Pet Shop Boys

HS

Are people now offering Popart as a suggestion *instead* of the discography/singles collection? I've often wondered why they did so much overlap between the two - to me it would've made more sense to make a single-disc second volume of the discography/singles collection, as the first stands pretty mightily on its own.
(they put everything on from the first, save Was It Worth It)

it all just seems a bit unnecessary to me

Here's a TS for you -- buying them in that format vs. the double-disc reissues from Please to Very which include all the Alternative cuts.

i like how the first disc left the album intact and the second filled in with all kinds of neat mixes, demos and b-sides

so, naturally i'll say the double-disc versions

But if you're on a budget then I guess just go for the double-disc reissues.

both popart and discography are DEAD CHEAP, so there's little in it. pop art gives you a taste of the later stuff - which might be of use to someone who'd heard v little. i do prefer discography cos i'm not taken with the later stuff all that much :-(

Specifically: Se A Vida E (pure concentrated joy in a can), A Red Letter Day (it GETS me, man), I Don't Know What You Want..., You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk (dissing, punk, hee!), Home And Dry (makes me cry), I Get Along (it's about Blair-n-Mandy u kno).

And also because Discography's strictly chronological timeline gets a bit wearing; the "pop"/"art" split may border on the arbitrary at times, but the track sequencing is still intelligently done.

Most glaring omission from Alternative: the swing version of "Can You Forgive Her", re-recorded with a full swing band arrangement, and at least 98% as good as the original.

(oh and check the INGA 1990 cover of DO I HAVE TO? if u haven't).

It's odd because I really adore most of their stuff (I loved _Release_, for example, and think "Home And Dry" is genius) but there are certain things that really, really aggravate me, like "Domino Dancing", "Always On My Mind", "Can You Forgive Her?", and "Go West", but those things are greatly overshadowed by the fact that most of their tracks are as great as "Se A Vida E (Deep Dish Mix)" or "The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On" or every version of "I Want A Dog" that doesn't appear on _Introspective_.

(xpost RAISE YOUR STANDARDS, PSB FANS)

(xpost HONOR THE FEY! Er.)

other favourites-
"Love Comes Quickly"
"So Hard"
"West End Girls" (obviously)
"Kings Cross"

I could go on, and on. best band ever.

WHAAAATTT??? This is madness. Holy shit, that track is so utterly great.

I also know that part of my issue with _Introspective_ is the super-heavy hand of Shep Pettibone.

(xpost HONOR THE FEY! Er.)

I have to hurt you now.

i smell heavy handed ILX racism at work

Six if you count me. Play With Me is a superb metapop album.

Is anyone else happy like I am that they've released the DVD of their Behaviour tour? Especially since I missed it. When they played LA. In 1991. When I was out of town that week. And couldn't catch them. WHEN THEY PLAYED WHAT WAS APPARENTLY ONE OF THEIR BEST SHOWS ON THE TOUR ACCORDING TO PET SHOP BOYS VERSUS AMERICA. But I digress.

But Marcello, we close our eyes.

Taking Sides:Go West vs. Wang Chung

So come on Pinefox, what *do* you see in Go West?

Don't try it!

It's still my favorite. Though the older I grow, Behavior is starting to sorta creep into my psyche and wedge itself in at a close #1.5

this is pure insanity. There's a desperation in neil's voice that is particularly sad. The only quibble I *may* be able to come up with is the sax solo.

whoa. xposts out the wazoo.

Fine fine, go ahead and nitpick. ;-)

I am deliriously happy about this, as it was recorded at the very same Birmingham NEC concert that I attended in 1991.

they still wouldn't let them use 'cant take my eyes off you' though it says it's on the disc on the box, it actually isnt on the disc. if u get me.

Oh dear. "Love etc" is on the internet.

It's a stinker.

"A stinker's" a bit too much. I'd say it's good some good bits and some parts that really don't work. Like the first verse.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7879322.stm

it's great. it wipes the floor with BEFORE or I'M WITH STUPID as a first single off an album to name two. lovely artwork too.

it's good I think, not a stinker by any means. agree with daavid that the start/first verse doesn't quite work but after that I think it's pretty great

"I remember on Pop Idol, Pete Waterman told someone, very sympathetically, 'The thing is, you're more of a Depeche Mode kind of artist.' In other words, 'What are you doing here, pet?'

He's so right. I wish they'd kick Simon Cowell's ass.

Gui Boratto and the Pet Shop Boys have hit twice with the German Film Star mix and now this Love Etc. remix. Would be great to hear Disco 5 or whatever they're on completely remixed by Boratto.

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Just because they named their new CD "Yes," does not mean that British electro-pop duo, the Pet Shop Boys, will agree to just about anything.

PETA has asked the Pet Shop Boys to change the band's name to Rescue Shelter Boys.

The band has turned down a request from an animal rights group to rename itself the Rescue Shelter Boys.

The organization, the People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals (PETA), sent a letter to Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe acknowledging that its request, at first blush, might appear "bizarre."

But, by changing its name, the band could raise awareness at every tour stop of the "cramped, filthy conditions" that breeders keep animals in before selling them to pet stores, PETA said in its letter. Read how the Pet Shop Boys got their name

The duo, which has performed under its current name for more than 20 years, reproduced PETA's written request in full on its Web site.

The musicians said they were "unable to agree" to the request "but nonetheless think (it) raises an issue worth thinking about."

The animal rights group said it was pleased the Pet Shop Boys had drawn attention to the issue by posting its letter so prominently on the band's site. Talking about its campaign on a blog entry, a PETA staffer wrote:

"I think I may have to stick "West End Girls" on my iPod right now to celebrate."

"West End Girls" is one of the many hits the group has had in its long career.

PETA is no stranger to oddball campaigns. A recent one was aimed to re-christen fish as "sea kittens" because "who could possibly want to put a hook through a sea kitten?"

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/04/10/peta.pet.shop.boys/index.html

How many songs about pet-shopping have they actually done, though?

I want a dog,
A chihuahua
When I get back to my small flat
I want to hear somebody bark
Oh, you can get lonely

Don't want a cat,
Scratching its claws all over my
Habitat
Giving no love and getting fat
Oh, (oh oh) you can get lonely
And a cat's no help with that

(Bulldog, hound, pug, labrador,
Collie, retriever, Dobermann-pinscher,
Husky, dalmatian, St. Bernard and dachshund,
Mongrel, beagle, cocker spaniel)

my God, I love that song so much

(the original b-side, that is)

Saw them tonight. It was excellent.

Me too.

Oh cool, you were at the Boston show? I thought they were really great. The Coldplay cover threw me but they made it about 1000x better than the original version.

I see them on Wednesday! Looks like they have a higher budget too.

