Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

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retrofuturist
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Re: Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

#2431 Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

Good points by the posters above. It makes you wonder whether Pet Shop Boys would have survived, had it not been for Electroclash prompting them to abandon what was not working, and for them to go back to their roots.

Retro. :)
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Patrick Bateman
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Re: Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

#2432 Post by Patrick Bateman »

retrofuturist wrote: Mon 24 Aug 2026, 11:09 pm Greetings,

Good points by the posters above. It makes you wonder whether Pet Shop Boys would have survived, had it not been for Electroclash prompting them to abandon what was not working, and for them to go back to their roots.

Retro. :)
Yes, this is definitely the point at which they became PSB again. The sound of those old machines.

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Lleonard Pler
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Re: Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

#2433 Post by Lleonard Pler »

Disco 3 is one of their most essential releases. They just sound 100% them on the new tracks, and that's saying something after playing drag on Bilingual, Nightlife and Release.

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Re: Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

#2434 Post by petshopgrrl »

Kompakt&Bijou wrote: Wed 19 Aug 2026, 2:05 pm It is wonderful they did a Peel session. Many underground artists consider a Peel session one of their greatest validations, and its nice that Pet Shop Boys honoured that tradition by accepting the invitiation.
Didn't it all start because Neil once made John Peel's daughter a cup of tea while she helped him move house in London? :lol:

I think it's funny how PSB have done their career backwards. Most bands start with the Peel session and the uni tour, then build up to the Number Ones and massive all singing and dancing arena productions.
Lleonard Pler wrote: Mon 24 Aug 2026, 9:43 am Vocoder done right. Neil sounds like a different person altogether and the robotic voice adds to the melancholy and loneliness of the track. A standout in the great Disco 3.
Yes, an absolute heartbreaker. The stripped back production adds to the vulnerability. I love Disco 3, especially Somebody Else's Business.

(Has anyone ever put together a PSB/electroclash playlist? I'd be in the market for one.)
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Re: Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

#2435 Post by rathound »

tbh its FL disk 2 up to and including the Flamboyant Demo plus some of the tracks off Disco 3 (SEB, Time on my hands, Positive role model and Sexy Northerner probably work as well). And its ace

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Re: Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

#2436 Post by Lleonard Pler »

rathound wrote: Tue 25 Aug 2026, 10:04 am tbh its FL disk 2 up to and including the Flamboyant Demo plus some of the tracks off Disco 3 (SEB, Time on my hands, Positive role model and Sexy Northerner probably work as well). And its ace
It never occurred to me that Flamboyant Demo would work so well in Disco 3, their unofficial electroclash album. It's a great fit, thank you!

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Re: Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

#2437 Post by NOBODY75 »

I like Disco 3. Unlike its two predecessors, it features "new" songs, and overall, they are quite good. That said, I am certainly not one of those who believes they lost their way between *Bilingual* and now; with Disco 3, they return to top form. In fact, I view Disco 3 much like an athlete engaging in high-quality training to deliver their best performance in an official competition—say, a World Championship or the Olympic Games. And in this case, that competition was Fundamental

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Re: Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

#2438 Post by tottenhammattspurs »

I’ve always viewed Disco 3 for what it is:- The abandoned third and fourth singles from Release. “London” and its mixes/bonus tracks and “Here” with its mixes and bonus tracks. I suspect if Release had performed better and we’d got the third and fourth singles we wouldn’t have had Disco 3 at all.
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Re: Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

#2439 Post by telys »

NOBODY75 wrote: Wed 26 Aug 2026, 2:59 pm I like Disco 3. Unlike its two predecessors, it features "new" songs, and overall, they are quite good. That said, I am certainly not one of those who believes they lost their way between *Bilingual* and now; with Disco 3, they return to top form. In fact, I view Disco 3 much like an athlete engaging in high-quality training to deliver their best performance in an official competition—say, a World Championship or the Olympic Games. And in this case, that competition was Fundamental
Disco (1986) contained lots of new stuff for the ordinary listener. In a sense it's a prequel to Please (half the album is actually from 1985). All the mixes were very exclusive before ending up on Disco. The West End girls mix is unique for that album.
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Re: Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

#2440 Post by NOBODY75 »

telys wrote: Wed 26 Aug 2026, 4:49 pm
NOBODY75 wrote: Wed 26 Aug 2026, 2:59 pm I like Disco 3. Unlike its two predecessors, it features "new" songs, and overall, they are quite good. That said, I am certainly not one of those who believes they lost their way between *Bilingual* and now; with Disco 3, they return to top form. In fact, I view Disco 3 much like an athlete engaging in high-quality training to deliver their best performance in an official competition—say, a World Championship or the Olympic Games. And in this case, that competition was Fundamental
Disco (1986) contained lots of new stuff for the ordinary listener. In a sense it's a prequel to Please (half the album is actually from 1985). All the mixes were very exclusive before ending up on Disco. The West End girls mix is unique for that album.
I love Disco 1 far more than Disco 3. Personally, I bought Please and Disco at the same time. However, given that Disco and Disco 2 were remixes of existing tracks, I was pleased—and Disco 3 gained points in my book—because it featured material I hadn't heard before

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Re: Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

#2441 Post by daveid »

telys wrote: Wed 26 Aug 2026, 4:49 pm
NOBODY75 wrote: Wed 26 Aug 2026, 2:59 pm I like Disco 3. Unlike its two predecessors, it features "new" songs, and overall, they are quite good. That said, I am certainly not one of those who believes they lost their way between *Bilingual* and now; with Disco 3, they return to top form. In fact, I view Disco 3 much like an athlete engaging in high-quality training to deliver their best performance in an official competition—say, a World Championship or the Olympic Games. And in this case, that competition was Fundamental
Disco (1986) contained lots of new stuff for the ordinary listener. In a sense it's a prequel to Please (half the album is actually from 1985). All the mixes were very exclusive before ending up on Disco. The West End girls mix is unique for that album.
I think only West End girls is from 85

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Re: Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

#2442 Post by telys »

daveid wrote: Wed 26 Aug 2026, 8:57 pm
telys wrote: Wed 26 Aug 2026, 4:49 pm
NOBODY75 wrote: Wed 26 Aug 2026, 2:59 pm I like Disco 3. Unlike its two predecessors, it features "new" songs, and overall, they are quite good. That said, I am certainly not one of those who believes they lost their way between *Bilingual* and now; with Disco 3, they return to top form. In fact, I view Disco 3 much like an athlete engaging in high-quality training to deliver their best performance in an official competition—say, a World Championship or the Olympic Games. And in this case, that competition was Fundamental
Disco (1986) contained lots of new stuff for the ordinary listener. In a sense it's a prequel to Please (half the album is actually from 1985). All the mixes were very exclusive before ending up on Disco. The West End girls mix is unique for that album.
I think only West End girls is from 85
In the night is from 1985, the mix of Opportunities as well.
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Re: Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

#2443 Post by daveid »

I think the Arthur Baker mix of In the night was new. You're right about Opportunities.

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Re: Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

#2444 Post by tottenhammattspurs »

As well as the unique mix/edit of West End girls and The Arthur Baker mix of In The Night and the full length Pettibone mix of Love comes quickly (It had an early fade on the Suburbia double pack 7") Disco 1 also was the only place to get the 12" of Paninaro. Only the 7" mix was on the 7'' and 12" (with the "Versace" bit in it). So really the only pre existing material on Disco 1 was the Latin Rascal's Opportunities and Suburbia (The Full Horror).
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Re: Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

#2445 Post by Disco. »

The 12” version of Paninaro was also available On the 12” single that was released only in Italy.

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