Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

[rathound]

I suspect Chris could have very easily made a career post PSB as a producer for all sorts of bands if he'd so wished.

Completely forgot about this track, hadn't a clue how it sounded. Listening back to it now, its a nice little tune.

[NotInvisible]

We all know that Chris loves the spotlight (remember the walk out on that american talkshow), he's one heavy party dude and loves fashion etc.

Wanting recognition that PSB is a duo and loving the spotlight are not the same thing. It's plainly evident that Chris hates the spotlight, to the point of avoiding many interviews, rarely speaking on television and often hiding in plan sight during concerts. He rarely parties these days and there's a pretty big difference between liking style and loving fashion (it's not like he's ever in the audience at runway events or industry parties).

Probably Chris would've had most to loose from a breakup.

I don't think this is true at all - he could have written or produced for other artists the same way Vince Clarke did after his first group split. Most of the biggest PSB hit melodies were his work, after all.

[Towa]

Wanting recognition that PSB is a duo and loving the spotlight are not the same thing. It's plainly evident that Chris hates the spotlight, to the point of avoiding many interviews, rarely speaking on television and often hiding in plan sight during concerts. He rarely parties these days and there's a pretty big difference between liking style and loving fashion (it's not like he's ever in the audience at runway events or industry parties).

I agree 100 %

I don't think this is true at all - he could have written or produced for other artists the same way Vince Clarke did after his first group split. Most of the biggest PSB hit melodies were his work, after all.

I’m not that sure. Writing music, yes, but not producing other artists. I think Chris is a really great composer but I don’t really see him as a producer.

[petshopgrrl]

That contrast is clever songwriting and something I've always loved about Neil and Chris: serenity on the surface, unease underneath.

Your Elton John / Gilbert O’Sullivan instinct isn’t crazy either. Tennant has always had a soft spot for melancholy piano-pop storytelling, the sort of thing Elton did in the early 70's — songs that sound warm and reflective while quietly describing emotional collapse.

And the funniest historical footnote? The storm never really arrived. Instead, Bilingual sold well and produced several hits; they followed it with Nightlife, then Release, then decades more albums; and, by the 2020's they are now the elder statesmen of electronic pop rather than fading stars.

So the song ends up feeling like a snapshot of a private fear that turned out to be happily completely and utterly wrong.

Ah, the old "depth through surface" again!

I read an interesting comment recently on Reddit that said "every note Neil sings is a syllable" and then I immediately couldn't think of any examples where he didn't do that, but this and their other Elton-related numbers (Believe/Song For Guy and In Private) seem to be some of the outliers so Elton must have been a good influence then. (And TIL what melisma means! I swear this band makes you smarter...)

I don't think total failure was ever really on the cards for them. They're a tenacious pair and they made some smart business decisions early on with the publishing and songwriting royalties. The 80's revival is turning out to be a nice little retirement fund booster for those who hung in there long enough and the imperial phase is a rich seam to mine.

On further consideration of everyone's opinions, I'd like to revise my predictions for Chris. He'll become the silent partner in an exclusive dance club project in Ibiza that allows him to spend all day watching his shows in bed, and then every so often he'll show up for a brief midnight DJ set. Yeah. That's it.

[rathound]

Wanting recognition that PSB is a duo and loving the spotlight are not the same thing. It's plainly evident that Chris hates the spotlight, to the point of avoiding many interviews, rarely speaking on television and often hiding in plan sight during concerts. He rarely parties these days and there's a pretty big difference between liking style and loving fashion (it's not like he's ever in the audience at runway events or industry parties).

I agree 100 %

I don't think this is true at all - he could have written or produced for other artists the same way Vince Clarke did after his first group split. Most of the biggest PSB hit melodies were his work, after all.

I’m not that sure. Writing music, yes, but not producing other artists. I think Chris is a really great composer but I don’t really see him as a producer.

I think quite a few producers contribute a fair bit to writing the music as well. Not saying he would have done this, or could be bothered to, but he could easily have teamed up with a boy/girl band for example and written and produced dance pop for them. Especially in that late 90s era. Or done more full on dance stuff.

[Towa]

I think quite a few producers contribute a fair bit to writing the music as well. Not saying he would have done this, or could be bothered to, but he could easily have teamed up with a boy/girl band for example and written and produced dance pop for them. Especially in that late 90s era. Or done more full on dance stuff.

Yes writing for sure, but I don’t think he has the production skills. Adding long 909 snare rolls, yes, but is that enough?

That said, I like some of the remixes that PSB have done for others but we don’t know how big part Pete actually has in this. My guess is that PSB create some of the fundamentals such as the baseline and the main drum patterns, but that Pete is doing much of the more detailed programming and also the mixing work. But that’s just my guess.

[rathound]

They've produced plenty of their own stuff tbf - obvs no idea who contributes what, but I guess Pete G could have still worked with him

[Sandy Shaw]

Track 105: The calm before the storm
Chronology: Bilingual, Further Listening, Track 9

Their "down the dumper" fever dream, where Neil imagines a "rocky lane" in the life of a forty-something pop star. Apparently, it was all played live and Chris had little enough to do with it.


Drico.

I've only just noticed after all these years, Neil's clever juxtaposition of two well known metaphors ''round the bend a rocky lane''.

So if the bad news had came, it could lead to a breakdown or depression as well the predicted obstacles.

[NotInvisible]

I’m not that sure. Writing music, yes, but not producing other artists. I think Chris is a really great composer but I don’t really see him as a producer.

They've self-produced a huge chunk of the catalogue. He clearly has the technical ability, although I suspect he doesn't have the temperament.

[davidctecno]

Which is the next track?

10. Discoteca ( new version) o 11. The boy who couldn´t keep his clothes on????

[Patrick Bateman]

Which is the next track?

10. Discoteca ( new version) o 11. The boy who couldn´t keep his clothes on????

The latter.

[sterlinglush]

Another favorite from this period. This was definitely the point in their career when I realized the B-sides were often better than the tracks that made it to the albums!

[Disco.]

Yes, a very nice track.

[Sammy Jenkis]

This is half an excellent song. The trumpet fanfare doesn't do it for me and I think the chanted chorus could benefit from being less foregrounded. The mid-sections are lush though. Could this be the Wuthering Heights of their catalogue (the novel, not the song, in that it does some parts very well without mastering every aspect)?

[davidctecno]

Track 106: The boy who couldn´t keep his clothes on?
Chronology: Bilingual, Further Listening, Track 11

I don't understand why this song wasn't on the album. It would have been a better closing track than "Saturday Night Forever." The Latin beat in the middle and the girl's backing vocals make it really catchy and fun. I prefer the intro to the B-side of "A Red Letter Day," which is different from the one included on Further Listening.