retrofuturist wrote: Tue 09 Jun 2026, 11:34 pm
Greetings,
Yes - Bilingual taught us that we could no longer expect a 100% hit rate, however Nightlife and Release certainly tested fans' perseverance for several years. Speaking of perseverance, let's get through this FL set...
An interesting little footnote: since FL-CD2:2 we've come to a period in this FL set where every track is a b-side of a single from the Nightlife era. If the chronology of this set is to be trusted, these recordings were all done after Somebody Else's Business. Therefore, they consciously left Somebody Else's Business off the Nightlife and Release albums, and didn't necessarily want to "toss it away" as a b-side filler either. It makes me think that (like Miserablism before it, and I Didn't Get Where I Am Today afterwards) they had some hopes of it becoming something substantial and prominent, but when the opportunity passed, they figured they'd better just put it out at the next available opportunity.
Retro.
Ever since this came out I knew something was off with the sequencing of the third disc. We know that SEB was intended for a late-2000 greatest hits that never happened and so was almost certainly newly written. I'm sure they deliberately bookended disc 3 with two versions of this song to make the album more listenable and that SEB does come after the b sides historically. They no doubt abandoned the idea of separating out different mixes of the same track when it came to Elysium, hence why we have all three PSB remixes of Leaving stuffed together at the end.
1996-2000 is a long period for the Nightlife FL. The first tracks on FL disc 1 were recorded way before A Red Letter Day-Somewhere era and could've been on the Bilingual FL (not quality-wise, the Bilingual FL is perhaps their best FL, worthy of release as an album in its own right).
The Elton duet is from September 1997
IDOSAC is from late 1997.
Screaming was released in December 1998.
So Somebody Else's Business (short mix) should therefore originate some time in 1998. Neil says in the booklet that they recorded SEB in March 2000. They also say it was written the day after Happiness is an Option which in turn was written and recorded as a last minute addition to Nightlife. The album was released in October 1999 with the first single coming out in July which suggests it have been written early 1999 or during 1998.
PSB had a "break" between summer 1997 and spring 1998 with "musical inactivity". "Focused work" on the album began in April 1998.
It is therefore possible that SEB originated in 1998 but not that plausible.
telys wrote: Wed 10 Jun 2026, 10:31 pm
1996-2000 is a long period for the Nightlife FL. The first tracks on FL disc 1 were recorded way before A Red Letter Day-Somewhere era and could've been on the Bilingual FL (not quality-wise, the Bilingual FL is perhaps their best FL, worthy of release as an album in its own right).
The Elton duet is from September 1997
IDOSAC is from late 1997.
Screaming was released in December 1998.
So Somebody Else's Business (short mix) should therefore originate some time in 1998. Neil says in the booklet that they recorded SEB in March 2000. They also say it was written the day after Happiness is an Option which in turn was written and recorded as a last minute addition to Nightlife. The album was released in October 1999 with the first single coming out in July which suggests it have been written early 1999 or during 1998.
PSB had a "break" between summer 1997 and spring 1998 with "musical inactivity". "Focused work" on the album began in April 1998.
It is therefore possible that SEB originated in 1998 but not that plausible.
I think we have to take the track order with a pinch of salt. The Elton duet wasn't finished until 2003 and yet it's on an album covering 1996-2000. I think as they entered the Nightlife era they were spending much longer developing and releasing projects and had to stretch the concept of "recording order" for the FLs. They're probably recording more, at least within the time period of an album, less singles are being released henceforth unreleased tracks sit on the shelf longer and get worked on more over time. It leads to the slightly annoying upshot that four b-sides we associate from the Yes and Elysium era end up on the Fundy FL.
It's a great song title and a decent enough b-side by the standards of the others around this time. Probably faint praise, but that's the era we're in.
retrofuturist wrote: Thu 11 Jun 2026, 1:28 amTrack 134 : The Ghost Of Myself
Chronology: Nightlife, FL-CD2:5
Britney Spears cosplay. Not a great era for b-sides, really.
Mmm. I remember some other fans on the internet saying “look, they can do Cheiron as well and really crush it”, and I thought that no this sad low/energy track would never emerge from Dennis Pop and his team.
The ghost of myself is a great track and should have been a great inclusion in the album (instead of The only one or In denial), keeping the Nightlife theme, had they only recorded in time. Too bad they didn't.
A Britney rehash in a melancholic, mature way. The only good bside from the whole era. Neil wouldn't get this self-reflective again until The pop kids and Nonetheless.
Yes I think it is quite ok, one of the better b-sides from the nightlife years. My complaints above was more about other fans than the song itself - it’s no Baby one more time
daveid wrote: Thu 11 Jun 2026, 1:39 am
Probably faint praise, but that's the era we're in.
I hear you. That's why I couldn't be bothered saying anything about it. On a similar note.
Track 135 : Casting A Shadow
Chronology: Nightlife, FL-CD2:6
The instrumental eclipse soundtrack. I'm nonplussed.
[Speaking of which, do we know why Je T'aime Moi Non Plus was worthy of being considered a Pet Shop Boys b-side for the CD single of I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore, but has since been disowned from this confusing Further Listening compilation and from Format as well? They now say they see it as a Sam Taylor-Wood track, but why didn't they see it as one in 1999? And why do we have to suffer through the Elton John collaborations, yet this one that they actually deemed worthy of release is memory holed?]
Retro.
"Politics are too emotional now. Contemporary culture generally is too emotional, really... I'd rather people looked to the truth." (Neil Tennant)
retrofuturist wrote: Thu 11 Jun 2026, 10:19 pm
Greetings,
daveid wrote: Thu 11 Jun 2026, 1:39 am
Probably faint praise, but that's the era we're in.
I hear you. That's why I couldn't be bothered saying anything about it. On a similar note.
Track 135 : Casting A Shadow
Chronology: Nightlife, FL-CD2:6
The instrumental eclipse soundtrack. I'm nonplussed.
Retro.
A decent instrumental. Nothing to write home about but it's the type of track that now they would consider including in the tracklist of the main album.
There was even a video for it in one of the CD singles right?
