Pet Shop Boys Community

Pani wrote: How Can You Expect To Be
Taken Seriously...

This was a single. Double A side with where the streets?

The survivors
Shameless
That's My Impression

I didn't get where i am today...A classic. Do you think that when the boys and EMI are choosing singles they actually ask the fans? It might be an idea where perhaps 50 or 100 fans are invited to listen to new tracks to give their opinions - too dangerous to give us cd's!!

Please forgive me if this alreday happens.

I didn´t get where I am today
Sexy Northener
Lies
Some Speculation
I want a lover
We´re the Pet Shop Boys
Saturday Night Forever
Birthday Boy

I love "birthday boy", but I just can't see it being a single.

"I didn't get where I am today", however, would have made a GREAT single, both in 2003 or 1966. It would have been a great follow up to "last train to clarksville"

In my opinion, the boys (or Parlophone) pretty much picked the right singles up to and including "Behaviour". From the third single off Very things starting going very wrong.

"One in a million" would have been massive, Take That or not. It had the right sound for the time and an instantly catchy melody. It's the biggest hit they never released. "Shameless" obviously would have been a great single too, although a sequence of "Go West", "One in a Million", and "Shameless" probably would have been a bit too camp.

On "Bilingual", things went from bad to worse, as they managed to get pretty much all the singles wrong (with the dreadful "Se a vida É" the only possible exception - in spite of its awfulness). The "Bilingual"-era spawned four songs that could have been singles (and three of them weren't even on the album!): "Hit and Miss" and "It always comes as a surprise" would both have had great potential appeal to audiences not usually PSB-friendly. "Delusions of Grandeur" is a much better stomper than A red letter day. And if they wanted to go with something a bit odd, "The Truck Driver and his mate" is certainly a lot more fun than and a lot more catchy than "Before" and "Single".

On "Nightlife", "Happiness is an option" was really the only chance of big hit, but still I think a remixed version of "Closer to Heaven" would have been a great choice.

"Release" was obviously not exactly packed with single-material. The only potential hit of the era was "I didn't get where I am today" which in keeping with recent PSB-tradition was buried on a B-side.

"For me there are only two songs wich haven't been singles that I think it could have had success: King's Cross and Shameless. Maybe One More Chance could have done something good. I don't know if One More Chance was going to be single from Actually, there is a version called One More Chance (7 inch mix). "

Yes I agree these two songs are great. Shameless would be a good single. King's Cross is a beautiful song but it's best left a secret.

As for Bilingual the singles should have been

Discoteca (they did a single mix but it wasn't released at the time)
Se a Vida E (camp but fairly anthemic)
The Survivors
Red Letter Day

The boys have stated they made the wrong choices and that The Surviors is the song Neil most regrets not releasing as a single.

They also state they should have ditched Metamorphosis and Electricity as the album is too long.

A Powerful Friend ... if this becomes a B-Side then I'm worried!

daveid wrote:"As for Bilingual the singles should have been

Discoteca (they did a single mix but it wasn't released at the time)

Didnt they do a single mix for the Single/Discoteca release then?

The album mix of Discoteca is 4.47, whereas the New Version on the single is 3.48.

Indeed, there is "Single Version" of 5.14 that was released on the FL CD, in my view maybe a tad too long for a single mix.

I think it was completely criminal that they didnt release Positive Role Model

Shameless.

From Please – Two devided by zero
Actually – Kings Cross
Very – Young Offender
Release – Samurai in Autumn, Here
Disco 3 – Somebody Else…
Relentless – Forever In Love
Introspective – I am not scared (Neil sings)
Nightlife – Radiophonic, Closer to heaven, For you own good
Bilingual – To step aside, Up against it, Metamorphosis

They had to forget about: I get along, Jealousy, It’s Alright, Heart, So Hard, Liberation, Before, Se A Vide e, A Red Letter Day, Single, I Don’t Know…New York city boy

Theyweregonna release Kings Cross for charity but then decidedaginst it.

Is this true?????????????????????????????????????

Theyweregonna release Kings Cross for charity but then decidedaginst it

I think you are right - I think the problem was the bit in "It couldn't happen here" when kings cross is playing and there was a man on fire. There was something in the press about the pet shop boys prophecy becoming true or something like that. I love that song and i remember it souned great when i saw them on the 89 tour.

"Didnt they do a single mix for the Single/Discoteca release then?

The album mix of Discoteca is 4.47, whereas the New Version on the single is 3.48.

Indeed, there is "Single Version" of 5.14 that was released on the FL CD, in my view maybe a tad too long for a single mix."

Yeah, there are three versions:

Album version

Single version (from FL, a remix of above but starting off with the "one day we'll be free" bit - they performed it like this on the Nightlife tour)

New version - much faster and a bit frantic "understand the man" etc etc.

i probably would wrote:

Theyweregonna release Kings Cross for charity but then decidedaginst it

I think you are right - I think the problem was the bit in "It couldn't happen here" when kings cross is playing and there was a man on fire. There was something in the press about the pet shop boys prophecy becoming true or something like that. I love that song and i remember it souned great when i saw them on the 89 tour.

I always remember it being that the Sun Newspaper (or some tabloid) wanted them to release Kings Cross in the aftermath of the Kings Cross fire. I don't think that it was ever a serious thought from the boys themselves.

And to get back on topic,

One More Chance (although really, I can't complain about the Actually singles choices)
Dreaming Of The Queen
Here