The Irish-American officers of the New York Police Department Pipes and Drums band had never heard of The Pogues on the night that they featured in the band’s most famous and beloved music video.
Fairytale of New York was filmed in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park in November 1987 on one of the coldest days of the year, recounts drummer and bagpipe player Kevin P McCarthy.
McCarthy, a now-retired NYPD detective, says the group arrived for their second gig of the night and were surprised to discover that they would not need to play their instruments during the frigid two-hour film shoot.
