They/them, he/him
I’m so sorry to hear that, sis!
Pet Shop Boys Rate. Part 1: 1985-1991. Winner.
- Thread starter Ray
- Start date
I’m so sorry to hear that, sis!
Really sorry to hear @slurmjunkie, sending hugs if wanted!
38.
38. I Want A Lover
7.4111111111
Part one of a two-way tie, Please album track
Highest score: 10 (@Sally_Harper, @GhettoPrincess)
Lowest score: 3 (@Peer_Gynt10)
Neil: We wrote this at a Ray Roberts studio one night in 1983. Ray Roberts had a bass guitar which I played. This is us doing gay disco – the words are completely about going to a club and picking up someone. When we first started together Chris was very keen that we should write sleazy songs – it had never occurred to me before. [I don't know if this is sleazy when Soft Cell exist – Ray] It's about standing at a corner of a nightclub and everyone's leaving and you've seen someone you fancy, and who's going to make the first approach? It emphasises the transitory nature of it – it was totally a pre-Aids song. It was recorded with Blue Weaver who we'd met when we did the first single version of 'Opportunities'.
Chris: Blue Weaver always understood disco.
Neil: He played at the White House with the Bee Gees for President Carter – how much more disco than that can you get? There's real guitar on it. [...] There is a sample of Chris playing the trombone. Chris brought his trombone into the studio. He wasn't very keen on doing it.
Chris: Blue Weaver insisted. I learned the trombone when I was about ten. My grandfather played the trombone.
Neil: It's got my favourite line: 'driving through the night, it's so exciting' followed by a car crash. [I gather it went really went with the aforementioned lover – Ray]
Chris: It's all about turning off the lights and it all getting a bit steamy. Our records aren't sexy enough now. It's all bloody politics and the intricacies of Russian history. No one wants to hear about that, do they?
Neil: *cries for two hours* [This may have not happened – Ray]
Ray: I overscored this and underscored the other song in the tie. But I like the urgency in this. It's this that I miss in recent records. 'Vocal' has this urgency. Chris has a point. It's easier to relate to a song about wanting a lover than one about Russian history. Although I suppose Russians are thrilled (? – I would be super unimpressed with songs about Polish history). It's very... album track-y.
The shock: those two love it.
@GhettoPrincess: BOP!
@Sally_Harper: TUNE. Especially coming after Violence, what a relief! I love how frantic the instrumental is, it’s a great contrast to Neil’s vocals sounding quite detached and matter-of-fact about the whole thing.
I on the other hand continue loving @Heaven on Earth's commentaries:
@Heaven on Earth: Love and sex are two of the most powerful desires, and it is human nature to crave them. The two aren’t necessarily exclusive to each other, and it is this ambiguity that is brilliant expressed here. In lyrics, especially the verses, that remind me of David Lean’s little epic, 1945’s Brief Encounter, in which a housewife and a married doctor have an emotional affair that nearly becomes physical infidelity, the narrator needs a similar connection like the two doomed lovers of the movie. But is it love or is it sex he wants? The distinction between the two has always been crystal clear and always been blurred, especially ever since the rise of Christianity, but in the recent past, with the barriers of puritanism breaking down, the consequences of mankind’s past has made human relations complex. Even though the two lovers of Brief Encounter don’t consummate their love, it’s more than possible that the narrator here doesn’t consummate his sexual affair into love. The thirst for an emotionally satisfactory relationship is part of our psychological mindset, whether it’s with another person or a love for a pet or love for nature, whether it’s just temporary pleasure or an everlasting turmoil, and despite its ambiguity, “I Want a Lover” expresses that with such delicacy. Pet Shop Boys is that rare artist that knows and makes music for human nature.
Trendy agrees with me:
@TrendyMüller: This is really a typical album track and the production is a bit clunky. My favourite part is „driving through the night is so exciting“. Sadly the rest of the song isn´t.
@Mikey1701: One of my favourites from the parent album. The frenetic, urgent production and a killer chorus. I stan. Who hasn’t gone out and gotten so thirsty that they will settle for somebody whose had a few drinks? Neil and Chris foreshadowed the vast majority of my twenties by twenty years. Relatable queens! [Car crashes? Also I never did it, which is why I remain a virgin. No, I just never stayed until the end, because I like my beauty sleep. Ain't nobody got time for that.]
