Your thoughts about PSB before being a fan?

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Hmmm · #46 Post by **Hmmm** » Wed 21 Mar 2007, 11:11 am

As I recall the first time I heard them I though "Oh I quite like this who are they ..."
and the rest is history a Fan from the first listen

the re-release of West End Girls.

Vince · #47 Post by **Vince** » Wed 21 Mar 2007, 11:12 am

le petit corbusier wrote:Disco 2 (which really confused me)

it confused me too

stussyboy · #48 Post by **stussyboy** » Wed 21 Mar 2007, 4:15 pm

Deschanel wrote:why does Neil always sing about money?, I thought at the time. Not having any, I was slightly bitter and resentful when i read in Smash Hits how their favorite thing to do in New York was shopping, expensively. I was living on Ramen noodles at the time. Oh, and I felt cheated that I had bought Actually before "Always on My Mind"was put on it much much later.

I guess my turning point was "Introspective", just a seminally brilliant CD imho. Neil's POV and amazing lyricism utterly won me over. And the ascending artistry of subsequent Cd's just blew me away. (Until Disco 2. Just kidding.)

And when I look back on my petty resentment at the time, I see Neil was just ahead of his time. It was uncool in the rockist /punk school to ever talk about money, and now it's a massive fixation in the global culture. Rappers sing of it, we all know what that actress makes a picture and what it grossed, we all know the price of everything, we enjoy reading about how much money other (famous) people make..

Neil doesn't write directly about money anymore (now that he has some). I guess when he was young he wrote lyrics about what he desired, like Andy Warhol painted dollars. And being grown up, he was just being honest- money changes everything, relationships too.

Just remembering the period where I disliked PSB for being posh and all about the money. The 80's! Lol as if today's different. Sorry for rambling..

Please note that 'Opportunities' is one of the few examples of PSB actally being ironic. Neil singing "let's make lots of money" is not a celebration but a critique. Similarly, 'Shopping' is not about shopping, but about Thatcherite Britain and the privatisation of industry.

(Sorry if this states the obvious).

Shelton · #49 Post by **Shelton** » Sat 24 Mar 2007, 11:00 am

neil_psb wrote:I don't know 'cause I felt in love with the Boys right at the first time I heard them (singing West End Girls)

same here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shelton · #50 Post by **Shelton** » Sat 24 Mar 2007, 11:03 am

Dreamcatcher2003 wrote:I first heard West End girls and simply hated the song and those too smart guys behind it, thinking it was another cool rapper wannabees from some forgotten realms to another forgotten realm...whenever the radio announced PSB I heartily changed the channel. I couldn't believe my eyes when they topped both sides of Atlantic.

One day a DJ announced now a new single by PSB that is called Suburbia and I was to jump to the search button but at that time phone rang and the song started to play. I remember I talked to telephone but my mind was on the song, was that really Boys, the creators of absymally bad West End girls?

Suburbia was love at first sight, It's a sin and Actually sealed the deal and when Always On My Mind was released, I happily married them

Oh MY - I cannot believe you dont like West End girls!

Cdrodkey · #51 Post by **Cdrodkey** » Sat 24 Mar 2007, 3:06 pm

I was in 5th or 6th grade, I think, and the local pop radio station in Bible-belt Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, played the hell out of "It's a sin." It apparently struck a nerve for the very conservative religious area, and for me, just as I was learning to think about and question the religion I grew up with.

In essence, I think everything about the song spoke to me in that moment, and it still does. The whole gay-catholic-guilt thing never struck me until much later. "Sin" was so much a part of our vocabulary, that the song just seemed to make a logical theological conclusion: everything is a sin.

I don't think I heard of the Pet Shop Boys before then, and I only remember "What Have I done to Deserve This" being played a little on the radio "back home."

Riikka · #52 Post by **Riikka** » Sat 14 Apr 2007, 6:32 pm

I can remember that I've never really been into all-male groups. They are usually "rock bands", and that turns me off. I just don't want to listen to music which has that "rock attitude".

