POO!: Pet Shop Boys

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Okay. To be honest, I hadn't heard a single PSB release since Behavior before picking up the new one yesterday. So based on my limited knowledge of their catalog, my choice is "It's A Sin."

― paul, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

All their best material is on _Alternative_, Paul; you should really check that one out.

― Dan Perry, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

suburbia is the only track of theirs that has really clicked

― gareth, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

This month it's been "Your Funny Uncle". Eloquent and sad, dignified and old, reminds me of situations I've been in.

― Arthur, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Gareth, have you heard _Alternative_?

― Dan Perry, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

no, i haven't. i'll admit, i don't really know that much psb stuff

― gareth, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Being Boring" easy.

― J Blount, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

oh paul. you've done it the wrongest way round imaginable. go get 'nightlife', and 'very' (the 2 best of their 4 90's albums) and put 'release' in the nearest bin.

seriously please get 'very' - it's one of the best pop records ever.

one song though ? can't be done, but a tie between 'domino dancing' (introspective version) 'left to my own devices' (introspective version) and 'i want to wake up'.

― piscesboy, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Wow... too many.

Today it's "We All Feel Better in the Dark", all versions.

― Scott, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Gaa! Only one PSB song and you pick "Domino Dancing"???? You are my polar opposite!

I haven't picked a song yet, but that's because I can't decide between "Some Speculation", "I Want A Dog", "You Know Where You Went Wrong", "Jack The Lad", "Don Juan", "We All Feel Better In The Dark", "Rent", "Too Many People", "Two Divided By Zero", "Was That What It Was?", "King's Cross" and "Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend".

― Dan Perry, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Liberation," the most beautiful thing they've ever done (which is saying a lot) and maybe the most direct and emotional. "All the way back home at midnight/You were sleeping on my shoulder" with those strings underneath is like, I dunno, hearing some Neil having his own version of the revolution Kathleen Hanna sings about tasting in the kiss of her rebel girl. Personal equaling political etc. Anyway, it's one of the sweetest love songs ever and I adore it to no end.

[gush gush etc.]

― M Matos, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

See, I like that stompin' dance remix of "Liberation" that's on _Disco 2_ a lot more because, well, I'm a dancing bastard.

― Dan Perry, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Aw, sweet. And yeah, a crackerjack song.

Like Depeche, there are simply far too many choices for me to play around with. In terms of what I think would be one of the most coldest yet entertaining videos ever, though, let's say "Euroboy."

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Red Letter Day" gets me right HERE every time--a total heart-tugger.

― Douglas, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

As soon as I hear that smooth synth intro to West End Girls, I'm immediately transported to Soho, balmy summer evenings, girls in sleeveless tops...delicious. Love Tennant's rap in his droney English accent, great stuff.

― Rhia, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

immaculate "Being Boring" first, and then a crowded race for second.

― Aaron A., Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I want a dog...a chiwawa ;-)

― erik, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i'll second "liberation". plus "suburbia" and maybe "so hard".

― cecilia, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

A truly tough call as I love nearly everything the band has done (I haven't picked up the new one for fear of another Nightlife, but I am curious what it sounds). The version of "It's Alright" that's on Discography is my favorite. 4 minutes of bliss.

― Vinnie, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"young offender"

― s woods, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

3rd vote for 'Being Boring'

― Paul R, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i don't believe anyone seriously thinks euroboy or two divided by zero is better than west end girls. i mean come on !!

― piscesboy, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Hey, Headmaster

― harveyw, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Why hasn't anyone mentioned "What have I done to deserve this?"

― Michael Bourke, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Reading this I've suddenly got THE POINT of these endless POO threads - it's for people who already love the bands to go scurrying back to their record stacks: "Oh my God, yes, that! No, wait....or maybe! How could I forget - - "

All that said: the last PSB song I listened to and adored was "Your Funny Uncle", because of how it sets up the Uncle as some kind of crass target and then stops you going there, reminds you that when the grave-earth hits the coffin questions of who's "right" or "wrong" about a life become somewhat spurious. Or they do in an ideal world. The Uncle is coping, just like you are.

But that's not my favourite. My favourite is "Left To My Own Devices", the long version on Introspective, where Neil Tennant concisely and honestly outlines his (or his protagonists) life, then chops it up and triumphantly rearranges it - and I'm not sure I can find the right words to talk about what happens to me when I listen to that, only that it's one of the most defiantly positive records I know. I love the song, though. What a fantastic band.

