Pet Shop Boys Community

Somebody requested a topic of "missteps". So here it is. Feel free to fill in on the list. I start with:

1. Releasing Introspective too early instead of riding on the wave of Actually.
2. Not releasing King's Cross as a single
3. Only touring Asia and S-America after Very
4. Confusing themselves with Nightlife and Closer To Heaven
5. Not making Release a proper "acoustic" album and by putting some duff tracks on it
6. Not releasing A Man From The Future
7. Liberation remixes
8.
9.
10.

Burn Baba Stiltz remix

Absolutely Fabulous. I get it was part of the whole reinvention around Very but it was so out of character at the time that they became a very different group afterwards. Arguably that's helped give them longevity, allowing Neil to recount his Domino Dancing story night after night, but in another way it lessened them.

Not many in my book:
- Wedding in Berlin
- Hot for you baby (Pet shop boys mix)
- Ego Music
- Having Chrissie Hynde open for the Turing concert
- Muzik (love C2H btw)
- releasing limited editions exclusively via their webshop (too expensive) rather than through local retailer

Nothing wrong with Absolutely fabulous as a charity single
I don't like every song but only very few I would call a misstep.

Wayne's list is interesting!

10 things the Pet Shop Boys did to commit career suicide in the U.S.
http://www.geowayne.com/newDesign/lists/suicide.htm

For me it is lead single choices:

Integral should have led Fundamental (which should have also included We are all criminals now)
I did not get where I am today should have led Release

If the above decisions had been made they would both be part of Dreamworld now.....

On the Introspective theme, I think Domino Dancing should have been released sooner in the year which would have made it a HUGE summer smash.

"Up Against It" should have been a single - was it a mis-step not to though?

Some have been said already:
- Domino dancing gay video (Though I absolutely love it)
- Chrissie Hynde collab.
- Record store day releases.
- Hot for you baby (Pet shop boys mix)
- Releasing Nonetheless one week after Taylor Swift new album.
- Super Japanese not having extra tracks.
- Hymn release.

Not fully promoting Bilingual, after the success of Very.

-Co-mingling Closer to Heaven and Nightlife; in particular including In denial on the album
-The decision to make 3 successive albums with Stuart Price
-Not releasing MCMLXXXIX in its entirety

Honorable mention:
-Spaghetti Records
-Cicero
-Disco 2

Xakrij wrote: Thu 02 Oct 2025, 7:34 pm -Co-mingling Closer to Heaven and Nightlife; in particular including In denial on the album
-The decision to make 3 successive albums with Stuart Price
-Not releasing MCMLXXXIX in its entirety

Honorable mention:
-Spaghetti Records
-Cicero
-Disco 2

I think your honorable mentions are completely valid.

I disagree about the Stuart Price trilogy. It was a moment of reinvigoration for them - Hotspot might have pushed out the boat a bit too far, but Electric and Super needed to happen to get them where they are today in my humblest of opinions.

Without Hotspot there is no Only The Dark and Hoping for a Miracle both outstanding songs of me. I agree Stuart Price key to this new energy!!

I don"t think there are any mistakes. Otherwise they wouldn't be where they are today.

Just kidding.

For Your Own Good - as single with lots of great club mixes. They had a good thing going with New York city boy which was a club hit. Everywhere I went, dance parties and raves the crowd was full of praise for Psb, they were gods among everyone into electronic dance music. Just when they were about to explode they turned to the Release direction and went soft.

Astonished that no one has mentioned the release of Winner, surely their worst song, to launch Elysium - particularly as it came off the back of Yes, an album that put them back in the public consciousness for the first time in years. I don't know if I'd say it was a misstep, because they've always done what they wanted to do, but it was a terrible idea.

At a pinch maybe I'd add the single choices from Hotspot, which made the album seem far less interesting and exciting than it was.

Funnily enough I was listening to Miserablism earlier and thought they missed a trick not having it on Behaviour and releasing as a single.