Pet Shop Boys

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Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic/pop music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant (b. 10 July 1954) who provides main vocals, keyboards and very occasionally guitar, and Chris Lowe (b. 4 October 1959) on keyboards and occasionally on vocals.

The longevity of their career is generally attributed to their ability to create melodic pop/dance music with intelligent lyrics and striking style. They are one of the most consistently successful duos in pop music, particularly in Europe. Since 1986, they have had 38 top 40 singles in the UK including four number ones: "West End girls", "It's A Sin", "Always on my mind" and "Heart". They were very successful in the United States in the mid-1980's, however their mainstream popularity waned by 1988 with their final top 40 single, "Domino Dancing", reaching number 18 on the US pop chart. They have continued to be successful worldwide since then, however, and their popularity is still prevalent through their very active and devoted fan base.

Their latest album, Fundamental, was released on the Parlophone label on 22 May 2006. The album so far has charted at number five in the UK and at number two in Europe-wide sales, marking a strong return to the charts. The album's first single, "I'm with Stupid" was released in the UK on 8 May 2006, reaching number eight in the UK Singles Chart. The second single to be taken from Fundamental will be "Minimal", which received its first UK play on BBC Radio 1 on 19 May, and will be released on 24 July, 2006.

Contents

Sound and image

Chris Lowe (left) and Neil Tennant (right) taken from the "Can You Forgive Her?" photo shoot 1993

Music

Neil Tennant has consistently and sincerely labelled the Pet Shop Boys' music as "disco." Their music's trademark sound is a combination of pure synthesised pop (which could qualify them as a New Wave group), with sometimes slightly over-the-top instrumentation, contrasting with Tennant's laconic vocals, sometimes spoken-word or rap. Despite a history of implementing current musical trends from the underground (house, electro, jungle, techno etc.) into their productions, they have always maintained their own specific and defined sound. Their lyrics (mainly written by Tennant) have been described as articulate, stylish and poetic. Among their musical trademarks is the combining of pop hooks with detailed chord structures and soundscapes.

One of the most frequent labels attached to the band is that of "ironists," referring to instances where their lyrics are used to exhibit veiled meanings or criticisms — shown, for example, by "Shopping" on Actually, an upbeat and catchy song hiding anti-Thatcherism sentiments.

A defining element of Pet Shop Boys' style is their obsession with extended and remixed versions of their songs. As of 2006, they have been remixed by over 80 different DJs and producers. In many cases, Pet Shop Boys have used aspiring remixers who became well known later—they used Moby in 1991, Sasha in 1993, Tracy Young in 1995, Trouser Enthusiasts in 1997, and Eric Prydz in 2003. Their roster of remixers also includes The KLF, Brothers in Rhythm, David Morales, Frankie Knuckles, Rollo, Pink Noise, Basement Jaxx, Deep Dish, Blank and Jones, Scissor Sisters, Tiga, and Richard X. The vast array of Pet Shop Boys remixes have made them one of the most collectible bands in the world. Collectors relish the assortment of triple-vinyl limited editions, unique artwork sleeves, and multiple compact disc singles. One highly sought after item is a 1997 fan-club only release called "It doesn't often snow at Christmas," a CD single that is clear with a frosted snowflake on it that came in a PET film bubble sleeve (and interestingly, this song was included on a 2005 Elton John Christmas CD, sold exclusively at Starbucks Coffee shops in the United States). There is only one other artist who probably rivals the Pet Shop Boys in this remix/collector category, and has used as many if not more remixers--Depeche Mode.

Band dynamic

The dynamic of the Pet Shop Boys' image lies in the duo's distinct public personalities — Tennant is perceived as an erudite intellectual, articulate, and verbose in speech; while Lowe, now almost always seen in his trademark attire of hat and sunglasses (since as early as 1995), appears as guarded and terse but nevertheless behaves as casual, flippant and fun-loving. They have even cultivated a pattern for interviews, in which Tennant is the primary speaker, answering questions at length, while occasionally being interrupted by brief, generally humorous interjections from Lowe (comparable to the concept of a comedic double act).

