Pet Shop Boys Rate. Part 1: 1985-1991. Winner.
- Thread starter Ray
- Start date
I'm with Chris on this one, Why Don't We Live Together? should have been a single. It's my favourite track from the debut and one that I never tire of. I love the "BABY!" before the chorus so much.
Just catching up on the last few pages and I can't believe I Want To Wake Up is out, that is the biggest shocker of the rate for me so far! I'd go as far as to say it's my favourite Pet Shop Boys album track, it just builds and builds and builds. I only heard the 1993 remix for the first time last week (#flopfan) and I love that too but the 1987 version is just perfection to me. It is categorically better than The End Of The World which needs to depart immediately!
They/them, he/him
#Controversial!
Fixed your typo. You're welcome! And also you're losing a 10! And so am I! oprah_losing_tens.gif
25.
This would have improved that album by at least 65%
Never got the hype for this
Never got the hype for this
25. Miserablism
8.0402777778
Vastly superior to nearly everything in the rate and I am now going to throw a total tantrum. Oh, and also a b-side to "Was It Worth It?".
Highest score: 10 (@Ray, @Mikey1701, @Jóga, @slurmjunkie, @Eric Generic, @TrendyMüller, @KingBruno)
Lowest score: 3.5 (@funkyg)
Chris: This uses all really old synthesizers including the Roland 700 series, the old Moog – a really big chunky one.
Neil: The chorus goes "Miserablism/is is and isn't isn't". "Is is and isn't isn't" is a quote from someone's father when they died. It was the last thing their father said and it was taken to mean that what is really around you exists and the rest of it doesn't. And I thought that was a great quote, and a very kind of miserablist way of looking at the world. There's no romance – the only thing that exists is what really exists. In the song there's a bare statement of miserablism: life's terrible – don't even dream of a better future or a better life. As quite often in the middle bit you get the real sentiment. It sounds a bit pretentious, but it says "but if is wasn't and isn't were/you can't be sure/but you might find ecstasy". Although it appeared as the b-side of "Was It Worth It?", it was actually recorded as part of Behaviour with Harold Faltermeyer. Originally we thought it might be a single. It was on the album until the morning before it was cut, and we replaced it with "The End Of The World".
Chris: Is it a real word? That's the first question.
Neil: It's become one, I notice. I've seen it used. I think we wrote this at the beginning of 1990, during the shoe-gazing period, when Morrissey was huge as a solo artist. It's another song sort of written from the point of view of being Morrissey – the first song like that being "Getting Away With It", the Electronic single. "Getting Away With It" is looking at Morrissey's persona of being miserable and all the rest of it, and saying he's been getting away with it for years. It's meant to be humorous. "Miserablism" is a satire, a little like "How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously?".
Chris: And of course it was quoted by Clinton only a couple of years ago. 'That depends on what the definition of "is" is'. A direct reference to the lyrics of Neil Tennant.
Neil: We took it off because we'd got into the idea that Behaviour was this rather beautiful album, and we didn't want spiky peculiar things like this on it. In some ways when we started the Pet Shop Boys this was the sort of music that we wanted to make, very arpeggio, electronic, sequencer kind of music.
Ray: It seems to me there's serious lack of taste beginning when this leaves before "The End Of The World". This was #2 at one point with average of 9.66 – after six sets of votes. And I thought it was definitely top 10 material and it would be the highest scoring b-side. But then we got 8s, 7s, 6s and a 3.5 *throws dark look towards funkyg*. Obviously I love everything about it and I wish this was the template for the entire album (or AN entire album, really, doesn't matter, just give me one). The Moby remix is lovely.
I have produced a cover of "Miserablism" for an American artist this year, it will be out in 2018 and possibly a single. Just saying (you can't hear it anyway). Years ago I ripped it off to the only radio hit I ever had in my 15 or so years of making music, but apparently I did it well enough that even PSB fans don't hear it.
@One Stop Candy Shop: That intro foreshadows Flamboyant, doesn't it? A-side worthy. The entire production sounds so ahead of its time.
