― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 17:39 (nineteen years ago) link
The Pet Shop Boys' first twenty singles...
Tom's mother of a starting post can't be equalled, I think. Just brilliant, on point writing.)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 17:40 (nineteen years ago) link
― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 17:49 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 17:52 (nineteen years ago) link
Well, I'm rarely referred to as a hipster (with good reason), so I might not be the one to ask. But in the case of "West End Girls," I just think the single sold itself. Where I went to college in rural Ohio, people didn't seem to care whether PSB were hip or not (these are people who also bought albums by the Outfield). There didn't seem to be anything elitist or precious or hip about the Pet Shop Boys. Enigmatic? Sure. Gay? Probably. But nothing that excluded anyone or made people feel like they were tapping into some newfangled underground. I don't think people paraded around with their copy of Please by the PSB like they did with, say, Life's Too Good by the Sugarcubes or Psychocandy by the Jesus & Mary Chain. It wasn't that type of record.
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 17:56 (nineteen years ago) link
Conversely, "Don Juan" is one of the best songs they put out in their career, so I'm doubly pissed that a completely loathesome, unlistenable shitpile of an A-side caused me to blank the utterly sublime B-side for a good nine years.
(xpost: Introspective is the aural equivalent of attempting to treat pinkeye by shiving needles into your cornea and connecting them to house current. Very is good, but not nearly as good as Behaviour, largely because "Can You Forgive Her?" and "Go West" promise big but don't actually deliver. Other than that, Alfred OTM. Kinda.)
― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 17:58 (nineteen years ago) link
I don't know - it seemed like "Please" had the best songs, followed by "Actually", followed by "Introspective" - I still have those three on cassette. After that I stopped listening to them much.
― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 17:58 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:00 (nineteen years ago) link
(Also, of those three albums, the best songs are "Rent", "One More Chance" and "I Want To Wake Up" IMO.)
― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:01 (nineteen years ago) link
Also, "Why Don't We Live Together?" and "Two Divided By Zero" are easily the best tracks on Please.
― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:03 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:04 (nineteen years ago) link
― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:06 (nineteen years ago) link
― Leon C. (Ex Leon), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:11 (nineteen years ago) link
also, Bilingual is horridly underappreciated (did any of that has to do with it being the first release by Sire (US, dunno about UK) and them not knowing what to do with it). I defy anyone to hear "Se a Vida E" and not smile.
― john'n'chicago, Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:12 (nineteen years ago) link
― Jedmond (Jedmond), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:12 (nineteen years ago) link
I do wonder sometimes whether my love for Domino Dancing is due to the fact that it's the first freestyle song I heard.
― Jedmond (Jedmond), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:14 (nineteen years ago) link
― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:14 (nineteen years ago) link
xpost
― Jedmond (Jedmond), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:16 (nineteen years ago) link
I fear though they've entered the twilight zone where Bowie's at where every new albums a supposed return to form, but sadly falls short. Fortunately they haven't released their Tin Machine yet.
― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:20 (nineteen years ago) link
That would be a tough one for me.
― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:20 (nineteen years ago) link
I utterly despise "Domino Dancing" because it is limpid, unimiginative, derivative, plodding, crass, unenjoyable, unforgivable, stupid, ugly-sounding, gauche, pandering, insufferable and all-around awful, plus it features one of Neil Tennant's most embarrassing vocal performances to date. And yes, those fucking stupid "All day all day" chants make me want to kill.
I am seriously working myself up into a rage thinking about this song. The last song that made me feel this homicidal when thinking about it was "Rollin'" by Limp Bizkit.
― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:24 (nineteen years ago) link
― Leon C. (Ex Leon), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:25 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:30 (nineteen years ago) link
Also, the original b-side version of "I Want A Dog" on the "Rent" single is so infinitely superior to the Introspective version that it isn't even funny.
-- The Ghost of Dan Perry (djperr...), February 24th, 2005.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:31 (nineteen years ago) link
― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:33 (nineteen years ago) link
And I finally agree with Dan Perry about something! (Domino Dancing)
― the D Double signal (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:33 (nineteen years ago) link
― the D Double signal (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:36 (nineteen years ago) link
"Watch them all fall down" vs. "Put our problems all in a row/Watch them fall like dominoes"
― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:37 (nineteen years ago) link
Okay.
― the D Double signal (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:39 (nineteen years ago) link
― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:40 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:41 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:42 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:43 (nineteen years ago) link
― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:43 (nineteen years ago) link
― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:45 (nineteen years ago) link
Absolutely 100% OTM. My favourite song of all time.