The whole thing was pretty impressive. You'll have a great time.

Higher budget than the Cubism set...?

Yeah, I was at the Boston show. The Coldplay cover was amazing, I thought (and I don't like the original). Was also really impressed with how impressive they made such a minimal stage show.

Love how they make Viva La Vida sound like a Tennant/Lowe song without changing that much - the 4/4 pulse, the rush into the chorus, and the lyrics about leadership (a v Tennant theme) all sound both more joyous and more profound than they do in Coldplay's hands. Because of Tennant's preoccupation with Russian history, it suddenly makes me think of the 1917 revolution.

do they segue Did You See Me Coming into Viva La Vida because that would make a lot more sense to me than performing it entirely separately given how Did You See Me Coming is blatantly inspired by the latter

A wildly good cover. I didn't realize how much I loved Neil's voice!

So Coldplay really are the new U2, then.

"Viva La Vida" is mixed with the "all day all day's" from "Domino Dancing". And yes the show was amazing. Loved the visuals and the song choice. "King's Cross", "Do I Have To", "Suburbia", wow! And from the new album, "The Way It Used To Be" and "All Over The World" sound great.

They played "Do I Have To?" WOW

The artists I was listening to last night went the Replacements>the Troggs>James>Divine Comedy>Junior Boys>Magnetic Fields> and then ended with the Pet Shop Boys.

I tried to figure out what the connection was, and then I realized this was some sort of perfect hetero-to-homo slope. Lastfm probably has a graph for this and everything.

some big fucking balls to segue into 'can't take my eyes off of you'

think it works though

Did these guys do any production work for anyone other than Liza & Dusty?

yes, Cicero! the first signing to their old Spaghetti label

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYcp6wtnPLI

and they wrote this song/music (tho don't seem to have actual producer credit)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rVl-q8OQE8

:D

Thank you!

Yes was so great.

plus of course

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN3eEzLSlKY

+ Boy George's cover of 'The Crying Game', Tina Turner's 'Confidential', Robbie Williams 'She's Madonna' and 'We're The Pet Shop Boys', Kiki Kokova's cover of 'Love To Love You Baby' and Sam Taylor-Wood's cover of 'I'm In Love With A German Film Star'

their Bowie remix is actually a new production with new singing from Bowie IIRC

produced the Boy George version of The Crying Game from the Crying Game fillum

wrote and produced I'm Not Scared (and did the 12" remix)

also wrote but didn't produce Falling for Kylie (their own demo is on the Very re-release) and a few songs for the last Girls Aloud album that I've not heard

xpost

the Sam Taylor-Wood is credited as Sam Taylor-Wood & Pet Shop Boys iirc

Robbie Williams ... 'We're The Pet Shop Boys'

btw for folk who don't know: this was a song by My Robot Friend, that the PSB covered for a b-side, then Robbie covered with them producing

the single of She's Madonna is also cover-credited to Robbie Williams With Pet Shop Boys

They didn't produce this, but it's a great version of a song they wrote--like it even more than Dusty Springfield's original.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zErjqOlHWqU

http://991.com/newgallery/Robbie-Williams-Shes-Madonna-390510.jpg

"produced by" in tiny letters it turns out

http://www.residentadvisor.net/images/reviews/2008/sam-taylor-wood-im-in-love.jpg

xxp those two RW songs are so obviously PSB-produced that credits are sort of redundant.

This is helpful! I love "Results," it was like getting another PSBs album after I thought I wore them all out.

do you have Disco 3 and Disco 4? 3 is half a new studio album, 4 is a compilation of some of thei remixes of other people

The second half of "Actually" is so STRONG and DELICATE

did you guys know that there are 70 ilx threads with "pet shop boys" in the title? this seems very excessive.

PSB are old-ilx

70 does not seem enough, imo.

I was listening to them this morning and it was the perfect way to start off the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aLFi6MwmPI

deep spacey remix, ft. very nice vox and lyrics

Hm..

Neil Tennant in critical condition in German hospital.

http://www.side-line.com/news_comments.php?id=50728_0_2_0_C

oh my god

So it seems like this probably isn't true.

Side-Line seems like a questionable source, the text of the report had no specifics and no other news organizations have picked it up...so probably not.

oh thank god

Ok I got scared.

Chris Lowe on Australian soap Neighbours... totally forgot about this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JWScLDoLe8

Neil Tennant reading a chapter of Moby Dick:

http://www.mobydickbigread.com/chapter-11-nightgown/

I bought 'Introspective' recently and have been listening to it quite a bit. It's great, isn't it?

It is indeed, although I prefer the 7" version of 'It's Alright' to the album version. They should have used that version as the basis for the Introspective version!

Otherwise, the definitive versions of 'Left To My Own Devices', 'I Want a Dog' and 'Domino Dancing' and 'I'm Not Scared', and a different but just as good take on 'Always On My Mind' ... great stuff!

some days I just loop "Left to my Own Devices" and "Tryouts for the Human Race"...man I wish there was more music like that out there

I mean, please show me some

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9jEuHbB0GQ

Their worst single, alas. They can't have it both ways: singing from the POV of a Trump supporter, then having the supporter endorse Tennant's POV (the chorus).

Really not feeling this at all although I'm enjoying seeing one of their self claimed lifelong fans on Facebook claim they shoudln't start singing about politics as it will alienate their fanbase!

Hahaha... christ, that's funny. They've only been doing that since ever!

Anyway, no - it's not one of their better singles and falls well within the "lighters aloft" section of their discography alongside 'Winner' ... on the plus side, it's not a painfully slow, sombre ballad, which was what I was expecting.

"I'm With Stupid" was similarly stupid.

It makes sense, really. They give you a stupid song about a stupid president, and then give you a more stupid song about a more stupid president.

Without having heard the song (I'm not eager), I'm thinking that if this is an itch they couldn't help but scratch, they nonetheless had the wisdom this time to put it on a separate EP rather than on the forthcoming album.

That song sucks.

Oh right, this isn't destined for the new album at all but a completely different thing recorded with a completely different producer.

It's just their fan club EP for the year, but they're releasing it digitally for all. Understandable move, really.

PHEW DONT PANIC

It is *wildly bad* though - and just to rub it in, some echoes of Hey Headmaster, an all-time fave.

Lyrics are bad but might’ve worked with a less structured (and boring) backing

This is terrible. I don't necessarily agree that they should stay away from politics/social commentary but could they at least tone down the obviousness? It just doesn't work.

Songs like "Shopping" work so well precisely because you could listen to them without even realizing they're political (almost, anyway).

Also, Tennant using phrases like "WTF" annoys they hell out of me.

I'm no fan of "I'm with Stupid" either but at least the intent there was to make it plausible that it's about a couple's relationship.

