Well said, especially your comment regarding Actually. Another 10 gone. I still remember how excited I was when during the Cubism tour Minimal segued into this: a masterstroke as not only did both songs feature a spelled chorus, but they also include musical interludes in the style of Peter Hook.
Pet Shop Boys Rate. Part 1: 1985-1991. Winner.
- Thread starter Ray
- Start date
Just pointing out this comment is by @Heaven on Earth, not me – the forum doesn't understand we're quoting a comment by someone else.
I never thought about this before, but it would indeed make a great opener.
Luckily I disagree. Maybe it's because I didn't know about the original intention of the music at the time this was released, but even after reading about it later on it never bothered me.
They/them, he/him
Sleep with one eye open tonight, hateful heathens.
I knew I could rely on Dame @idratherjack and ha exceptional taste, but I was so surprised by this sudden display of taste from @Farnaby
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to slay my buss to this perfection. Y'all did this so wrong.
They/them, he/him
Quite.
Finally, Was It Worth It? is out! It's not that I hate it (I still give it a 5), but coming after the sublime DJ Culture this was a major disappointment. The verses are okay, but I don't like the chorus at all - it sounds like a desperate attempt to get a hit. Also, with the odd exception most of my favourite PSB songs have a melancholy feel and the chorus is way too jolly. Having said that, I do like the bridge and the "I don't know why" coda very much.
I'm afraid it doesn't feel right to me, because It's Alright is just alright and should have been gone by now.
Leave the second best track on the album alone. Not when there's trash like "I Want a Dog" still in.
They/them, he/him
The original I Want A Dog is.... a choice. The Introspective version is MUCH better.
Wait. There's a potentially worse version out there than the one on Introspective? Yikes.
I love most of what SAW released and I guess that's why I really like Was It Worth It? (Why they thought it was a good idea to record a SAW inspired song as late as 1991 is a bit hard to understand though.)
Agree with this.
I do think the Introspective version of I Want A Dog is very overrated. And I quite like the original b-side (which has the added bonus of Chris listing different dogs).
41.
YES YES YES!!!!
no, it wasn’t!
Yes, but no!
41. Was It Worth It?
7.2472222222
18th single from the acclaimed Discography album
Highest score: 10 (@Mikey1701, @Farnaby, @VeryPSB, @idratherjack)
Lowest score: 2 (@Peer_Gynt10, @Auntie Beryl)
CH (Chris Heath): This was the first single sleeve not to feature a photograph of the group since the second release of "Opportunities". [The dolls] were made by a Japanese fan, Toshima Tada. Neil liked the way Chris's doll looks cross. 'We thought they were really fantastic... They seemed to capture something about us', said Neil. 'In Japan, the Pet Shop Boys are frequently given pictures of themselves', noted a newspaper interview in 1990. 'They are represented as little dolls with huge eyes. One had Lowe crying and being comforted by Tennant, another had them in a car holding steering wheels pointed in opposite directions. Mostly, though, they are shown kissing. "Very Japanese," says Tennant.'
Chris: I've got a good hat on there [video]. It's a Diddyman hat.
Neil: Actually, it was a woman's hat, from Kenzo.
Eric Watson: Again you get Chris doing nothing on one side of a piece of glass while everyone else is having a good time, but he was wearing that high orange hat so he didn't really need to do anything whatsoever.
Neil: I love the call-and-response in this song. It's real disco. It's a very gay song. Very gay positive. It's basically saying: if I had to do it all again, I wouldn't change a single thing. [...] I thought it would be a top five hit, but it was our first – and so far only [oh, Neil... – Ray] single not to reach the top twenty. I think we didn't spend enough time on the production. [...] When we were onstage in Spain in 2000 this Spanish boy gave us a version with a friend of his playing electric guitar and he sung it with a Spanish accent and it's so moving.
Chris: He sung it so well – much better than Neil's ever sung it.
Neil: So I started to do his version in concert. Actually, our new live version of it is a mixture of the original and his.
Chris: We've now realised it works much better as guitar and vocals. We might redo all of our fast songs as ballads.
Trivia 1: the 7" mix is missing from PopArt and Behaviour Further Listening becausethey're pratsNeil and Chris dislike it. (Neil: The seven-inch mix, which is on Discography, sounds a little bit cheesy now. This twelve-inch mix is great [...])
Trivia 2: unfortunately I can't find the source of this. But the video for "Was It Worth It?" nearly split the band. It was their last video to be directed by Eric Watson. Since I can't find the source, I don't have the exact quote, but Chris was furious about basically NOT being in the video. Indeed, when you watch it, there's Neil and all the shiny happy people having a great time, and every now and then a shot of Chris doing, well, nothing but wearing a hat. Mr Lowe felt for a long time that directors often didn't know what to make of "the one who doesn't sing", but this was the nearly final straw.
Ray: I was rather surprised at how jolly this was. But it proved to be perfect transition to the Very phase. Even Chris's hat was a perfect transition to the "Can You Forgive Her?" space oddity. Neil mentions the awful edit on the twelve-inch mix in the Further Listening booklet and OH BOY does that edit BOTHER ME. It's the sort of thing I never hear in anything until someone tells me but I heard that edit since first time I ever played it and I still haven't managed to unhear it. I'm not telling you where it is, because they you won't be able to unhear it either.
@One Stop Candy Shop: Yes, it was worth it.
@etienne: How many people will say YES YES YES!!!!? [Enough to give it average of 7.247 – not enough to get it into top 40]
@chris4862: This song gets a lot of hate, but I have always enjoyed it.
@Mikey1701: The Pet Shop Boys meets the Stock Aitken Waterman. How could I not stan for this? I get shades of Kylie’s What Kind Of Fool (Heard All That Before) and a healthy dose of Never Gonna Give You Up. Pop perfection. One of my Top 3 tracks from their entire discography (pun intended) that should have done much better than it did. I’m more than aware that I’m in the minority when I say that I stan for this and I’m likely to be ridiculed for doing so- but come at me, gerls. Do your worst… [Another defensive comment. There will be more, boys and girls, there will be more.]
@KingBruno: I love Brothers in Rhythm, but I can see why this flopped. [I think simply because it was already on Discography, not remixed for single release... and because they confused the fanbase by going from "we're grown ups now" to "YAAAS WE SLAAAYYY".]
@ohnoitisnathan: Good, but not spectacular.
@Sally_Harper: Love the verse but the chorus lets it down a bit.
@Peer_Gynt10: no, it wasn’t! [He's trying to like something, he really is.]
@TrendyMüller: Yes, but no! [That's helpful – Ray] This marks the point when they lost the plot and panic set in. For me this is the start of PSB MK2 (and they are not as good as MK1).
I agree that the acoustic version is sublime. Adore the hell out of it.
Video:
12" mix:
Useless dub:
Amazing live version: (I wonder if this Spanish fan ever saw a cent – not even his name is mentioned anywhere, so I suppose not)
Darling you're forcing me to unfurl the gifs again! I have important things to say about this song! I'll see you in court!
Oh GAWD why does this keep happening. (It keeps happening because my text file has comments in order of arrival and I am trying to randomise the order when posting. That is an amazing GIF though and I'm now going to skip your commentary every time.)
@DominoDancing: To this day I don't understand why this is so coldly received by parts of the fan base. It's an absolute banger, euphoric and life-affirming in a way that few other PSB song are, without becoming too slight lyrically.
@DominoDancing: To this day I don't understand why this is so coldly received by parts of the fan base. It's an absolute banger, euphoric and life-affirming in a way that few other PSB song are, without becoming too slight lyrically.