More from the straight-jacketed Neil?NotInvisible wrote: Sun 18 Jan 2026, 11:18 pmIt was a b-side on the sixth single of the Very era. I think everyone knew what they were in for...markus wrote: Sun 18 Jan 2026, 10:21 pmAt the same time, the cynic in me can’t help thinking: career suicide in the making.
A low-key b-side from the group that already had Later Tonight, It Couldn't Happen Here, Do I Have To? and Your Funny Uncle in the catalogue. Anyone committed enough to be buying the sixth single from an album campaign would already have been familiar with this aspect of their work. It wouldn't have been surprising, let alone career suicide. Hence another three Top 10 hits in the next album campaign...markus wrote: Sun 18 Jan 2026, 11:25 pmMore from the straight-jacketed Neil?
On the flip side wearing a gay jacket was expected?
Are you sure that argument would hold up in court? You said it yourself: “overtly gay.”NotInvisible wrote: Mon 19 Jan 2026, 12:08 amA low-key b-side from the group that already had Later Tonight, It Couldn't Happen Here, Do I Have To? and Your Funny Uncle in the catalogue. Anyone committed enough to be buying the sixth single from an album campaign would already have been familiar with this aspect of their work. It wouldn't have been surprising, let alone career suicide. Hence another three Top 10 hits in the next album campaign...markus wrote: Sun 18 Jan 2026, 11:25 pmMore from the straight-jacketed Neil?
On the flip side wearing a gay jacket was expected?
Sorry, I thought we were talking about the music.markus wrote: Mon 19 Jan 2026, 12:45 amAre you sure that argument would hold up in court? You said it yourself: “overtly gay.”
Yeah, so did the rest of us. Can we get back to talking about the music? Please?? Maybe someone can start another thread if they want to continue discussing the career-suicide narrative.NotInvisible wrote: Mon 19 Jan 2026, 12:57 amSorry, I thought we were talking about the music.markus wrote: Mon 19 Jan 2026, 12:45 amAre you sure that argument would hold up in court? You said it yourself: “overtly gay.”
I don't think we can completely separate the career aspect from the music really. Especially when discussing a time when they still had some chart success. Absolutely Fabulous is up next.petshopgrrl wrote: Mon 19 Jan 2026, 1:06 amYeah, so did the rest of us. Can we get back to talking about the music? Please?? Maybe someone can start another thread if they want to continue discussing the career-suicide narrative.NotInvisible wrote: Mon 19 Jan 2026, 12:57 amSorry, I thought we were talking about the music.markus wrote: Mon 19 Jan 2026, 12:45 amAre you sure that argument would hold up in court? You said it yourself: “overtly gay.”
Of course you can. The songs exist as... songs.markus wrote: Mon 19 Jan 2026, 1:17 amI don't think we can completely separate the career aspect from the music really.
The forum is already quiet as it is.NotInvisible wrote: Mon 19 Jan 2026, 1:23 amOf course you can. The songs exist as... songs.markus wrote: Mon 19 Jan 2026, 1:17 amI don't think we can completely separate the career aspect from the music really.
But I believe that since my life began
Before 7NotInvisible wrote: Mon 19 Jan 2026, 12:57 amSorry, I thought we were talking about the music.markus wrote: Mon 19 Jan 2026, 12:45 amAre you sure that argument would hold up in court? You said it yourself: “overtly gay.”
Yes, it's their first track with an overtly gay lyric. Absolutely nobody was surprised, and the subsequent releases prove it wasn't career suicide as you claim:
6 Disco 2
15 Paninaro '95
2 Alternative
8 Before
8 Se a Vida E
4 Bilingual
14 Single
9 A Red Letter Day
9 Somewhere
They remained a chart force for quite some time.
I mean we're going to get onto crossing that line with the next track but your point about your 21-year-old self being rather underwhelmed by them is key. If their own fanbase who'd grown up with them weren't that bothered, the new pop kids certainly weren't going to get into them. It was a really exciting time for music - loads of dance music, exciting europop and indie was still really good and hadn't yet been Oasis-ed.Drico One wrote: Mon 19 Jan 2026, 6:06 pm I was losing interest by If love were all or, more to the point, the last days of the elongated Very campaign. 1994 was a real anti-climax after the fizzy euphoria of Can you forgive her?, Go West, and Very Relentless. A number two single, a number one album, a Pet Shop Boys Day on Radio 1... Halcyon days. I didn't like the singles of 1994 at all. Liberation - another nice song - wasn't where I was at at 21. Yesterday, when I was mad was an in-joke that was always going to outstay its welcome nine months after the album was released. And Absolutely fabulous was just a joke. It's not like any of these singles were terrible - catch me at the right moment and they are enjoyable, and some had epic b-sides. But after what had gone before, I personally found the drop-off precipitous. Then there was Disco 2...
I think, for me, they crossed the fine line dividing kitsch and weird in 1994. If love were all is, obviously, a good song, melodious, and poignant, but it passed me by. Then again, I was never much of a fan of the Richard Niles side of their oeuvre.
Drico.
My least favourite track. At least the Coconut 1 remix on Yesterday made up for it!petshopgrrl wrote: Sun 18 Jan 2026, 9:19 pmHere, allow me...telys wrote: Sun 18 Jan 2026, 5:40 pm Time for the next track, please. I don't dare to start,,,, and have forgotten which track is the next one.
Track 82: If Love Were All
Chronology: Very, Further Listening, Track 11
This cover of a Noel Coward song was an extra track on the "Yesterday when I was mad" single and features a delightfully plaintive and wistful vocal from Neil. (Would I be right in guessing the vocal is single-tracked for once, for that extra added vulnerability?) Big band orchestration is by Richard Niles. Love that piano and trumpet work.