According to Popjustice, the new EP contains 3 satirical songs and a sad one. That's the only one I'm looking forward to, TBH.

"Did you see me coming" probably has a couple of meanings too

Neil Tennant's lyrics book had me pondering why there were so few of the 'out in the city/hedonism' early songs (no Why Don't We Live Together, Later Tonight, I Get Excited etc) and so many of the 'from the pov of a Russian spy' ones. I have a dreadful feeling NT thinks those are what he's best at.

I think Norm MacDonald was pretty otm as to why satire was dead in the age of Trump, it's hard to effectively satirize someone you have nothing but contempt for

"Out in the City/Hedonism" is a good PSB title.

that's why Alec Baldwin's Trump is such a dire mimicry xp

"Why Don't We Live Together" is my favorite PSB song.

This song is ludicrously bad.

Second track. Marginally better but still kind of a mess, imo. It's sounding a little better on a second listening, probably because I'm not paying attention to the lyrics as much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuNBJkLLnOs

I think this "satire" output is such a disaster in part because it's nothing new (both self-obsessed social-media culture and post-truth politics/Trumpism have already been scrutinized to death) and because it's so basic: no new insights, wit or anything meaningful to convey. And it's painful/embarrassing to witness an act so dear to my heart do such a poor job. That's a third problem, it's the PSB so expectations are higher than normal.

Musically it's a lot better. The lyrics still seem kind of clunky though.

What happened to the Neil Tennant that was great at writing lyrics?

"You're feeling 'hashtag blessed'" - an actual lyric from an actual Pet Shop Boys song

This exists already, recorded in....1993

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG5oi1FGf_I

The lyrics (to "On Social Media") are something Brad Paisley would write for an awards show appearance, and the music is completely bland. This is frankly depressing.

I never took you for a fan.

I stopped paying serious attention after Very but yeah, I was on board for a while.

30 seconds into the new one and these are definitely the two worst songs they have ever released

it's wild that someone who has always been so great at assessing and analysing his own work has a blind spot that lets him keep writing such thudding clunkers as these, I'm With Stupid and Winner

well, they're old now.

An aging artist devolving into writing a bunch of blindingly obvious social critiques actually seems like a great subject for a Pet Shop Boys song

(though I heard half of the Maxi-Mix of IWS the other day and very nearly enjoyed the middle-eight's counterpoint against the main thrust of the song)

also Powell is not a great collaborator for them, I can't remember anything at all about Together. hopefully this EP is deliberately, like Elysium, clearing the pipes of tedious soggy chaff before an album of Stuart Price rave bangers

An aging artist devolving into writing a bunch of blindingly obvious social critiques actually seems like a great subject for a Pet Shop Boys song

― frogbs, Wednesday, February 6, 2019 4:21 PM

ahem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLBN6CAs8oY

well, they're old now.

yes, but they've written the likes of Vocal and Thursday and Love Is A Bourgeois Construct and The Former Enfant Terrible since then! and even, say, Pandemonium and The Pop Kids are diminished versions of things they used to write that take their aging into account.

xpost ha that too I guess, one listen to Elysium was enough

I loved the last two records.

On a brighter note, I listened to Electric yesterday for the first time ever, and it includes a lengthy interview track discussing each song on the album, and it was sharp and entertaining.

^^ The interview is on Spotify

I like I’m With Stupid. The drums, man.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHMk9WdoFHg&

I don't know if I'm suffering from extremely lowered expectations now but I kind of like this one

Mind you, I'm still googling for a GIF of Neil and Chris jumping over a shark

Whew -- this is easy. It's terrible too!

It's better than the other two, though

It's hard to forgive those hamhanded emphases and squeezing in of polysyllabic words.

They need to release a song called 'Jumping The Shark' about how they've jumped the shark.

I mean W T F

xp (waits for someone to post a link to a PSB song where they sing about doing just that)

I'm fairly confident that they know they've released a bunch of leaden almost-word-salad tracks. This isn't like Muse's Olympics song (I think they were trying to be clever?) or Prince's Vikings track (who knows what The Purple One was thinking there). It's just that the Boys can be subtle and clever and these tracks are neither, even if they were made with the best intentions.

xxxp they jumped the shark with Bilingual 24 years ago. they've jumped back the other way occasionaly though.

Their one-off between-album cuts have always sucked; that olympics thing (Winner), Together for the Ultimate comp, and Was It Worth It for Discography.

No fucking way. "Was It Worth It" is beautiful music as well as their first coming out song.

I think it's the Greek chorus bits; "WHAT?" "WHERE?" "HOW?!" etc that always put me off. I liked Chris's hat in the video.

Yes, 'Was It Worth It' is excellent and, please, Bilingual is actually a very super release.

This one is the best by far, but that’s not saying much, unfortunately. It threatens to get good at the end but it’s still too word-salady. Why such a rush, Neil? At some point I started thinking about late period Elvis Costello which is *really* a worry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Two6mcJGYCM

I never liked Was it Worth it as a kid (which is a shame, because if I’d noticed the coming out theme, it would’ve been extremely useful). I love it now, though - a very similar vibe to Before, and for once Neil is just as hot as the models in the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px1sxZKiokc

It also helps that I love this era of pop house

Yeah it’s their SAW-iest song by far (which is part of the appeal for me)

Oh hey, this one isn't completely terrible

I remember thinking "Was it Worth It" was the worst PSB single up to the point it was released. But in hindsight (and especially given the shoddy quality of their latest output) it sounds a masterpiece now. Its only problem is that it doesn't have a great chorus. But the "I don't know why/I never thought I'd fall in love" bit at the end more than makes up for that.

So, yeah, seconding Chuck_Tatum here

According to Popjustice, the new EP contains 3 satirical songs and a sad one. That's the only one I'm looking forward to, TBH.

update on this though

Yeah, exactly what I expected. "The Forgotten Child" is by far the best of the bunch. Still, very subpar for the Boys.

yeah, it would register as fine if the three others hadn't been so dire

I remember thinking "Was it Worth It" was the worst PSB single up to the point it was released. But in hindsight (and especially given the shoddy quality of their latest output) it sounds a masterpiece now. Its only problem is that it doesn't have a great chorus. But the "I don't know why/I never thought I'd fall in love" bit at the end more than makes up for that.

― daavid, Friday, February 8, 2019

Mishearing a key lyric as "Then he smiled/and I was lost" helped too.

What's the best PSB *London song*?

It doesn't actually have to name London but has to feel London (which is probably most of them).

the Carter USM version of Rent that changes "off Broadway" to "Fulham Broadway," obv

King's Cross?

I'm wondering "Violence"?