So I noticed right away that Pet Shop Boys are something different... They also do not have the need to overdo or underline their masculinity. Because why should they?

I can admit though that I sometimes had the idea that it was a bit "toy music". Even if it is, that's only something positive now...

billiejo · #53 Post by **billiejo** » Sat 14 Apr 2007, 7:34 pm

Bought the video Highlights from a market stall very cheap - was totally bowled over by it and immediately bought all the albums and videos, joined the fan club which is something I have never done before. I have all the books, all Literally magazines and am couting off the days before I actually see them LIVE soon. They are very talented and very FASCINATING and never fail to surprise.

loon · #54 Post by **loon** » Sat 14 Apr 2007, 10:16 pm

you know. at times I don't really know how I feel about them.... I bought Actually because I quite liked Dusty on 'what have I ...' After thinking, that bloke sitting on the stairs is rather dashing (make what you wish of that statement) I had a rummage around and covered in dust (yes, I know

) was a copy of Please.

It took a bit of time, countless bottles of beer and the odd vodca and orange (no, not all in the same evening!) before I realised that this PSB stuff was alright.

I've been utterly devoted since...done my pennance and whatnot....

loon · #55 Post by **loon** » Sat 14 Apr 2007, 10:21 pm

billiejo wrote:Bought the video Highlights from a market stall very cheap - was totally bowled over by it and immediately bought all the albums and videos, joined the fan club which is something I have never done before. I have all the books, all Literally magazines and am couting off the days before I actually see them LIVE soon. They are very talented and very FASCINATING and never fail to surprise.

I'm soooo pleased that PSB capture folk like you. It means a lot to someone who has been listening to then for what feels like forever.

I think you'll find other PSB fans are heartened by your intro into this world...it's very addictive you know! I'm sure your pocket has already told you that !

gregf · #56 Post by **gregf** » Sun 15 Apr 2007, 8:22 am

Have you heard the expression "slow burn". Thats how PSB were for me.

I heard W.E.G. in the 80s and sub-consciously liked it as I had allways liked
good electronic sound.

But I am the type who never becomes a "fan" of anything. I worked hard at my career for
20 years, slowly coming to like PSB more and more.

When my health gave out and I had time on my hands, I realised that Neil & Chris had written
some of the most remarkable music of the last quarter century.
The hardest thing to do in music, is write a tune that sticks in peoples minds.
So that must make them geniuses. Or at least to me, cultural treasures.

So for the first time in my life, I became a fan.

Riikka · #57 Post by **Riikka** » Sun 15 Apr 2007, 9:43 am

gregf wrote:Have you heard the expression "slow burn". Thats how PSB were for me.

I heard W.E.G. in the 80s and sub-consciously liked it as I had allways liked
good electronic sound.

But I am the type who never becomes a "fan" of anything. I worked hard at my career for
20 years, slowly coming to like PSB more and more.

When my health gave out and I had time on my hands, I realised that Neil & Chris had written
some of the most remarkable music of the last quarter century.
The hardest thing to do in music, is write a tune that sticks in peoples minds.
So that must make them geniuses. Or at least to me, cultural treasures.

So for the first time in my life, I became a fan.

We are so different, aren't we! Because I can't really listen to the work of a good artist without being a fan. I will become a fan, or then it all fades out and I only listen to a couple of songs without a passion, just thinking the songs are okay. Pet Shop Boys are perfect for idols, and I'm happy about that.

gregf · #58 Post by **gregf** » Sun 15 Apr 2007, 10:43 am

Riikka wrote:...

I think they work both ways.

DJAMIX · #59 Post by **DJAMIX** » Sun 15 Apr 2007, 3:17 pm

I never heard about Pet Shop Boys until I listened to Suburbia. It was love at the first listen!

Pet Shop Girl · #60 Post by **Pet Shop Girl** » Sun 15 Apr 2007, 4:11 pm

My thoughts were, what a cool sound this is, I was 13 and was always exposed to that arena rock type of crap from my older sister and brother. So hearing PSB for the first time was breathtaking!