A genuine question concerning the Boys' success

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retrofuturist · #16 Post by **retrofuturist** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 2:16 am

In terms of current bands, I think the most under-rated one is Ooberman.

Retro.

gregf · #17 Post by **gregf** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 5:32 am

I listen to so much PSB, I cannot answer your question directly.

I will say, we were nodding to your comments about PSB being publicly under rated.

But I think that is changing. I sense there is growing recognition in the
wider public for what they have achieved.

And that is why, it is so important, that the next album is as good as Fundamental.
Loose momentum this time, and thats it.

Crap beats quality. But time beats crap.

retrofuturist · #18 Post by **retrofuturist** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 6:32 am

gregf wrote:Crap beats quality. But time beats crap.

And Quality beats Time...

It's a very perverse Pop Culture variation on the old "rock, paper and scissors" game.

Retro.

chrisbor · #19 Post by **chrisbor** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 9:00 am

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''Yeah Erasure, Depeche Mode, New Order, the list can go on here.'' Pet Shop Girl
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Well Maybe for Depeche Mode it is a bit different , they still sell rather well and they pack arenas for theiir concerts. Their fan base is probably wider...and the other difference is that DAVE GAHAN has a very strong personna on stage....and dare I say it...he plays sexy...
However it seems in the UK at least, PSB enjoy more critical recognition than DM. Anyway DM were always bigger in Europe and in the US than in the UK. PSB were having number 1s in the UK whilst DM were having Top 10s in the UK.

Anyway DM, New Order and PSB are all very influential 80s bands with a stong recognition today from their peers

Sorry If i put aside Erasure and Human League , but these 2 bands I think are still stuck in the 80s in terms of creativity and originality...But thats only my opinion ....

Eldritch · #20 Post by **Eldritch** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 10:59 am

whateverman42 wrote:INevertheless, I sincerely believe that the PSB are the most underrated band in the world right now.

I definitely disagree. Fundamental was released with a huge media blitz: an hour-long documentary about them, a concert with special guests recorded for radio, a cover story in Word, lengthy feature in Q, mostly excellent reviews... PSB are constantly name-checked by new bands and have collaborated with many bigger stars than themselves. Just because they don't sell five million with each release, it's not like they are currently languishing in obscurity.

DJAMIX · #21 Post by **DJAMIX** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 12:41 pm

The main ponint is the thing about being "banished" of US radio stations.

Once the point is solved, things could get a lot better. But in UK (and in the rest of Europe if I may say) they have almost all the success one could expect to.

stussyboy · #22 Post by **stussyboy** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 3:51 pm

PSB will never achieve the long-term mainstream success of a "rock band" because they are not a "rock band". And we wouldn't want them to be.

PopArt · #23 Post by **PopArt** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 8:22 pm

PSB are totally under valued. Yes, critics and other musicians give them a little bit of respect but the average member of the public does not recognise their genius. And I dont us ethe word "genius" lightly. I honestly think that Neil and Chris are one of the best songwriting duo's since Lennon & McCartney. Who else has written such diverse, clever and witty songs over a twenty year period as they have?

One of the biggest bands of the last twenty years is U2, who are considered as excellent songwriters (and have certainly have written some great tracks), but they are flagging massively now. When was the last time they wrote something that genuinely ranked alongside their finest moments? I think you are going back more than ten years. However, I would argue that for PSB Fundamental and Battleship Potemkin are two of the best things they ever have done, and they are both within the last two years.

It is hard to think of another group around at the moment who has quite the consistency of PSB. Yes, us fans all over analyise certain things that they have done but when you think about it in context of the wider music industry they really represent something very special indeed.

Where it has all gone wrong is image, I'm afraid. PSB are seen (unfairly) as a gay band who write camp hits and that has devalued their output. Yes, they have done some camp stuff but its all had a point to it. Go West was not just the Big Gay Anthem most people view it as, it had a subtle meaning (i.e. the lost gay utpoia). PSB deserve way more respect. I am forever waiting for the moment when they become popular in a mainstream way again but somehow I dont think it will ever happen. They remain pop's best kept secret.

i probably would · Mon 16 Apr 2007, 11:08 pm

It really doesn't matter to me. As neil has said in interviews "it's a really good time to be the pet shop boys right now" They are and always will be music legends. Every time they are in the sun newspaper - who do give the boys decnet coverage it always begins or has the words camp pop duo Im glad that they are still writing new songs and the tour seems to go on and on. I still wear my t-shirts and people always stare at them and i really dont care - just because i am wearing a pet shop boys t-shirt obviously makes me gay!

Fundamental is a stormer of an album and concrete is just fantastic - it's an honour to own a copy - all of the people who were involved in that show - amazing.

Regarding the point about the best songwriting duo since lennon/mccartney i agree 100% and when the boys finally pack it in then they might get all the accolades they deserve. I have said in the past that they should get the lifetime achievement at the brits but i think they have turned it down in the past. Actually if anyone gets to meet neil or chris after any of the shows can you ask them please. I'm going to hammersmith in may but have to get the last train home so i can't hang around. But i can in newmarket.