@Jóga: When I was at the bottom of my depression, this rang very true to what I was feeling. It made me feel a bit less lonely. [Hug]
@Mikey1701: The fact that this was going to be on Behaviour right up till the 11th hour is yet more proof that the judgement of pop stars is never to be trusted (see also Summer Night City and Just Like That by ABBA). This would have improved that album by at least 65%! I appreciate anybody who is willing to call Morrisey out for being a twat. The strange instrumentation after the second chorus puts me in mind of 70s Doctor Who. One of my favourite B-sides.
@DominoDancing: Never got the hype for this. The bubbly synths are nice, but apart from that I find it a bit slight. I guess some fans simply like this for slagging off Morrissey, but I don't even think the song does that particularly cleverly. [I loved it since the first time I heard it and I didn't even know what a Morrissey was at that time.]
@Bleu Noir: always loved this, it just burbles along nicely, maybe better than the A-side and I love the Moby remix.
@KingBruno: Was it worth it making this a B-side? [Actually @Mikey1701 needs to answer that.]
@Sally_Harper: It’s inoffensive, but it didn’t really keep my attention for very long.
@TrendyMüller: The forgotten single/album track. Interesting to compare the sound of the early Alternatives with this. While it is somehow very similar in style, it sounds like it´s from a completely different era.
Watch the video:
Moby electro mix – full length (probably fake, but lovely)
Moby electro mix:
Did y'all notice we only lost three singles so far? We're going to work on that tomorrow. Also, there are way too many 11s still in.
D
Deleted member 16293
Why Don't We Live Together was due. Miserablism could've lasted a bit longer (#justice for its original #2 placement when there were only 6 voters). But that average is Very acceptable.
I´m getting the nagging feeling that we´ll have the usual suspects in the Top 10...this rate needs a Shower Scene!
Is there an instrumental version of the Moby mix?. It bubbles along quite nicely but -as so often with remixes- the vocals just don´t fit at all. In this case the "phone in"-effect on Neil´s voice is grating.
Is there an instrumental version of the Moby mix?. It bubbles along quite nicely but -as so often with remixes- the vocals just don´t fit at all. In this case the "phone in"-effect on Neil´s voice is grating.
I really thought "Miserablism" would be it...
Oops. I love it.
24.
overwrought and overthought
YOU GOTTA HAVE FUN!
I'm not bitter. I'm ALMOST not bitter.
24. How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously?
8.0666666667
Non-album, non-CD, non-Discography, non-Alternative, non-Popart, non-Ultimate, non-reissue amazing single.
Highest score: 10 (@Ray, @SmashHitter, @slurmjunkie, @etcetera)
Lowest score: 5 (@Bleu Noir, @Vive Indifference)
Neil: In 1990 Bobby Brown was very popular, particularly the song 'Every Little Step'. Chris used to be able to do the dance.
Chris: I'd like to have been able to do it.
Neil: He used to do it backstage. So we decided to do a swingbeat song. This was the song which made an American friend of mine take this album back to the shop. [I can believe that – Ray] He was so shocked we'd done a swingbeat song – he was absolutely appalled. There's also a guitar solo by me, actually played on the guitar. [You're making it worse – Ray] I'm also playing the power chords. We write this in Scotland. I'd just got a distortion box. I think if I was really being honest the idea for the lyric started with Bros. We'd had the same manager and we were rather fascinated by Bros. Bros came back with their second album and they said to Terry Wogan on Wogan that they were 'about longevity'. Chris and I just loved this so much – we used to go on and on talking about longevity. [...] And of course, as it happened, Bros only had about three months to go The words are about the aspirations and pomposity of pop stars [...] 1990 was kind of rainforest time, and the ozone layer. [I remember an interviewer asking "is this song only about Sting?"] There's also an attack on the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. When you think of how rock started as this amazing rebellious thing, this fusion of country'n'western and r'n'b and some wild white trash called Elvis Presley... and it ends up in an annual dinner in the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York with a lot of people in dinner suits. [...] When I was writing the song Chris said, 'Do you think you should make the words nastier?', because actually the words at the start were a bit airy-fairy. It hadn't occurred to me, and suddenly I thought, 'Oh, it should be really horrible'. It's a bit of a 'You're So Vain' concept, really.
