What's New? – Recent Updates & Additions
April 17, 2021
Thanks to Coufy for letting me know that the URL for his excellent Pet Shop Boys Technology website has changed. I've now updated it on my PSB Links page.
April 16, 2021
The Pet Shop Boys' Dreamland Greatest Hits Tour dates for Oslo, Cork, and Athens have recently been rescheduled to 2022. I've now noted these new dates on my PSB Tours page. (Most of the other dates on the tour had already been postponed, as also noted there.)
April 15, 2021
"Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" has bounced back to #1 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart after having dipped down for a few weeks. That Allstate Insurance commercial is still running on television, fueling its continued resurgence.
April 13, 2021
Thanks to Jeff Durst for telling me that the Pet Shop Boys' rendition of "Go West" was used in an episode yesterday of the long-running U.K. soap opera EastEnders. I've now made note of this in that song's entry at #47 in my list of PSB tracks used in non-musical films and television shows.
April 10, 2021
Thanks to Dónal H. for letting me know that "Paninaro" could be heard during this morning's edition of the U.K./Ireland Sky One broadcast of Soccer AM. I've now noted this fact in the entry for that track at #68 in my list of Pet Shop Boys songs used in non-musical films and television shows.
April 9, 2021
Thanks so much to Christophe G. from France (whom I've just added to my Thank You page) for sharing his observation that certain key lines from "Being Boring" echo lines from the classic Beatles song "In My Life." While he suggested this might make a good "Beatles connection" in my list of my other favorite artists, I believe it's a bit tenuous for that, especially considering that I've already listed a very large number of Pet Shop Boys-Beatles connections. On the other hand, I do think it's well worth mentioning as a new bullet-point annotation to my commentary on the PSB song, which I've now added.
April 8, 2021
Having received permission to do so, I've added Stacy M to my Thank You page in recognition of yesterday's contribution of information (see just below). Thanks again!
April 7, 2021
Thanks to Stacy M for letting me know that "The View from Your Balcony" was used on the episode airing this morning on the U.K. television show Homes Under the Hammer. It's not the first time they've used that song. Actually, this airing was a rerun of an episode that first ran on February 12, 2019, but of which I wasn't previously aware. So I've added it to the pre-existing entry for that song at #66 in my list of Pet Shop Boys songs used in non-musical films and TV shows.
Thanks as well to Andrew Shaw for pointing out an outdated reference, now deleted, in my commentary on "Diddly Squat."
April 6, 2021
I've added "Diddly Squat" to my Pet Shop Boys Song Chronology, treating it (for what I consider to be several good reasons) as a different song from the previously released "All or Nothing." And, in anticipation of its pending release next month, I've also added "Cricket Wife."
April 5, 2021
No fewer than three of my Russian site visitors—Alexander Buleyshvili, Oleg Pelykh, and Georgiy, in that order—wrote to tell me about a parody/tribute to the Pet Shop Boys that appeared today on the Russian television show Точь-в-точь (meaning "Exactly the Same"), which is based on the American 2013–14 TV show Sing Your Face Off. Pretending to be Neil singing "It's a Sin" was Russian pop singer Mitya Fomin, who had previously recorded in 2013 a "quasi-cover" of "Paninaro '95" titled "Paninaro 2011 (Огни большого города)." I've now noted this new performance in the concluding "borderline tributes" portion of my list of performance parodies of the Pet Shop Boys. Thanks so much to all three of you who told about this! If you would like to see this performance for yourself, it's already available on YouTube.
Thanks as well to Jules Chance for informing me that "It's a Sin" was also employed today during the U.K. reality/game show The Circle. I've accordingly updated the entry for this song at #21 in my list of Pet Shop Boys songs used in films and non-musical TV shows.
Finally, thanks to Marc Kesten (whose name I just added to my Thank You page) for suggesting that I add the Boys' Performance tour show in Detroit on April 5, 1991—which he attended and remembers well—to my "On This Day in Pet Shop Boys History" page, which I've now done.
March 29, 2021
Thanks so much to Raymond Merkh for catching a typo (as a former copy editor, he's really good at that!) in my recent update concerning William Shatner on my "Strange But True Incidents Involving the Pet Shop Boys" page (see March 26, below). Typo now corrected!
