Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

Die Pet Shop Boys Diskussion. Alles Neue und Interessante zu den Boys. Hier könnt Ihr auch Fragen stellen oder Fragen anderer Fans beantworten.
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DrFink
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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1251 Beitrag von DrFink »

Was soll denn Andy Bell genau gesagt haben - und wann? Bist du dir sicher, dass es von ihm persönlich kam, und nicht von seiner Plattenfirma?

In diesem Interview von 2010 äußerst sich Andy Bell positiv über die Songs der Pet Shop Boys:
TNG: There’s that club music and gay people connection, they go hand in hand..

AB: They do go hand in in hand. In the UK we have a North/South divide, and we’ve always been more popular in Scotland, and the further North you go. I don’t think it only gets played in gay clubs, a lot of the more straight-type places are really into dubstep, but I’m not sure if the music on “Nonstop” music in with that.

TNG: What makes it more popular in the North than the South?

AB: I think in the South they are more fashion-conscious, much more worried about their image and being cool. In the north they just want to have a good time, a party. Damn the consequences.

TNG: Is there a Blur vs. Oasis equivalent rivalry for you?

AB: I would say that the Pet Shop Boys is more for South.

TNG: What’s your relationship like with Neil Tennant? Is there a rivalry there?

AB: Not at all. I don’t see him very often. The last time was when Electric Blue came out, and I was in the nightclub Heaven, and I said I really loved their new song. My favorite song ever is “Being Boring.” When we were really popular they used to make it like a two horse race in the charts, but that doesn’t refer to us now anyway.
Und in diesem Interview von 2009 äußerst sich Neil Tennant ziemlich "neutral" über Erasure:
“But the only rivalry between Pet Shop Boys and Erasure is because of the public!” Tennant protests. “They’ve sort of thrown us together. I think our records and their records are very, very different. Vince Clarke is not quite, but verges on, being a synth purist, while Pet Shop Boys have always been quite orchestral. The tradition of pop we are in, we are electronic, but we’re pretty much in the tradition of Phil Spector really. It’s all hands on deck – not just synthesisers, but guitars, orchestras…
“Their songs are very different. But they’ve got some lovely songs, I think. If there has been a rivalry, it hasn’t really come from Erasure or the Pet Shop Boys. I’ve always found it a bit weird – I don’t really think about Erasure that much, and I don’t suppose they think about us, apart from the fact that we endlessly get compared with each other. We don’t know each other! I’ve only ever met Andy Bell maybe twice. I’ve never actually met Vince Clarke!” He laughs. “I’ve met Bono more times than Vince Clarke.”
Heißt kurz: Beide respektieren die Arbeit der anderen Band, finden ein paar Lieder klasse, aber haben sonst keine große Meinung zur anderen Band. Und beide betonen, dass diese Rivalitäten in erster Linie von außen gerne gesehen/gesät werden (siehe Blur vs. Oasis, die schon einige Male zusammen auf der Bühne standen, genauer gesagt der Sänger der einen Band mit der gesamten anderen Band).

Wer also irgendeiner einen persönlichen Konflikt zwischen den Bandmitgliedern sieht, zeigt genau die Reaktion, die sicherlich einige in den Plattenfirmen gerne sehen. Denn dann sind wieder Schlagzeilen geboren... Und der britische Gossip ist ja noch viel schlimmer als die deutsche BILD und Co.
"I never dreamt that I would get to be, the creature that I always meant to be."

Pet Shop Boys Radio: https://laut.fm/petshopboys

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1252 Beitrag von Miss*Vulnerable »

Andy hat es selbst in einem deutschen Interview gesagt. Muss so 2, max. 3 Jahre her sein, habe es im Internet gefunden und auch ausgedruckt, leider finde ich diesen gerade nicht. Natürlich weiss ich dass viele "Konflikte", die die PSB mit anderen haben sollen gar nicht bzw. nicht mehr so heftig sind wie sie vielleicht von der presse geschürt werden (U2, Oasis), aber wenn jemand von diesen Leuten persönlich was Dummes dazu sagt muss das schon was bedeuten. Aber selbst wenn sie sich "total lieb" hätten würden sie musikalisch nicht wirklich zusammen passen, diese Meinung hab ich nach wie vor.