They are also seen as willfully contrary, defying expectations of record labels and the music industry in terms of commercial image, self-promotion, and the nature of their music; it is said that the Pet Shop Boys are defined by the things they refuse to do. A 1986 quote by Lowe, taken from an Entertainment Tonight clip and subsequently sampled in their song "Paninaro," is often cited as the prime example of this:

This also formed the foundation of the band's reputation as being anti-rock music (allying themselves with disco, positioned as a diametric opposite), which would later be built up in additional songs such as the 1993 single "Can you forgive her?" ("She's made you some kind of laughing stock / because you dance to disco and you don't like rock"), or the appropriately titled "How I learned to hate rock and roll." Eventually, however, these differences were reconciled — a process that symbolically cumulated with the Pet Shop Boys' performance at the 2000 Glastonbury Festival.

Image

This band dynamic has played a role in their public image as well. Early in their career, the duo were frequently accused of lacking stage presence, said to be a deliberate reaction to the hyper-cheerful music of the time demonstrated by bands such as Wham!. A typical early performance featured Lowe in the background hitting the occasional note on a Fairlight synthesiser keyboard and Tennant singing, but otherwise unanimated, in the foreground.

However, when touring in 1991, they were heavily influenced by opera and theatre staging. They brought in David Alden and David Fielding from the English National Opera to help with stage and costume design. The shows made no attempt to involve or even acknowledge the audience, and pushed the choreography and staging centre stage. Subsequent tours have used artist Sam Taylor-Wood and architect Zaha Hadid for stage design. Their latest tour, ongoing in 2006, was conceived and designed by Es Devlin with choreography by Hakeem Osibudo.

Traditionally, Pet Shop Boys have always favoured avant-garde tailored fashions. Tennant often references the designers of his suits in interviews, and Lowe has often sported outfits and glasses made by Issey Miyake and Stüssy. Presentation has always been a major theme, and Pet Shop Boys have dramatically "reinvinted" their image twice in their career. In 1993, when promoting their Very album, they wore brightly coloured costumes and used state-of-the-art computer technology to place themselves in a modern computer graphic world. This concept of reinvention was again realized for the promotion of the Nightlife album, in which they transformed their look wearing wigs and glasses with very futuristic urban wardrobes.

Importance of the aesthetic

The duo have always been very interested in the artwork and design for their releases. They have primarily worked with Mark Farrow, who designed the cover of their first Parlophone release in 1985. Their record sleeves are quite often very minimal, and the attention to detail is obvious, down to the font type and style. In 2006, they plan to release a book entitled Catalogue, showcasing their accomplishments in artwork and design. The collaboration between Mark Farrow and Pet Shop Boys is comparable to the designer-band relationship of Peter Saville and New Order or Neville Brody and Cabaret Voltaire.

Biography

A chance meeting ( Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe met in an electronics shop on the Kings Road in Chelsea. Realizing they had a common interest in dance music, they began to work on material together in Tennant's flat in Chelsea. It was during these early years that they first wrote several songs that would later appear on future albums, including "It's a sin," "West End girls," and "Jealousy."

The Bobby 'O' Years (1981-1984)

Starting out, the two called themselves West End, because of their love of London's West End, but later they came up with the name Pet Shop Boys, a name derived from some friends who worked in a pet shop in Ealing. They said that Pet Shop Boys "sounded like an English rap group."

Their big break came in August 1983, when Tennant was assigned by Smash Hits to interview The Police in New York. The duo were obsessed with a stream of Hi-NRG records made by New York producer Bobby Orlando, known as Bobby O. According to Tennant: "I thought well, if I've got to go and see The Police play then I'm also going to have lunch with Bobby O." They shared a cheeseburger and carrot cake at a restaurant called The Apple Jack on August 19 (two years to the day since Tennant and Lowe had met) and Orlando suggested making a record with the Pet Shop Boys after hearing a demo tape that Tennant had taken with him. In April 1984, the Orlando-produced "West End girls" was released, becoming a club hit in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Though the track did not do well in the UK, it was a minor hit in France and Belgium.

Signing with Parlophone (1984-1986)

In March 1985, after long negotiations, the Pet Shop Boys cut their contractual ties with Bobby O with a settlement giving Bobby O significant royalties for future sales. Hiring manager Tom Watkins, they signed with the London-based Parlophone label. In April, Tennant left Smash Hits (where he had progressed to the position of deputy editor), and in July a new single, "Opportunities (Let's make lots of money)", was released, reaching number 116 in the UK. The B-side to this single, "In the night," was used as the theme for the UK television series The Clothes Show.