Ray: *triggered* When the tracklisting for Popart was revealed I famously sent Neil an email (no, you're not getting his email address, and anyway I suppose it might have changed since then) in which I was not very complimentary. To my surprise, he did not respond. How can they expect to be taken seriously? You'll notice even the Further Listening booklet completely doesn't mention the existence of the single mix. It's been removed from existence, apparently. BUT I SHALL NOT FORGET.
I posted about 450 times that you should rate any version of the song and not the album mix to ensure none of you rate the album mix. Seriously.
@Jóga: A bit lightweight for the album, but it does maintain the mood.
@One Stop Candy Shop: The guitars are a choice but the video mix fixed it. I love the title of this track. I often think that when I'm talking to co-workers.
@DominoDancing: Ugh, how to rate this song? The album version is okay, but actually sounded a little bit dated at the time Behaviour was released and would score a 7 at best. But then there's the mixes created by Brothers In Rhythm, and they add SO much to the song, the bassline in particular, that it turns the track into a completely different thing. So I've decided to score that version instead. Why? Because YOU GOTTA HAVE FUN! [I'd give the album mix maybe 4 if I was feeling generous.]
@Bleu Noir: overwrought and overthought [How can you expect to be taken seriously?]
@Future Lover: I'm obviously grading the single mix, not the messy album version. That would've been the worst track on here, getting a merciless 5.
@Mikey1701: I miss the scuzzy guitar and new jack swing elements of the album version, but for me the sophistication of the Brothers In Rhythm mix win out. It’s so effortless. The piano in the mix! The cool air about it! The video is also a highlight, Neil is clearly had an absolute blast and Chris attempting choreography while remaining stone-faced. When will Dame Liza? When will your other faves?! [That choreo in the video and ON STAGE just sIays me.]
@ohnoitisnathan: Neat.
@Sally_Harper: This is a bit weird but also a bit of a tune.
@TrendyMüller: Any song that pisses on Bono is good in my book, but I never liked the sound of it and the chorus just doesn´t do it. When this came out, it sounded a bit trend chasing. [Well, they wanted a hit. In Pet Shop Boys vs America Neil is asking if 'Streets' sold any albums. Well. No, Neil. Because IT WASN'T ON THE ALBUM and you somehow managed to miss that.]
Performance:
The ALMOST BUT NOT QUITE single mix:
Extended ALMOST BUT NOT QUITE single mix:
Perfect Mood mix:
Boys and girls, no single is safe from now on, really. Just so you know.
overwrought and overthought
YOU GOTTA HAVE FUN!
24. How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously?
8.0666666667
Non-album, non-CD, non-Discography, non-Alternative, non-Popart, non-Ultimate, non-reissue amazing single.
Highest score: 10 (@Ray, @SmashHitter, @slurmjunkie, @etcetera)
Lowest score: 5 (@Bleu Noir, @Vive Indifference)
Neil: In 1990 Bobby Brown was very popular, particularly the song 'Every Little Step'. Chris used to be able to do the dance.
Chris: I'd like to have been able to do it.
Neil: He used to do it backstage. So we decided to do a swingbeat song. This was the song which made an American friend of mine take this album back to the shop. [I can believe that – Ray] He was so shocked we'd done a swingbeat song – he was absolutely appalled. There's also a guitar solo by me, actually played on the guitar. [You're making it worse – Ray] I'm also playing the power chords. We write this in Scotland. I'd just got a distortion box. I think if I was really being honest the idea for the lyric started with Bros. We'd had the same manager and we were rather fascinated by Bros. Bros came back with their second album and they said to Terry Wogan on Wogan that they were 'about longevity'. Chris and I just loved this so much – we used to go on and on talking about longevity. [...] And of course, as it happened, Bros only had about three months to go The words are about the aspirations and pomposity of pop stars [...] 1990 was kind of rainforest time, and the ozone layer. [I remember an interviewer asking "is this song only about Sting?"] There's also an attack on the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. When you think of how rock started as this amazing rebellious thing, this fusion of country'n'western and r'n'b and some wild white trash called Elvis Presley... and it ends up in an annual dinner in the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York with a lot of people in dinner suits. [...] When I was writing the song Chris said, 'Do you think you should make the words nastier?', because actually the words at the start were a bit airy-fairy. It hadn't occurred to me, and suddenly I thought, 'Oh, it should be really horrible'. It's a bit of a 'You're So Vain' concept, really.
