Pet Shop Boys Community

pulse wrote: Fundamental (or it's sales, or lack thereof) didn't have anything to do with Xenomania producing the follow-up. For me, it's horribly boring and uninspired - a bad album, in my opinion.

Going on about sales again

For the record, Fundamental sold 12 times the amount of LATEOTW in the U.K alone. So it did pretty well and like we have established already and Patrick correctly pointed out, it funded the Xenomania collaboration.

Fundamental was a return to form for many. Obviously a few weren't keen, you always get that but it was still a fantatic album that was brilliantly produced.

Undertaker wrote:

pulse wrote: Fundamental (or it's sales, or lack thereof) didn't have anything to do with Xenomania producing the follow-up. For me, it's horribly boring and uninspired - a bad album, in my opinion.

Going on about sales again

For the record, Fundamental sold 12 times the amount of LATEOTW in the U.K alone. So it did pretty well and like we have established already and Patrick correctly pointed out, it funded the Xenomania collaboration.

Fundamental was a return to form for many. Obviously a few weren't keen, you always get that but it was still a fantatic album that was brilliantly produced.

I wasn't going on about sales. I was responding to someone who assumed that it was due to sales. Get your story straight, monsieur.

Secondly, why would you point out a comparison of those two albums? No one is comparing LATEOTW to Fundamental. See how you operate?

Thirdly, 12 times almost nothing is pretty much still almost nothing.

Fundamental didn't bring about Xenomania. Speaking of sales, do you think PSB will sell the same units as fellow Xeno-product Girls Aloud? Don't forget, the brunt of production costs comes from studio rental, not producer.

[quote="patrick Fundamental quite clearly was considered a "good album that ... warranted further investment in the band in any promotional/production" arena as proven by the budget (and critical acclaim) supporting a Xenomania production and a promotional backing Erasure could only dream of. It's not really open to debate no matter where you fall in the PSB vs Erasure spectrum.[/quote]

A statement that puts all this talk of sales, budgets etc, to bed. Great post, Patrick.

Pulse. Stop being so anti Pet Shop Boys. If you were told white was white, you'd argue it was black. Erasure are the forgotten men of pop, whereas Pet Shop Boys are being heralded as the Gods and Founders of this type of Pop.

For the sake of anyone that wants to know ;- Heard today that Erasures Deluxe Edition has sold 398 copies. Failing to get into the top 200.

Pop40 will have sold in the region of 18,000 copies in three weeks, come the end of this week.

Undertaker wrote:For the sake of anyone that wants to know ;- Heard today that Erasures Deluxe Edition has sold 398 copies. Failing to get into the top 200.

Pop40 will have sold in the region of 18,000 copies in three weeks, come the end of this week.

Interesting facts and figures there. Least we know one thing. Erasures attempt to cash in on PSB's success failed miserably!!

skyhigh wrote:Pulse. Stop being so anti Pet Shop Boys. If you were told white was white, you'd argue it was black. Erasure are the forgotten men of pop, whereas Pet Shop Boys are being heralded as the Gods and Founders of this type of Pop.

"The Gods And Founders Of This Type Of Pop."



You've made PSB fandom proud once again, Skyhigh.

pulse wrote:Fundamental (or it's sales, or lack thereof) didn't have anything to do with Xenomania producing the follow-up.

Of course it did. If Fundamental had been a financial and critical disaster, the money and goodwill to work with the top producers in the country simply wouldn't be there. It's one thing to dislike the album - fair enough, everyone entitled to their own taste - but to pretend it wasn't a significant cog in the machine that is their career is just stupid.

Undertaker wrote:For the sake of anyone that wants to know ;- Heard today that Erasures Deluxe Edition has sold 398 copies. Failing to get into the top 200.

Oh dear oh dear

I wonder if there's space among the Viennese whirls and custard slices on Andy's market stall to flog the unsold copies? Maybed he could give them away free with Hovis loaves?

pulse wrote:

skyhigh wrote:Pulse. Stop being so anti Pet Shop Boys. If you were told white was white, you'd argue it was black. Erasure are the forgotten men of pop, whereas Pet Shop Boys are being heralded as the Gods and Founders of this type of Pop.