Unperturbed by the low chart position, the band returned to the studio in August to re-record "West End girls" with producer Stephen Hague. Released in October 1985, this new version initially entered the charts at a similarly low position, but began a slow rise so that by January 1986 it achieved number one. It was subsequently number one in the USA, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Lebanon, Israel, New Zealand and Norway, and sold an estimated 1.5 million copies worldwide. It remains the most-heard Pet Shop Boys song to date.

After the success of "West End girls", the Pet Shop Boys released a follow-up single, "Love comes quickly", on February 24 1986. The single reached number 19 in the UK singles chart and was followed by their debut album, Please on March 24. In June 1986, the band announced a European tour; however, their plans for a theatrical extravaganza proved to be too expensive and the tour was cancelled.

Please started the Pet Shop Boys' penchant for choosing one-word album titles. It has also been noted that, when asking for a copy of the album, record-shop customers would sometimes have to say, "Can you help me find the new Pet Shop Boys album, Please?". It is said that because of this polite title, their first album was a big hit in Japan.

New versions of "Opportunities (Let's make lot's of money)" and album track "Suburbia" were also released in 1986, followed by a remix album, Disco, in November.

\"Imperial phase\" (1987-1988)

1987 started with the Pet Shop Boys receiving both BPI and Ivor Novello Awards for "West End Girls". Later, on June 15, they released what became their second number one single, "It's a Sin". The single caused some controversy: Neil's school, St. Cuthbert's Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne, chastised him in the press, while Jonathan King accused them of plagarising the Cat Stevens song Wild World. The Pet Shop Boys later sued King and won damages which were donated to charity. The video to "It's a sin" also saw their first collaboration with director Derek Jarman.

Neil Tennant, Dusty Springfield and Chris Lowe

The continued success of "It's a sin" was followed by the release of "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" on August 10. Co-written with Allee Willis and also featuring Dusty Springfield on vocals, the single reached number two on the UK Singles Chart. Though the duo had wanted to release this track on their debut album, but they had been unable to persuade their record label that Dusty Springfield was a good idea; Parlophone had suggested that they record it with Tina Turner. According to the Springfield biography Dancing with Demons, Pet Shop Boys had lobbied to work with her for some time before she actually agreed. The song became a huge hit and resurrected Springfield's career. This duet was also the start of a series of collaborations with high profile musicians throughout the band's career.

Also in August 1987, the Pet Shop Boys appeared on Love Me Tender, a UK television programme on ITV commemorating the tenth anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. They were asked to perform one of their favourite Elvis tracks, and they narrowed it down to two options, "Baby Let's Play House" and "Always on My Mind," eventually settling on the latter. September 7 1987 saw the release of the duo's second studio album, Actually, followed by the single "Rent" in October, which reached number 8 in the UK.

Towards the end of 1987, the Pet Shop Boys started work on an hour-long film that would incorporate the songs from Actually. Working with director Jack Bond, the short film grew into a full-scale movie, It Couldn't Happen Here, starring Barbara Windsor, Joss Ackland and Gareth Hunt. The film was eventually released in 1988 to mixed reviews. Footage from the film was also used for the music video to "Always on my mind," now released as a single on November 30; it became both the duo's third number one single in the UK and the Christmas number one single for 1987, infamously beating out "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues.

Ian McKellen as a vampire in the "Heart" music video

1988 started with another collaboration. Patsy Kensit's band, Eighth Wonder, had the song "I'm not scared" written and produced for them by the Pet Shop Boys. The song became her biggest hit single and Pet Shop Boys included their own version of the track on their Introspective later that year. March 1988 saw the duo achieve their fourth UK number one single (and their last to date) with a remixed edit of "Heart", different to the album version (NB: The single version is included in their Discography collection, whereas the album version is used in their "Pop Art" retrospective). The video to the single was a retelling of the Dracula story, starring Ian McKellen as the vampire who steals Neil Tennant's wife. It was seen to be ironic since McKellen was a well-known gay figure at the time (he came out in the 1970s).

In the 1996 BBC Radio 1 documentary About Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennant noted that their "Imperial Phase" ended in 1988. On September 12, the Pet Shop Boys released a brand new single, "Domino dancing," and in the documentary Neil recounts his depression when hearing the news that the single had reached number 7 in the UK single chart. He felt that their major success was now over and that it was going to be a challenge to remain successful going forward.