@One Stop Candy Shop: Meh song. Three years later Texas didn't want a lover, but at least that song was better.
People who get turned on by PSB:
@DominoDancing: I like how unabashedly sexual this song is, and it IS quite catchy. It's also a a pretty basic bop, and I'm failing to come up with much to say about it. Bonus half point for Chris' trombone part.
@Bleu Noir: horny PSBs 6! but by the numbers [I think this song sort of is about... increasing the numbers]
'Live' 'performance' in 'Spain':
Bobby 'O' demo:
An absolutely godawful cover:
Three years later Texas didn't want a lover, but at least that song was better.
38. I Want A Lover
7.4111111111
Part one of a two-way tie, Please album track
Highest score: 10 (@Sally_Harper, @GhettoPrincess)
Lowest score: 3 (@Peer_Gynt10)
Neil: We wrote this at a Ray Roberts studio one night in 1983. Ray Roberts had a bass guitar which I played. This is us doing gay disco – the words are completely about going to a club and picking up someone. When we first started together Chris was very keen that we should write sleazy songs – it had never occurred to me before. [I don't know if this is sleazy when Soft Cell exist – Ray] It's about standing at a corner of a nightclub and everyone's leaving and you've seen someone you fancy, and who's going to make the first approach? It emphasises the transitory nature of it – it was totally a pre-Aids song. It was recorded with Blue Weaver who we'd met when we did the first single version of 'Opportunities'.
Chris: Blue Weaver always understood disco.
Neil: He played at the White House with the Bee Gees for President Carter – how much more disco than that can you get? There's real guitar on it. [...] There is a sample of Chris playing the trombone. Chris brought his trombone into the studio. He wasn't very keen on doing it.
Chris: Blue Weaver insisted. I learned the trombone when I was about ten. My grandfather played the trombone.
Neil: It's got my favourite line: 'driving through the night, it's so exciting' followed by a car crash. [I gather it went really went with the aforementioned lover – Ray]
Chris: It's all about turning off the lights and it all getting a bit steamy. Our records aren't sexy enough now. It's all bloody politics and the intricacies of Russian history. No one wants to hear about that, do they?
Neil: *cries for two hours* [This may have not happened – Ray]
Ray: I overscored this and underscored the other song in the tie. But I like the urgency in this. It's this that I miss in recent records. 'Vocal' has this urgency. Chris has a point. It's easier to relate to a song about wanting a lover than one about Russian history. Although I suppose Russians are thrilled (? – I would be super unimpressed with songs about Polish history). It's very... album track-y.
The shock: those two love it.
@GhettoPrincess: BOP!
@Sally_Harper: TUNE. Especially coming after Violence, what a relief! I love how frantic the instrumental is, it’s a great contrast to Neil’s vocals sounding quite detached and matter-of-fact about the whole thing.
I on the other hand continue loving @Heaven on Earth's commentaries:
@Heaven on Earth: Love and sex are two of the most powerful desires, and it is human nature to crave them. The two aren’t necessarily exclusive to each other, and it is this ambiguity that is brilliant expressed here. In lyrics, especially the verses, that remind me of David Lean’s little epic, 1945’s Brief Encounter, in which a housewife and a married doctor have an emotional affair that nearly becomes physical infidelity, the narrator needs a similar connection like the two doomed lovers of the movie. But is it love or is it sex he wants? The distinction between the two has always been crystal clear and always been blurred, especially ever since the rise of Christianity, but in the recent past, with the barriers of puritanism breaking down, the consequences of mankind’s past has made human relations complex. Even though the two lovers of Brief Encounter don’t consummate their love, it’s more than possible that the narrator here doesn’t consummate his sexual affair into love. The thirst for an emotionally satisfactory relationship is part of our psychological mindset, whether it’s with another person or a love for a pet or love for nature, whether it’s just temporary pleasure or an everlasting turmoil, and despite its ambiguity, “I Want a Lover” expresses that with such delicacy. Pet Shop Boys is that rare artist that knows and makes music for human nature.
Trendy agrees with me:
@TrendyMüller: This is really a typical album track and the production is a bit clunky. My favourite part is „driving through the night is so exciting“. Sadly the rest of the song isn´t.
