What's New? – Recent Updates & Additions
July 7, 2020
Thanks to Rafael Lima for providing some clarifying information about the Portuguese phrases heard in "Get It Online"—specifically, that they are Brazilian Portuguese likely obtained from Google Translate and, in at least one of those cases, somewhat faulty. (If you've ever used Google Translate, you know how commonplace that faultiness can be.) I've made a few appropriate minor adjustments.
July 6, 2020
Thanks to Matteo for informing me that the band Blizzard was (is?) not French, as I had previously asserted in my commentary on the song "It Couldn't Happen Here." (Apparently whatever source I had for that information was mistaken.) Its members were (are?) British and Italian. So I've eliminated any reference to the band's nationality.
July 5, 2020
Many thanks to "Glarspol" from Berlin (whom I've now added to my Thank You page) for writing to point out a couple of typos, now corrected, in my list of cover songs by the Pet Shop Boys and the artists who first recorded them. Lars has also set up a Spotify playlist featuring these songs—both the Pet Shop Boys' remakes and the originals.
Thanks as well to Rory Simpson for telling me about the use of the PSB cover of "It's Alright" in a 1992 episode of the U.K. factual crime show Crimewatch File. I've now noted this in the new entry for that song at #97 in my list of PSB tracks used in non-musical films and TV shows.
July 3, 2020
Thanks so much to Matteo for alerting me to several variant official "US Radio Edits" of "New York City Boy" that I've tried to clarify in my list of different mixes/versions of that track. And thanks as well to Nenad P, who wrote to me several months ago on this same subject. (This song seems to have a rather murky history with regard to its official variations—enough so for me to be very close to giving up on even attempting to be definitive about it.)
Matteo also let me know that about a minute of "West End Girls" was used as the music for the opening titles of the Italian television show Pista!, which aired in 1986 and '87. I've noted this in a new third bullet-point for that song at #1 in my list of Pet Shop Boys tracks used in non-musical films and TV shows. Thanks again, Matteo!
I don't know if I'll be making any updates tomorrow, but in case I don't, please allow me to offer advance happy Independence Day wishes to my fellow Americans! Celebrate, but stay safe!
July 2, 2020
As she has for many years now, bigtime Pet Shop Boys fan Sherry Gahan has created and posted a special webpage where we can submit our birthday wishes for Neil (whose birthday is indeed coming up just over one week from now). I'm taking advantage of it, and I hope many of you will, too! Thanks, Sherry!
July 1, 2020
Thanks to Jeff Schapira for catching a typo, now corrected, on my Pet Shop Boys dreams page.
In case you're interested, the BBC published a superb article yesterday in commemoration of the
30th anniversary of the release of Reputation, the now-classic Dusty Springfield album half-helmed by Neil and Chris. Check it out!
June 27, 2020
Thanks to Steve Broderick (whose name I've just added to my Thank You page) for letting me know that "Left to My Own Devices" could be heard in a 2017 episode of the U.K. television program When Game Shows Go Horribly Wrong. I've now noted this fact in the entry for that song at #3 in my list of Pet Shop Boys songs used in non-musical films and TV shows.
June 22, 2020
I don't know if it's sheer coincidence, but two different people have written to me today to point out that "It's a Sin" appears in the trailer for the film Greed, suggesting that it's something I ought to mention here on my website. But I've actually already done that. I noted it more than a month ago at #11 in my list of Pet Shop Boys songs used in TV commercials. But thanks to those of you who have written to me about it, just in case.
June 21, 2020
I've posted the final results of my poll of the past week, in which I asked my site visitors to rate the Pet Shop Boys' most recently released songs—those from My Beautiful Laundrette (aside from the previously rated "No Boundaries") and the single b-side "New Boy"—as they compare to all other PSB songs. I've also updated my overall "Rating Project" page with these latest results. Thanks so much to everyone who took part and submitted their ratings! It's perhaps worth noting that this survey had far fewer participants than most of my past polls, probably the result of both my no longer running surveys on a regular basis (this was my first in nearly three months) and the fact that many voters simply weren't sufficiently familiar with the Laundrette songs, if at all. Roughly a quarter of all voters abstained from rating any or at least most of its tracks, whereas fewer than 10% abstained from rating "New Boy."