Ray: *triggered* When the tracklisting for Popart was revealed I famously sent Neil an email (no, you're not getting his email address, and anyway I suppose it might have changed since then) in which I was not very complimentary. To my surprise, he did not respond. How can they expect to be taken seriously? You'll notice even the Further Listening booklet completely doesn't mention the existence of the single mix. It's been removed from existence, apparently. BUT I SHALL NOT FORGET.
I posted about 450 times that you should rate any version of the song and not the album mix to ensure none of you rate the album mix. Seriously.
@Jóga: A bit lightweight for the album, but it does maintain the mood.
@One Stop Candy Shop: The guitars are a choice but the video mix fixed it. I love the title of this track. I often think that when I'm talking to co-workers.
@DominoDancing: Ugh, how to rate this song? The album version is okay, but actually sounded a little bit dated at the time Behaviour was released and would score a 7 at best. But then there's the mixes created by Brothers In Rhythm, and they add SO much to the song, the bassline in particular, that it turns the track into a completely different thing. So I've decided to score that version instead. Why? Because YOU GOTTA HAVE FUN! [I'd give the album mix maybe 4 if I was feeling generous.]
@Bleu Noir: overwrought and overthought [How can you expect to be taken seriously?]
@Future Lover: I'm obviously grading the single mix, not the messy album version. That would've been the worst track on here, getting a merciless 5.
@Mikey1701: I miss the scuzzy guitar and new jack swing elements of the album version, but for me the sophistication of the Brothers In Rhythm mix win out. It’s so effortless. The piano in the mix! The cool air about it! The video is also a highlight, Neil is clearly had an absolute blast and Chris attempting choreography while remaining stone-faced. When will Dame Liza? When will your other faves?! [That choreo in the video and ON STAGE just sIays me.]
@ohnoitisnathan: Neat.
@Sally_Harper: This is a bit weird but also a bit of a tune.
@TrendyMüller: Any song that pisses on Bono is good in my book, but I never liked the sound of it and the chorus just doesn´t do it. When this came out, it sounded a bit trend chasing. [Well, they wanted a hit. In Pet Shop Boys vs America Neil is asking if 'Streets' sold any albums. Well. No, Neil. Because IT WASN'T ON THE ALBUM and you somehow managed to miss that.]
Performance:
The ALMOST BUT NOT QUITE single mix:
Extended ALMOST BUT NOT QUITE single mix:
Perfect Mood mix:
Boys and girls, no single is safe from now on, really. Just so you know.
Is it just me who prefers the album version then? It's a real highlight of the rather dreary parent album.
I'll see myself out.
I'll see myself out.
Thanks. I'm back to see how many of my 10s have been revealed in the meantime.
Not sad to see I Want A Lover go. I gave it an 8 because the lyrics aren't very sophisticated for PSB's standards and I agree with TrendyMüller that the production is a bit clunky.
D
Deleted member 16293
I really like How?.
And shoutout to that girl behind Neil who was photoshopped out of the European cover of the single.
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And shoutout to that girl behind Neil who was photoshopped out of the European cover of the single.
I'm not surprised because in my opinion this is the most overrated (by Neil and Chris as well as the fans in general) song on Behaviour. I tried to like it (it's on Behaviour, after all), but to me it's an average song (I gave it a 6) that just meanders along without grabbing my attention or affecting me in any way. Also, I don't see the point in having your own songs sung by a different singer on your own concert (see also Sylvia's butchering of So Hard during the Cubism tour).
Your Funny Uncle is a touching, goosebump-inducing masterpiece - one of their best b-sides.
Another perfect b-side gone too early. When they started playing this at the first Pandemonium show I saw, I was over the moon because I didn't expect them to (the same with Two Divided By Zero).