Pet Shop Boys Community

cutie_kyle wrote:Hear a new 'web only' mix of She's Madonna over at robbiewilliams.com - it's very atmospheric

Nice remix indeed. I hope somebody can get it in a better sound quality.

I quite like it, although it's not as good as Kris Menace mix.

More good news from the Netherlands: Robbie & PSB climb to #5 in the single sales Top 100, this week. Unfortunately, it sold just 40% of the #1 track (by some Idols contest winner), but it's still very satisfying

Earlier this week, I announced the #10 position in the Top 40, tomorrow the result in the official Mega Top 50 will be due.

The 2nd week result for Robbie and the Pets in the official Dutch chart is simply amazing.

She's Madonna climbs from #33 to #4 !! Unfortunately, the positions #2 and #3 are also climbers, and the #1 is a new entry, so reaching #1 is going to be very difficult.

But She's Madonna is now officially the biggest Tennant/Lowe-hit in the Netherlands since What Have I Done To Deserve This in 1987 (not counting their minimal input in Go West, which hit #3 in 1993.

dVTB wrote:The 2nd week result for Robbie and the Pets in the official Dutch chart is simply amazing.

She's Madonna climbs from #33 to #4 !! Unfortunately, the positions #2 and #3 are also climbers, and the #1 is a new entry, so reaching #1 is going to be very difficult.

But She's Madonna is now officially the biggest Tennant/Lowe-hit in the Netherlands since What Have I Done To Deserve This in 1987 (not counting their minimal input in Go West, which hit #3 in 1993.

What do you mean by 'minimal' input in Go West? They probably had a lot more input into Go West than into She's Madonna.

Go West is a cover. Tennant/Lowe only wrote the bridge. She's Madonna is mainly a Tennant/Lowe penned song.

N° 3 in Holland !!! These Dutch are mad... N°19 in Switzerland... People are strange: "She's Madonna" is the crappiest thing the boys have made in years and that's a "small" hit... What a wonderful world.

dVTB wrote:Go West is a cover. Tennant/Lowe only wrote the bridge. She's Madonna is mainly a Tennant/Lowe penned song.

Maybe, but their version is completely unrecogniseable from the original. It's still a shite song though.

dVTB wrote:Go West is a cover. Tennant/Lowe only wrote the bridge. She's Madonna is mainly a Tennant/Lowe penned song.

How do you know that She's Madonna is mainly a Tennant/Lowe song? I'm curious about how much of the song they wrote. I thought the song was written in 05 before Neil and Chris got involved with it and that Robbie had written the lyrics.

I just ran across this review by MusicOMH.com:

Robbie Williams - She's Madonna (EMI)
UK release date: 5 March 2007

Unless you're an absolute rock diehard who would rather slit your wrists with the A string of a Fender Stratocaster than admit that pop could ever take music's crown (or even a seat in its court), this can't really fail, can it? Robbie. Pet Shop Boys. Together. It's kitsch, it's as camp as a box of frogs, and of course it's completely and utterly brilliant, if you like disposable pop rubbish.
The single version has been watered down somewhat from the album track, however. Ironically, it's less Pet Shop Boys and more straightforward electro pop, stripped of its Kraftwerk electronic backbeat and those weird vocal samples that come in like a broken radio towards the end. It still works, though.

It's certainly significantly different enough that completist fans of both Robbie and the Boys will need both versions. Splash your cash and you'll not only get them, but a package complete with the kind of electro-disco instrumental that could suddenly find itself at number one for a 16-week spell, as well. Bargain.

303krs wrote:N° 3 in Holland !!! These Dutch are mad... N°19 in Switzerland... People are strange: "She's Madonna" is the crappiest thing the boys have made in years and that's a "small" hit... What a wonderful world.

Why the negativism? Judging from it chart results, many people like She's Madonna, so it's a bit weird to claim it's the "crappiest" thing the boys have made in years.

It's in fact #4 so far, not yet #3. The Dutch aren't mad, they show good taste. I'm very happy about PSB finally enjoying a big Top 10 hit here, for the first time in 13,5 years. I don't see why you need to call it "mad".

lucienchardon wrote:

dVTB wrote:Go West is a cover. Tennant/Lowe only wrote the bridge. She's Madonna is mainly a Tennant/Lowe penned song.

How do you know that She's Madonna is mainly a Tennant/Lowe song? I'm curious about how much of the song they wrote. I thought the song was written in 05 before Neil and Chris got involved with it and that Robbie had written the lyrics.

I have ears. It's safe to say that Neil & Chris penned a major/essential part of the music. And lyrics like "I found myself by circumstance, in crowded rooms where people dance" also sound very Neil-ish.

I'm not saying PSB did nothing with Go West, but in essention it's still a COVER, where She's Madonna is original, new material.

dVTB wrote: And lyrics like "I found myself by circumstance, in crowded rooms where people dance" also sound very Neil-ish.

I think that's Robbie trying to write like Neil. But failing, because the line is clumsy and forced. I'm sure the lyrics are Robbie's but the tune sounds very much like Pet Shop Boys.

Although wasn't there also some kind of little scandal about an old friend of Robbie claiming that Williams stole the song from him? Or was it just the idea of the song?

She's Madonna hasn't made an appearance in the lower reaches of the UK top 75 as one might have expected under the new chart rules. Even though it's released officially today the track has been available for download since the album release. Therefore one might have expected that radio play to have helped give it a leg up into the lower end of the chart prior to release. Apparently not. Does anyone know how it has fared on the Airplay chart? Rudebox hasn't reappeared in the top 75 either, so it seems She's Madonna is not doing it's intended job in that department either. A pity, as the song is the one of the best on the album IMO, and the album really quite good too.

The song has started getting some attention here in Oz on radio & television, but rather annoyingly it is almost universally credited to Robbie Williams only....not "with Pet Shop Boys"

Rusty wrote:She's Madonna hasn't made an appearance in the lower reaches of the UK top 75 as one might have expected under the new chart rules. Even though it's released officially today the track has been available for download since the album release. Therefore one might have expected that radio play to have helped give it a leg up into the lower end of the chart prior to release. Apparently not. Does anyone know how it has fared on the Airplay chart? Rudebox hasn't reappeared in the top 75 either, so it seems She's Madonna is not doing it's intended job in that department either. A pity, as the song is the one of the best on the album IMO, and the album really quite good too.

It's too 'weird' for the British public. I'm not Robbie's biggest fan but it is comical how Rudebox has been slagged off as though it was some obscure avant-garde experiment rather than a pop album with 80s influences. Still, not too surprising in a world where Take That are seen as the commercial norm.