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1253 Beitrag von nitelife »

egal was in der vergangenheit war, man kann seine meinung ändern...."I thought again and changed my mind."

nun, eine zusammenarbeit finde ich nicht so prall. sie würde m.e. auch nicht so gut zu den rezenten platten passen.
falls sie mal ein collaborationalbum machen, kann andy meinetwegen backingvocals singen. das würde mir reichen ^^

anundfürsich mag ich erasure und hab da auch platten im schrank. aber im gegenteil zu psb platten wirken sie manchmal zusammengeschustert, unkreativ und irgendwie schnell & billig produziert.

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1254 Beitrag von DrFink »

Miss*Vulnerable hat geschrieben:Andy hat es selbst in einem deutschen Interview gesagt. Muss so 2, max. 3 Jahre her sein, habe es im Internet gefunden und auch ausgedruckt, leider finde ich diesen gerade nicht. Natürlich weiss ich dass viele "Konflikte", die die PSB mit anderen haben sollen gar nicht bzw. nicht mehr so heftig sind wie sie vielleicht von der presse geschürt werden (U2, Oasis), aber wenn jemand von diesen Leuten persönlich was Dummes dazu sagt muss das schon was bedeuten. Aber selbst wenn sie sich "total lieb" hätten würden sie musikalisch nicht wirklich zusammen passen, diese Meinung hab ich nach wie vor.
In einem deutschen Interview...hmmm... da gibt's dann schon mal die mögliche Fehlerquelle "Übersetzung", oder - wenn Andy Bell das Interview tatsächlich in Deutsch gegeben haben soll - die Fehlerquelle "Andy Bells Deutschkenntnisse".

Außerdem: Wenn die Fans eines Künstlers nur seine Musikrichtung und seinen Musikstil als Maßstab nehmen, passt fast so gut wie keine Collaboration. Doch solange z.B. Lady Gaga mit Tony Bennett arbeitet, und Paul McCartney klassische Songs aufnimmt, zeigt das mal wieder, dass in Sachen "Horizonte erweitern" viele Künstler weiter sind als ihre Fans. Was kein Vorwurf Richtung Fans ist sondern eine Tatsache. Ich fand ja "The Most Incredible Thing" auch eher langweilig. Nur wenn das zusammenpasst, passen Pet Shop Boys und Erasure sowieso. Ich denke nur, das da Nichts kreativ Überraschendes rauskommen würde, weil die beiden musikalisch - wenn man den gesamten Pop-/Rockbereich von Metal bis Schlager sich anschaut - doch viele Parallelitäten aufweisen. Es sind beide Synthpop-Bands, die ihre größten Erfolge in den 80ern hatten. Wenn OMD und The Human League zusammen was machen würden, käme da auch etwas raus, was ev. auf eine Scheibe von OMD oder von The Human League erscheinen könnte - der Unterschied zu "Solo"-Songs wäre nicht so deutlich.

Künstler suche ihre Inspirationen ja auch eher im "Neuen", aber in einem Bereich ihrer musikalischen Vorstellungen. Dann ist mir doch lieber, wenn sie Rammstein und Robbie Williams remixen und mit Dusty und Liza zusammenarbeiten, anstatt mit anderen 80er Synth-Popbands zu kollaborieren.
"I never dreamt that I would get to be, the creature that I always meant to be."

Pet Shop Boys Radio: https://laut.fm/petshopboys

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1255 Beitrag von Miss*Vulnerable »

Wenn ich den Ausdruck finde schreibe ich ihn hier rein, dann kann sich jeder selbst einen Eindruck verschaffen. Andy hatte deutsch in der schule und kann es auch recht gut. Dass ein Wort falsch interpretiert werden kann oder er es eben falsch ausgedrückt hat kann ja sein, bestimmt aber nicht mehrere Sätze. Aber egal, bin nach wie vor der Ansicht dass das musikalisch nichts wird bzw. werden sollte. 1. Weil beide vom Sound her ähnlich klingen (beides vom Grund her synthie-bands), 2. weil ich Ersasure qualitativ einfach nicht so hoch ansehe wie neil & Chris (was nicht heißen soll dass ich E. gar nicht mag) und denke dass es die Qualität der PSB auch etwas "runterziehen" könnte. 3. Wie soll das ablaufen? Beide Bands sind sehr aufeinander eingespielt in ihrer Arbeit, keine Ahnung ob sich Chris von Vince beim komponieren/produzieren dreinreden lässt und wie Neil und Andy zusammen singen sollen, selbst wenn jeder abwechselnd nur eine Strophe singt. Von meinem Gehör her passen beide stimmen einfach nicht so zusammen dass es wirklich harmonisch klingen würde. 4. Was würde die restliche fangemeinde davon halten? Es gibt viele erasure-fans die meinen E. wären die besseren PSB und viele PSB-Fans finden Erasure nur einen lächerlichen Abklatsch. Nee, das sollten sie lieber bleiben lassen. Würde mir da endlich mal eine neil - schiller Kooperation o.ä. wünschen.