Introspective, Behaviour and the Performance tour (1988-1992)

The duo's third studio album, Introspective, was released on October 10 1988 and was followed by the Trevor Horn-produced single "Left to my own devices", and a cover version of the Sterling Void single "It's alright" in 1989. 1989 also saw the start of the Pet Shop Boys' first tour, in which they performed in Hong Kong, Japan and Britain. The tour followed the ideas of the extravaganza that could not have been afforded earlier in their career. Derek Jarman returned to direct the performance, and he provided several films that were projected during the shows.

On September 24 1990, a new single, "So hard," was released, and the Pet Shop Boys' fourth studio album followed on October 22. Behaviour was recorded in Munich with producer Harold Faltermeyer. The album was never intended to be a dramatic change in mood to their earlier albums, but it is noticeably subdued. It included the fan-favourite "Being Boring," the second single from the album, which only reached number 20 in the UK singles chart, their lowest placing at the time. The song was inspired by a quote by Zelda Fitzgerald: "...she refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn’t boring". The music video was directed by film-maker Bruce Weber. By this time, the duo had also parted ways with manager Tom Watkins, replacing him with Jill Carrington.Heath, Chris (2001). In Behaviour [CD liner notes]. London: Pet Shop Boys Partnership

In March 1991, a cover of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" as a medley with "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," the 1960s pop song by Frankie Valli/The Four Seasons, was released as a non-album single, followed by the duo's first world tour. Named "Performance", the tour kicked off in Tokyo on March 11 1990. The tour also visited: the United States, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Holland, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The shows were designed by David Alden and David Fielding, who had designed several sets for the London Opera.

Before taking a break in 1992, the Pet Shop Boys released a greatest hits collection, in 1991, which included two new singles: "DJ Culture" and "Was It Worth It?".

However, during this period, the Pet Shop Boys continued to collaborate with many high-profile musicians. They worked again with Dusty Springfield on the singles "Nothing Has Been Proved" (which was a song written for their soundtrack for the film Scandal about the Profumo political scandal in Britain), and "In Private". The duo later went on to produce half of the tracks on her 1990 solo Reputation album. Pet Shop Boys were also asked to write and produce an album for Liza Minnelli in 1989. The album, Results, included the hit single "Losing My Mind," a cover version of the Stephen Sondheim song. The duo's own version of this appeared on the "Jealousy" single as a B-side. Neil Tennant also worked with Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr on their first album as Electronic, whose first single, "Getting Away With It," co-written and co-produced by Neil Tennant, was released on December 4 1989. Later, in 1991, Lowe also contributed to the Electronic project by working on the track "The Patience of a Saint" for their 1991 album; finally, in 1992, Tennant sang lead vocals on their non-album single "Disappointed", which was featured on the soundtrack to the movie Cool World. In addition, a remix of "So Hard" by notorious electronic music duo The KLF, released as a separate single, led to Tennant re-recording his vocals for the song entirely.

The Pet Shop Boys set up the Spaghetti Records label in 1991. Their most successful release was the soundtrack to the 1992 film The Crying Game which featured Boy George performing the title song. The song was produced by the Pet Shop Boys and featured Tennant on backing vocals. Other artists on the label included Scottish singer David Cicero, The Ignorants, and Masterboy.

The Very era (1993-1995)

In June 1993, the Pet Shop Boys made a strong return to the UK Singles Chart with "Can you forgive her?". Taking its title from the Anthony Trollope novel of the same name, the single reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart, and the iconic music video features the duo in orange body suits and tall dunce caps in a world of computer-generated imagery. The theme was continued with the follow-up single, a cover of the Village People single "Go West", which reached number 2 in the UK, with another computer-generated music video, this time inspired by the Soviet Union. The duo's fifth studio album, Very followed on September 27 and is the only Pet Shop Boys album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart. The other singles from Very, "I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing", "Liberation", and "Yesterday, when I was mad", continued the theme of computer-generated videos, peaking with the "Liberation" video, which contained almost no real-life elements at all.

In 1994, the Pet Shop Boys were asked to remix fellow Parlophone artist Blur's single "Girls & Boys"; it was a club hit throughout Europe and started a sporadic trend for the Pet Shop Boys to remix other artists' music.

In 1994, the Pet Shop Boys released the 1994 Comic Relief single, "Absolutely Fabulous". The song started when Tennant and Lowe were playing around with samples from the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous in the studio. They wanted to release a single, so approached lead actors Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, and it was suggested to release it as a charity single. The single was released under the artist name of "Absolutely Fabulous produced by Pet Shop Boys". The video to the single featured clips from the sitcom along with newly recorded footage of Tennant and Lowe with the characters of Edina (Saunders) and Patsy (Lumley).

