View From Inside - Neil Tennant on Remix Culture Interview

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davenjulieuk · #1 Post by **davenjulieuk** » Tue 16 Oct 2007, 7:53 pm

Taken from Friday's October 12th edition of "Metro" newspaper...

View From Inside

Pet Shop Boy Neil Tennant On Remix Culture

"When Chris Lowe and I started songwriting as the Pet Shop Boys, around the start of 1981, remix culture was just starting - there was an explosion of hip hop and hi-NRG music. One of the first projects I was fascinated by was the remix of The Human League's album "Dare".

Also inspiring was Patrick Cowley's 16 minute remix of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love", which builds to an orgasmic climax. I liked the way that a very slight song could become a monolothic electro remix.

We were always fascinated to see what people would do with Pet Shop Boys tracks. It seemed a shame that remixes were ephemeral: we wanted them to be in our catalogue - which inspired our 1986 remix album, "Disco".

It was an incredible seller, to everyone's suprise. In fact, our best-selling album internationally was "Introspective", which applied remixing to pop production.

The first remix we did for another act was Blur's "Girls And Boys"; a 1994 song about package holidays which we turned into a sleeker Euro record, although I think it's more dated now. It's not on "Disco 4", which this time consists of Pet Shop Boys remixes of other artists; we've generally worked with rock bands like The Killers and Rammstein.

We've turned some of the tracks into duets, including Madonna's "Sorry", which was a great dance record to begin with. She liked our mix enough to include it into her live show.

The club scene is fantastically snobbish; pop music often has a lot more going for it. One song I'd love the Pet Shop Boys to remix is "Golden Skans" by Klaxons - every so often you get a song that defines an era - and I think that's it.

DJAMIX · #2 Post by **DJAMIX** » Tue 16 Oct 2007, 7:57 pm

Great "inside"!
I don't know that song by Klaxons.

davenjulieuk · #3 Post by **davenjulieuk** » Tue 16 Oct 2007, 8:25 pm

the song is here

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hiq_0vEDAbE

Posh Boy · #4 Post by **Posh Boy** » Tue 16 Oct 2007, 8:34 pm

Thanks for posting. I have to find the I Feel Love remix, I love that song.

Janet Street-Porter · Tue 16 Oct 2007, 9:41 pm

Golden Skans is euphoric.

dVTB · #6 Post by **dVTB** » Tue 16 Oct 2007, 10:19 pm

Edited.

! · #7 Post by ! » Tue 16 Oct 2007, 10:41 pm

Janet Street-Porter wrote:Golden Skans is euphoric.

Yeah, it's their best track IMO.
I got their album a few months ago from Woolworths for £4. I had to check if it was the right price because on the chart wall it was the full price but on the racks it was that...

Anyway, a PSB remix of Golden Skans would be good I think.

Drem · #8 Post by **Drem** » Wed 17 Oct 2007, 7:22 am

Thanks for nice reading, davenjulieuk! Could you upload a scan of this article, please? It would be very kind...

dVTB wrote:I can hear Pet Shop Boys remix "Any Other World" by Mika, which deserves to be a single anyway.

The last time (before Mika) I heard a song and thought "Pet Shop Boys should remix this" was - no kidding - "Read My Mind" by The Killers. And it happened

And I would like to know, what Neil and Chris think about Mika and his music. Not sure if they ever mentioned him. What a pity that Q&A is no more on OS

!
PS. "Any Other World" - one of my favourite songs from Mika.

Pet Shop Girl · #9 Post by **Pet Shop Girl** » Wed 17 Oct 2007, 1:44 pm

Love the article.

FantasticVoyage · #10 Post by **FantasticVoyage** » Thu 18 Oct 2007, 7:25 pm

Drem wrote:Thanks for nice reading, davenjulieuk! Could you upload a scan of this article, please? It would be very kind...
dVTB wrote:I can hear Pet Shop Boys remix "Any Other World" by Mika, which deserves to be a single anyway.

The last time (before Mika) I heard a song and thought "Pet Shop Boys should remix this" was - no kidding - "Read My Mind" by The Killers. And it happened
And I would like to know, what Neil and Chris think about Mika and his music. Not sure if they ever mentioned him. What a pity that Q&A is no more on OS !
PS. "Any Other World" - one of my favourite songs from Mika.

Mine too. Would be nice if they did a remix.
And yup, would be nice if Mika released this one as a single.

synthpopfan · #11 Post by **synthpopfan** » Thu 18 Oct 2007, 11:25 pm

Posh Boy wrote:Thanks for posting. I have to find the I Feel Love remix, I love that song.

It's a fantastic mix! A fave of mine for many, many years.

Well worth owning the vinyl if you find it!

Chuiperdu · #12 Post by **Chuiperdu** » Sun 21 Oct 2007, 10:06 am

That Donna Summer remix appears on the 12"/80s/Dance triple CD...along with the fantastic Theme from S'Express 12"...

http://www.umtv.co.uk/1280sdance/

synthpopfan · #13 Post by **synthpopfan** » Mon 22 Oct 2007, 1:50 am

Love the Theme to S-Express!

"Ba-da-ba-da-bah
Ba-da-ba-da-bah
S... Expressssss
Ba-da-ba-da-bah
Ba-da-ba-da-bah..."

Awesome!

Ronald42 · #14 Post by **Ronald42** » Mon 22 Oct 2007, 5:15 am

I have a spare copy of that Donna Summer 12'' but it's also on

Along with the original 12'' version

Posh Boy · #15 Post by **Posh Boy** » Mon 22 Oct 2007, 6:22 am

synthpopfan wrote:
Posh Boy wrote:Thanks for posting. I have to find the I Feel Love remix, I love that song.
It's a fantastic mix! A fave of mine for many, many years.

Well worth owning the vinyl if you find it!

Ha, ha, excellent! I currently have a bid on eBay on DS's "The Journey Best of", which also includes this mix I found out. But that can never compare with owning the original 12-inch of course!