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They are going mental about their gigs at the 02 and god I should have gone
So.. has any act since the Beatles banged out one stunning single after another which went from the angry (its a sin) moving (love comes) darkly funny (rent) dance floor classic (heart) with endless pure wit and also maybe the greatest cover ever (always on my mind)
They were vital too. For the gay community its a sin must have resonated like nothing else
I could go on about other rated groups with their dim lyrics and personalities of holograms…
And the glorious what have I ever done to deserve this., that’s pure bliss
They take me back. Every party in the eighties and girls loved them
But for me they are the best act since the the early seventies
Brilliant
And Being Boring is incredibly poignant. I only recently found out the story behind that. A genuinely moving dance floor track. Who else would pull that off?
Oddly though West End girls wouldn’t make my top ten tracks of theirs. I like it but its pretty lightweight compared with what followed
Agreed, Clive. Still listen to the Disco EP regularly, although I did find some of their later stuff a bit naff.
Was a big fan of Pet Shop Boys when I was a kid, not sure why or how I discovered them growing up in the 90’s, but I’ve remained a fan ever since, like mentioned their version of Always on My Mind is a club banger and Its a Sin is a tune as well.
Going on the theme of slightly out-there bands, anyone else like Hot Chip? I’m not their biggest fan in the world but once a year I love watching them perform songs like Ready For The Floor at Glastonbury on the telly.
Excellent band. This will sound contradictory but they have a very distinctive sound whilst also having a varied output. I can often tell something is theirs pretty soon after it comes on even if I haven’t heard it before.
It’s a Sin wouldn’t have been out of place in that topic you started last week Clive.
I agree Glad. They fell off a cliff quite quickly.
Richard. Agree but I think thats because they did covered such a wide range or emotions and observations. And got it right every time
Beyond the Beatles, thats pretty rare isn’t it? They can have you smirking with dark humour with Rent, nodding along recognising Suburbia and feeling empathetic anger in its a sin and then …
This is a beautiful moving masterpiece
I came across a cache of old photos
And invitations to teenage parties
“Dress in white” one said, with quotations
From someone’s wife, a famous writer
In the nineteen-twenties
When you’re young you find inspiration
In anyone who’s ever gone
And opened up a closing door
She said “we were never feeling bored”‘Cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought make amends
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an endWhen I went I left from the station
With a haversack and some trepidation
Someone said: “if you’re not careful
You’ll have nothing left and nothing to care for
In the nineteen-seventies”
But I sat back and looking forward
My shoes were high and I had scored
I’d bolted through a closing door
I would never find myself feeling bored‘Cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought make amends
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an end
We were always hoping that, looking back
You could always rely on a friendNow I sit with different faces
In rented rooms and foreign places
All the people I was kissing
Some are here and some are missing
In the nineteen-nineties
I never dreamt that I would get to be
The creature that I always meant to be
But I thought in spite of dreams
You’d be sitting somewhere here with me‘Cause we were never being boring
We had too much time to find for ourselves
And we were never being boring
We dressed up and fought, then thought make amends
And we were never holding back or worried that
Time would come to an end
We were always hoping that, looking back
You could always rely on a friendAnd we were never being boring
We were never being bored
‘Cause we were never being boring
We were never being boredBen- Hot Chip are very good, too. They were excellent at Glastonbury in 2019, in particular.
I think what the Pet shop boys and the Beatles have in common is one thing that stands out. And other groups too of course
They are just so English.
The Pet Shop Boys are in a class of their own. Very British group indeed … along with the brilliant Madness.
It’s A Sin sounds so dramatic and explosive in its delivery. Driving to this tune with the volume turned up is truly energizing.
Suburbia is another strong favourite that takes me back to a time when life was less complicated. I have a lot of great memories attached to this wonderful piece.
What Have I Done To Deserve This has a stroke of genius about it because Dusty Springfield injects a broad streak of magic with her majestic, soulful voice.
Every decade throws up a pop act that will forever stay in the harddrive of the soul and the Pet Shop Boys did that for the 80s … and beyond!
I am not sure the Beatles were particularly English. Their early work is very much influenced by American rock and roll.
The Kinks, with the sly wit of Ray Davies, strike me as being far more distinctively English.
No one has mentioned “I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind Of Thing”, my favourite of their songs.
To strike a contrary note, I never much liked “It’s A Sin”. Too overwrought.
The brilliant “Small Town Boy” by Bronski Beat is far better on much the same subject.
That’s perfectly put ghost. Top to bottom
What have I done is just sublime. Indescribably gorgeous but dark lyrics again. And probably the only pop video I’ve actually enjoyed
The mark of true greatness is that you can pick a good number of their tracks and can’t pick one stand out
Cork agree about the kinks but if Beatles were American then pet shop boys were German ie kraftwerk. Beatles Rubber Soul onwards were very very English surely. And penny lane? I my life? Eleanor rigby?
Yes, fair enough Clive. I think they found their own voice more with their later material when they had shaken off their earlier influences.
I walked down Penny Lane earlier today. It always pleases me that it still looks like an ordinary street and has not become some sort of theme park. Although the Beatles tour buses stop there so the tourists can take their pictures by the street sign.
Funnily enough I often go down abbey road and it’s the same with that crossing although can’t imagine St. John’s wood residents liking a theme park on their doorstep
And there’s always tourists. Often loads. This is from a record released 50 years ago. What a group they were
Really loved them as a teenager and still love listening to them now, bringing back memories of the “good old days”.
For me the no.1 synth-pop band of the late 70s and 80s along with Soft Cell, Human League and Depeche Mode.
Can’t think of many songs that match the quality of “Suburbia”, “It’s a Sin” and “What have I done to deserve this?”.
Pet Shop Boys always had me thinking “what have I done to deserve this”?
tbh Bar to the gay community I could never understand the appeal.
Didn’t mind OMD and Tears For Fears weren’t bad, but you can keep most synth pop and as for new romantics….
Value Is EverythingGing. they aren’t some exclusively gay techno group with songs about dildos in Brighton leather bars.
Being boring is about friendship and youth.Could apply to any of us and I recognise so much in those lyrics The excitement and carefree life of being 19 and how clever is was to pick up on how no one at that age wanted to be “boring”. Its a note to a deceased friend and delivered beautifully. It hits you like a sledgehammer
And thats triggered why I was saying the PSB and Beatles are so English. Its the delivery. No weeping and wailing like some Italian opera star being electrocuted or sentimental droning drivel that you get elsewhere in these islands or cold smiley europop with lyrics that make no sense to anyone. Its that deadpan slightly irony wistful delivery. Think “she’s leaving home” or “For no one”. And there is the brilliant observation of the little things in life as well as the very dry humour
Being Boring is simply a masterpiece
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