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1256 Beitrag von Konstantin »

Miss*Vulnerable hat geschrieben:Was das mit "Kirche im Dorf lassen" zu tun hat weiß ich nicht.
"Jetzt komm aber mal wieder runter" wäre die wahrscheinlich unfreundlichere, aber direktere Variante vergleichbaren Inhalts gewesen. Für mich klang es von der Vehemenz der Worte so, als würde der Chef eines Kinderpornorings mit dem Pabst eine Firma gründen wollen... Igitt, das geht ja gaaaaaaaar nicht! Worauf ich im Endeffekt hinaus will: Ich war beim Lesen Deines Posting einfach wieder mal an die klassische Diskussion über die "heiligen Kühe" seit 2002 erinnert - it's just a never ending story...
"That's another good thing about Pet Shop Boys: Always home in time for dinner."
Stuart Price

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1257 Beitrag von Miss*Vulnerable »

Konstantin hat geschrieben:
Miss*Vulnerable hat geschrieben:Was das mit "Kirche im Dorf lassen" zu tun hat weiß ich nicht.
"Jetzt komm aber mal wieder runter" wäre die wahrscheinlich unfreundlichere, aber direktere Variante vergleichbaren Inhalts gewesen. Für mich klang es von der Vehemenz der Worte so, als würde der Chef eines Kinderpornorings mit dem Pabst eine Firma gründen wollen... Igitt, das geht ja gaaaaaaaar nicht! Worauf ich im Endeffekt hinaus will: Ich war beim Lesen Deines Posting einfach wieder mal an die klassische Diskussion über die "heiligen Kühe" seit 2002 erinnert - it's just a never ending story...
Um es mal ganz deutlich zu sagen: Ich bin zwar großer PSB-Fan, dennoch finde ich längst nicht alles "supitoll" was beide tun oder sagen und ich denke das ist auch gut so, denn natürlich sind beide KEINE heiligen Kühe. Aber bestimmte Sachen finde ich einfach nicht okay, und da fallen auch so komische Kooperationen wie mit Erasure drunter. Wenn sie es dennoch machen sollten, bitte sehr, deswegen kehre ich mich als Fan nicht ab, aber dass da sowas berauschendes rauskommen wird glaub ich halt einfach nicht. Aber ich lasse mich gerne vom Gegenteil überzeugen.

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1258 Beitrag von Konstantin »

Amen! :knuddel:
"That's another good thing about Pet Shop Boys: Always home in time for dinner."
Stuart Price

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1259 Beitrag von Miss*Vulnerable »

Konstantin hat geschrieben:Amen! :knuddel:
:up:

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1260 Beitrag von Roland »

Nach Meinung von rollingstone.de gehört "Being Boring" vom Album "Behaviour"
zu den 23 grandiosesten Album-Eröffnungstiteln der Musikgeschichte.

http://www.rollingstone.de/23-grandiose ... te-819637/

Auf die PSB, jedoch nicht auf die Gleichwertigkeit der Songs bezogen, würde ich auch "Axis" vom Themenalbum "Electric" ebenfalls dazu zählen, da man eine solche Platte nicht besser starten kann.
Hätten sie "God willing" in der Langfassung auf "Fundamental" an die richtige Stelle gesetzt, hätten sie auch hier einen Intro-Award gewinnen können.
Also bei mir zumindest.