On September 12, the Pet Shop Boys released the follow-up to their 1986 remix album Disco in the form of Disco 2. The album featured club remixes of the singles released from Very in a continuous megamix by Danny Rampling. Then, in October, Pet Shop Boys began their "Discovery" tour which would see them visit countries that they had never performed in before: Singapore, Australia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. The following year, a new version of the 1986 B-side to "Suburbia", "Paninaro", is released to promoted a B-side collection album, Alternative. The single, called "Paninaro '95" is based on the live version from the "Discovery" tour.

Bilingual, Nightlife, and the musical (1996-2001)

In November 1995, Neil Tennant saw David Bowie live at Wembley Stadium and met him backstage. Whilst discussing Bowie's recent album Outside, Tennant mentioned that his favourite track was "Hallo Spaceboy". Jokingly, Bowie said that Pet Shop Boys should remix the track, and, a week later, phoned Tennant asking for this to happen. The new version was completely re-recorded and featured Tennant on backing vocals, using additional lyrics from Bowie's first hit song, "Space Oddity". The single was released on February 19 1996.

In April, the Pet Shop Boys released a new single, "Before", leading up to their forthcoming album; the single reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart. That same month, Tina Turner also released her Wildest Dreams album, which featured the Pet Shop Boys-produced track "Confidential". In August, Pet Shop Boys released a follow-up single, "Se a vida é (That's the way life is)", a Latin American music-inspired track featuring a drum sample from a track called "Estrada Da Paixao" by Brazilian act Olodum. This preceded the sixth Pet Shop Boys album Bilingual which was released in September.

In December 1996, Neil appeared live with Suede singing the Suede song "Saturday Night" as a duet with Brett Anderson, and the Pet Shop Boys track "Rent". Both live tracks were released with the Suede single "Filmstar" in July 1997.

The Pet Shop Boys kicked off Summer 1997 with a residency at the Savoy Theatre in London. Entitled "Somewhere" and being promoted by a cover version of the song "Somewhere" from the musical West Side Story, the shows used projections filmed by the artist Sam Taylor-Wood. Pet Shop Boys would later work with Sam Taylor-Wood again: in 1998, they recorded a version of "Je t'aime... moi non plus", originally by Serge Gainsbourg, with her, and in 2003 they covered the Donna Summer track "Love to Love You Baby" and gave it a limited edition release credited to Kiki Kokova, a pseudonym used by Taylor-Wood for this project.

The majority of 1998 was spent with a series of live dates and minor releases, including a charity album of Noel Coward songs called Twentieth Century Blues. The album included the Pet Shop Boys version of "Sail Away" along with songs performed by Elton John, Texas, Marianne Faithfull, The Divine Comedy, Suede, Damon Albarn, Vic Reeves and Robbie Williams. Tennant also co-produced the Williams track and provided backing vocals for Elton John. Tennant also provided backing vocals on Robbie Williams' "No Regrets" single along with Neil Hannon from The Divine Comedy. Meanwhile, the band switched managers again as Carrington was replaced by Mitch Clark.

During this time, the Pet Shop Boys also began to work with playwright Jonathan Harvey on a stage musical project. In 1999, many of the tracks recorded ended up on the duo's seventh studio album Nightlife which also included the singles "I don't know what you want but I can't give it any more", "New York City boy" and "You only tell me you love me when you're drunk" — as well a duet with Kylie Minogue, "In denial", about a father (Tennant) coming out to his daughter (Minogue). Minogue later performed the track live during her 2005 "Showgirl" tour, singing to a pre-recorded Neil Tennant. This is not the first time that Pet Shop Boys have worked with Minogue. In 1994, the Pet Shop Boys wrote a song for inclusion on her Kylie Minogue album. "Falling" was based around an unreleased remix of "Go West" with new lyrics by Tennant. However, Minogue and her record company did not like the production sound of the Pet Shop Boys' demo, and asked Farley & Heller to produce the track. 1999 ended with a world tour, this time with the stage sets designed by architect Zaha Hadid. They continued to work on their musical during 2000 and in May they started workshopping the project and finalising the plot and songs to be used.

