Pet Shop Boys Community

That wasn't going to happen. No one would buy it for a start plus it was released on Sony, I think.

Re Sexy Northerner:

If I remember correctly, it wasn't only played at the University/Release tour, but also during their few festival appearances while promoting Pop Art in 2004.

I was 17 in 2004 and spent my holidays in Spain. PSB played the FiB festival nearby, followed by Kraftwerk, so I was able to attend. It was only my third PSB concert, and I think they played 'Sexy Northerner' as part of their set.

Jeez... those were the days! Such a great song! I remember taking the 'I Get Along' CD with me to Spain in 2002 so that I could listen to 'Between Two Islands', which I adored then and still do today.

Anyway. I'm really glad they keep playing it at Obscure/Obskur, since it's another top-tier B-side.

m+

daveid wrote: Sat 01 Aug 2026, 2:59 pm That wasn't going to happen. No one would buy it for a start plus it was released on Sony, I think.

Even a separated FL bonus disc in Nightlife or Release with all the demos of CTH would have been preferable than having them dominating the tracklists of two distinct releases. It's boring and makes me overlook Nightlife and Release FL altogether tbh.

Lleonard Pler wrote: Sat 01 Aug 2026, 3:18 pm

daveid wrote: Sat 01 Aug 2026, 2:59 pm That wasn't going to happen. No one would buy it for a start plus it was released on Sony, I think.

Even a separated FL bonus disc in Nightlife or Release with all the demos of CTH would have been preferable than having them dominating the tracklists of two distinct releases. It's boring and makes me overlook Nightlife and Release FL altogether tbh.

Run Girl Run has a great melody and one of Neil's best lyrics ever. This is possibly what he would've sounded like as a solo singer/songwriter artist. This and Friendly Fire should've been on Release.

telys wrote: Mon 03 Aug 2026, 12:20 pm

Lleonard Pler wrote: Sat 01 Aug 2026, 3:18 pm

daveid wrote: Sat 01 Aug 2026, 2:59 pm That wasn't going to happen. No one would buy it for a start plus it was released on Sony, I think.

Even a separated FL bonus disc in Nightlife or Release with all the demos of CTH would have been preferable than having them dominating the tracklists of two distinct releases. It's boring and makes me overlook Nightlife and Release FL altogether tbh.

Run Girl Run has a great melody and one of Neil's best lyrics ever. This is possibly what he would've sounded like as a solo singer/songwriter artist. This and Friendly Fire should've been on Release.

Run Girl Run is incredibly clever in that it's a song by the Boys of course but also imagining the type of song that the character Billie would have written. It's also sad and profound but contains a sort of sick humour simultaneously.

Sandy Shaw wrote: Mon 27 Jul 2026, 2:59 pm Track 154: Sexy Northerner
Chronology: Release FL CD1:7

This blew up a storm at "Obscure". The relatively little we learn about the subject of the song is tantelisingly just enough and the tune/arrangement/production lift the lyrics right up there complete with chant along chorus. I always feel that it must be slightly about Chris with graphic designer substituting for architect. The sexy Northerner is down South but still goes home oop North once in a while.

Wait, I missed Sexy Northerner? Shoot, I'm backtracking!

This one always makes me laugh out loud, literally. I had no idea that PSB could be so cheeky when I first heard it. Also, as signature basslines go, this is second to West End girls. File this under "Does YOUR band do this??"

I also think it's a sly nod to Chris, whatever Neil claims, but I'll also buy the Farrow or Watson suggestions.

Greetings,

And now we move on to what I consider to be the best Pet Shop Boys b-side ever!

Track 157: I Didn't Get Where I Am Today
Chronology: Release FL CD1:11

Gosh it's good.



Retro.

I remember the first time that I listened to this track. It amazed me: such a catchy melody, those irresistible hey-hey-hey, the roller coaster production since the very first seconds. Three minutes of pure joy. It sounds classy, like an oldie that would play on the radio and maybe you don't remember who performed it but you just love it and hum along.

I could see it as the closing number of Release, that first line of "Why did I listen to that music, it's made me feel so sad" would have been funny.

As much as I love them, and as much as I adore that their bsides can be as solid as any album track, there's something shocking too when a track that screams SINGLE like this is relegated out of the album in favour of mediocrities like Email or The night I fell in love.

its all been said before but 100% baffling why this was a b-side. Certainly one of their best post-Very B-sides, if not the best. Would surely have got decent airplay

What have they said about its omission from Release? Was it considered too upbeat? Remember that in a democracy of two, only one of them needs to veto something.

Irrespective of whether I Didn't Get Where I Am Today should have been included on Release - it definitely would have been a smashing single.

Although I’ve grown to like "Between" a bit more over time, "I Didn't Get" is more commercial. After the "Home and Dry" teaser, that should have been the second single.
It’s one thing to have such high-quality songwriting that you relegate amazing tracks to B-sides because you have an embarrassment of riches—take "Shameless" during the *Very* era, for instance—but it’s something else entirely to leave "I Didn't Get" as a B-side during the *Release* era. It’s completely ridiculous.

its similar to Miserabilism - a great song that didn't quite fit the mood of the album at the time and was just rushed out on a greatest hits single b-side shortly after.

Not sure the album version fully captures the vibe they wanted for the song - the Obscure version done with Johnny Mart (to my ear) works more organically.

Lleonard Pler wrote: Sat 01 Aug 2026, 3:18 pm

daveid wrote: Sat 01 Aug 2026, 2:59 pm That wasn't going to happen. No one would buy it for a start plus it was released on Sony, I think.

Even a separated FL bonus disc in Nightlife or Release with all the demos of CTH would have been preferable than having them dominating the tracklists of two distinct releases. It's boring and makes me overlook Nightlife and Release FL altogether tbh.

Just to jump back to this for a minute, some of the songs weren't necessarily written with the musical in mind or would have started off as such but then repurposed (and v-v) and so it would be fairly pointless separating them out. I don't have a problem with the C2H stuff being on the FL discs, in fact it makes that whole era more interesting.

IDGWIAT - a decent b-side but overrated (taking cover from pethead projectiles)