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1261 Beitrag von Konstantin »

"That's another good thing about Pet Shop Boys: Always home in time for dinner."
Stuart Price

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1262 Beitrag von morrison »

Miss*Vulnerable hat geschrieben:Ich finde es dennoch scheinheilig erst über einen abzudissen und dann auf einmal mit ihm arbeiten zu wollen. Das hat mit dem Festival-Vergleich und ähnlichem nichts zu tun. Natürlich haben die PSB, allen voran Neil, in der Vergangenheit viel gesagt was sie später revidiert haben (wir gehen nie auf Tour, wir hassen Rock-/Gitarrenmusik, Festivals sind blöd... ), aber wenn man jahrelang miteinander konkurriert und schlecht übereinander redet ist das was ganz anderes. Es passt wie ich finde auch einfach musikalisch nicht. Aber das ist meine Meinung, andere können ebenso denken oder auch nicht, bitte sehr. Was das mit "Kirche im Dorf lassen" zu tun hat weiß ich nicht.
Was vor 30 Jare war interessiert doch heute keinen Keks mehr.
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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1263 Beitrag von Miss*Vulnerable »

morrison hat geschrieben:
Miss*Vulnerable hat geschrieben:Ich finde es dennoch scheinheilig erst über einen abzudissen und dann auf einmal mit ihm arbeiten zu wollen. Das hat mit dem Festival-Vergleich und ähnlichem nichts zu tun. Natürlich haben die PSB, allen voran Neil, in der Vergangenheit viel gesagt was sie später revidiert haben (wir gehen nie auf Tour, wir hassen Rock-/Gitarrenmusik, Festivals sind blöd... ), aber wenn man jahrelang miteinander konkurriert und schlecht übereinander redet ist das was ganz anderes. Es passt wie ich finde auch einfach musikalisch nicht. Aber das ist meine Meinung, andere können ebenso denken oder auch nicht, bitte sehr. Was das mit "Kirche im Dorf lassen" zu tun hat weiß ich nicht.
Was vor 30 Jare war interessiert doch heute keinen Keks mehr.
Dich vielleicht nicht, andere schon. Also lass bitte jedem seine Meinung. Danke.

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1264 Beitrag von morrison »

X Dann moechte nicht bei dir in der Schuld stehen :mrgreen:
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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1265 Beitrag von Roland »

Das elektrische Duo fand am letzten Sonntag in der "Bild am Sonntag" Erwähnung
in einem Beitrag über den Abgasskandal beim Volkswagen-Konzern und
daraus resultierenden Einsparzwängen.

Tenor des Artikels: Volkswagen wird es sich möglicherweise in der näheren
Zukunft nicht mehr leisten können Stars, wie auch Robbie Williams,
zur Produkt-Promotion und für Hauspartys einzuladen.

Wir erinnern uns: Das größte aller Popduos absolvierte im Zuge der Markteinführung
von elektrisch angetriebenen Automobilen einen passenden musikalischen Auftritt im Hause VW.

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1266 Beitrag von mhecker »

Eine Liebeserklärung meines Lieblingsmusikjournalisten an das Lieblingsalbum meiner Lieblingsband: http://www.rollingstone.de/die-oktobers ... ys-888579/

M

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1267 Beitrag von Roland »

Soviel Liebe!

Das Balanescu Quartet konnte ich übrigens vor 2 Jahren live
auf Festival erleben.

Danke fürs verlinken!

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1268 Beitrag von Roland »

Ein weiterer umfangreicher Aufsatz zu "Behaviour".

http://www.popmatters.com/feature/pet-s ... ars-later/

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1269 Beitrag von ChrisPSB »

mhecker hat geschrieben:Eine Liebeserklärung meines Lieblingsmusikjournalisten an das Lieblingsalbum meiner Lieblingsband: http://www.rollingstone.de/die-oktobers ... ys-888579/
Roland hat geschrieben:Ein weiterer umfangreicher Aufsatz zu "Behaviour".

