Nothing Has Been Proved

Writers - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 1989 (Dusty Springfield); 2001 (PSB)
Original album - Reputation (Dusty Springfield); Introspective 2001 reissue Further Listening 1988-1989 bonus disc (PSB)
Producer (PSB version) - Pet Shop Boys; (Dusty Springfield version) - Julian Mendelsohn, Pet Shop Boys
Subsequent albums - Concrete
Other releases - 1989 single by Dusty Springfield, produced by PSB (UK #16)

This track, recorded and originally released by Dusty Springfield on her album Reputation, was written by Neil and Chris for the film Scandal, which concerned the notorious Profumo Affair. This imbroglio, which rocked the British government in 1963 ("'Please Please Me''s number one…"), involved several cabinet ministers who had enjoyed relationships with a pair of prostitutes qua "models" who were also fooling around with a Soviet naval attache with connections to the Russian spy ring. There were also some indiscreet photographs taken of nude goings-on next to the swimming pool of a stately mansion. Court proceedings and a suicide followed in its wake.

At any rate, the events as described in the song, though necessarily abbreviated and vague, are essentially accurate. By the same token, the people described in the song, such as Stephen Ward, are equally real, though Neil cites them by first name only. The thrust of the song is that, indeed, nothing—at least nothing that indicated actual treachery by the cabinet members involved—had been proved. Just sexual indiscretion. Yet it was enough to cause an uproar in the press, to rattle the government, and to cause one of the central figures in the affair to kill himself. This, of course, is Neil's implicit condemnation of the prurient, puritanical impulses that cause such terrible things to happen over what should be personal, private and, in fact, nonconsequential matters.

The PSB demo of this track was released with the 2001 reissue of Introspective. Neil seems to struggle somewhat with his vocal, almost certainly because the melody was written with Dusty's range in mind rather than his own. The instrumental track on the demo also differs from that of Dusty's version in some subtle but intriguing ways. Dusty's hit single rendition features Neil as support vocalist, intoning the lines "It's a scandal… such a scandal" during the bridge as well as doubling Dusty's lead during lines quoted (or at least paraphrased) from Stephen Ward's suicide note: "Sorry about the mess…."

A fascinating footnote is the fact that, in his book The Complete Dusty Springfield, author Paul Howes says that Neil—ever the historian, having long been intrigued by the Profumo Affair—wrote the original version of this song, with pretty much the same lyrics but a different melody, before he even met Chris. It was resurrected for Dusty and Scandal, with Neil and Chris collaborating on a new melody.

Annotations

As described above, this song is based on the 1963 British political/sexual/espionage scandal known as Profumo Affair. Although Neil wrote his original lyrics long beforehand—drawing upon his reading of the Ludovic Kennedy book The Trial of Steven Ward—the Boys completed the song for the 1989 film Scandal and tapped Dusty Springfield to sing it. The lyrics refer to a number of major figures in the affair:
- "Mandy's in the papers…" – Mandy Rice-Davies, a former showgirl and model.
- "Vicki's got her story about the mirror and the cane" – Vickie Barrett (née Janet Barker), an alleged prostitute who, like Mandy, testified at the trial of the next person mentioned in the lyric. (More about him in a moment.) "The mirror and the cane" refer to a two-way mirror and an accoutrement of sadomasochism that Vickie talked about on the witness stand. Allegedly private orgies had been staged by—
- "Stephen's in his dressing-gown…" – Stephen Ward, an osteopath (a practitioner of alternative medicine) and artist who was formally charged with having served as a "procurer" and living off the profits of prostitution. He figures as the principal character in the lyric, and his suicide its central event. He died before sentence could be pronounced at trial; hence, "Nothing Has Been Proved."
- "In the House a resignation…" – John Dennis Profumo was forced to resign his seat in the House of Commons as a result of his sexual involvement with the next person cited—
- "Christine's fallen out with Lucky" – Christine Keeler, a model (and alleged call-girl) who was involved sexually with both Profumo and a Soviet naval attaché, Yevgeni Ivanov. "Lucky" is Aloysius "Lucky" Gordon, a Jamaican-born jazz pianist who was also involved with Christine, as was our next character—
- "Johnny's got a gun" – Johnny Edgecombe, an Antigua-born jazz promoter, drug-dealer, and pimp who was also involved with Christine. It was his jealous act of firing shots at the door of Stephen Ward's home, where Christine was staying at the time, that triggered the unraveling of the story that led to Profumo's downfall.
"Please Please Me's number one" – "Please Please Me" became the Beatles' first number-one hit in Britain (based on both the Melody Maker and New Musical Express charts) in late February 1963, right around the time the Profumo Affair really began to heat up in the U.K. press. The song's title might also be viewed as an ironic commentary on the sexual nature of the scandal, which Neil himself has confirmed. Neil also noted in his book One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem that the first line of the Beatles song ("Last night I said these words to my girl") is "mimicked" in the last verse of the Boys' song ("Last night he wrote these words to his friend").
"I'm guilty 'til proved innocent in the public eye and press" – This of course is an inversion of the familar, ancient, and nearly universal legal principle of the presumption of innocence—that the accused should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Mixes/Versions

Officially released

Pet Shop Boys rendition:

Mixer: Pet Shop Boys
- "Demo for Dusty" (4:51)
  - Available on the Further Listening bonus disc with the Introspective reissue
Mixer: Tim Weidner
- Live Concrete rendition (4:58)

Dusty Springfield rendition:

Mixer: Julian Mendelsohn

Album/single version (aka "Single Mix") (4:44)
- The album and single versions sound as though they are essentially identical, only with the album rendition fading out a couple seconds sooner. The 4:44 timing listed here is an average of the two (4:43 vs. 4:45).
Instrumental (5:50)
7-inch Instrumental (5:50)
- There are two different instrumental mixes: one found on the 12-inch and CD single releases, and another that's unique to the 7-inch single; the primary difference is that the 7-inch instrumental has less bass and percussion (no rhythm track at all until nearly two minutes in) as well as some "missing" synth parts.
Full Length Version aka "Original Mix" (5:56)

Mixer: Marshall Jefferson

Dance Mix (5:57)

List cross-references

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