Remembering Ab Fab

[PSBForTheMasses]

Love the Ab Fab song, for me it's just an official PSB single. Never got the hatred for this track. But charity singles often get dissed. Never got the hate for Jagger and Bowie's version of Dancing in the street either, it's a fun track too.
And does anybody remember Lananeeneenoonoo

On my darling, I don't remember Lananeeenoo but I remember well Dancing in the Street and while it was an awful track, there were many rumors that Jagger and Bowie were sharing their be...well, let's say their intimacy too deeply:)

[markus]

Bananarama's cover of The Beatles Help, together with French and Saunders (Lananeeenoo) was also a big hit in Sweden. I remember kids around me singing it at school.

I was in 7th grade and there was also this guy everyone were talking about who was a hardcore Pet Shop Boys fan. It was like his religion, and everyone seemed to respect him for it. Even my older brother got familiar with Psb trough him, he otherwise only knew football. That guy got me curious enough to buy Introspective my first Psb album.

Wonder how the 90's was for a guy who had them up on piedestal like that? Them wearing jumpsuits and releasing Absolutely Fabulous on top of that.

[petshopgrrl]

Wonder how the 90's was for a guy who had them up on piedestal like that? Them wearing jumpsuits and releasing Absolutely Fabulous on top of that.

Ooh, teenage Numanoid here, I can relate. It's a harsh life lesson about idols having feet of clay and that your unswerving loyalty won't do anything about their questionable image changes and release choices.

Trouble is, at that age, we're all too hormonal and emotional to realize that fandom should be transactional - buy it if you like it, don't buy it if you don't and get out if it's not making you happy.

[y3potential]

Greetings,

Still criminally left off PopArt and Smash. Even though it was a top ten “hit”.

... and their highest charting single ever here in Australia, peaking at #2 (over West-End Girls, which reached #4).

Kept off the top spot only by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's "Boom Shake The Room" IIRC.

Retro.

I have always hated that song because it also blocked "Go West" from going to number one in the UK. Now there is another reason.

The same reason why I've always had an irrational hatred of Rick Astley and Never Gonna Give You Up for keeping the far superior What Have I Done To Deserve This? from it's rightful number 1 position. However justice was served and revenge was sweet a few months later at Christmas....

[markus]

Wonder how the 90's was for a guy who had them up on piedestal like that? Them wearing jumpsuits and releasing Absolutely Fabulous on top of that.

Ooh, teenage Numanoid here, I can relate. It's a harsh life lesson about idols having feet of clay and that your unswerving loyalty won't do anything about their questionable image changes and release choices.

Trouble is, at that age, we're all too hormonal and emotional to realize that fandom should be transactional - buy it if you like it, don't buy it if you don't and get out if it's not making you happy.

Maybe they caused their own Ragnarok on purpose though? Feeling uncomfortable up there scrutinized and idolized. Out of the ashes they released Alternative - which is when I finally started to become fanatic. The collection of their b-sides: a celebration of their true selves, what was behind the conveyed image seen on Top of the Pops. With Bilingual the idea was to carry on purely by the strenght of the songwriting skills. But a big chunk of their fanbase was no longer there on that journey.

[petshopgrrl]

[Maybe they caused their own Ragnarok on purpose though? Feeling uncomfortable up there scrutinized and idolized. Out of the ashes they released Alternative - which is when I finally started to become fanatic. The collection of their b-sides: a celebration of their true selves, what was behind the conveyed image seen on Top of the Pops. With Bilingual the idea was to carry on purely by the strenght of the songwriting skills. But a big chunk of their fanbase was no longer there on that journey.

Absolutely fabulous is career Ragnarok? I don't think there's many people that deliberately torpedo their careers. The nature of the music industry then was (still is?) such that, between artistic direction and prevailing public tastes, it was a miracle if anyone survived at a high level past the third album. PSB were very determined and contrary. I think the end of the imperial phase freed them up to do more of what they liked for art and fun, and there were enough fans left to launch each new release into the Top 10 (or 20 at least) for years to come.