http://www.popmatters.com/feature/pet-s ... ars-later/

Es ist nett, dass der Rolling Stone an Behaviour denkt, doch ich finde den Beitrag ermüdend und schlecht geschrieben. Der Einstieg ist zu bemüht und inhatlich gibt der Artikel nicht viel her. Er schweift mir mitunter zu sehr ab und ist gespickt mit hohlen Phrasen wie "In der Rückschau wissen wir das alles". Statt etwas als Selbstverständlichkeit zu kennzeichnen, sollte es vom Autor ausführlich beschrieben und erläutert werden. Glücklicherweise macht der ausführliche Essay von popmatters genau das. Im Gegensatz zum Rolling Stone stellt popmatters auch tatsächlich einen Zeitbezug her und reflektiert über den Status und die Signifikanz des Albums zur Zeit der Veröffentlichung sowie heutztage, 25 Jahre später. Summa Summrum kann man den Rolling Stone in die Tonne kloppen und sich lieber den popmatters-Beitrag durchlesen oder auf nbhap vorbeischauen: http://nbhap.com/features/pet-shop-boys-behaviour/
BBFL 🤝🏻

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1270 Beitrag von morrison »

:)Danke fuer den Artikel
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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1271 Beitrag von Roland »

Pet Shop Boys finden kurz Erwähnung im Deutschlandradio, im Nachbericht
zum gestrigen, aus meiner Sicht überwiegend großartigen, New Order-Konzert im Berliner Tempodrom.

Zum Nachhören hier:

http://ondemand-mp3.dradio.de/file/drad ... 5b57d9.mp3

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1272 Beitrag von Roland »

Erstes TV-Promotional der "Super"-Ära auf ITV.



https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=you ... ffwcxUFxpY

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1273 Beitrag von Roland »

In der Besprechung des neuen Albums der Junior Boys
durch Tobias Rapp im aktuellen Literatur-SPIEGEL, findet
das fantastische Duo Erwähnung.

http://www.pic-upload.de/view-29598356/ ... 1.jpg.html

Sie finden auch Platz in der Songauswahl historischer Synthie-Pop-Titel
gleich daneben.

Das Album kann hier (noch) probegehört werden.

http://www.npr.org/2016/01/27/464564269 ... black-coat

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1274 Beitrag von Roland »

Die neue Single der Pet Shop Boys "The Pop Kids"
erreicht in der aktuellen Playliste von Andreas Borcholte
den 9. Platz - und das noch vor Isolation Berlin.

http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/musik/star ... 78650.html

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Re: Pet Shop Boys "Presseschau"

#1275 Beitrag von Roland »

Das Attitude-April Interview mit einer Menge Album-Spoilern.

Wer sich den ersten Hörergüssen ohne Background hingeben möchte,
dem sei das Weiterlesen nicht empfohlen, ich habe es mir selbst auch nicht empfohlen. :D

Die Digitalausgabe mit der Hunde-Fotoserie ist hier für überschaubares Geld kaufbar:
https://pocketmags.com/viewmagazine.asp ... e=Attitude


This month the UK’s most successful musical duo of all time celebrate 30 years since the release of their first album with a brand new single and new album. Matthew Todd speaks to Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, the Pet Shop Boys

Neil wears jacket by Philipp Plein, polo neck top by Rick Owens, jeans by Acne, boots by Christian Louboutin Chris wears jacket by Adidas, polo neck top by Topman, sunglasses, jeans, boots, hat all Chris’ own
PHOTOGRAPHY: JOSEPH SINCLAIR

