Pet Shop Boys

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