Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend could indeed have been an A-side. As mentioned somewhere above, my Behaviour version has this and Miserablism on it instead of To Face The Truth and My October Symphony. And it's not that I think Behaviour has too many slow songs - I wouldn't mind something like Do I Have To? or Your Funny Uncle on it at all.
Pet Shop Boys Rate. Part 1: 1985-1991. Winner.
- Thread starter Ray
- Start date
I asbolutely always loved the "seriously" photo. It´s so glam!
Oh, and it´s better nobody has mentioned that abortion of a remix 12".
Oh, and it´s better nobody has mentioned that abortion of a remix 12".
It's an unexpected choice and decent cover.
I was shocked. This would have made a great single (though all the other ones from Actually are excellent as well). I prefer the 12" to the 7" that was later released on Further Listening because it gives all the different parts that are otherwise buried in the mix or under the vocals their own spotlight. This is why I prefer the extended versions of The Resurrectionist and Fugitive to their 7" edits, too.
While I think it is great that they tried to please the hardcore fans, I would have preferred the b-side version of I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too) to the demo. Great and fitting artwork, Ray, because this actually replaces It's Alright on my improved Introspective tracklisting and would have made a great single instead of that as well. It's Alright really needs to go before we reach the top 20.
Yes, it is!
For once I agree with Neil's favourite song from an album. It Couldn't Happen Here was a contender for my 11 and should have been in the top 10 at least. To be fair, though, the melody of my favourite part - the achingly beautiful chorus - was written by Ennio Morricone.
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According to discogs this Always On My Mind/In My House edit seems to belong to the six radio edits that were released for US promotion: https://www.discogs.com/de/Pet-Shop-Boys-Introspective-Radio-Edits/release/1646160
I agree with every word here.
I seem to be in the minority here because I like both the single and Introspective versions of Always On My Mind.
I gave this an 8. I like the Into The Groove vibes and the beats at the beginning (which are similar to Burn). The "baby" in the chorus and the "ooh ooh oh yeah" bit are too cheesy, though, and that's why I didn't score it higher. This is pretty lightweight compared to the singles and most of the other songs from Please.
I don't like the remix of I Want To Wake Up at all, but the album version is indeed perfect.
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Miserablism (as I can't stop repeating) should have been on Behaviour and a single in its own right. It was the best b-side left in the top 30 (In The Night should have left ages ago and Paninaro is a bit overrated because it's gained iconic status as the first track with Chris vocals).
I don't prefer it but I like it equally and can't understand the disdain for it.
Chris: 'What is the chart position?'
'Five,' says Neil.
'Who said it would be number five? Told you,' says Chris, more or less triumphantly.
But it's, actually,
23.
Neil: In some ways I think one of the things that has kept the Pet Shop Boys strong – even now, with no one wanting us to [...] release 'It's Alright' – is always having to fight against people, including our own people.
What kind of dictation being forced in rate?!
23. It's Alright
8.0819444444
AUStralia #70 AUStria #27 BE #17 NL #41 GER #3 IRL #2 ITA #12 JAP #82 SPN #20 SWI #12 UK #5
Highest score: 11 (@Bleu Noir, @ohnoitisnathan), 10 (@rawkey, @Auntie Beryl, @SmashHitter, @etienne, @Jóga, @RaggedTiger, @Farnaby)
Lowest score: 3 (@JakeMagnus this time, @Peer_Gynt10 gave it 8.5)
CH: They dredge through the 'It's Alright' row. They have just had some good news. The British charts are announced on a Sunday, based purely on sales from Monday to Saturday of that week. Gallup, the company that compiles the chart, gives subscribing record companies provisional mid-week charts, based on the sales so far, on Thursday and again on Friday. We have just heard that the Thursday midweek for 'It's Alright' is that it will enter the charts at number two. They are delighted.
EMI, it turns out, had mixed feelings about releasing the record at all. Though the people who work closest with the Pet Shop Boys in the company's Parlophone subsidiary were keen, the wider (and, the implication was, wiser) feeling was that it was a bad idea. Tom and Rob, their management, sided with the latter view. [They also got sacked soon afterward – Ray.] Neil and Chris weren't simply insulted that people didn't like their new record – they also got a distinct impression that people feared their career was slipping. 'There was definitely an "EMI-have-got-the-jitters-about-the-Pet-Shop-Boys feeling,"' says Neil. 'It was "They've been popular for too long. How long's it going to last?"' [...] One marketing executive at EMI has, it is whispered, regally pronounced that he could 'market this record into the Top 20 [not in this rate – Ray] but not into the Top 10'.
It was Chris who held firm, simply because he was thrilled by the record they had made. He couldn't stop playing it, he had played it to his family and they'd loved it and he wanted it released. He said he didn't care whether it even got in the Top 50: it should come out. Neil is usually the face of the Pet Shop Boys that the record company see, but this time Chris phoned up everyone involved to insist it be released.
