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Real Life Vs. The Pet Shop Boys

Posted: Sun 03 Sep 2006, 11:52 pm
by VinnyM27
Ok, it's a very unfair comparison, but I just wanted to bring up this up. A few years back, on their offical site where they answered questions, people kept asking Neil about the song 'Send Me An Angel", which people (including myself for years) thought was a Pet Shop Boys song. In fact, it really doesn't sound like PSB, just on the chorus the guy kind of sounds like Neil. Neil said he never heard the song. I remember reading somewhere (maybe by a person who asked Neil) that it was a rip off Pet Shop Boys...however, the original was released in 1983. The remix, which is basically the same song just with another layer of keyboards, was released in 1989, but isn't all that different. Did anyone else hear this song and think that Real Life was ripping off the Pet Shop Boys....does anybody hear know very much about the band?

Posted: Mon 04 Sep 2006, 12:34 am
by retrofuturist
I think Real Life are still going... I bought the "State of Synthpop 2005" compilation from A Different Drum - http://www.adifferentdrum.com/ - and Real Life had a song on it.

As far as I can tell, there was no "ripping off" of anyone... it was the halycon days of synthpop... it's to be expected that some artists might have a passing resemblance to others.

Retro. :)

Posted: Mon 04 Sep 2006, 2:14 am
by Being boring
I've seen 'Send me an angel' labelled as a PSB song, personally the only resemblance I see is what you say... the vocal on the chorus sounds a little like Mr. Tennant.

Anyway, enough from me for one night. I'm off to watch Most Haunted. :P

Posted: Mon 04 Sep 2006, 3:31 am
by Tony Cologne
Well having grown up in Australia, I know for a fact I heard Send Me an Angel long before I ever heard West End Girls.

Posted: Mon 04 Sep 2006, 2:07 pm
by Paulo
Yeah, it was a big hit here in 1983.

They had another semi-hit called "Catch me I'm Falling"

Posted: Mon 04 Sep 2006, 3:37 pm
by Synature
"Send Me An Angel" confused with PSB :shock:
The lyrics seem way too cheesy for PSB. It also seems obvious that
it's a man pleading for a woman which doesn't fit them.
A friend of mine always said that if she ever pole danced (strip tease)
she wanted "Send Me An Angel" playing during her show. I had never
thought of the song that way but it really does seem perfect for that
type of activity.
Never really cared for "SMAA" but I loved "Always". I remember buying
"Down Comes The Hammer" when it was released. Fantastic album!
The '89 release for "SMAA" was the one that really made the song
popular in the US. So of course "God Tonight" received attention a
year later. Located a decent site for Real Life (not much out there):

http://users.bigpond.net.au/peter.j/welcome.htm

Posted: Mon 04 Sep 2006, 4:58 pm
by raggatwin
He sounds far more like Marc Almond to me.

Posted: Mon 04 Sep 2006, 5:47 pm
by Ewok
Send me an angel was released in 1983, long before PSB had their first hit. It doesn't sound like PSB either.

Re: Real Life Vs. The Pet Shop Boys

Posted: Mon 04 Sep 2006, 8:22 pm
by Pet Shop Girl
VinnyM27 wrote:Ok, it's a very unfair comparison, but I just wanted to bring up this up. A few years back, on their offical site where they answered questions, people kept asking Neil about the song 'Send Me An Angel", which people (including myself for years) thought was a Pet Shop Boys song. In fact, it really doesn't sound like PSB, just on the chorus the guy kind of sounds like Neil. Neil said he never heard the song. I remember reading somewhere (maybe by a person who asked Neil) that it was a rip off Pet Shop Boys...however, the original was released in 1983. The remix, which is basically the same song just with another layer of keyboards, was released in 1989, but isn't all that different. Did anyone else hear this song and think that Real Life was ripping off the Pet Shop Boys....does anybody hear know very much about the band?
I do remember at the time that song came out, I kind of thought it was the boys at first, but after seeing the video for it, then I clearly saw it was a different band. If you hear any of 'Real Life's cds then you can notice a difference with the vocals.

Posted: Tue 05 Sep 2006, 6:20 am
by joeythecat
Yeah I thought that Send Me An Angel' '89 may have had PSB on it,to anyone who does not remember, this was the time of Getting Away With It, Losing my Mind, and I'm Not Scared as well as the disty stuff. If you listen to the chorus it isn't much of a stretch. Yeah, it is a bit cheezy but not much more than some of the lyrics on Please. I bought the 12". In retrospect, it does sound a lot like Marc Almond.

Posted: Tue 05 Sep 2006, 2:40 pm
by NorthernLad
Real Life is great.... "Send Me an Angel", "Catch Me I'm Falling", "Always", "Babies", "God Tonight".... some great synth-pop stuff with a darker edge.

They don't really sound anything like PSB to me


---
www.BluespaceRadio.com
New Wave and beyond... music without boundaries.

Posted: Tue 05 Sep 2006, 2:51 pm
by RaciePSB
I lost my virginity to that song. September the 4th, 1983. Just thought I'd share. :D

Posted: Tue 05 Sep 2006, 5:34 pm
by Rent
I do like the song "Send me an angel", but can't see much similarity with PSB or sounding like Neil :?

Posted: Tue 05 Sep 2006, 10:59 pm
by Pet Shop Girl
Rent wrote:I do like the song "Send me an angel", but can't see much similarity with PSB or sounding like Neil :?
Only at first I got kind of confused but then I saw the original video for it around that time of '89 and could clearly see it was not PSB. I do agree with you, it does not really sound like them at all.

Posted: Thu 07 Sep 2006, 8:56 am
by joeythecat
RaciePSB wrote:I lost my virginity to that song. September the 4th, 1983. Just thought I'd share. :D
Now that is totally 80's.