"Two Divided by Zero"

I thought this was an erronous eBay listing at first, but no, it is being sold as a valid bit of PSB history:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PET-SHOP-BOYS-Dairy-Book-Of-Home-Management-1980/113637460627?epid=1805382223&hash=item1a75520a93:g:BLkAAOSwBPxcZAFU

Ha! I mean, yeah, I knew Tennant was involved in stuff like this just before (and around the time of) his stint at Smash Hits, but I never thought I'd see this stuff being sold as PSB memorabilia. The seller's obviously trying to make more money by pointing out the PSB connection... I suppose there are a lot of opportunities if you know when to take 'em...

I was on the lookout for PSB books beyond Literally and Vs America. I suppose this will have to do.

Thanks for pointing this out! I just bought a copy via Amazon for a friend who's a big fan. Not bad: $15, free shipping, supposedly "very good" condition.

Seems like I mostly just listen to Pet Shop Boys on Thursday mornings when I'm getting ready for work.

And they have a song called "Thursday "!

Glad to be of assistance

that's why I only seem to listen to them on Thursday, Alfred. I assumed the connection would be made. good way to kick off the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=angHvxq1XLU

Surely there's not just me thinking that we should have heard something more about a new album by now.

We got an answer! A new track featuring Years & Years (for their forthcoming album, I assume):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RokbHjyPbyk

S'alright.

Nice enough and certainly better than anything on that recent EP. I just wish the chorus hit harder. It seems quite uneventful.

Kinda generic but I like it fine.

I don’t know much about it, but I saw posters for this when I was up in Edinburgh:

https://petshopboys.co.uk/theatre-film/musik-2019#1

Dont like being cruel and hey we all get old but this would sound better if Olly Alexander sang solo

This song is a non-entity to me, much like everything else I've heard involving Years & Years

This song is a non-entity without Y&Y.

mind you, I'm not saying that taking Y&Y off would change anything

new video for single "Monkey business" ft. a dancing Chris at the end (which makes it a must-watch):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPx8P8pcrdA

It's a mediocre album, alas, thanks to tracks like this.

i like it

the way he says PAAH-TEE is enough to hate champagne and margaritas

yeah but Neil pronounces a lot of words in obnoxious ways, its part of the Pet Shop Experience

Makes me think I’d like to hear them cover “Margaritas at the Mall.”

Otm

Feels like either taking seven years to get around to finishing the JLC trilogy was a bad idea, or they should have made sure to do a boring album in between each one to refresh their banger tank.

Huh: turns out they have also been filling up the tank with other material to pump out later.

They wrote two songs and four pieces of score for a new stage version of My Beautiful Laundrette that was staged last year, and they plan to release the soundtrack this year - one song was used as a Dreamland B-side.

They wrote four new songs for a cabaret sequel to Closer To Heaven that ran at the Edinburgh Fringe last year, which they intend to release "at some point."

An extended orchestral production of their Turing musical is planned, which would provide an opportunity to finally release a recording.

And Neil has suggested a Disco 5 comp would be due once the Hotspot cycle is over.

They should have gone away for 10 years. Greatest Hits tour sounds.. ominously like a last hurrah.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jan/24/pet-shop-boys-the-acoustic-guitar-should-be-banned

Fabulous interview.

Mediocre is the word... at least there was entertainment value in the flat-out terrible songs on Elysium

Well, I like monkey business quite a lot, so that’s one up on Elysium and the last EP

I'm still not sold on Burning The Heather which is a bit too similar to some of the more boring songs on Elysium and Wedding In Berlin is a bizarre closer. I enjoyed the first eight songs though. I'm surprised how much I liked the ballads.

xxxp hilarious interview. PSB bringing the zings.

The album pretty much bored me as dog-walking music this morning. I'll see how it does as writing music in a few days.

One sorta "West End Girls"-ish song towards the beginning sounded ok. "Wedding in Berlin" is uniquely terrible.

Story from a UK writer via a friend's feed:

They DJ’d at some electroclash night in Liverpool Street once, donkey’s years ago, and they just stood there drinking champagne and telling Pete Gleadall what records to play. 'That’s not really DJ’ing, is it?' I submitted to them some years later and they said that’s the way Afrika Bambaataa used to do to it, so they were doing it right and everybody else was doing it wrong. There’s no answer to that, is there?

Madonna telling Stuart Price which records to play, Annie putting on records for Timo Kaukolampi to mix, Tim Goldsworthy telling Tim Sweeney which records to mix, Casey Spooner waving his hair & sleeves while a tiny lady puts the records on...

“I’m quite looking forward to that actually,” nods Lowe. “Running out of ideas.” He grins. “Because that’s when you go and work with Brian Eno.”

damn

Diana Ross 'djing' at Studio 54...

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fe/34/40/fe3440e97c6fe77d877e7a21c9f00f2e.jpg

Diana Ross otm

Diana Ross otdj

Bernard Butler is playing on the new album:

https://i.imgur.com/yiV5D8G.jpg

(his twitter bio reads "In a secret life I was a randy general.")

Perfect time to reintroduce You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk to the set

From the interview, I love “authenticity is a style, and it’s always the same style”

Australian newspaper interview with some interesting tidbits. They're considering Where The Streets / Can't Take medley, Losing My Mind and Hallo Spaceboy for the upcoming Greatest Hits tour. The next b-side is a song called New Boy that was written on the same day as Rent. The BFI have done a restoration of It Couldn't Happen Here, coming out in June.

Any chance you can C/P it?

This is the first time in years that I've wanted to read something behind the Herald-Sun paywall.

The Pet Shop Boys have broken one of their own rules on new album Hotspot.

You’ll hear an acoustic guitar on Burning the Heather, played by Suede’s Bernard Butler.

“There is a new Apple program where you can play a guitar that sounds really good just by programming the chords,” Pet Shop Boys’ singer Neil Tennant explains.

“But even we thought that was too much, having a programmed acoustic guitar. So we brought a real guitarist in. We broke our rule with Bernard Butler.”

Hotspot is the British electronic duo’s fourteenth album since their 1986 debut Please, home to their global No. 1 West End Girls.

Since then they’ve sold 100 million albums, released 55 singles, written soundtracks for musicals and ballets, collaborated with everyone from Liza Minnelli to David Bowie and became an unlikely touring act.

This year Tennant and bandmate Chris Lowe will embark on their first ever Greatest Hits tour.

“I suppose it’s a very Pet Shop Boys thing to do a Greatest Hits tour in the same year you’ve released a new album, and it’s a very Pet Shop Boys thing to have not really thought that through. But otherwise we’d have just turned into album/tour, album/tour act.

“We fancied doing something that summed everything up. Even though it’s a Greatest Hits tour we will be regarding Monkey Business from Hotspot as a greatest hit. It’ll hold its own.”