Ray: This song feels way too current. Which unfortunately is not good news. Janet Jackson followed her positive statement on Rhythm Nation 1814 with a song called "Shoulda Known Better". This song – originally by Sterling Void, Paris Brightledge and Marshall Jefferson – is a positive statement; pop music as response to worries of the world. It is naive, ridiculous, false and it is something that I need to believe in to forget about what the world is actually up to. Music has been my escapism since the earliest years of my life; I was bullied as a kid, and my life was going to school, coming back in tears and hiding in books and music. 'It's Alright' got a lot of airplay in Ray's Bedroom FM. Everything might have felt shit, but the music played forever, and it would go on – indeed, it still does.
Let's hear from the 11 voters first.
@ohnoitisnathan: Rating the single version. It's way more than "alright". This came out when I was learning about the greenhouse effect and the hole in the ozone layer etc. at school. It gave me some much-needed hope that there wasn't impending doom.
@Bleu Noir: 11!!!! 'Let your body move tonight' line always gets me.
Then the almost 11 voter.
@Jóga: I almost gave it the 11 bearing in mind the Discography version. I love the album version as well, but the 7'' is just perfection. It would sadden me to give the 11 to a cover, but they just made it theirs and it feels like the ultimate optimistic but still realistic anthem to me. The video was a stroke of genius as well.
And then the rest of you.
@One Stop Candy Shop: Not one of their best singles, but still more than ok. I enjoyed it being mashed up with Vocal at the Electric tour. Still relevant 'cause awful stuff still happens in the world. So when will it be alright Neil? When?! [I actually think it already was, and we're going back now – Ray]
@DominoDancing: It's Alright never really impressed me, and I think my issue is with the source material, because I DO think that the version as it is here is an improvement on the original. I can see why Neil and Chris were into it. Dance beat, melancholic but optimistic, dance-related lyrics. From that perspective it fits great into their repertoire. I just don't hear that certain je ne sais quoi. [Available as b-side to their single 'Wiener'.]
@Mikey1701: “Woke” anthem. This really goes off doesn’t it? It’s Alright is one of those tracks that I know I don’t listen to as much as I should and that I should do something about it, because it’s fabulous! It was one of my early discoveries when getting to grips with their discography. The Extended Dance Mix (at just over 10:30) is where it is at, and the 10’ Mix is life affirming stuff. I live.
@Future Lover: Great message, this one. Too bad about the album version being so inferior.
@Sally_Harper: I find this oddly lacklustre, like there’s a more lively song hidden in it that never quite manages to arrive. It’s…wait for it…alright. (Sorry.)
Heaven on Earth delivers:
@Heaven on Earth: It’s sad how relevant this is today, even more so than during the Reagan-Thatcher era. As an American, one who didn’t vote for that imbecile, I’m ashamed at my country, something that was once a dream haven for foreigners. After the horrific incidents in Charlottesville and Las Vegas and all the revelations about Harvey Weinstein et al., [and more in the meantime obviously...] I’m dismayed at how apocalyptical society relations have become. The doubt that’s expressed in this song is the same I have right now. It’s maybe weird for someone who was bullied frequently as a child and even to this day, I’ve amazingly held a hope out there for some sort of utopian unity, one that I know won’t happen. But there is some serious doubt and some serious fear right now, and I don’t think even the wondrous artform of music is going to help. Cynicism has officially taken over me now, and while this song reminds me to be somewhat optimistic, it’s been difficult.
@TrendyMüller: This is a song for crying at the discotheque! I pretend that I have never seen the video, though.
Why? I love the video.
Live at the Mermaid Theatre: (this is the Trevor Horn thing, right? Looks familiar)
A bit earlier, in 1989, at Wembley:
The extended dance mix:
A very interesting thing – studio preview of what would become Montage/Nightlife Tour mix later:
There's something very sad about the fact 'The End Of The World' is in, but 'It's Alright' is out. You cynics.
'Five,' says Neil.
'Who said it would be number five? Told you,' says Chris, more or less triumphantly.
But it's, actually,
23.
Neil: In some ways I think one of the things that has kept the Pet Shop Boys strong – even now, with no one wanting us to [...] release 'It's Alright' – is always having to fight against people, including our own people.
What kind of dictation being forced in rate?!
23. It's Alright
8.0819444444
AUStralia #70 AUStria #27 BE #17 NL #41 GER #3 IRL #2 ITA #12 JAP #82 SPN #20 SWI #12 UK #5
Highest score: 11 (@Bleu Noir, @ohnoitisnathan), 10 (@rawkey, @Auntie Beryl, @SmashHitter, @etienne, @Jóga, @RaggedTiger, @Farnaby)
Lowest score: 3 (@JakeMagnus this time, @Peer_Gynt10 gave it 8.5)
CH: They dredge through the 'It's Alright' row. They have just had some good news. The British charts are announced on a Sunday, based purely on sales from Monday to Saturday of that week. Gallup, the company that compiles the chart, gives subscribing record companies provisional mid-week charts, based on the sales so far, on Thursday and again on Friday. We have just heard that the Thursday midweek for 'It's Alright' is that it will enter the charts at number two. They are delighted.
