We were, at this point, rather hoping to bring you that festive smash Santa Claus is on the dole
, but we've not actually been able to track down a copy. Bad us.
Instead, we go to 1987, and a song written by Johnny Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson Thompson. Always on my mind
was a four-minute synthpop classic, beginning with sampled trumpets, and proceeding through a roaring bassline, a careful counterpoint to Neil Tennant's fragile vocals. It's not the Pet Shop Boys' finest hour - for our money, that's their 1993 b-side Shameless
- nor even their greatest song that's been written by other people - 1991's conjunction of Merryl Streep has no name / Can't take my eyes off of you
was, if anything, even more ludicrous.
The Pet Shop Boys' version is, of course, the definitive reading of Always on my mind
. Inferior cover versions have plagued the industry, from Michael Bublé's vacuous posturing, to a shockingly poor rendition by Elvis Presley, itself a pale imitation of Willie Nelson's mournful dirge.