@Mikey1701: One of my favourites from the parent album. The frenetic, urgent production and a killer chorus. I stan. Who hasn’t gone out and gotten so thirsty that they will settle for somebody whose had a few drinks? Neil and Chris foreshadowed the vast majority of my twenties by twenty years. Relatable queens! [Car crashes? Also I never did it, which is why I remain a virgin. No, I just never stayed until the end, because I like my beauty sleep. Ain't nobody got time for that.]
@One Stop Candy Shop: Meh song. Three years later Texas didn't want a lover, but at least that song was better.
People who get turned on by PSB:
@DominoDancing: I like how unabashedly sexual this song is, and it IS quite catchy. It's also a a pretty basic bop, and I'm failing to come up with much to say about it. Bonus half point for Chris' trombone part.
@Bleu Noir: horny PSBs 6! but by the numbers [I think this song sort of is about... increasing the numbers]
'Live' 'performance' in 'Spain':
Bobby 'O' demo:
An absolutely godawful cover:
The trombone nearly kills it for me. Oompah just doesn´t equal sexy!
I Want A Lover is dangerously close to Schlager...and Neil animating the audience to clap along in that linked "live performance" proves it.
I Want A Lover is dangerously close to Schlager...and Neil animating the audience to clap along in that linked "live performance" proves it.
Nah come on, a trombone part does not turn this into Schlager. It's much too gay, sleazy and minor key for that. Neil asks the audience to clap along for nearly everything - by that definition Always On My Mind is also Schlager.
Well, yes.
For me it´s not only the trombone, but also the way the theme is handled and the way it breaks into the chorus. And Always On My Mind could very well get the Schlager treatment. Just round the edges a bit and use the standard sound-template that they use since 1985 and you´re bound for Schlager Nirvana.
I see you´re from Düsseldorf...can Schlager be too gay???
Hehe I see how that seems paradoxical. I guess what I meant was that it seems darker than what I would associate with Schlager and the German gay scene - at least from my experience. Er gehört zu mir it is not.
So I go away for the weekend and two of my all time favourites have been booted out. We All Feel Better In The Dark is 10/10, one of their very best B-sides. I always thought the "you get down, you get down" sample was Loleatta Holloway from Ride On Time? I like to believe it is anyway.
I knew Was It Worth It wasn't long for this rate but it was nice to see it not get the kicking I thought it was going to, I was always under the impression 99% of their fans hate it. I'm glad it outlasted dreary old DJ Culture anyway. For me it's Top 5 PSB and their most euphoric moment. The "what? where? how? who?" call and response part is one of my favourite moments in the history of recorded music.
I knew Was It Worth It wasn't long for this rate but it was nice to see it not get the kicking I thought it was going to, I was always under the impression 99% of their fans hate it. I'm glad it outlasted dreary old DJ Culture anyway. For me it's Top 5 PSB and their most euphoric moment. The "what? where? how? who?" call and response part is one of my favourite moments in the history of recorded music.
I Want A Lover is probably 3rd-tier PSB, which is still better than most acts' top tier.
YES! You´re absolutely correct! It´s from Love Sensation (the one they plundered for Ride On Time)...how did I not hear this before?!
It´s exactly at 02:17 in the acapella (although I urge you to listen to the whole thing because it´s absolutely amazing!)
I Want A Lover is great. I love that much of Please is all about the thrill of the big city at night and all that it has to offer. The songs and production are still almost italo disco in nature - you can imagine The Flirts or Divine singing this which is no bad thing in my book.
Glad to be of assistance! Ride On Time is my #1 record of all time so I had always heard the Love Sensation sample in We All Feel Better In The Dark. It's a big part of why I love it so much!
This is a performance.
Ugh, I can't bear the wait for the next elimination. Eight 10s? I don't want my 10s to leave yet...it's too early.
I wrote it in one of the rate comments, that some of their early demos/songs with Bobby O. would actually be better if Divine did them! That´s My Impression, A Man Could Get Arrested...just imagine how Divine would stomp all over them! AMAZING!
Now I really want to hear Divine shouting and growling all over A Man Could Get Arrested! That would have been incredible!
In The Night would also be...divine: Just imagine her doing the "Thin line between love and crime...and COLLABORATION!"-part. I´m wetting myself...
37.