March 28, 2021
Thanks to James S. for suggesting the possible sampling from and/or influence of the 1990 track "Testone" by Sweet Exorcist in the Pet Shop Boys' 12" Mix of "Was It Worth It?" released the following year. I've made note of this possibility in a new annotation to my entry on that song.
March 26, 2021
Thanks so much to Sebastian J. C. (whom I've added to my Thank You page) not only for encouraging me to add a new item involving, of all people, William Shatner, to my page devoted to "Strange But True Incidents Involving the Pet Shop Boys," but also for providing links to a couple of extremely helpful explanatory items online. I was already vaguely aware of the incident described, but I wasn't sufficiently familiar with it to feel comfortable writing about it. The links that Sebastian offered proved invaluable. And, if I may say so myself, it's all (to use a word often employed by Spock as portrayed by Shatner's late co-star Leonard Nimoy) fascinating. Thanks again!
March 24, 2021
After a remarkable four-week run at #1 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart—remarkable, of course, because it's a 35 year-old track—"Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" has dropped to #2.
March 23, 2021
Thanks to "Toaster in the Bath" for sharing several observations, some of which result in immediate adjustments. First, I've corrected a long-standing typo on my page devoted to the song "Violence." Second, I've deleted a now-outdated sentence from my overall commentary on the album PopArt. I'm going to have to hold off on possibly addressing a third intriguing point, pending further investigation on my part, which may or may not ultimately result in another revision. In the meantime, thanks again, Toaster!
March 21, 2021
Misha Singer's new release, the PSB-composed song "Diddly Squat," is now available for our listening pleasure on YouTube. It's also available for purchase and streaming from several online outlets, including Amazon, iTunes, and Spotify. Although I'm still trying to figure out all of the lyrics (some of which are rather difficult to discern), I've summarized the "storyline" of the song—which closely parallels that of its Japanese predecessor, "All or Nothing"—in my main entry.
Thanks to Marc R for updating me on recent releases by the Pound Shop Boys, a high-concept duo who affectionately parody the musical and visual style of our musical heroes. I've therefore accordingly updated my entry for them at #45 in my list of performance parodies of the Pet Shop Boys.
Thanks also to Jules Chance for letting me know that the opening bars of "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" were used at the start of today's episode of the U.K. reality/game show The Circle. Hence, I've updated the entry for this song at #30 in my list of Pet Shop Boys songs used in films and non-musical TV shows.
March 20, 2021
I've continued to expand a bit on my new but still developing entry for the PSB-composed track "Diddly Squat," scheduled for release on Monday.
March 19, 2021
I've added some new information about the background of the soon-to-be-released "Diddly Squat" kindly provided by the co-producer, Steve Gobin, whose name I've added to my Thank You page. I'm deeply honored that, much to my great surprise, I myself have played a small role in the genesis of this recording, as I explain in my still incomplete entry for this song.
Thanks to Raymond Merkh for catching a typo—yes, another one, but now corrected—in my "Pet Shop Boys singles that weren't" list. He also asked whether I would ever again run polls. As I replied, yes, I do plan on running the occasional poll as "PSB circumstances" warrant it, such as new releases. A case in point: I plan on running a new "Rating Project" survey for the new song "Cricket Wife" a month or two after it's released (the delay allowing time for fans to obtain, hear, and "absorb" it). I have no plans, however, to resume regular weekly or biweekly polls. Thanks again, Raymond!
March 18, 2021
Thanks to Dan Newton for reporting a typo, now corrected, in my list of "Pet Shop Boys singles that weren't." Dan also informed me that a number of PSB tracks, including "West End Girls," "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)," "Heart," "Always on My Mind," "I Don't Wanna," and the Tuff City Kids remix of "Undertow," are being used by Peloton in its exercise bike routines and classes. A nice bit of additional exposure there!
Apparently the German-based vocalist Misha Singer will be releasing the PSB-composed song "Diddly Squat" on March 22 as a single, and it will be making its worldwide radio debut tomorrow. What makes this especially interesting is that "Diddly Squat" is the original name of the song that would later evolve into "All or Nothing," which the Boys gave to the Japanese singer Miyuki Motegi back in 2002. I'll certainly be writing more about this release once I've learned more and I've heard it in its entirety for myself. I've gone ahead, however, and created a "placeholder" page for it. In the meantime, you can hear a brief snippet of it online. I'm indebted to Steve G. and John McFadden for letting me know about this.
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