Hotspot is their third consecutive album to be produced by Stuart Price (Madonna, Kylie, the Killers).

“He sort of becomes the third member of Pet Shop Boys when we work with him,” Tennant says.

Tennant left his job as a journalist at pop magazine Smash Hits to commit to Pet Shop Boys full time. Sometimes his reviews came back to haunt him once he became a musician.

“Freddie Mercury famously told someone at EMI that he hated the Pet Shop Boys because I’d slagged off one of Queen’s records when I was at Smash Hits. And I did slag them off, to be fair. He hadn’t forgotten that.”

Always a writer at heart, Tennant, 65, admits he still devours reviews of Pet Shop Boys albums.

“I’m not one of those people who doesn’t see anything. I don’t really read comments on line anymore, it’s too maddening. But we’ve had some very nice reviews. It gives a positive aura around what’s going on. It’s nice to do something and not get slapped in the face.”

Unlike many bands who began in the 80s, the Pet Shop Boys have never had to hit the retro circuit and their new material is still well received.

“You might not be interested in us, or not like our music or my voice or those things, but I think we’ve maintained a very high standard of songwriting over the years,” Tennant says.

“I think people are cynical, in a world of streaming when there’s so much music sitting on your phone, and expect that you’re resting on your laurels. We don’t. From within the Pet Shop Boys it’s never been any different. It’s me and Chris, sitting in a room, writing songs together, with a lot of energy and still enjoying doing it, and laughing and having fun. It was like that in 1984. And it was like that making this new album.”

Robbie Williams, a Pet Shop Boys fanboy who the duo have collaborated with over the years, recently said he’s disillusioned with the music world now that streaming has killed off the singles chart for his demographic – “the middle aged” pop star.

Hotspot’s first single, Dreamland, was a collaboration with young UK synth act Years and Years. While it championed by the BBC’s Radio 2, who play older artists, it was deemed unsuitable for Radio 1, who play younger acts, including Years and Years. It missed the UK singles chart.

“If Dreamland had been a Years and Years single Radio 1 would have played it,” Tennant says. “But because Pet Shop Boys were on it, it couldn’t be played. Because Pet Shop Boys are too old. That’s just the way it is. Several times over the last 20 years the head of programming at Radio 1 has told our promotions guy this is a great record but we won’t be playing it. You just get used to the way it is.

“It is a fascinating thing that we totally accept that because someone has reached a certain age you will not play their record on the radio. It’s the only area where that is even allowed, isn’t it? I won’t use the word ageism, but it’s sort of amazing everyone just accepts that. Really, a record should be chosen on how good it is.

“Obviously pop is meant to be music for young people. And again, this is the only area where this assumption is made, but the assumption is that young people can only listen to records by young people. In other areas that would be regarded as unacceptable. In pop music, it’s deemed totally acceptable. One of the problems with social media in this rather narcissistic world we live in is that like only ever talks to like. Unless it’s to abuse them.

“Nowadays when everyone is so sensitive about acceptance and tolerance of everything, which is quite right, there’s just a little brickwall when it comes to age in music.”

Good news for local Pet Shop Boys fans – their Greatest Hits tour is likely to visit Australia early 2021.

“People have been trying to lure us back there for a few years, we’ve never quite understood our career in Australia,” Tennant says. “There is an offer, I think a tour will probably happen, it’s vaguely pencilled in for the end of your summer. It is about time, though.”

What’s going to be in the Greatest Hits tour?

There’s a desire to show songs from different eras next to each other and that will stand up pretty equally. In a normal tour we ration the greatest hits. For instance a record we made years ago I’ve always quite liked is our cover of U2’s Where the Streets Have No Name going into Can’t Take My Eyes Off You. It makes me smile just talking about it. That’s coming out of mothballs for the tour. We haven’t done Rent for a while. Love Comes Quickly. Jealousy. Hits we did with other people – What Have I Done to Deserve This, Losing My Mind we did for Liza (Minnelli), Hello Spaceboy we did with David Bowie …

This year is the 35th anniversary of West End Girls. Next year is 40 years since you met Chris. Do you think you’ll do anything to mark these milestones?

We probably won’t do anything. We’re not anniversary types. One day we could release our cassette demos from the 80s. I thought the cassette was the worst format for music but when you’ve got your demos recorded on them they still work, they still play. Our first two albums are recorded on some digital format that was tres modern at the time and now there’s only two players in London that can play it. But the cassettes still play. If I dig those out, just like now, we were very prolific over a period of time. We’ve been very prolific over the last two years.

What’s on those early cassettes? Things we’ve never heard or different versions of songs we know?

Both. Something no one has ever heard is the first version of West End Girls with different music. it’s more punky, at the end I start shouting ‘Sometimes you’re better off dead’. It’s probably too embarrassing to release. One or two years ago I was listening to the cassette demos and I’ve always liked this song we wrote on at the time we wrote Rent. It’s called New Boy. I was at Smash Hits at the time. It’s about two girls on the phone in some suburban area, they see a new boy in town and are talking about him. It’s got a very strong melody, I’ve always remembered it. Anyway Chris and I finally finished it off after however many years and it’s the b-side of the next single. It was actually written the same day as Rent.

You played Glastonbury with Brandon Flowers from the Killers last year.

He phoned up last year and said he specifically wanted us to do Always On My Mind with him, as well as their song Human. Then he asked Johnny Marr to do (The Smiths’) This Charming Man. Brandon has this thing for 80s pop songs. Because of his age the first Pet Shop Boys album he knew was Release, which is an album not so beloved by PSB fans because it’s got guitars on it, although the guitars are played by Johnny Marr, Brandon loves that album. He’s come backstage to our concerts and asked why we didn’t play Birthday Boy, he think ‘That’s a no-brainer’.

Musicians making films are a thing now, but you released one, It Couldn’t Happen Here …

When we made a film in 1987 it didn’t start off as a film, it started off as a video album. Then it gained a narrative. When we started shooting it they said it was going to be released in a cinema so we had to shoot half an hour more. It became a 90 minute film. Chris and I just went along with it, it was a sort of disaster, but an interesting disaster. People have always asked us about it. Now the BFI, the British Film Institute have paid for a restoration and they’re releasing it because they find it a fascinating curiosity. It’s coming out on DVD and BluRay in June. It’ll probably get slammed all over again, it’s a very strange film.

Fabulous. Thanks!

Brilliant.

(and other adjectives that could be PSB album titles)

I’d love to see ICHH in HD! Such a weird dreamlike pile of glorious nonsense.

I walked out of It Can’t Happen Here at an arthouse theater. All I remember is a driver who spoke only in (cribbed) Steven Wright one-liners.

