Pet Shop Boys

"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