Neil wears jacket by Acne, polo top by Rick Owens, jeans by Acne
Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe are in a very ‘up’ mood. They are back with a brand new album, Super, their 13th and the first since their widely seen as a return to form – and the dancefloor – 2013 effort Electric, recorded with recent live collaborator Stuart Price of Madonna’s Confessions on a Dance Floor fame. Like that record, Super is bangier, dancier, more electronic, more like what you really loved about the Pet Shop Boys in the first place. The day after our shoot the first single goes to radio. ‘The Pop Kids’ is about a young guy and girl who move to London to be part of the music scene and spend their lives ‘quoting the best bits’. The internet loves it. “It’s my life,” says one breathy Tweeter. And so it is. The Pet Shop Boys are not just a band for gay people – it might be hard to have had 42 UK top thirty singles and four UK numbers ones if they were – but there is a very specific gay sensibility and narrative in their work which comes simply from Neil Tennant expressing his life experience and with Chris Lowe’s club-driven sound.
In the north London studio we are shooting in today, various assistants bring in familiar looking outfits – caps for Chris, long coats for Neil, the sort of shiny things one associates with the quirkiest duo in pop, not to mention the most successful. 2016 marks 30 years since ‘West End Girls’ hit number one around the world and their first album, Please, was released. 50 million records later, the Pet Shop Boys are still relentless. Understandably so. Driven, so it seems, by the sheer undiluted joy of making pop music.
How does it feel to be 30?
NEIL: 30 years since the first album? It’s something you don’t give that much thought to but 30 years is a long period of time. It just doesn’t seem that long because it’s been continuous ever since and before that actually, making records and videos. We didn’t start touring properly until 1999.
You didn’t tour for a very long time…
NEIL: Now we tour all the time. We were always interested in doing the theatrical tour thing. We booked a tour in 1986 and then we saw the figures and realised we couldn’t afford to do it. We booked the same tour the next year, we still couldn’t afford to do it. Then, in 1991, we finally did that tour. Before that we did a short tour directed by Derek Jarman. We’ve really followed that sort of ethos of presenting a show ever since; working with directors and designers. That used to be very unusual, but now it’s become commonplace really.
The new album is very modern but the single ‘The Pop Kids’ has a 90s sound to it which reminded me of some of your early records.
NEIL: There’s a similarity to our first couple of albums in that there’s more space in the music. When we made the album Fundamental with Trevor Horn, every track’s got an orchestra on it. There’s not a lot of space as there’s an orchestra chugging away whereas this breathes more.
CHRIS: This one is very electronic with no real instruments.
You’ve been doing this a long time. Do you clash with producers?
NEIL: It’s a good idea at the beginning of the album process to decide what the album is. For this we had 25 songs. Our producer Stuart [Price] came to our studio in London and we played through all these 25 songs and decided what approach we wanted to follow on from the last album Electric, which was very electronic and quite up and tuneful and melodic but not too poppy. We have some poppy pop songs that are actually pretty good but we decided to use them later and not on this album.
CHRIS: Also, when you’re working with Stuart you know you can do some tracks which are more instrumental. You don’t need to worry about traditional song structure so you can be a lot freer. So for instance, ‘Inner Sanctum’ just has one bit of vocal; it doesn’t need anything more.
NEIL: There’s nothing else to say, either. (Both laugh).
CHRIS: It’s quite nice. It gives the whole album space to...
NEIL: Breathe a bit so there’s this place where there’s not a ton of lyrics. So a song like ‘The Dictator’ has got a lot of lyrics which is followed by ‘Pazzo’ which is just the lyric ‘You’re crazy’.

Chris and Neil photographed in New York in 1985
[To Chris] You’re the clubbier of the two. Do you get really excited when you work with someone like Stuart Price?
CHRIS: It’s very exciting working with Stuart for that reason, because he also likes to string an element of euphoria into the music: huge drum fills and moments of ecstasy. We have very similar taste when it comes to dance music. It’s very exciting when you get those moments in the studio and you imagine what it might look like in a club.
NEIL: The two songs we took out – one’s a bonus song for the album, the other is a B-side – one of them is called ‘In Bits’ and the other one’s called ‘The Lost Room’, and they’re both quite dark songs. We have actually written an incredibly dark album which could yet be made with all these extremely dark songs about what’s happening in the world and also, musically quite heavy. We actually compiled a list the other week.
CHRIS: We might bring out ‘Duper’ next…
NEIL: Super Duper!
CHRIS: …the companion piece. (Laughs)
NEIL: That’s a great idea! It happened during your interview!