Two books by Chris Heath from the early 90s which document the rise of PSB and give behind-the-scenes access to their first experiences of touring are reissued today. pic.twitter.com/ubJuKG0H7m

— Pet Shop Boys (@petshopboys) March 19, 2020

Who needs novels when those Heath books exist?

Is either of them a clear standout or do I need both?

They're both great.

yep

You need both, but PSB vs America has the edge in part for Pennie Smith’s photography.

and it begins in Miami!

Just encouraged my sister to order them both for my bday ;)

They just want to have something to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRNJ9GbNULM

West End Girls just topped The Guardian's list of best UK no. 1 singles and old rockists are pissed. This makes me very happy.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/apr/27/the-100-greatest-uk-no-1s

Skimmed through the list in record time and only found 5-10 songs I unequivocally like better. Great choice.

there's no better choice

i recently found out that 'always on my mind' kept that bloody pogues nonsense off xmas number 1. absolutely awesome

There are easily 27 songs on the list I unequivocally like better.

(Cool tune though.)

Otm every post so far

'West End Girls' kept me interested in music at a point where I could easily have stopped paying any attention to music.

As happy as I am to see West End Girls at number one I feel the list is in serious need of an I Feel For You. Not even in the top 100

I love West End Girls but can't take that list seriously as it doesn't include Israelites.

"Let Me Be Your Fantasy" is too low

(xpost) Hadn't thought about that--those 100 are culled from 100s of #1s. So no knock on "West End Girls," but there are no doubt dozens of #1s I like better.

Does Mr Oizo's Flat Beat appear in the list? That's the actual best number one of all time.

The big omission for me was Soul II Soul's "Back to Life"

probably should move this discussion to its own thread but Groovejet, Dreamer, Lola's Theme, Feel It and Stay were the notable absences for me

elton john the biggest wtf. were they just throwing him a bone as none of his other songs got to #1?

There was a poll of UK number ones in 2005 and ‘West End Girls’ was #8.

#100 Professional Widow - Tori Amos 18/01/97 185 points, 7 votes
99 Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Bonnie Tyler 12/03/83 187 points, 6 votes
98 Sunday Girl - Blondie 26/05/79 189 points, 8 votes
97 Get It On - T.Rex 24/07/71 191 points, 11 votes
96 Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival 20/09/69 192 points, 9 votes
95 Cum On Feel The Noize - Slade 03/03/73 192 points, 7 votes
94 Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury & The Blockheads 27/01/79 196 points, 7 votes
93 Help! - The Beatles 05/08/65 197 points, 9 votes
92 Pure Shores - All Saints 26/02/00 200 points, 9 votes
91 Honky Tonk Women - The Rolling Stones 23/07/69 202 points, 6 votes
90 Doctorin' The Tardis - The Timelords 18/06/88 205 points, 7 votes
89 My Sweet Lord - George Harrison 30/01/71 205 points, 6 votes
88 The Sun Always Shines On TV - A-Ha 25/01/86 206 points, 8 votes
87 Stand & Deliver - Adam & The Ants 09/05/81 209 points, 7 votes
86 Hey Jude - The Beatles 11/09/68 211 points, 9 votes
85 The Israelites - Desmond Dekker & The Aces 16/04/69 214 points, 9 votes
84 Theme From S'Express - S'Express 30/04/88 215 points, 10 votes
83 Should I Stay Or Should I Go - The Clash 09/03/91 216 points, 8 votes
82 You Really Got Me - The Kinks 10/09/64 218 points, 8 votes
81 Call Me - Blondie 26/04/80 221 points, 8 votes
80 Maggie May - Rod Stewart 09/10/71 223 points, 9 votes
79 Rock Your Baby - George McCrae 27/07/74 224 points, 6 votes
78 Block Rockin' Beats - The Chemical Brothers 05/04/97 225 points, 8 votes
77 Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out - The Beatles 16/12/65 225 points, 8 votes
76 Stand By Me - Ben E. King 21/02/87 228 points, 9 votes
75 Je T'Aime... Moi Non Plus - Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg 11/10/69 232 points, 11 votes
74 Breathe - The Prodigy 23/11/96 234 points, 10 votes
73 Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) - Spiller 26/08/00 236 points, 11 votes
72 Without You - Nilsson 11/03/72 239 points, 7 votes
71 Vogue - Madonna 14/04/90 239 points, 6 votes
70 99 Red Balloons - Nena 03/03/84 241 points, 11 votes
69 Paperback Writer - The Beatles 23/06/66 242 points, 8 votes
68 Telegram Sam - T.Rex 05/02/72 242 points, 7 votes
67 I Feel Fine - The Beatles 10/12/64 244 points, 8 votes
66 Waterloo - Abba 04/05/74 245 points, 8 votes
65 Sound Of The Underground - Girls Aloud 28/12/02 247 points, 10 votes
64 Don't Look Back In Anger - Oasis 02/03/96 247 points, 7 votes
63 Brimful Of Asha - Cornershop 28/02/98 254 points, 14 votes
62 The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore - The Walker Brothers 17/03/66 255 points, 10 votes
61 A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles 23/07/64 259 points, 11 votes
60 A Town Called Malice/Precious - The Jam 13/02/82 264 points, 9 votes
59 I'm A Believer - The Monkees 19/01/67 264 points, 9 votes
58 She Loves You - The Beatles 12/09/63 265 points, 7 votes
57 You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) - Dead Or Alive 09/03/85 269 points, 11 votes
56 Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel 28/03/70 276 points, 9 votes
55 I'm Not In Love - 10cc 28/06/75 283 points, 9 votes
54 Telstar - The Tornados 14/10/62 287 points, 8 votes
53 Toxic - Britney Spears 13/03/04 291 points, 15 votes
52 It's Over - Roy Orbison 25/06/64 297 points, 12 votes
51 Voodoo Chile - Jimi Hendrix Experience 21/11/70 297 points, 9 votes
50 Like A Prayer - Madonna 25/03/89 298 points, 14 votes
49 Tears Of A Clown - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles 12/09/70 300 points, 11 votes
48 Ashes To Ashes - David Bowie 23/08/80 307 points, 11 votes
47 Firestarter - The Prodigy 30/03/96 309 points, 10 votes
46 Ticket To Ride - The Beatles 22/04/65 314 points, 12 votes
45 Your Woman - White Town 25/01/97 316 points, 11 votes
44 Stan - Eminem 16/12/00 317 points, 13 votes
43 Sunny Afternoon - The Kinks 07/07/66 327 points, 13 votes
42 3AM Eternal - The KLF featuring Children of the Revolution 02/02/91 329 points, 14 votes
41 Jumpin' Jack Flash - The Rolling Stones 19/06/68 334 points, 14 votes
40 Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners 07/08/82 341 points, 13 votes
39 Metal Guru - T.Rex 20/05/72 343 points, 11 votes
38 Brass In Pocket - The Pretenders 19/01/80 350 points, 12 votes
37 Space Oddity - David Bowie 08/11/75 352 points, 13 votes
36 It's A Sin - The Pet Shop Boys 04/07/87 360 points, 11 votes
35 The Winner Takes It All - Abba 09/08/80 362 points, 11 votes
34 Baby One More Time - Britney Spears 27/02/99 363 points, 15 votes
33 Are Friends Electric? - Tubeway Army 30/06/79 372 points, 12 votes
32 Under Pressure - Queen & David Bowie 21/11/81 379 points, 10 votes
31 Make It Easy On Yourself - The Walker Brothers 23/09/65 388 points, 15 votes
30 Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen 29/11/75 398 points, 13 votes
29 Freak Like Me - Sugababes 04/05/02 400 points, 15 votes
28 Geno - Dexy's Midnight Runners 03/05/80 400 points, 11 votes
27 Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood 28/01/84 405 points, 17 votes
26 (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones 09/09/65 417 points, 14 votes
25 All The Things She Said - Tatu 08/02/03 428 points, 15 votes
24 Paint It, Black - The Rolling Stones 26/05/66 429 points, 15 votes
23 Reach Out I'll Be There - The Four Tops 27/10/66 439 points, 15 votes
22 Band Of Gold - Freda Payne 19/09/70 452 points, 14 votes
21 Can't Get You Out Of My Head - Kylie Minogue 29/09/01 459 points, 17 votes
20 Crazy In Love - Beyonce 12/07/03 477 points, 18 votes
19 I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye 26/03/69 488 points, 15 votes
18 Pump Up The Volume - M/A/R/R/S 03/10/87 493 points, 19 votes
17 Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor 03/02/90 507 points, 17 votes
16 Uptown Top Ranking - Althea & Donna 04/02/78 510 points, 19 votes
15 Into The Groove - Madonna 03/08/85 527 points, 16 votes
14 Ignition (remix) - R Kelly 17/05/03 536 points, 14 votes
13 Atomic - Blondie 01/03/80 545 points, 22 votes
12 Don't You Want Me - The Human League 12/12/81 607 points, 22 votes
11 Dancing Queen - Abba 04/09/76 640 points, 19 votes
10 The Model / Computer Love - Kraftwerk 06/02/82 657 points, 20 votes
9 Always On My Mind - Pet Shop Boys 19/12/87 704 points, 22 votes
8 West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys 11/01/86 736 points, 23 votes
7 Tainted Love - Soft Cell 05/09/81 749 points, 19 votes
6 Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush 11/03/78 776 points, 22 votes
5 Heart Of Glass - Blondie 03/02/79 795 points, 28 votes
4 Billie Jean - Michael Jackson 05/03/83 824 points, 25 votes
3 I Feel Love - Donna Summer 23/07/77 825 points, 23 votes
2 Ghost Town - The Specials 11/07/81 876 points, 25 votes
1 Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys 17/11/66 1024 points, 29 votes