The second part of the tie. Obviously, I kept it for November 1 on purpose...
37. My October Symphony
7.4111111111
Russian post-revolution anthem available on the album Поведение: Pet Shop Boys в России
Highest score: 10 (@Farnaby, @RaggedTiger, @VeryPSB, @Jóga, @Future Lover, @JonBcn, @Eric Generic, @TrendyMüller)
Lowest score: 3 (@ohnoitisnathan)
It looks like this should have a much higher average, right? Surprisingly many of you gave this 4s and 5s.
Neil: My favourite song on the album. The beginning, where they're shouting 'October' in Russian [how disappointing – Ray] is also taken from Shostakovitch's Second Symphony.
Chris: It's very rave-y. House piano.
Neil: This we wrote when we went to Glasgow at the end of last year [1989 – Ray] when we wrote "Being Boring". Chris wrote the music. It features Johnny Marr on rhythm guitar. I played guitar on the demo.
Chris: This is the track on the album I like most. It sounds the most different from anything on Actually. There's all the different musical styles. It's got the sort of James Brown drums, then it's got the Balenescu String Quartet from our tour...
Neil: We asked Alexander Balenescu to write vaguely in the style of Shostakovitch. The song itself is about the changes in Russia, but it's quite obscure because it's a bit dreary writing songs about perestroika. It was the idea that the Russian Revolution was obviously the seminal event in Soviet Russia and eventually it's being called into question. Since it happened all artists and painters and musicians in Russia have been called upon to produce paintings or symphonies or whatever to celebrate the myth of the October Revolution. In the song you've got some Soviet musician...
Chris: He's basically had to scrap his October symphony.
Neil: He's written this symphony but at the same time he's pleased, and he's thinking how to salvage it. In the chorus he asks whether he should rewrite it or change the dedication 'from revolution to revelation'. So it's really about the end of the myth of the Russian revolution. The trigger of this song was reading about Shostakovitch – for some reason that made me think what it would be like to see these changes from the inside. Because the person singing this song is a communist, or has been one. He's someone who's compromised himself to survive. Originally it had more words – the lines were longer – and I thought it sounded naff. I also tried to do a rap. [...] We had a copy of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On in the studio – we always have a point in the album where we say, 'Let's make it like Marvin Gaye'.
Ray: My attempts not to overscore led me to giving this 6.5 and creating the tie. Now that I listen to it it's a definite 9 and possibly more. I'm a bit over Neil's Russian fixation but this song is undeniable. The guitar is wonderful. The harmonies are wonderful. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME.
Let's start with the eight people who gave it 10s.
@TrendyMüller: In a way this is the take-off path to Go West. „Change the dedication from revolution to revelation“ is such a…revelation.
@Jóga: Only Neil Tennant could write a song about the October revolution and make it work as a pop song.
Oh. That's it. Did I miss your commentary, @Future Lover?
Well. The rest, then.
@One Stop Candy Shop: Quite a pretentious song, even for them. Not a favourite. [This first sentence is both awfully shady and, ugh, true. But I maintain that it's also a very good song. It's not exactly "Twenty-something".]
@DominoDancing: Pretty, and it's got a great orchestral arrangement with the help of Badalamenti. Goes on for too long though.
@Bleu Noir: a little boring to be honest like a mild autumn day. [Mild autumn days are awesome though. Maybe that's why I'd score it higher now. We've been having mild autumn days for a week now.]
@Mikey1701: Communist anthem. Of all the topics for an up-tempo moment on an album, I would never have expected the Soviet Revolution of 1917 to be one. I was pleasantly surprised by this and it has become one of my rate discoveries. I can foresee I’ll come back to this over time.
@Sally_Harper: I LIVE for the violin at the end. The rest is decent but not amazing. [That ending is AWESOME. I really should have given this a 10.]
And:
@ohnoitisnathan: No. [Oh no.]
Just checking. *checks* Oh well. If I gave it 10 points it would go all the way up to #35.
AWESOME Performance version – they are literally doing NOTHING music-wise. Derek, the singer, is SUCH a Queen. In the absolute royalty sense:
Fan-made extended mix:
I am losing three 10s in a row after this.
The second part of the tie. Obviously, I kept it for November 1 on purpose...
a little boring to be honest
such a…revelation
such a…revelation
(is the opening shout "FUCK YOU" or is it just me hearing that?)