[markus]

[Maybe they caused their own Ragnarok on purpose though? Feeling uncomfortable up there scrutinized and idolized. Out of the ashes they released Alternative - which is when I finally started to become fanatic. The collection of their b-sides: a celebration of their true selves, what was behind the conveyed image seen on Top of the Pops. With Bilingual the idea was to carry on purely by the strenght of the songwriting skills. But a big chunk of their fanbase was no longer there on that journey.

Absolutely fabulous is career Ragnarok? I don't think there's many people that deliberately torpedo their careers. The nature of the music industry then was (still is?) such that, between artistic direction and prevailing public tastes, it was a miracle if anyone survived at a high level past the third album. PSB were very determined and contrary. I think the end of the imperial phase freed them up to do more of what they liked for art and fun, and there were enough fans left to launch each new release into the Top 10 (or 20 at least) for years to come.

All true, but they sort of did it again (as others will testify) with the release of Somewhere. Phoenix the bird mythology comes to mind.

[telys]

[Maybe they caused their own Ragnarok on purpose though? Feeling uncomfortable up there scrutinized and idolized. Out of the ashes they released Alternative - which is when I finally started to become fanatic. The collection of their b-sides: a celebration of their true selves, what was behind the conveyed image seen on Top of the Pops. With Bilingual the idea was to carry on purely by the strenght of the songwriting skills. But a big chunk of their fanbase was no longer there on that journey.

Absolutely fabulous is career Ragnarok? I don't think there's many people that deliberately torpedo their careers. The nature of the music industry then was (still is?) such that, between artistic direction and prevailing public tastes, it was a miracle if anyone survived at a high level past the third album. PSB were very determined and contrary. I think the end of the imperial phase freed them up to do more of what they liked for art and fun, and there were enough fans left to launch each new release into the Top 10 (or 20 at least) for years to come.

In another thread from a couple of years ago I came to the conclusion that it was Paninaro '95 that symbolises the end of the prolonged imperial phase. That's when they had jumped the shark.
There are other factors as well: not touring Very in Europe in 1993-94, AIDS death and the following sorrow and mourning.
But the return in 1996 with Bilingual is, to me, majestic. That album has some of Neil's best lyrics, a lot of experimenting and some of their best tunes.
Ab-fab is a great track, that they could've done more with by releasing it as a single from an expanded Relentless album.

[Vintage Youth]

Absolutely Fabulous was such a cultural MOMENT for the rainy islands on the fringes of western Europe, that I can understand why this collab would be hard for some folks from further afield to get their heads around.
I love it. But I also think The Stonk is an absolute banger.

[Bucky Goldstein]

Not as good as The Stonk

[Patrick Bateman]

Maybe they caused their own Ragnarok on purpose though? Feeling uncomfortable up there scrutinized and idolized. Out of the ashes they released Alternative - which is when I finally started to become fanatic. The collection of their b-sides: a celebration of their true selves, what was behind the conveyed image seen on Top of the Pops. With Bilingual the idea was to carry on purely by the strenght of the songwriting skills. But a big chunk of their fanbase was no longer there on that journey.

A big part of what changed was that they were now big pop stars hanging out in The Groucho Club and becoming friends with people their mid-80s selves would have, if not resented, written a sarcastic song about. Of course Neil, a former Smash Hits journalist, was probably always like this; it's just that those hardcore fans who loved the snarling bite of Opportunities and waspish mockery of Shameless (and I was one of them, reader) thought that the slightly stern, detached stage presence of the 80s was their true selves. It wasn't.

I still hate the idea of them recording a superfluous cover with a terminally dull conceptual artist (and releasing it on their own label!), going round Chris Evans's house to record a crap b-side or remixing Cheese Tw*t from Blur's vanity project but this PSB is as much the real PSB as either King's Cross or Paninaro.

