Girls & Boys

Writers - Albarn/Coxon/James/Rowntree
First released - 1994 (Blur); 1995 (PSB)
Original album - Very 2001 reissue Further Listening 1992-1994 bonus disc
Producer (PSB version) - Pet Shop Boys
Subsequent albums - (none)
Other releases - b-side of single "Paninaro '95

After the Britpop band Blur recorded their original version of this thoroughly ambisexual song—which seems to celebrate every conceivable affectional preference and combination—they got the Pet Shop Boys to remix it into a rollicking dance track that became a huge international single success. The packaging of the remix single even mirrored the Very-era graphic style, making it look as much a PSB release as one by Blur.

Neil and Chris subsequently took to performing the song themselves during their DiscoVery tour. It was at one of those shows that the Boys' live cover of the song was recorded. It later appeared as the b-side of their "Paninaro '95" single. It also wound up on the Japanese edition of Alternative but, notably, not the U.K. or U.S. releases. The PSB version didn't find its way onto a U.K. or U.S. album until the Further Listening bonus disc accompanying the 2001 reissue of Very.

Annotations

"Du bist sehr schoen" – German for "You are very beautiful."
According to the June 1995 issue of the Pet Shop Boys' official fan publication Literally, the Boys had apparently planned to give their remake of "Girls & Boys" the different title "Boys & Girls." But when the DiscoVery VHS and the "Paninaro '95" single were actually released, Blur's original title, "Girls & Boys," was retained. It was also rendered with the spelled-out "and" as opposed to the ampersand (&) on the DiscoVery packaging, but that appears simply to have been a printing mistake; the ampersand is used in most other "official" appearances of the song, both for Blur and for PSB.

Mixes/Versions

Officially released

Pet Shop Boys rendition:

Mixer: Bob Kraushaar
- Pet Shop Boys Live in Rio (5:04)
  - Available as a bonus track on the "Paninaro '95" single and, in a slightly abbreviated (4:55) version, on Alternative. (The abbreviated version excludes Neil's spoken introduction that they're going to do a cover of a song by Blur.)

Blur rendition – Pet Shop Boys mixes only:

Mixer: Pet Shop Boys
- Pet Shop Boys 7" Mix (3:59)
- Pet Shop Boys 12" Mix (7:14)
- Pet Shop Boys Radio Edit (4:04)

List cross-references

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