EMI, it turns out, had mixed feelings about releasing the record at all. Though the people who work closest with the Pet Shop Boys in the company's Parlophone subsidiary were keen, the wider (and, the implication was, wiser) feeling was that it was a bad idea. Tom and Rob, their management, sided with the latter view. [They also got sacked soon afterward – Ray.] Neil and Chris weren't simply insulted that people didn't like their new record – they also got a distinct impression that people feared their career was slipping. 'There was definitely an "EMI-have-got-the-jitters-about-the-Pet-Shop-Boys feeling,"' says Neil. 'It was "They've been popular for too long. How long's it going to last?"' [...] One marketing executive at EMI has, it is whispered, regally pronounced that he could 'market this record into the Top 20 [not in this rate – Ray] but not into the Top 10'.
It was Chris who held firm, simply because he was thrilled by the record they had made. He couldn't stop playing it, he had played it to his family and they'd loved it and he wanted it released. He said he didn't care whether it even got in the Top 50: it should come out. Neil is usually the face of the Pet Shop Boys that the record company see, but this time Chris phoned up everyone involved to insist it be released.
Ray: This song feels way too current. Which unfortunately is not good news. Janet Jackson followed her positive statement on Rhythm Nation 1814 with a song called "Shoulda Known Better". This song – originally by Sterling Void, Paris Brightledge and Marshall Jefferson – is a positive statement; pop music as response to worries of the world. It is naive, ridiculous, false and it is something that I need to believe in to forget about what the world is actually up to. Music has been my escapism since the earliest years of my life; I was bullied as a kid, and my life was going to school, coming back in tears and hiding in books and music. 'It's Alright' got a lot of airplay in Ray's Bedroom FM. Everything might have felt shit, but the music played forever, and it would go on – indeed, it still does.
Let's hear from the 11 voters first.
@ohnoitisnathan: Rating the single version. It's way more than "alright". This came out when I was learning about the greenhouse effect and the hole in the ozone layer etc. at school. It gave me some much-needed hope that there wasn't impending doom.
@Bleu Noir: 11!!!! 'Let your body move tonight' line always gets me.
Then the almost 11 voter.
@Jóga: I almost gave it the 11 bearing in mind the Discography version. I love the album version as well, but the 7'' is just perfection. It would sadden me to give the 11 to a cover, but they just made it theirs and it feels like the ultimate optimistic but still realistic anthem to me. The video was a stroke of genius as well.
And then the rest of you.
@One Stop Candy Shop: Not one of their best singles, but still more than ok. I enjoyed it being mashed up with Vocal at the Electric tour. Still relevant 'cause awful stuff still happens in the world. So when will it be alright Neil? When?! [I actually think it already was, and we're going back now – Ray]
@DominoDancing: It's Alright never really impressed me, and I think my issue is with the source material, because I DO think that the version as it is here is an improvement on the original. I can see why Neil and Chris were into it. Dance beat, melancholic but optimistic, dance-related lyrics. From that perspective it fits great into their repertoire. I just don't hear that certain je ne sais quoi. [Available as b-side to their single 'Wiener'.]
@Mikey1701: “Woke” anthem. This really goes off doesn’t it? It’s Alright is one of those tracks that I know I don’t listen to as much as I should and that I should do something about it, because it’s fabulous! It was one of my early discoveries when getting to grips with their discography. The Extended Dance Mix (at just over 10:30) is where it is at, and the 10’ Mix is life affirming stuff. I live.
@Future Lover: Great message, this one. Too bad about the album version being so inferior.
@Sally_Harper: I find this oddly lacklustre, like there’s a more lively song hidden in it that never quite manages to arrive. It’s…wait for it…alright. (Sorry.)
Heaven on Earth delivers:
@Heaven on Earth: It’s sad how relevant this is today, even more so than during the Reagan-Thatcher era. As an American, one who didn’t vote for that imbecile, I’m ashamed at my country, something that was once a dream haven for foreigners. After the horrific incidents in Charlottesville and Las Vegas and all the revelations about Harvey Weinstein et al., [and more in the meantime obviously...] I’m dismayed at how apocalyptical society relations have become. The doubt that’s expressed in this song is the same I have right now. It’s maybe weird for someone who was bullied frequently as a child and even to this day, I’ve amazingly held a hope out there for some sort of utopian unity, one that I know won’t happen. But there is some serious doubt and some serious fear right now, and I don’t think even the wondrous artform of music is going to help. Cynicism has officially taken over me now, and while this song reminds me to be somewhat optimistic, it’s been difficult.
@TrendyMüller: This is a song for crying at the discotheque! I pretend that I have never seen the video, though.
Why? I love the video.
Live at the Mermaid Theatre: (this is the Trevor Horn thing, right? Looks familiar)
A bit earlier, in 1989, at Wembley:
The extended dance mix:
A very interesting thing – studio preview of what would become Montage/Nightlife Tour mix later:
There's something very sad about the fact 'The End Of The World' is in, but 'It's Alright' is out. You cynics.