This side of them is exemplified by Neil's obsession with Tony Blair, in many ways the ultimate shallow 90s celebrity. Absolutely fabulous is the first step towards the nadir of them hanging around in Downing Street with the great and the good of Britpop like a particularly grating episode of TFI Friday.

[tottenhammattspurs]

[Maybe they caused their own Ragnarok on purpose though? Feeling uncomfortable up there scrutinized and idolized. Out of the ashes they released Alternative - which is when I finally started to become fanatic. The collection of their b-sides: a celebration of their true selves, what was behind the conveyed image seen on Top of the Pops. With Bilingual the idea was to carry on purely by the strenght of the songwriting skills. But a big chunk of their fanbase was no longer there on that journey.

Absolutely fabulous is career Ragnarok? I don't think there's many people that deliberately torpedo their careers. The nature of the music industry then was (still is?) such that, between artistic direction and prevailing public tastes, it was a miracle if anyone survived at a high level past the third album. PSB were very determined and contrary. I think the end of the imperial phase freed them up to do more of what they liked for art and fun, and there were enough fans left to launch each new release into the Top 10 (or 20 at least) for years to come.

In another thread from a couple of years ago I came to the conclusion that it was Paninaro '95 that symbolises the end of the prolonged imperial phase. That's when they had jumped the shark.
There are other factors as well: not touring Very in Europe in 1993-94, AIDS death and the following sorrow and mourning.
But the return in 1996 with Bilingual is, to me, majestic. That album has some of Neil's best lyrics, a lot of experimenting and some of their best tunes.
Ab-fab is a great track, that they could've done more with by releasing it as a single from an expanded Relentless album.

Paninaro ‘95 was their last single to go UP the UK charts on its second week. After that? A new entry peak then down.

[y3potential]

Absolutely fabulous is career Ragnarok? I don't think there's many people that deliberately torpedo their careers. The nature of the music industry then was (still is?) such that, between artistic direction and prevailing public tastes, it was a miracle if anyone survived at a high level past the third album. PSB were very determined and contrary. I think the end of the imperial phase freed them up to do more of what they liked for art and fun, and there were enough fans left to launch each new release into the Top 10 (or 20 at least) for years to come.

In another thread from a couple of years ago I came to the conclusion that it was Paninaro '95 that symbolises the end of the prolonged imperial phase. That's when they had jumped the shark.
There are other factors as well: not touring Very in Europe in 1993-94, AIDS death and the following sorrow and mourning.
But the return in 1996 with Bilingual is, to me, majestic. That album has some of Neil's best lyrics, a lot of experimenting and some of their best tunes.
Ab-fab is a great track, that they could've done more with by releasing it as a single from an expanded Relentless album.

Paninaro ‘95 was their last single to go UP the UK charts on its second week. After that? A new entry peak then down.

Indeed. Although they were still deploying the tactic of releasing the remix or second CD the week after the first one.. It may have been the last time they did this, although my memory isn't what it once was. I'm 55, you know !!

[Ramzy]

Yeah, wasn't this strategy of the two-step release stretched to its absolute limit on Paninaro '95 such that you couldn't actually get the single mix on CD at all during its first week? I only recently heard the PSB extended mix that leads CD1 and, while good, it's a miracle that a single you could basically only buy on cassette still managed to debut in the top 20.

[TwizzleUK]

Yeah, wasn't this strategy of the two-step release stretched to its absolute limit on Paninaro '95 such that you couldn't actually get the single mix on CD at all during its first week? I only recently heard the PSB extended mix that leads CD1 and, while good, it's a miracle that a single you could basically only buy on cassette still managed to debut in the top 20.

Yeah, that's right. I hadn't heard it on UK radio, somewhat I bought CD1, I was surprised there wasn't much to the PSB extended version. I bought CD2 when it came out the next week, and much preferred that single mix (as well as finding the 7" version of Arthur Baker's 'In The Night' remix a nice surprise).