Think Ignition (Remix) would poll a little lower in 2020

how on earth did "ghost town" make it to #2 in that poll

in both that and the guardian list! it's a good song, sure, but it's not an all time great or anything to me. maybe you have to be british to understand?

The lyrics are very relevant to the political and social situation in Briatin at the time.

i get that but it's not enough to make me understand it being ranked as high as that

I Feel For You didnt even make our top 100 wtf ilm? Didnt it win the 80s r&b poll?

how on earth did "ghost town" make it to #2 in that poll

I would argue that the one quality shared by the top ten is that they each generate an atmosphere that seemed excitingly sui generis to the record-buying public, at a time when a large part thereof was still open to new ideas. This was an era when Laurie Anderson made it to number 2 in the UK charts!
"Ghost Town" is unforgivingly stark, but it had a cool beat and a message that captured the national mood. Like the others in the list its impact was sufficient to lodge it permanently in the imagination of people who came of age in the early '80s.

that makes sense, it's just easier to understand the musical impact of say "i feel love" compared to "ghost town" which seems to be a real "you had to be there" thing capturing the mood of the moment? doubt it'd do as well in a modern ilx poll since the board is nowhere near as uk-oriented as it seemed to be back in like 05

I Feel Love won our poll of Best Songs (of the 20th century iirc) Ever and would almost certainly do so again

just easier to understand the musical impact of say "i feel love" compared to "ghost town"

Yes, but do either have the musical impact of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)"?

Pet shop boys are a really underrated group.I love them !! My mom always used to listen to them.

— iamcardib (@iamcardib) March 22, 2021

Collaboration next.

Now that I think about it Collaboration surely should be the name of a PSB album with guest singers for duets.

That's the premise behind the new album by The Paper Kites, _Roses_, fwiw.

Would seem appropriate for Cardi B to give them a boost in the same way that they worked with Dusty Springfield.

Not that they're anywhere near as commercially adrift as Dusty was in the mid-80s.

*flat British monotone*
Get a bucket and a mop
That’s a wet ass pussy

in a wet ass town, a dead end world

Cardi B, here is all of my money, please re-record "Shopping"

thought for sure you'd say "Domino Dancing," then corrected myself. You'd say, "Cardi B, here is all of my money, please destroy the masters of 'Domino Dancing.'"

xpost -- It must happen.

Thought this would be on here: "Opportunities" achieves "new dance chart high" while in Allstate commercial: https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9527827/super-bowl-pet-shop-boys-opportunities-dance-charts (hood ornament smiling and singing along is shit, and reminds me that Consumer Reports concluded, citing reader surveys, that some of the worst car insurance providers have the most elaborate commericals, because they have to replace so many customers every year)(do like the dsert drive being all into the song tho)

I'd been waiting for that article since seeing the commercial at least five times last week.

I have a dance party every time that commercial comes on

it's airing constantly during the ncaa tournament (the bettors seem to have latched onto the chorus lyric)

also lmao that article says "sorry, only for Billboard pros!" when I click on it

"The 1986 classic sold 1,000 downloads"
Incredible stuff. Neil and Chris certainly are making lots of money, amirite?

Huh, hadn't even realized this ad existed.

it is one of the two best ads on television right now

obv #1 is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDAg3VkZPg8

Indeed! You saw that Undefeated article about it, yes?

I did!

Separately, so this "Opportunities" talk is making me think of a hilarious little-talked-about moment from their imperial phase. So there was that Billionaire Boys Club movie with Kevin Spacey a few years back, but well before that there was a 1987 NBC miniseries about the same case, starring Judd Nelson. It is VERY 1987 network TV on all fronts. Thankfully the full thing is available on YouTube.

