I continue to be thankful for Pet Shop Boys

November 23, 2023 1:04 PM

Today Pet Shop Boys posted the last in their series of Classic Performances [YT playlist, 15 videos], a list which covers performances from 1989 [It's a sin] to 2019 [Go west] and many in between.

Also new from the Boys is the stand-alone release of Relentless [YT Playlist, 6 tracks], a companion album to Very.

But the really big deal, I think, are the HD Remastered videos [YT playlist, 43 videos], which is not QUITE their entire catalog of videos but certainly covers all their best known songs, reflected in their most recent greatest hits package. These mini-films have never looked better, truly.

posted by hippybear (14 comments total)

Honestly I'm a bit mystified that they didn't include Jealousy from their 2009 Pandemonium tour in the performances playlist, because it's one of the best presentations of a song I've ever seen in a pop concert.
posted by hippybear at 1:05 PM on November 23, 2023

hands up if you received "Actually" via your Columbia House audiocassette tape subscription
posted by elkevelvet at 1:10 PM on November 23, 2023 [4 favorites]

What's great about that Remastered videos playlist is you can throw it to your television to entertain your Thanksgiving gathering all afternoon long!
posted by hippybear at 1:12 PM on November 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

Tangentially, just a couple of days ago, a video of Sleaford Mods covering the Pet Shop Boys dropped, something that I would have never imagined in a million years.

("Profits generated by the single are being donated by Sleaford Mods to Shelter, following on from their previous work with the charity")
posted by smcdow at 2:41 PM on November 23, 2023 [8 favorites]

Also tangentially, and also related to that song, Pet Shop Boys Would Like to Know Just Why Drake Sang ‘West End Girls’ on His New Album [Rolling Stone] "No credit given or permission requested," the group says of the interpolation on Drake's new song, "All the Parties"
posted by hippybear at 2:47 PM on November 23, 2023

I do think their take on Where The Streets Have No Name will come to be the definitive version.
posted by philip-random at 5:52 PM on November 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

Once in primary school I was asked what my favorite band was. I didn't really have one and I didn't know which ones were cool so I blurted out the first thing that came to mind: Pet Shop Boys. Could have picked a lot worse.
posted by donio at 8:00 PM on November 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

Pet Shop Boys needle drop in the new Andrew Haigh film All of Us Strangers (Opens at Christmas! So you can cry on Christmas in the movie theater!) was a real sucker punch for me. Masters of the sad banger.
posted by bcwinters at 8:31 PM on November 23, 2023

Seconding the Sleaford Mods video. Before listening to it, I was like, "Really?" And after listening, I was like, "Really." They barely changed it, but they made it theirs.

(No shade on the Pet Shop Boys—I was impressed by them waaaaay back when, but as many others have had, I too had a friend who played them way too often, and it just burnt me out on the boys. So I barely listen to them anymore because I don't have to by this point.)
posted by not_on_display at 9:03 PM on November 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

I often do things I wouldn't normally do because friends are into them, and about ten years ago now, ooh, probably more, some friends who go to all the concerts invited me to meet them in a city about halfway between our homes to see the Pet Shop Boys. I'm the right age to have heard them on the radio, but I never bought any of their albums, so I didn't have a deep knowledge of their music going into the show. I always liked that they covered "Always on My Mind," which is about the only song Willie Nelson has ever done that I don't automatically think his version is the best one—I love his version, and I love the Pet Shop Boys' version.

Anyway, I had a great time at the show, which was really well done with video and interesting dancers. I'm really glad I went.

Their version of Go West has a plaintiveness to it that I really like. It sounds like what growing up queer in a small town in the midwest in the 80s felt like. That yearning.
posted by Well I never at 1:51 AM on November 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Still have the 12" single of "West End Girls".
posted by DJZouke at 4:56 AM on November 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Mod note: Several comments and responses removed. Please remember the Guidelines and be considerate and respectful, even to those you disagree with.

It's totally ok to ignore this thread if you don't like the subject
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:42 AM on November 24, 2023

And they're still sardonically relevant: here's What Are We Going To Do About The Rich? and Give Stupidity A Chance. Both of which are exactly as political as you might expect from the titles ...
posted by cstross at 8:53 AM on November 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

Mod note: [btw, this post was added to the sidebar and the Best Of blog]
posted by taz (staff) at 1:33 AM on November 27, 2023