― Tom, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

4th vote for Being Boring, and then So Hard ("we've both given up smoking/cos it's fatal/so whose matches are those?" - love those little real-life relationship nuggets (except for the 'cos it's fatal' bit...) v Wedding Present also.) Behaviour album is a winner for me. Have a mate who luvs PSB & hates Behaviour. Poss. cos it's more lyric-led than disco-led.

― stevie mitch, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I love "So Hard" - just for the bit about locking letters in a box.

― EdwardO, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i first heard "red letter day" on one of those airline flight radio stations that loops through 12 songs, so i heard it over and over after a reasonably traumatic departure. it was the first time they clicked for me as a band that could elicit emotion and not just vaguely hoppy dancing; by the end of the flight, it was wired into my head.

― dave k, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Can you forgive her", because of the KICKINTHEFACE intro and the rest of it being so darned superb. The first song I really loved by PSB after being indifferent to them for years and years, only realising what I was missing out on after reading a little piece on this song in one of those 'Top 100 singles of 1990s' (think it was written by Tom - cheers Tom).

And umm, stretching the qu a little, best 80s PSB song: 'Always on my mind'. It's just so BIG and humble and respectful and everywhere and and and I just love it.

― Ian, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Time Passages"

― dave q, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i don't believe anyone seriously thinks euroboy or two divided by zero is better than west end girls. i mean come on !!

"West End Girls" is a good song, but the best songs on the first album are "Two Divided By Zero" and "Why Don't We Live Together?" "Euroboy" is as good; I Souldn't say it's better.

The best PSB singles are "Rent", "What Have I Done To Deserve This?", "Se A Vida E", "Where The Streets Have No Name", "Love Comes Quickly", "Jealousy", "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing" and "Can You Forgive Her?"

― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I can't believe I left "Yesterday When I Was Mad" off of that list!

― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Well, you were mad, see.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

and "Liberation"! "Liberation"!!

― M Matos, Wednesday, 26 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i second 'west end girls'...bassline!

― ambrose, Thursday, 27 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Left To My Own Devices. Is there anything this song doesn't do?

― electric sound of jim, Thursday, 27 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

No "Go West"? My opinion of all of you has suddenly plummeted somewhere deep down in the Earth's core.

― B-Rad, Thursday, 27 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I only really like Opportunities.

― Ally, Thursday, 27 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

wow ally i was gonna say that one!

― unknown or illegal user, Thursday, 27 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Heart'! Always gives me a thrill. And the Xth vote for "Being Boring" too. And the amazing "since you went away" Dusty bits in "What have I done to deserve this"

― Conor, Saturday, 29 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Toss up between Being Boring and West End Girls

― nathalie, Saturday, 29 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

They have SO MANY good songs! (Although, you are all mad for liking _Introspective_; the B-sides are INFINITELY better.)

― Dan Perry, Saturday, 29 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

three years pass...

Domino Dancing : 7m 40s (Introspective, 1989)

"...and now a storm is breaking /within my heart..."

― piscesboy, Monday, 29 August 2005 23:50 (twenty years ago)

"So Hard"

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 00:20 (twenty years ago)

"West End Girls"

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 00:30 (twenty years ago)

can you forgive her

― Sym Sym (sym), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 01:08 (twenty years ago)

No one's mentioned "The End of the World," which perfects the detached-observer personal Neil adopted on Please, except now it's clear that the scenario he outlines with such clarity is one he's experienced (experiencing?) himself, and the thumping beats and Violater guitar expose the pain in his voice.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 01:09 (twenty years ago)

"Being Boring." Makes me ache.

― Lyra Jane (Lyra Jane), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 02:21 (twenty years ago)

"One More Chance"...perfect for karaoke.

― Filet o' Franks, Tuesday, 30 August 2005 03:10 (twenty years ago)

SO MANY OUTSTANDING SONGS

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 16:46 (twenty years ago)

for me a tie between - "Go West!" and "Theatre"

― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 17:04 (twenty years ago)

Chuck tipped me off to "Suburbia" and I like it, I think. I like how he sings "Mother's got a hairdo... to be done". I think it would be fun to do a noise-rock version of it. This mass enthusiasm is hard to resist.

― Sundar (sundar), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 17:11 (twenty years ago)

Can you believe I have still, to this day, never heard a Pet Shop Boys track that wasn't a single??? With the exception of the stuff on Disco 3. I promise that this will finally be rectified soon. The last twenty years have been a sham really.

So uh, yeah, 'West End Girls' obviously...

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 21:34 (twenty years ago)

Steve, have you heard "My October Symphony"? I predict you will like it.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 21:36 (twenty years ago)

eighteen years pass...

the video for “always on my mind” is incredible. I’m actually taken aback at how fucking cinematic and moving it is.