"The Gods And Founders Of This Type Of Pop."



You've made PSB fandom proud once again, Skyhigh.

Not me that's saying it, have you missed a shed load of press lately!

If Fundamental was so rubbish, how come PSB got offered a new contract?

DJ_Couture wrote:It's hardly going to put me off for life, but it's not exactly inspiring me to put an Erasure CD on either.

It must also be hurting Andy and Vince...Imagine that they are always reading some rabid Erasure fans trying to prove that Erasure are better than PSB and always come up with empty hands; even these bitter disllusioned feelings are finding their way into Andy's interviews (the one in the Sun anyone?)

Add on top to this the fact that outside that fandom nobody gives a damn who they are or what they do while their (according to that fandom) archrivals are selling more than A&V, receiving showers of praise from media "darlings", are invited to headline some big organizations (live aid anyone?), are showered with awards etc etc, are working with high profile names in the industry etc etc

If I was inside that fandom, I would be more respectful towards Andy and Vince if they really loved these guys...what do you expect them? to fly around the world? They have done and tried to give you the best but their capacity is limited so why are you hurting their feelings by always trying that they are better than this or that?

pulse wrote: Fundamental (or it's sales, or lack thereof) didn't have anything to do with Xenomania producing the follow-up. For me, it's horribly boring and uninspired - a bad album, in my opinion.

You should have emphasized "in my opinion" part and as far as what I have read of your posts shows, your opinions are products of resentful and bitter old "Erasure" fan so they do not deserve so many credits

A few geat contributions above.

Firstly, the release of Pop40 (and it's sales, or lack thereof) definatly bombed big time. Probably much more than Mute expected. Of course it was released because of PSB's deserved accolade. That's a no brainer. Skyhigh said

skyhigh wrote:they were trying to cash in on PSB's success but failed miserably

I totally agreed with that but then thought that maybe that's only half true. They definatly tried cashing in (it was a great opportunity, i suppose) but maybe they were successful in a way. If this Pop40 was released later in the year, it might not have made the top 75, they are struggling that much.

This isn't a dig but it's obvious Erasure are in a rut and it seems they can't get out of it. Apart from the die hards who cherish everything they do (nothing really wrong with that) most of their stuff gets worse with every release. Sales figures amongst the fanbase prove this. They have dwindled to a slow trickle and while these albums continue to perform poorly, their budget will obviously stay low (you just need to look at DM to see that success breeds success) and due to poor chart positions, no one realises they are still out there.

It's ok coming on here and ranting and raving about sales and charts don't matter. The thing is, they do matter. Otherwise you are sent into oblivion pretty quickly. Only Erasure loyal fanbase has kept their heads above water but even they are dissapearing fast (see the dreadful performance of Pop Deluxe)

I also don't buy this crap about people saying charts and sales don't matter. It would be a bigger banker than Kauto Star to suggest that if Erasure had another top ten album or single, they would obsess over it like flies around shit and why not?

Finally, you only need to look at Andy Bell's desperation for a bit of success. In a way, you have to feel for the guy because he's doing everything on his own, where it seems Vince couldn't care less. Vince is a family man, living thousands of miles away afterall, with a career that matches most, whereas Bell is just a singer, like thousands of other people. Bell is saying all the wrong things in the press, desperatly trying to get some sort of publicity and there is nothing wrong with that but he needs some help. Either they need a much better manager (but they have no budget) or he needs to get a grip and stop saying stupid things because he's coming across as jealous and bitter and i'm sure he's not that kind of person. He didn't seeem it anyway, when on t.v recently.

Erasure desperatly need a slice of luck from somewhere. They wont do reality t.v, so they probably need someone massive to cover one of their songs, probably for charity. Or a huge injection of cash from Mute to help them promote and also produce something worthwhile. Xenomania, maybe? However, can they afford that sort of gamble? It would be like playing Russian Roulette with both barrells loaded.

I know there is a lot of piss taking on here and i can only speak for myself but i do hope they can produce something like Wild! again.

I'd like them to do a concept album about bread.