June 20, 2020
Thanks so much to Michael Gassner for telling me about a novel published in 2018 that earns a spot in my chronological list of novels that mention the Pet Shop Boys: Hatten wir nicht mal Sex in den 80ern? (translated Didn't We Have Sex in the '80s?) by the multi-talented German author Timo Blunck (who also happens to be a composer, lyricist, vocalist, and producer). Although it is indeed a work of fiction, the story at times places its fictional characters amongst real-life celebrities; in this specific scene, it's the Pet Shop Boys and the late German writer Günter Grass. Michael was also kind enough to provide translations of the pertinent text, although I've modified his original translations slightly for idiomatic purposes. Thanks again, Michael!
June 19, 2020
I've long noted that there are discrepancies on the Pet Shop Boys' official website and elsewhere online with regard to the dates and venues of the April 1991 Performance Tour shows in Toronto and Montreal. I believe one of my site visitors, Damion J. Rowan, has just helped put the final piece of this puzzle in place. He noted—and cited as evidence his own personal experience, as well as his ticket, kept as a memento—that the correct venue of the Montreal show was the Verdun Auditorium, not the Outremont/Olympia Theatre, as listed on the official site, which also incorrectly lists the Verdun Auditorium as the site of the Tornoto concert. But the Verdun Auditorium isn't even in Toronto; it's in Montreal. Somehow the venues for the two shows were confused. At any rate, I've made the appropriate adjustments on my PSB Tours page. (I had corrected the Toronto venue years ago, again based on evidence shared by a site visitor.) I've added Damion's name to my Thank You page in recognition of his assistance. And, having now received his permission to do so, I've listed Bjørn-Roar K. there as well for his help yesterday.
Thanks also to Lee Richards for letting me know that "Dreamland" could be heard in Episode 8 of the U.S. streaming series Love, Victor. I've now noted this fact in the entry for that song at #91 in my list of PSB tracks used in non-musical films and TV shows.
June 18, 2020
Thanks to Bjørn-Roar K. for noticing an outdated reference on my "Rating Project" page—namely, that "Tall Thin Men," which was once unreleased, has now indeed been officially released. I've now corrected this oversight.
June 17, 2020
Not surprisingly, the Pet Shop Boys' festival appearances in Athens and Istanbul, originally scheduled for early this coming July, have both been postponed precisely one year to the same dates in July 2021 on account of the global pandemic. I've updated my PSB Tours page accordingly.
June 14, 2020
It's my first PSB survey in nearly three months! – A new "Rating Project" poll on the most recently released Tennant-Lowe songs. I hope you all take part and submit your ratings!
June 13, 2020
Several updates to my list of Pet Shop Boys tracks used in non-musical films and TV shows:
- I've just learned that the PSB rendition of "Always on My Mind" (#16 in the list) is briefly featured in the 2019 Canadian film Matthias & Maxine during a scene in which the character McAfee, while walking through the train station and literally bumping into Matthias, is listening to it on his headphones;
- Thanks to Stuart R for letting me know that "A Red Letter Day" (at #46) was used twice in a 1997 episode of the U.K. television show The Car's the Star; and
- Thanks as well to Danny Bende for informing me that brief bits of not just one but three songs from Hotspot—"Monkey Business," "Will-o-the-wisp," and "Happy People," newly added to the list at #94 through #96—could be heard in this evening's edition of the German TV show Galileo: Big Pictures.
June 11, 2020
This morning the Pet Shop Boys announced new 2021 dates for their North American Unity Tour with New Order, postponed from 2020 on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. I've updated my PSB Tours page accordingly.
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