― Palomino (Palomino), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 18:54 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 19:15 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 19:16 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 19:17 (nineteen years ago) link
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 19:20 (nineteen years ago) link
― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 19:21 (nineteen years ago) link
All of the voices come through just fine, even on my less than stellar car speakers, but the parts where Scott (I'm assuming) mixes in songs with your discussions drown out your voices and are in general really hard to listen to. Not that there are a lot of these, and not that they last all that long anyway, but still.
― a fifth of misty beethoven (cryptosicko), Monday, 2 December 2013 20:38 (ten years ago) link
Their musical about the life of Alan Turing premieres tomorrow night as part of their orchestral show for the BBC Proms. Hopefully on iPlayer to listen to afterwards.
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/20/pet-shop-boys-alan-turing-enigma-proms-tribute-interview
― boney tassel (sic), Tuesday, 22 July 2014 02:38 (nine years ago) link
I was there last night. The first half the concert - an orchestral medley of their 80s material, followed by four songs rearranged by Angelo Badlamenti and sung by Chrissie Hynde, was fantastic, especially when Tennant came on and duetted with Hynde during 'Rent'.
The Turing piece was mediocre really, most pop musicians just don't have the musical vocabulary to be able to write a 45min orchestral piece that stands up and they were no exception, the spoken word and choral bits were clunky, and the whole effect was a bit Murray Gold. The one genuinely emotionally resonant bit was the disembodied voice of Gordon Brown apologising for the government's treatment of Turing.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 24 July 2014 10:15 (nine years ago) link
Chrissie Hynde still looks cool as fuck on stage btw.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 24 July 2014 10:16 (nine years ago) link
the whole effect was a bit Murray Gold
Oh dear. (I wouldn't go that far, I admit! While the effect was more in-the-moment than lingering, I appreciated the attempt at interpretive biography.)
That said, yeah, those opening pieces with Hynde. "Vocal!"
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 24 July 2014 11:48 (nine years ago) link
Listening to this now. Would pay $$ to see an entire show of PSB orchestral duets with Chrissie Hynde.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Thursday, 24 July 2014 15:47 (nine years ago) link
does anyone on here rep for Nightlife? I just can't get into that one (outside of "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk")
― Maggie killed Quagmire (collest baby ever) (frogbs), Thursday, 24 July 2014 16:10 (nine years ago) link
Yep!
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 24 July 2014 16:16 (nine years ago) link
It's uneven but the first 3 tracks are really solid. The other good ones are "Drunk", "Radiophonic", "Boy Strange", and "In Denial".
― LeRooLeRoo, Thursday, 24 July 2014 20:23 (nine years ago) link
iPlayer link, good 'til mid-August.
― boney tassel (sic), Friday, 25 July 2014 06:11 (nine years ago) link
That ]Smash Hits "obituary"...
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2906/14193502729_27d2a922d6_b.jpg
― Turrican, Tuesday, 8 September 2015 16:57 (eight years ago) link
*Smash Hits, rather.
― Turrican, Tuesday, 8 September 2015 16:58 (eight years ago) link
haha that's great
― I Am Curious (Dolezal) (DJP), Tuesday, 8 September 2015 17:15 (eight years ago) link
I actually can't wait to see if the Smash Hits blog stretches on into 1986/1987... hoping that I'll be able to read some vintage Smash Hits reviews of PSB stuff, just to see how easy/harsh they are on their former co-worker. As for Tennant's own reviews for Smash Hits, naturally I agree with some and not others. I was particularly pleased to see that he "got" Soft Cell's This Last Night In Sodom.
― Turrican, Wednesday, 9 September 2015 15:34 (eight years ago) link
Tennant's slick hair is so charming.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 9 September 2015 15:40 (eight years ago) link
great image - also, The Untouchables were my first ever concert.
― Spencer Chow, Wednesday, 9 September 2015 16:39 (eight years ago) link
I imagine Chris looking at this photo and considering tweaking his image
― plops of jupiter (rip van wanko), Wednesday, 9 September 2015 17:00 (eight years ago) link
Ha, yeah... when I saw it, I was like "fuck, Chris looks unusually chipper!"
― Turrican, Wednesday, 9 September 2015 17:02 (eight years ago) link
A fine thing:
Pet Shop Boys recently announced plans to release on YouTube a collection of their @BBC TV performances from 1985 until 2012. The collection so far includes nineteen performances recorded on Top of the Pops, The Old Grey Whistle Test and Wogan. Link below.https://t.co/YRt3gO0nh5— Pet Shop Boys (@petshopboys) October 30, 2020
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 30 October 2020 16:28 (three years ago) link
I really like this new single "Desert Star". 1986 all over.
― completely suited to the horny decadence (Capitaine Jay Vee), Friday, 5 April 2024 10:29 (two months ago) link