Pandemonium Tour at the O2 Arena
The song ‘Happiness’ begins the album. But the lyrics almost imply you’re not happy.
NEIL: I think that sort of sets up the atmosphere of happiness but, as ever, with the Pet Shop Boys you’re not totally convinced it’s going to be happy. ‘It’s a long way to happiness’ is quite a sad idea, isn’t it?
Is that lyric from you in the first person?
NEIL: It’s quite interesting because in theory I’m not being me, it’s my subconscious talking. We were doing another track, discussing the chord change and I had a mental image of Leo Sayer in dungarees with a perm singing ‘It’s a long way to happiness, a long way to go, and I’m gonna get there the only way I know’. Again, it was one of those songs that didn’t really need to say anything else. We quite liked the idea that it was like someone had sampled it from an old record.
I really loved ‘Twenty Something’. It reminded me of ‘Opportunities’ a bit.
NEIL: It’s about London and Soho specifically, maybe. A decadent city in a time of greed: the bankers and their bonuses. I know from friends it’s tougher for twenty something’s than it was when I was twenty something. Career wise, I mean. When I was that age you could just walk into a job. I had a job within 10 days of finishing my degree. Nowadays it’s more difficult. It used to be much easier to get a flat. It’s observational of a twenty something guy in London. Sort of about money like ‘Opportunities’ is.
Where did the political narrative in your work come from?
NEIL: Before I met Chris I used to write songs on my guitar, they were very singer/songwriter. They were quite political.
CHRIS: You can always go back to that. It’s the right era for you. (Laughs)
NEIL: Then Chris said can’t you make them sexier? So then there was a change, but still an element of observational attitude. A lot of this album is like a lot of Pet Shop Boys albums; a sort of picture of the modern world. Even quite by accident there’s a whole track about Volkswagen called ‘Sad Robot World’. We did a presentation at the Frankfurt motor show and got a tour of the factory. It’s so clean. Robots are washing cars. There was something about it that was balletic; it had a sense of melancholy. I said “It’s a sad robot world, isn’t it?” and I wrote that phrase down and we turned it into a song. Volkswagen wanted us to do something with them but it didn’t happen.
Probably a good thing now. [After the VW emissions scandal]
CHRIS: Yes, we wouldn’t want that association. (Both laugh)
How does it feel to look back at having such phenomenal success and to know you’re still making interesting music?
NEIL: I think it requires a very strong focus. It sometimes feels like a bit of a struggle. Like you’re swimming against the tide. When you’ve been around for a long time there’s a sort of cynicism from the public about you. They assume you can’t be any good anymore. On Elysium we wrote the song ‘Your Early Stuff’. I had it this morning, from a taxi driver. He said “What you doing these days?” I thought we’re having an ‘early stuff moment’. I said “We’ve got a new album coming out.” He said “Who’s that with then? You and another band?” I said “It’s just us. We’re doing the cover of a magazine, actually.”
“What, just you” he said.
CHRIS: No, with a load of dogs! (laughs)
NEIL: People feel you have to justify yourself that you haven’t retired or become a greatest hits show. You also appreciate the cynicism of people thinking do they still have anything to offer. We, of course, think we do and I hope this album proves that.
“PEOPLE FEEL YOU HAVE TO JUSTIFY YOURSELF, THAT YOU HAVEN’T RETIRED OR BECOME A GREATEST HITS SHOW”
What would your younger self have thought about everything that’s happened over the last 30 years?
NEIL: Our priority has always been the songwriting and then making the records. When you first have success it feels so incredible, you can’t believe you have it. Then you don’t think it’s going to last. With ‘West End Girls’ we were potentially a classic one hit wonder. Even the record company thought so. If you’d said to us in 30 years’ time you’ll have performed at the Olympics, headlined Glastonbury in your fifties… At the same time, we never really look back that much unless we’re choosing songs for tour. We never really look forward that much either. What are we doing the year after next? No idea.
CHRIS: They keep raising the retirement age though, don’t they? We’re never going to get to it, are we?
NEIL: I think there’s a feeling of pride to have created something that at the very least has a sort of intense following from a certain number of people.
It was January ‘86 when ‘West End Girls’ went to number one but I read that you felt that ‘Domino Dancing’, which was only two years later, marked the end of what you call your ‘imperial’ hyper-successful phase.
NEIL: It was because when we made ‘Domino Dancing’ and ‘Left to My Own Devices’ there was a general presumption that both would be number one records. We’d just had ‘Heart’ and ‘Always On My Mind’. Both ‘Domino Dancing’ and ‘Left to My Own Devices’ were very strong songs but it was a change of musical style, very Latin; we made it in Miami. They were both quite big hits but you felt that suddenly it wasn’t a given that we would go straight into the top three and I just knew, from my Smash Hits years, it was just a different level. Most artists wouldn’t think about it. I don’t know if Chris was thinking about it.
CHRIS: It’s all over. We’re finished.
NEIL: Time to become an architect. We just carried on regardless, as we’ve been doing ever since.
[To Chris] Were you enjoying it at the time?
CHRIS: Enjoying what?
Being a popstar.
CHRIS: I’ve never enjoyed it. I’m not enjoying it now. (Neil laughs loudly).
You seemed to suddenly enjoy it much more.
CHRIS: When did that happen? Let me know.… Yeah, it’s alright sometimes.
It’s easier for you because you can walk down the street without people noticing you.
CHRIS: Neil can walk down the street.
NEIL: I don’t think I really look like me.
CHRIS: That’s because of the amount of retouching. (Laughs)

