third album’s deluxe edition, ‘Unreal Unearth: Unending’ along with a cover of classic festive track, ‘Fairytale of New York’.

Completing a performance as brilliant as the studio version, Hozier delivered ‘Too Sweet’ with his usual richly soothing vocals. The ambience in the SNL studio with the contributions of backing vocalists and instrumentalists enhanced the pre-existing ethereal nature of the track, further exposing Hozier’s poignant vulnerability in ‘Too Sweet’.

The performance of ‘Too Sweet’ was highly anticipated given on the same day (December 21), former President Barack Obama released his annual ‘favourites’ which saw ‘Too Sweet’ feature on this year’s music recommendations. The track achieved commercial success having achieved the number 1 position on the UK Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100, and received considerable traction online this year, being a popular audio for TikTok users – the sound currently has over 248,000 posts contributed to it.

Hozier pulled out all the stops on Saturday night performing a surprise cover of Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s ‘Fairytale of New York’. Despite the controversial nature of the track given the homophobic and misogynist slurs which feature in the original, ‘Fairytale of New York’ remains one of the most popular Christmas songs in the UK. As Hozier changed some of the lyrics to fit with modern times, the ‘Eat Your Young’ singer effectively captured the tongue-in-cheek rambunctiousness of the song. This specific cover displayed the husky deepness layered within the intensified warmth of Hozier’s Irish vocal twang, perhaps a clever homage to the original.

@hoziersvocals Hozier singing Fairytale of New York by The Pogues tonight on SNL #hozier #live #christmas #christmasmusic #xmas #fyp #hozierofficial #hoziertok #snl #cover #thepogues #fairyofnewyork @Hozier ♬ original sound – Hozier’s Vocals

Although an impressive performance given by Hozier on Saturday night, viewers are to be reminded of the singer’s SNL debut back in 2014. He performed his breakthrough single ‘Take Me to Church’ alongside ‘Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene’ both of which feature on his self-titled debut album released in the same year.

A decade after his first performance on SNL, it’s hard to believe Hozier is only just returning as a musical guest on the show. However, with the momentum of his success in 2024, it will not be surprising if he features as a guest again in the near future.

]]> https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/hozier-performs-too-sweet-and-a-rendition-of-fairytale-of-new-york-on-saturday-night-live/feed/ 0 https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/the-pogues-wham-and-mariah-battle-for-the-official-uk-christmas-number-one/ https://www.mxdwn.co.uk/news/the-pogues-wham-and-mariah-battle-for-the-official-uk-christmas-number-one/#comments Mon, 04 Dec 2023 15:28:51 +0000 http://www.mxdwn.co.uk/?p=98185 The Pogues are fighting the English pop duo Wham! and American Christmas queen, Mariah Carey for the top spot, the official charts company have revealed this week.

After news of the late Shane MacGowan’s death, aged 65, last Thursday, his wife Victoria Mary Clarke reportedly told the BBC she would love to see the song at the top of the charts. On BBC Radio 4 Clarke said “It would be nice, wouldn’t it?… It should be Christmas number one, it absolutely should. I’m very much in favour of that.” 

The wife of Shane MacGowan, Victoria Mary Clarke, tells @MarthaKearney on #R4Today she hopes Fairytale of New York will be Christmas No 1.

Hear her memories of The Pogues frontman, who died this week aged 65, and how he enjoyed watching programmes about the Royal Family.

— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) December 2, 2023

The Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band The Pogues, fronted by Shane MacGowan, reached international heights with their popular hit ‘Fairytale of New York’  back in 1987. The duet with Kirsty MacColl quickly became a favourite of the UK and Irish nations, reaching number one in the Irish charts and number two in the British charts over Christmas. It has returned to the top 40 every year since 2005. Although, despite it being the third most streamed Christmas song in the UK, it has surprisingly never reached number one in Britain. 

The nostalgic song follows the story of two lovers, Irish immigrants in New York City, who quarrel and reminisce on Christmas Eve about their early love life. The song received huge criticism due to the fact it uses the word “faggot”, deemed offensive to homosexual people and in 2007, was briefly censored by the BBC. However, following protests from fans and the late Kirsty MacColl’s mother, the censorship was lifted. 

Watch the official video for ‘Fairytale of New York’ here

As it currently stands, ‘Last Christmas’ by the pop duo Wham!  is on track to take the number one spot next Friday. The duo consists of the late George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley and has been a crowd-pleaser every year since its release in 1986. Mariah Carey is close behind, moving from number six to number two, with her classic ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’. However, The Pogues are competing currently at spot number three. 

Watch Wham!’s Last Christmas below

There is also a new festive song by Eurovision’s Sam Ryder ‘You’re Christmas to Me’, released solely on Amazon Music, which is currently placing at number four in the UK singles chart.

The 2023 Christmas title will be announced in less than three weeks live on BBC Radio 1’s The Official Chart show on December 22.

His wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, has since posted a heartfelt statement on Instagram, writing, “I don’t know how to say this so I am just going to say it. Shane who will always be the light that I hold before me and the measure of my dreams and the love of my life and the most beautiful soul and beautiful angel and the sun and the moon and the start and end of everything that I hold dear has gone to be with Jesus and Mary and his beautiful mother Therese. I am blessed beyond words to have met him and to have loved him and to have been so endlessly and unconditionally loved by him and to have had so many years of life and love and joy and fun and laughter and so many adventures. There’s no way to describe the loss that I am feeling and the longing for just one more of his smiles that lit up my world. Thank you thank you thank you thank you for your presence in this world you made it so very bright and you gave so much joy to so many people with your heart and soul and your music. You will live in my heart forever. Rave on in the garden all wet with rain that you loved so much. You meant the world to me.”

An ever-charismatic and endearing figure, MacGowan and his renowned snarl came to represent many things during his 65 years on Earth; the nonchalant fusion of punk and poetry, Irish nationalism and pride, and, to a great many, Christmas music. “Fairytale Of New York“, indeed, remains a true December classic; will we see it take number one spot this Christmas? Above all though, MacGowan always remained true to himself, his culture, heritage and nation, and his nonconforming spirit.

Listen to “Fairytale Of New York” below:

Born in Kent to Irish immigrant parents in 1957 and growing up in various cities in the Southeast of England, MacGowan’s punk nature was evident from the start. He was allegedly expelled from secondary school for possession of narcotics and soon became enamoured with the early punk scene, experiencing his first bout of fame as he was pictured in a newspaper after being injured at a Clash gig. So inspired was MacGowan by the Pistols and the Clash he decided to join Shanne Bradley’s punk band, the Nipple Erectors.

Come 1982 and he had formed his own band, initially named Pogue Mahone (an anglicisation of the Irish phrase póg mo thóin, meaning ‘kiss my arse’). Shortened later to the Pogues, MacGowan employed his Irish identity to explore in his lyrics Irish nationalism, Irish history and the Irish diaspora in England. The Pogues’ first album, Red Roses for Me, came in 1984, followed by Rum, Sodomy & the Lash in 1985 and their most commercially successful record If I Should Fall from Grace with God in 1988.

Listen to “Dirty Old Town” below:

Notable singles from his time with the Pogues include covers of traditional Irish folk songs “Dirty Old Town” and “Irish Rover“, along with “Fairytale of New York” featuring Kirsty MacColl and “Dark Streets of London“. After leaving the band in 1991 he formed another group, Shane MacGowan and the Popes, releasing two full length LPs before re-joining the Pogues in 2001.

Listen to “Irish Rover” below:

The censored version to be played this Christmas will exclude the words ‘slut’ and ‘faggot’. BBC Radio 1 hosts have stated they will be removing these two words in an effort to not offend members of the LGBTQ+ community and younger audiences who might be particularly sensitive to offensive language towards women and especially sexuality.

https://t.co/w9iAFQSvDX

— The Pogues (@poguesofficial) November 19, 2020

Fairytale of New York was released November 23rd, 1987 and featured on The Pogues’ album If I Should Fall from Grace with God. It’s original release only made it #2 on the UK Christmas hits, however, since then it has reached triple platinum in sales. In 2019 it was awarded the title of The Most Played Christmas Song in the UK of the 21st Century.

The beginning of the controversy surrounding this Irish Christmas folk-song began in 2007 when BBC Radio 1 released an edited version in an attempt to avoid any offence taken by listeners. The Pogues stated it was amusing and ridiculous to them. After mass outrage, BBC Radio 1 reversed its position and continued to play the original version through the holiday season.

‘Morning https://t.co/xnoWEhjOl1

— The Pogues (@poguesofficial) November 19, 2020

2018 saw a much wider call to remove the offensive language from the track, or remove it from the radio-stations all together, however, the original version continued to dominate radio plays. MacGowan from the band defended the words once and for all in a statement on The Tonight Show, saying, “The word was used by the character because it fitted with the way she would speak and with her character. She is not supposed to be a nice person, or even a wholesome person. She is a woman of a certain generation at a certain time in history and she is down on her luck and desperate.”

Her dialogue is as accurate as I could make it but she is not intended to offend! […]If people don’t understand that I was trying to accurately portray the character as authentically as possible, then I am absolutely fine with them bleeping the word, but I don’t want to get into an argument.”

In 2019 there was still no censorship on the song on the Christmas radios and mixed reactions and opinions on whether it should be allowed on air was still broadly up for debate. Despite the dispute, the song received its most streams and downloads last year then ever before.

Even now in 2020 there continues to be split beliefs among all generations and communities throughout the UK on whether to censor Fairytale of New York. BBC Radio 1 has made headlines with the call to censor the iconic holiday hit from The Guardian to The Gay Times to CNN and all BBC radios have now been instructed to make the best decision based on their audiences.