What's New? – Recent Updates & Additions

Octrober 12, 2019

Thanks to Steve N. for writing to suggest a more "literal" interpretation of the song "Dreamland," which I've used to post two new bullet-point annotations (now the first two) to my commentary on the song.

October 7, 2019

Thanks so much to John McFadden for sharing some statements made by Neil during his appearance this past Saturday at the Manchester Literature Festival. These include such revelations as:

"Dreamland" will be the only song from the new album on the upcoming greatest-hits tour.

There won’t be a new greatest-hits album or re-release of an old single to promote the tour.

There will apparently be at least one further studio album from the Pet Shop Boys following this next one. He and Chris have already written at least some of the songs that will likely appear on it.

Johnny Marr wants to do another Electronic album, implying that he (Neil) and perhaps Chris might be involved somehow.

The flipping in Musik of the order of the lines "Girls to the right of me / Boys to the right of me" in "Friendly Fire" was either purely accidental or simply a "joke" on the part of singer Frances Barber. It has no hidden meaning or significance.

Thanks as well to Rory Simpson for letting me know (with supporting evidence) that British author, journalist, and political commentator Jonathan Isaby is a fellow fan of the Pet Shop Boys, thereby earning him a spot in my list of celebrity PSB fans outside of the field of music.

Ocotber 6, 2019

I've posted the final results of my "ratings" poll of the past two weeks, in which I asked my site visitors to rate the five most recently released Tennant-Lowe songs—the new ones from Musik as well as the new single in collaboration with Years & Years, "Dreamland"—on a scale of 0 to 10 as they compare with all other PSB songs. I've also added these new ratings to my "Rating Project" page so that you can see how they "fit in" with all of the previous ratings.

You've almost certainly already noticed that, for the first time in a very long time, I'm not posting a new survey. As I explain on my home page, this is only a temporary halt to my polling, although it may last for as much as two months or so. It's also part of the first phase of a two-phase temporary reduction in my work on this website. For the next few weeks, I'll still be making occasional updates, but only occasionally, and only those that I regard as especially important.

Then, when "Phase 2" hits, probably sometime in November, I won't be able to make any updates at all. This website should still continue running on its own and remain fully functional, but there just won't be any changes for a while. In fact, there will probably be a period when I won't even have email access and I'll go "silent." But as soon as we're settled into our new home and I have full internet and website access again, I'll resume work—including polling—and things should go back to normal, knock on wood.

So I hope you'll all bear with me during this transitional period. Thank you for your understanding and patience!

October 4, 2019

Happy birthday to Chris Lowe, who turns 60 today! Regardless, he'll always be a boy—a Pet Shop Boy, of course—to us!

October 3, 2019

The Pet Shop Boys announced today that the physical formats (CD and vinyl) and digital bundles for their latest single, "Dreamland," will be available starting October 25, including remixes and the bonus tracks "No Boundaries" and the previously unannounced new song "An Open Mind" (currently represented here only by a "placeholder" page). I've already placed my order for the CD single via Amazon, and I'll order the digital files once they're released. New music, woo-hoo!

October 1, 2019

Thanks to Nigel Brand for noticing and reporting a typo, now corrected, in the results of one of my recent polls.

September 28, 2019

Thanks to Béla for catching and reporting a typo on my "King's Cross" page, now corrected!

September 26, 2019

News today from the PSB camp – The new Tennant-Lowe song "No Boundaries" from the theatrical production of My Beautiful Laundrette will appear as a bonus track on the CD and digital-bundle single of "Dreamland," which will be released sometime in October (the precise date yet to be announced). And, speaking of Laundrette, thanks to Andrew Shaw for providing a bit of additional information about "Omar's Theme."

Thanks also to Paul Mann for sharing some observations about the term "fly poster" in "King's Cross" and the title phrase of "Left to My Own Devices." I've made minor adjustments in my entries for those songs accordingly.

September 22, 2019

I've posted the final results of my poll of the past two weeks, in which I asked my site visitors to pick from a selection of Tennant-Lowe songs—the ones released by other artists before they released their own renditions—those that they prefer as performed by those other artists as opposed to the versions by the Pet Shop Boys themselves. For the next two weeks, I will run my latest "Ratings Project" survey, which also happens to be my 900^th poll. I've listed the five most recently released Tennant-Lowe songs: the new ones from the one-woman cabaret show Musik, as well as the Pet Shop Boys' new single in collaboration with Years & Years, "Dreamland." As usual, I'm asking you rate each of them on a scale of 0 to 10 as they compare with all other PSB songs—not with tracks by other artists. I'm eager to see how they stack up!

Meanwhile, thanks to David B for pointing out that the aforementioned "Dreamland" includes lines that may be interpreted as an allusion to the Garden of Eden. Hence, I'm adding it to my list of biblical allusions in PSB songs, although at the end (#16) among those of a more "questionable" nature.

September 21, 2019

I've just received a good deal of valuable information from one of my regular site visitors, Andrew Shaw, about My Beautiful Laundrette, the new stage production featuring music by the Pet Shop Boys—a mix of both previously released songs and some brand new ones. I've made a number of corresponding updates, including new entries for the new songs, most notably "No Boundaries." Thanks so much, Andrew!

September 17, 2019

The Pet Shop Boys' official website has just announced that the BBC Radio 2 documentary, Pet Shop Boys, documentary - The Parlophone Years, is available for online listening, although you'll need to set aside two hours of your life to do so. (Well, I suspect most of us fans will find the time. ) Aside from all the information provided and hearing the Boys (especially Chris) talk so much, what I like best are the subtly different mixes—at least they sound subtly different—of some of the song excerpts played. In fact, a few of those differences aren't subtle at all.

September 16, 2019

Although I had already noticed it online, thanks to porkchopkid for letting me know that the Pet Shop Boys (with guest Olly Alexander) performed "Dreamland" during their Hyde Park show yesterday. I've now added "Dreamland" to my list of songs that the Boys have performed live.

September 15, 2019

Having neglected to do so until now, I finally got around to adding the five most recently released Tennant-Lowe songs—the new songs from Musik as well as "Dreamland"—to my PSB song chronology.

By the way, thanks so much to everyone who has written very kind words of encouragement. I truly appreciate it!

September 13, 2019

Not being very superstitious—a little paranoid, yes, but not superstitious—I have no qualms about making site updates on Friday the 13^th. So thanks to Neil of Delaware for catching a typo in my new entry for "Dreamland," which I've now corrected. And thanks as well to porkchopkid for noticing that the iTunes "more info" button for the song states not only the expected January 24 release date for the new album but also that "Dreamland" will be the fourth out of ten tracks! That's good to know, although I suppose that sort of thing is subject to change at this early date.

I get rather frustrated when I'm caught between conflicting information provided to me by two different site visitors. I won't go into the pertinent details, but that has happened to me over the past 24 hours. And it becomes even more frustrating when, if I don't make the change that one of them suggests, that person responds with a personal insult. So let me be a little blunt about this: I don't need that kind of crap in my life. Largely because of other things going on in my life right now that have nothing to do with the Pet Shop Boys and this website, I'm already this close to giving up on this little hobby of mine. If I "close shop" anytime soon, that's why.

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