Official Megamixes and Medleys
Please note that I'm not listing here medleys or megamixes of just two or three songs. Those are dealt with on a scattershot basis throughout this website. At least four songs need to be combined to appear here. Also, I'm focusing only on medleys and megamixes that have been officially sanctioned and released by the Pet Shop Boys and/or their record companies.
Please see the linked individual song entries for composing credits other than Tennant/Lowe.
The Retrospective Mix
Released: 1989
It's extaordinarily rare and inhabits a gray area between being "official" and not—I wonder whether Neil and Chris actually knew about it in advance—but seeing as how it appeared on a genuine EMI release, I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt. "The Retrospective Mix" is a 1989 megamix medley of PSB tracks exclusive to an EMI Brazil promo of "Left to My Own Devices." Appearing in two forms—a 4:53 "Radio Version" and a 7:39 "Club Mix"—it was created by Brazilian DJ Marcello Mansur, known professionally as DJ Meme.
The following songs compose the two versions:
Radio Version
Club Mix
- Domino Dancing
- West End Girls
- What Have I Done to Deserve This?
- Always on My Mind
- Left to My Own Devices
- It's a Sin
- Suburbia
Mega Mix (aka "Swedish Megamix")
Released: 1991
One of the rarest of all official releases, this megamix—apparently simply titled "Mega Mix"—was released in 1991 on a Swedish promo. It's believed that only 600 copies were ever produced. Released to promote the release of Discography in Scandanavia, it was created by Swedish DJ/mixer/producer Emil Hellman. As with the earlier Brazilian exclusive, this "Mega Mix" appeared in two forms: a "Radio Edit" (5:37) and a "Club Mix" (10:38). The "Radio Edit" is particularly interesting in that a recurring "explosion" lifted from "It's a Sin" serves as a transitional teaser between each pair of tracks until "Sin" in its entirety finally plays at the end.
The medleys consist of the following tracks:
Radio Edit
- Being Boring (brief introduction)
- So Hard
- Heart
- Always on My Mind (single version)
- Suburbia
- It's a Sin
Club Mix
- West End Girls
- Domino Dancing
- What Have I Done to Deserve This?
- Being Boring (Marshall Jefferson Mix)
- So Hard
- Heart (played over the backing track of "So Hard" as it transitions to the next song)
- DJ Culture
- Always on My Mind
- Suburbia
- It's a Sin (with a bit more of "DJ Culture" played as an "outro" during the fading explosion at the end)
PSB Hits Medley (aka Pet Shop Boys Brits Medley)
Released: 2009
On February 18, 2009, the Pet Shop Boys received the coveted "Outstanding Contribution to Music" award from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). After accepting this award at the 2009 Brits Awards TV broadcast, the Boys performed onstage a special 9½-minute hits medley produced by Stuart Price, with guest support vocals by Lady GaGa and the Killers' frontman Brandon Flowers.
To ensure the preservation of this special medley, a studio version was released as part of an exclusive digital package with the album Yes offered by iTunes. It subsequently also appeared as a bonus track in the "Did You See Me Coming?" single's digital bundle and again as one of the bonus tracks accompanying the 2017 reissue of Yes. The studio version is essentially identical to the live rendition, minus the participation of Lady GaGa and Brandon Flowers. It's worth noting that it sounds as though Neil re-recorded most of his lead vocals anew for the medley.
The medley consisted of excerpts from the following songs, in some cases appearing in "mashup" form:
- Suburbia
- Love etc. (preceded by a hint of drums from "Se A Vida É" and segueing into a brief bit of "Left to My Own Devices" with the "Love etc." rhythm continuing underneath)
- Always on My Mind
- Go West / Paninaro mashup
- What Have I Done to Deserve This? (preceded by a few fleeting seconds of "Opportunities")
- Domino Dancing / I'm with Stupid mashup (very brief)
- Being Boring (also very brief, with a bit more of "Opportunities" sneaking in, as well as a short segment of Chris speaking about how his Blackpool upbringing may have influenced his "musical philosophy," so to speak)
- It's a Sin
- All Over the World
- West End Girls
Yes Megamix
Released: 2009
To promote the 2009 release of Yes, both EMI in the U.K. and Astralwerks in the U.S. released this special 10:06 megamix of most of the album's tracks both on a promo disc and as a digital download. "King of Rome," "The Way It Used to Be," and "Legacy" are excluded, probably because it was felt that they didn't fit in well with the medley format. Also, to facilitate the smooth flow from one segment to another, the order of the songs in the medley is different from that of the album itself. It's "framed," so to speak, by the "Nutcracker Fanfare" from the "This Is a Dub" mix of "All Over the World," and its closing occurrence has very noticeably been remixed, with Chris's distorted utterance of the title brought prominently to the foreground.
- "Nutcracker Fanfare" opening
- Love etc.
- Pandemonium
- Did You See Me Coming?
- More Than a Dream
- Vulnerable
- Building a Wall
- Beautiful People
- All Over the World
- "Nutcracker Fanfare" conclusion
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