― brimstead, Wednesday, 10 July 2024 14:21 (one year ago)

It’s excerpted from a theatrical feature film

― bae (sic), Wednesday, 10 July 2024 16:47 (one year ago)

happy birthday, Neil

― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 10 July 2024 16:48 (one year ago)

Haven't seen it since seeing it at an arthouse theater in my teens (and its absurdist style didn't work for me at all then), but here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SaHIulJYWE

― the possibility of relaxing (Eazy), Wednesday, 10 July 2024 16:50 (one year ago)

oh wow!!

― brimstead, Wednesday, 10 July 2024 17:00 (one year ago)

BFI's best selling bluray apparently.

― Dan Worsley, Wednesday, 10 July 2024 18:57 (one year ago)

four months pass...

Curious: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002569y/strictly-come-dancing-series-22-blackpool-special

(About two minutes or so in).

― djh, Saturday, 16 November 2024 21:59 (one year ago)

I saw that last night and at first I was like "this is awesome" but then it turned out to be two lines from seven or eight of their best known songs.

― you gotta roll with the pączki to get to what's real (snoball), Sunday, 17 November 2024 15:23 (one year ago)

Yeah, I'm not sure I actually liked it.

― djh, Sunday, 17 November 2024 16:07 (one year ago)

It was nice to hear that Neil's voice still holds up and that Chris can stand there apparently doing nothing as usual. Other than that it was jarring, like a Tik-Tok montage.

― you gotta roll with the pączki to get to what's real (snoball), Sunday, 17 November 2024 17:02 (one year ago)

On tonight's Strictly the Boys actually get to sing a full song. It's their new cover of 'All The Young Dudes' though.

― you gotta roll with the pączki to get to what's real (snoball), Sunday, 17 November 2024 19:50 (one year ago)

I like to imagine Neil pouring a pint of beer over the head of a bespectacled heckler.

― you gotta roll with the pączki to get to what's real (snoball), Sunday, 17 November 2024 19:54 (one year ago)

six months pass...

I was searching for an apparently non-existent cover of Nick Lowe doing "The Dark End of the Street" and stumbled onto this Nevertheless outtake instead. (Also didn't realize there was an expanded Nevertheless, with demos and a few covers.)

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

― the way out of (Eazy), Saturday, 17 May 2025 21:08 (one year ago)

not sure I’d make it my O tbh

― Nancy Makes Posts (sic), Saturday, 17 May 2025 22:45 (one year ago)

one month passes...

https://scontent-lhr6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/518270326_10230358325002089_523877130402981766_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=aa7b47&_nc_ohc=FnkuqCKYYesQ7kNvwFLKZlT&_nc_oc=Adm33AiouXwT9iliuubeJXPb8IjQqKQ1IZ9k7i3d3H4NR-7XUQk2WsQFAqwxLpEwISS56P23quNvKx7Lf-mU9o0I&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr6-1.xx&_nc_gid=FyNwnV-F9HFt_LXojEespQ&oh=00_AfQJXUfa6Nj-gpGPKcNxKeR3u9orxtycIgx2zaPZQkYelQ&oe=687463A3

― Ward Fowler, Wednesday, 9 July 2025 14:53 (eleven months ago)

Happy birthday, Neil!

― hungover beet poo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 10 July 2025 13:16 (eleven months ago)

I never knew he worked for Marvel UK. I always thought he started at Smash Hits. Apparently he was tangentially involved in the launch of Captain Britain:
https://www.wymann.info/comics/005-MarvelUK2.html

Issue 21 of Captain Britain had a storyline in which Prime Minister James Callaghan is kidnapped by the Red Skull, which means that James Callaghan exists in the Marvel universe:
https://britishcomics.fandom.com/wiki/Prime_Minister_James_Callaghan

His powers and abilities are "public speaking", and presumably also "unflappability", "can make fire with glasses", and "beaten by a girl".

Part of Tennant's duties involved anglicising US comics and also asking the artists to cover up some of the female characters with more clothes, because that was a no-no in British comics at the time. My recollection of Judge Dredd is that the only attempts at cheesecake involved fully-clothed female Judges in full leather. But not nudity.

― Ashley Pomeroy, Thursday, 10 July 2025 20:02 (eleven months ago)

#petshopboys #80s #uk @petshopboys
Neil Tennant of the @petshopboys He celebrates his 71st birthday today.#HappyBirthday 10 July 2025 pic.twitter.com/FRs9wAFVRF
— Christoph Lowe (@Lowetennant) July 10, 2025

― the way out of (Eazy), Thursday, 10 July 2025 20:20 (eleven months ago)

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