"I've got the brains you've got the looks
Let's make lots of money
You've got the brawn I've got the brains
Let's make lots of money"
OK, I admit it - my guilty pleasure - Pet Shop Boys. That's not too difficult to understand really. Their music is generally classed as synth-pop, a derivative of new wave, but in fact it's based on the music I was listening to in the 60's. I remember some of my earliest influences - 1962's 'Telstar' by The Tornadoes, an instrumental featuring sci-fi sounds from the clavioline, a pre synthesizer keyboard. Then came the Doctor Who theme produced by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop for the original series in 1963. This wasn't synth, it was hard work and invention and it was like nothing else. As I wrote on a previous post "It was assembled from pieces of tape, some of just one note on a plucked string, manipulated, stretched, oscillated and generally used and abused." (Vinyl Vault - Jean-Michel Jarre 3 Dec 2020). Electronic witchcraft, trickery and in some cases pure avant-garde indulgence was used until 1963 when the Mellotron was developed in England then in 1964 Robert Moog gave the world the Moog Synthesizer. After that the floodgates opened. Everybody used them from The Beatles and The Stones to The Doors, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Moody Blues and even The Monkees !!
What I'm saying is that synth-pop wasn't a stretch. We'd had some of those sounds in different forms before - even the swirling organ in tracks such as The Animals 'House of the Rising Sun' and Dylan's 'Like a Rolling Stone' made us prepared for what was to come.
Neil Tennant bought himself a Korg MS-10 synthesizer and when he met Chris Lowe in a music shop in Chelsea they realised they shared an interest in music, particularly electronic stuff. At the time, Neil worked for Smash Hits music magazine, little imagining that before long he and Chris would be on the cover.
Between 1984 and '89 you couldn't turn on a popular radio station without hearing the Pet Shop Boys. Although 'West End Girls' was their first #1, it wasn't a hit in it's first incarnation. Recorded by them, produced by Bobby Orlando in 1984 and released as a single on Epic it pretty much bombed. After dumping Bobby they signed with EMI in 1985 and put out 'Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money'). Still having faith in 'West End Girls' they re-recorded and re-released it and the rest .. as they say .. is history.
It wasn't until 1986 that they put together their first album 'Please'. Here's a cute little fact. They said that they called it 'Please' so that when someone wanted to buy it they could go to the record store and say to the assistant "May I have the new Pet Shop Boys album, Please."
In 1987 they had a #1 single 'It's a Sin' from their album 'Actually' but another release from that LP is the one that strikes a chord with me. 'What Have I Done To Deserve This?' included the enigmatic fantastic tragic figure of Dusty Springfield singing alongside the duo. It provided a massive boost to Dusty's slowly dwindling career and became her biggest hit since 'Son of a Preacher Man' (Vinyl Vault 17 June 2020). The Pet Shop Boys continued playing this song in their live shows after Dusty passed away. They used a variety of guest singers, most notably on one occasion, Lady Gaga.
In 1991 this 2 LP compilation really was the best value around, 18 tracks, 16 of which had been released as singles, 6 of them reaching #1 somewhere in the world. I think my favourites are divided between the previously mentioned Dusty Springfield mix and their interpretation of 'Always on my Mind'. There is a 7.26 minute video to accompany this song, featuring the brilliantly creepy actor Joss Ackland, well worth watching.
Someone mentioned that these posts can go on too long - I do get carried away sometimes - so I'll end this one here. The Pet Shop Boys are still going strong and at the age of 93, so is Joss Ackland. As of now, all is right with the world.
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