Anyway, I remember watching it at the time, and I distinctly remember there was a montage on it where our non-hero gets himself all made over to be a power player by his fellow assholes. (Again, how perfectly 1987.) As you can see here -- the link should hopefully start at the right place; if not, skip ahead to 21 minutes into the video and let it play from there -- it is soundtracked by a terrible cover of "Opportunities" which is spectacularly missing the point, clearly because the music supervisor or producer or whoever was just all "Wow a song about money, perfect!" I kinda want to know who the guilty party who did this cover is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQOTcBbZQU4

omigod that "Opportunities" montage

It's AMAZING. What a fucking artifact.

More movie montages should consist mainly of stills.

https://imgur.com/a/13YdC?nc=1

https://i.imgur.com/erKzudV.jpg

As long as we're talking about "Woot!", leave us not forget Downey's brill use of "Everybody Everybody":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRNawm7F9fw

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTYxi5e9SSkqH35b6b3BsytKI2fCuz7ValoMtlMMY8e7_yE93cKjrgsdrhRip4&usqp=CAc

xpost my fave (the Downy's that is)

A further update on that terrible cover -- Nate Patrin remembered the ad for the miniseries using it. You will note, how you say, a creative edit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4R_C2L4Wmk

Re: That Downy ad. I submit for consideration LG selling washing machines by reinterpreting "Got Your Money":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEwxtg35BUo

why are there so many street signs in that montage

Billionaire Boys Club was nominated for four Emmys: Outstanding Miniseries, Outstanding Directing in a Miniseries or Special, Outstanding Writing in a Miniseries or Special, and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special for Ron Silver

lol

Really speaks to the sheer paucity of quality around then. "It MUST be important, it's about wannabe rich assholes in LA like us!"

Whenever I think of the Pet Shop Boys in pop culture I always think of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW8TIAHyAE0

YES! on the Tag Team Geico ad being the #1 ad of the moment. I crack myself up inserting "Sprinkles!" mentally into conversations. The expression on the son's?/daughter's? faces are great, too.

One thing I like about the Tag Team commercial is that I (and I assume a lot of people) had idea what the guys looked like, and even if I did, it's kind of taken on faith that these are the same guys. And yeah, "Sprinkles!"

the tag team commercial also underscores the fact that "whoomp there it is" is a truly excellent song that we've taken for granted

I mentioned this piece briefly but it is worth a read

https://theundefeated.com/features/behind-the-delightful-success-of-tag-team-hit-commercial-with-geico/

AD WARS - tag team's "whoomp there it is" vs. pet shop boys' "opportunities"

bilingual then backwards and anything after bilingual is crap!

nah

Geico wins Mad Men Ace Award because visuals of Allstate spoiled by shitty singing hood ornament, looking like a sweetened-up Wicked Witch, but musically I find "Opportunities" more exciting.

I can't recall many good covers of PSB songs, except by Liza/Dusty etc, but this a lovely and summery, found by accident on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/track/4clr0ehfzrEKvLepw4WffW?si=9c65ffc509534d5c

I saw an announcement for Disco 5 and got very excited, then looked at the track listing:

https://shop.petshopboys.co.uk/eu/disco-5-1cd/5021732831224.html

*sad trombone*

Christ.

The fuck is that all about

Have always thought the music of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds was perfect for a remix

"What did you DO?" "It's our John Cage tribute."

Not seeing the problem tbh. I don't know these remixes but I can't imagine any of them are bad?

I mean I don't like Sleaford Mods at all but I can sort of tolerate them on those Orbital and Prodigy tracks, but idk.

the Weller one is fantastic.

Was always a bit let down that their supposed 'guitar' album Release wasn't rockist enough

Their version of "I'm in Love with a German Film Star" was a surprising failure. On paper it sounds like it should work brilliantly, but the actual results were as flat as a pancake.

PSB are excited to announce “Obscure Pet Shop Boys”, a special run of five intimate shows in April 
2026 at London’s Electric Ballroom. The concerts will feature a setlist of non-single album tracks, b-sides and fan favourites. Full details to be revealed here this Wednesday, 12th November.

sounds fun!

That would be so fun rather than a typical hit-leaning show.

yeah I would love that, when I saw Sparks it was that kind of setlist - not that they really have that many 'hits', but it was stuffed with deep cuts and so many tracks I'd never even consider they'd whip out, made it so much fun

That sounds amazing.

"Play 'Your Funny Uncle'!", the audience cried. "Searching for the Face of Jesus!", a small faction demanded.

Fingers crossed this becomes a small venues tour. Might live to regret not making the trip to London though.

Chris doing One of the Crowd would surely raise the roof.

I was just listening to Alternative this weekend and wondering why they didn’t do a tour like this so I of course take full credit for this happening

I get excited (ILM gets excited too)!

perhaps my favorite PSB chorus - "Miserablism...is is...and isn't isn't"

they really oughta repress the Alternative 3xLP, the people are clamoring for it, also as I recall the later B-sides collection called Format was pretty good as well?

There's been some speculation in this thread, I see

There were a couple deep cuts when I saw them on the Fundamental tour, "Shopping" a particularly fun one. This tour is a phenomenal idea

I would love to see Shopping, it’s been one of my faves since 1987! Occasionally used as background music on telly, over a montage of rampant 1980s consumerism.

Yeah, terrific version on the 2006 tour. They played "Two Divided By Zero" in 2009!

Nice, would have loved to see that! They played "Dreaming of the Queen" on the 2006 tour as well, which was the biggest surprise for me, but I don't think it fully worked live

Lost my shit when they played 'Two Divided By Zero' at Primavera 2010 (also for 'Why Don't We Live Together?')

The latter is my favorite PSB song.

Raisin' the literal negroni in my hand rn to you

idk why this is but every time I visit Mexico I hear multiple Pet Shop Boys songs out in the wild...while downtown or in restaurants or whatever...they really love 'em there

yes Format was also great, and not just because it opened with their best B-side ever

When I saw them in 1991, the deep cuts included "My October Symphony", "I'm Not Scared", "We All Feel Better in the Dark", "So Sorry, I Said" and yes, "Your Funny Uncle".

Also, the encore began with Neil arriving alone onstage with an acoustic guitar to perform the first verse of "Always on My Mind".

^^ released on VHS and laserdisc, remastered and expanded on DVD with a commentary track from Chris, Neil and Chris Heath

I get a zillion times more mileage out of Format than one might have predicted during the era covered, given that my attentiveness to even their A-sides had really dropped away through the post-imperial period. I was a fool around the turn of the century, basically.

Just tried to pre-order the announced book Volume as a means of getting priority for the gig but it's rejecting my payment details ugh.

there’s a no-purchase-necessary link here

https://npn.wmx.co/petshopboysobscurepresale

TY!

My favorite was when they played "Do I have To" on the Yes tour.