The musical, Closer to Heaven, opened at the Arts Theatre in London in 2001 with financial backing from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group. Reviews were mixed and, although the run was initially extended, it closed earlier than expected, due to poor ticket sales, in October 2001. Around the time of the London closure, Tennant said that they were in talks to take the musical to various locations in Europe (particularly Germany which is a big market for Pet Shop Boys) and to take it to New York. Nothing further has been issued by Pet Shop Boys or Really Useful Group regarding these performances; in 2005, a series of performances were done in the Brisbane Powerhouse, Australia, though they were independent to Pet Shop Boys and Really Useful Group.

Variations in sound: Release and Battleship Potemkin (2002-2005)

After the mixed fortunes of Closer to Heaven, the Pet Shop Boys returned to the studio to start work on their eighth studio album. After toying with genres including hip-hop, they went for a stripped back acoustic sound as a complete change to the over-the-top dance music of the musical. In 2002, they released Release. Most of the tracks were produced by the duo themselves and many of the tracks featured Johnny Marr on guitar. The first single, "Home and dry" featured a video directed by Wolfgang Tillmans, consisting entirely of footage of mice filmed in the London Underground. The follow-up single, "I get along", had a video filmed by Bruce Weber and following this they embarked on another world tour, although this time it was a stripped back affair with no dancers, backing singers, costumes or lavish sets.

A third single was planned, "London", and although this was released in Germany, the single was pulled in the UK. Following a live stint on the John Peel show on Radio 1, Pet Shop Boys released Disco 3 in February 2003. The album followed their previous Disco albums, but this one also included new songs as well as remixes.

In 2003, the Pet Shop Boys' Spaghetti Records label was rebranded as two new labels: Olde English Vinyl and Lucky Kunst. The first release on Olde English Vinyl was Atomizer's "Hooked on Radiation", followed by Pete Burns's "Jack and Jill Party" in 2004. The only Lucky Kunst release to date is Kiki Kokova's version of "Love to love you baby". They also remixed Yoko Ono's "Walking on Thin Ice" in 2003 and Rammstein's "Mein Teil" in 2004. Another new manager, Dave Dorell, was brought on board to replace Clark.

In Novemer 2003, Pet Shop Boys released a second greatest hits album with two new singles "Miracles" and "Flamboyant".

Battleship Potemkin live in Trafalgar Square, September 2004

In September 2004, Pet Shop Boys appeared at a free concert in Trafalgar Square in London where they performed a new soundtrack to accompany the seminal 1925 silent film Battleship Potemkin. More live performances were done in Germany in September 2005, and the Battleship Potemkin soundtrack was released on September 5, 2005.

In November 2004, Pet Shop Boys played at the Prince's Trust concert called "Produced by Trevor Horn", a festival with artists who worked with famous British producer Trevor Horn. Other artists included Grace Jones, ABC, Seal and Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

In 2005, the Pet Shop Boys were selected as the headline act for the Moscow Live 8 concert in Red Square. They were received extremely well by the crowd in Moscow. Also in 2005, the Pet Shop Boys were asked to put together the twentieth release to the Back to Mine series, an ongoing anthology showcasing artists' favourite music selections, with an emphasis on afterhours chill out music. As a condition, Tennant and Lowe were given one disc each, whereas all previous and subsequent releases in the series to date comprised of only one disc each. (See .)

Return to form: Fundamental (2006 onwards)

Pet Shop Boys began 2006 remixing Madonna's single, "Sorry", for release in February. The single reached number one in the UK and the Pet Shop Boys remix included new back-up vocals performed by Tennant.

Then, in April, Pet Shop Boys released a new single, "I'm with Stupid", a commentary on the relationship between George W. Bush and Tony Blair. The promo video featured Matt Lucas and David Walliams, better known as the team behind Little Britain. Lucas and Walliams portray Tennant and Lowe, parodying two of the duo's previous videos, "Go West" and "Can you forgive her?". The ninth Pet Shop Boys studio album, Fundamental, followed in May. The album was produced by Trevor Horn, who Pet Shop Boys had previously worked with on "Left to my own devices" in 1988. The album was also released with a limited edition remix album called Fundamentalism, which included a duet with Elton John and a new track produced Richard X.

The next single to be taken from the album is "Minimal". The duo recently filmed the video to the single in Paris with Dan Cameron. The single is the first to be playlisted by London's biggest radio station Capital Radio for a decade.