I am forever waiting for the moment when they become popular in a mainstream way again but somehow I dont think it will ever happen. They remain pop's best kept secret.

I agree - but as the charts are now more download based i think they will have a number 1 for the next single - whenever its released.

Dreamcatcher2003 · Tue 17 Apr 2007, 8:26 pm

Flaffer wrote:do you have a source for the Fundamental sales ?

In answer to your question I do think PSBs are fantastically underated, but so are many artists, many of whom have had less success. It just seems bizarre that a lot of the popular acts such as U2 are so mediocre

It is really a pathetic thing to say things like "U2 are mediocre"; it borders on full ignorance- on the contrary they are brilliant- only during the last five or six years they are not what they were, ie, before Bono got pompous-

PopArt · #26 Post by **PopArt** » Tue 17 Apr 2007, 9:09 pm

I agree that you can't say U2 are mediocre. They have done some very amazing songs like 'With or Without You' and 'One'. However, they simply haven't been consistent and their last really good album (IMO) was 'Achtung Baby' way back in 1991. In that time PSB have given us gems such as 'Very', 'Nightlife', 'Fundamental' and as far as I can see will probably continue to deliver a high quality of work for some years to come.

U2's last record 'How To Dismantle and Atomic Bomb' was quite frankly shameful nonsense. Not an original tune or lyric in sight. Ever since 1997's 'Pop' album they have just re-hashed their 1980's sounding stadium rock sound with less and less success. Whereas PSB continue to to do different, new and unexpected things. Again, in that time they have embraced Latino sounds, written a musical, gone 'rock' on us, written an entire score to a silent film and are now considering a ballet.

I also have to confess, and most music critics would blast me for this

but i think the PSB version of 'Where the streets...' is way better than U2's!!

Fugitive1979 · #27 Post by **Fugitive1979** » Tue 17 Apr 2007, 10:22 pm

PopArt wrote:I also have to confess, and most music critics would blast me for this but i think the PSB version of 'Where the streets...' is way better than U2's!!

I agree, and the music critics can blast us all they want.

Flaffer · #28 Post by **Flaffer** » Wed 18 Apr 2007, 7:45 pm

Dreamcatcher2003 wrote:It is really a pathetic thing to say things like "U2 are mediocre"; it borders on full ignorance- on the contrary they are brilliant- only during the last five or six years they are not what they were, ie, before Bono got pompous-

accusations of ignorance are a bit much and rude don't you think. U2 are on the whole mediocre, imho, they have done some excellent tracks but a heck of a lot of their output is cliched pedestrian nonsense. I would also like to hear U2 produce their own music, I wonder how Achtung Baby would have sounded without Eno on board. I think you will find Bono has been up his own arse for a lot longer than the last five or six years, it's just recently he seems to view himself as some sort of deity

Deschanel · #29 Post by **Deschanel** » Wed 18 Apr 2007, 9:57 pm

chrisbor wrote:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
''Yeah Erasure, Depeche Mode, New Order, the list can go on here.'' Pet Shop Girl
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well Maybe for Depeche Mode it is a bit different , they still sell rather well and they pack arenas for theiir concerts. Their fan base is probably wider...and the other difference is that DAVE GAHAN has a very strong personna on stage....and dare I say it...he plays sexy...
However it seems in the UK at least, PSB enjoy more critical recognition than DM. Anyway DM were always bigger in Europe and in the US than in the UK. PSB were having number 1s in the UK whilst DM were having Top 10s in the UK.

Anyway DM, New Order and PSB are all very influential 80s bands with a stong recognition today from their peers
Sorry If i put aside Erasure and Human League , but these 2 bands I think are still stuck in the 80s in terms of creativity and originality...But thats only my opinion ....

I find it really interesting that Depeche Mode is still strikingly popular with young people in the US today, and have been cited as influence by a lot of younger bands as well (Linkin Park just off the top of my head). I think it's pretty cool.

However, DM doesn't make the charts here very much if at all either. But really, so what- the US charts are all rappers and teenagers, the market is VASTly changed, obv.

Not for the better- in that Australian radio interview someone kindly posted today, Neil mentions how when they started , the music market was much more receptive to "weird' tracks, one-off oddities by one-hit wonders. That was fun, growing up.

To the OP: I wouldn't worry about PSB- they are successful and accomplished world-class artists, and are deservedly happy with their lot. I'm sure there's more to come, and i'm also sure that their amazing work of the last twenty years will be examined, appreciated, and used in expensive car commercials for years to come.

(Kidding about that very last part!)

stussyboy · #30 Post by **stussyboy** » Wed 18 Apr 2007, 10:51 pm

i probably would wrote: I have said in the past that they should get the lifetime achievement at the brits but i think they have turned it down in the past. Actually if anyone gets to meet neil or chris after any of the shows can you ask them please. I'm going to hammersmith in may but have to get the last train home so i can't hang around. But i can in newmarket.

As far as I understand, the BRITs lifetime achievement award was informally offered to PSB in the year the Sting got it (2003?), and the record company were keen to take it, but that the Boys refused. I think it was the right decision.

A genuine question concerning the Boys' success

Re: A genuine question concerning the Boys' success