Drunken tale of New York... truth behind Pogues' Christmas classic

 
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26 December 2012
The Weekender

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Matt Dillon says Shane MacGowan was so drunk while filming the video for 'Fairytale of New York' that he had to hold on to him to stop him from falling over.

The Irish hellraiser enlisted the Hollywood actor to star as a policeman in the video accompanying his festive song but Matt, 48, revealed Shane was so intoxicated as they filmed it in a New York police station, he had to hold him up.

Matt said: "There was a pile of drinking going on. That's The Pogues - drinking.

"Even if I'd wanted to catch up, I couldn't because they were so out there.

"Shane was pretty liquored-up, so when I was holding his arm, he could have gone down the stairs."

Shane - who turned turn 55 on Christmas Day, admitted the policemen were not impressed at his drunkenness while filming the video in their station in 1987.

He said: "We nearly all got arrested because we did the jail scenes in the nick and we were all really p****d."

The festive classic also features the late singer Kirsty MacColl and was the most played Christmas song on UK radio in 2012.

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