37. My October Symphony
7.4111111111
Russian post-revolution anthem available on the album Поведение: Pet Shop Boys в России
Highest score: 10 (@Farnaby, @RaggedTiger, @VeryPSB, @Jóga, @Future Lover, @JonBcn, @Eric Generic, @TrendyMüller)
Lowest score: 3 (@ohnoitisnathan)
It looks like this should have a much higher average, right? Surprisingly many of you gave this 4s and 5s.
Neil: My favourite song on the album. The beginning, where they're shouting 'October' in Russian [how disappointing – Ray] is also taken from Shostakovitch's Second Symphony.
Chris: It's very rave-y. House piano.
Neil: This we wrote when we went to Glasgow at the end of last year [1989 – Ray] when we wrote "Being Boring". Chris wrote the music. It features Johnny Marr on rhythm guitar. I played guitar on the demo.
Chris: This is the track on the album I like most. It sounds the most different from anything on Actually. There's all the different musical styles. It's got the sort of James Brown drums, then it's got the Balenescu String Quartet from our tour...
Neil: We asked Alexander Balenescu to write vaguely in the style of Shostakovitch. The song itself is about the changes in Russia, but it's quite obscure because it's a bit dreary writing songs about perestroika. It was the idea that the Russian Revolution was obviously the seminal event in Soviet Russia and eventually it's being called into question. Since it happened all artists and painters and musicians in Russia have been called upon to produce paintings or symphonies or whatever to celebrate the myth of the October Revolution. In the song you've got some Soviet musician...
Chris: He's basically had to scrap his October symphony.
Neil: He's written this symphony but at the same time he's pleased, and he's thinking how to salvage it. In the chorus he asks whether he should rewrite it or change the dedication 'from revolution to revelation'. So it's really about the end of the myth of the Russian revolution. The trigger of this song was reading about Shostakovitch – for some reason that made me think what it would be like to see these changes from the inside. Because the person singing this song is a communist, or has been one. He's someone who's compromised himself to survive. Originally it had more words – the lines were longer – and I thought it sounded naff. I also tried to do a rap. [...] We had a copy of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On in the studio – we always have a point in the album where we say, 'Let's make it like Marvin Gaye'.
Ray: My attempts not to overscore led me to giving this 6.5 and creating the tie. Now that I listen to it it's a definite 9 and possibly more. I'm a bit over Neil's Russian fixation but this song is undeniable. The guitar is wonderful. The harmonies are wonderful. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME.
Let's start with the eight people who gave it 10s.
@TrendyMüller: In a way this is the take-off path to Go West. „Change the dedication from revolution to revelation“ is such a…revelation.
@Jóga: Only Neil Tennant could write a song about the October revolution and make it work as a pop song.
Oh. That's it. Did I miss your commentary, @Future Lover?
Well. The rest, then.
@One Stop Candy Shop: Quite a pretentious song, even for them. Not a favourite. [This first sentence is both awfully shady and, ugh, true. But I maintain that it's also a very good song. It's not exactly "Twenty-something".]
@DominoDancing: Pretty, and it's got a great orchestral arrangement with the help of Badalamenti. Goes on for too long though.
@Bleu Noir: a little boring to be honest like a mild autumn day. [Mild autumn days are awesome though. Maybe that's why I'd score it higher now. We've been having mild autumn days for a week now.]
@Mikey1701: Communist anthem. Of all the topics for an up-tempo moment on an album, I would never have expected the Soviet Revolution of 1917 to be one. I was pleasantly surprised by this and it has become one of my rate discoveries. I can foresee I’ll come back to this over time.
@Sally_Harper: I LIVE for the violin at the end. The rest is decent but not amazing. [That ending is AWESOME. I really should have given this a 10.]
And:
@ohnoitisnathan: No. [Oh no.]
Just checking. *checks* Oh well. If I gave it 10 points it would go all the way up to #35.
AWESOME Performance version – they are literally doing NOTHING music-wise. Derek, the singer, is SUCH a Queen. In the absolute royalty sense:
Fan-made extended mix:
I am losing three 10s in a row after this.
Oh by the way, I can't wait to see @TrendyMüller's avatar for THAT one.