The Boys have also worked with Robbie Williams on his new album 'Rudebox' which is due for release in September 2006. They produced a cover version of 'We're the Pet Shop Boys' by My Robot Friend and 'She's Madonna', a duet with Neil about Madonna.

Discography

Sexuality

Pet Shop Boys are seen as significant figures in gay culture for such songs as "Can you forgive her?", "It's a sin" (for which Derek Jarman produced the video), "New York City boy" and their cover of The Village People's "Go West". They have written a song about a young male fan spending a night with a rapper, based on Eminem, called "The night I fell in love" and a song about coming out, "Metamorphosis". Their 1990s single "Being boring" dealt with the gay experience and the devastation wrought by the AIDS crisis; the song, and its supporting video filmed by Bruce Weber, remains one of their most popular. However, Neil Tennant has stated many times that his lyrics are not specifically gay. Many of their songs are written from an ambiguous view point that can be taken any way the listener perceives it, and this goes some way to explain why a larger majority of their die-hard fans are heterosexual.

Pet Shop Boys have performed and worked with many artists considered to be gay icons such as Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Dusty Springfield and Kylie Minogue. Pet Shop Boys attempted to organise and perform in a planned 2001 tour of out gay musicians, entitled Wotapalava. However, the plans were later put on hold and the idea seems to have been discarded.

Despite their widespread popularity with both the heterosexual and gay communities, Neil Tennant denied rumours of being gay in the 1980s until finally coming out shortly after the release of 1993's Very in Attitude, a UK gay lifestyle magazine. Lowe, meanwhile, has remained tight-lipped despite making several suggestive remarks on chat shows.

Influence

As of 2003, Pet Shop Boys were ranked by Billboard's Joel Whitburn (in his book Billboard's Hot Dance/Disco 1974-2003) as the number-four most successful act on the U.S. Dance/Club Play charts, behind only Madonna, Janet Jackson and Donna Summer.

In October 2005, a Swedish tribute band called West End Girls had a number-three hit single in their home country with a cover version of "Domino dancing". In January 2006 they released their version of "West End girls", and an album was released in June. Pet Shop Boys also have a UK-based tribute band in the form of Birmingham-based Pet Shop Noise who have been performing locally for many years.

Madonna's album Confessions on a Dance Floor, released November 2005, includes a track called "Jump" which has close similarities to "West End girls". An interview at www.popjustice.co.uk with Stuart Price, who produced Madonna's album, revealed the track "Jump" was a complete Chris Lowe inspiration. While recording the album with Madonna, she even blurted out at one point, "Pet Shop Boys! I fucking love them!". Pet Shop Boys ironically remixed "Sorry", the second single from the album. Their mix has proven to be a favorite, as even Madonna is using their version in her 2006 Confessions tour. The history between Madonna and Pet Shop Boys goes back to 1988 with the song "Heart". It was composed by the duo with the idea of pitching it to Madonna to sing--but they were too shy to call her and offer her the song--so they recorded it themselves. The song ended up going to number one in the UK charts. Later, in 1991, Madonna was referenced in a tongue-in-cheek lyric in the song "DJ Culture," right after Madonna and Sean Penn had divorced. Tennant writes, "Like Liz before Betty / She after Sean / suddenly you're missing / then you're reborn". Tennant refers to the 'reinvention' Madonna was going through at the time. Madonna also paid tribute to the Pet Shop Boys at the 2006 Brit Awards naming them as one of the British artists who had influenced her music, in her acceptance speech after being presented with the 'Best International Female' award by Neil Tennant.

Actor David Tennant, who current plays Doctor Who, took his stage name from Neil Tennant. David's real surname is MacDonald, but he needed a stage name for Equity.

American cartoonist Thomas K. Dye, most famous for creating the satrical webcomic Newshounds, first attempted to make a comic book called The Boy Shop Pets, so called because the characters where animals. It was written between November 1991 to January 1992, but did not last.

Notes

References

External links

Official sites

Fan sites

Forums and discussion

[Pet Shop Boys Community]
[Pet Shop Boys Forum]
[Pet Shop Boys 'This must be the place I waited year to sin' Forum] () ()
[Pet Shop Boys - Fundamental Forum] () ()
alt.music.pet-shop-boys on [USENET] and [Google Groups]

Interviews

[PSB interview at RememberTheEighties.com]

Pet Shop Boys

Neil Tennant | Chris Lowe

Discography

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