Chris wears jacket by McQ, polo top by Topman, sunglasses, boots and hat all Chris’ own
NEIL: Exactly. I get slightly offended when people think I’m me. I think ‘No, he’s much better looking than me’. I operate as if no one knows who I am. I get the tube everywhere. I didn’t for many years but the traffic’s so awful in London. I either walk or get the tube. At night I get a taxi. I don’t think about it. We are both great walkers. If we go out in London, we’ll say ‘bye’ and he’ll walk east and I’ll walk west. I like to see what’s happening. Some people want to lose touch. We’ve always liked to be in touch with what’s going on.
When ‘It’s A Sin’ came out in ‘87, it was an incredibly homophobic time. Was it influenced or a comment on that in any way?
NEIL: The song was written in 1983. It came out of my subconscious, my schooling, going to a Catholic grammar school. When you start thinking about sex, you’re told that it’s a terrible sin. Everything you want to do is a sin. It’s about adolescence really. So, 1987… it wasn’t as homophobic as 1988 with Section 28.
It felt like it was leading up to that time though. Vicious and nasty.
NEIL: Was that partly because of AIDS? I don’t know.
The press were constantly attacking gay people.
NEIL: You mean tabloids? Maybe you mean The Sun, which was a very entertaining paper but you felt it was a sort of base level homophobia, if only in an ‘oo-err missus’ sort of way, and maybe a sort of racism. But it was more like that in the 70s, I think. It’s probably unfair to The Sun, more like the Daily Express and Daily Mail. It’s astonishing how things have changed. There’s no two ways about that.
You famously came out in Attitude.
NEIL: Typically, being me I did that not for any personal reasons, but because I thought it was a good magazine; different from other gay magazines. The gay press of the 1970s was specifically political, which is the scene Peter Tatchell came out of. When Attitude started I thought this is a good magazine; a style magazine with gay political content. So, when doing that interview it seemed churlish not to say something. It wasn’t a masterplan. I just thought I’d have to say it as it was about time. I felt self-conscious like I was trying to make a profound statement.
Very, the album you had out that year, was perceived as a very gay album with ‘Can You Forgive Her’, ‘To Speak is a Sin’, ‘Liberation’, ‘Young Offender’, ‘Go West’…
NEIL: Yes, it was. ‘To Speak is a Sin’ we wrote in 1983 when we used to go to the dive bar [mentioned in ‘West End Girls’] which was on the corner of Gerard St and is now a…
CHRIS: Chinese restaurant.
NEIL: It was a gay bar. You don’t get bars like that anymore, which we always used to quite like, where it’s not cool. They’d be playing Shirley Bassey or Amanda Lear or the soundtrack of My Fair Lady. Someone there did cartoons of ‘gay icons’ and there’d be lots of guys sitting there not really saying very much. There’d be one or two art student types, you know.
“IF ALL YOU’VE EVER WANTED TO DO WAS WRITE SONGS… THEN THIS IS FANTASTIC”

Neil wears polo top and coat both by Rick Owens Chris wears jacket by Adidas, polo neck top by Topman, sunglasses, jeans, boots, hat Chris’ own
CHRIS: Then it became really trendy and then it closed. We took that actor there once – that actor…
NEIL: Terribly famous film actor…
CHRIS: It was a really great night. We went in the Groucho and we got into a rickshaw.
NEIL: Christian Slater, that’s it… We took him there?
CHRIS: We whizzed across China Town to the dive bar. It was a lot of fun. (Pauses) No, we didn’t take him there. It was shut. We just showed him where it was as he was a teenager when it came out.
NEIL: Anyway, so at this point I was in a very strong relationship so I thought well, I’m going to put this in the songs. We were surprised everyone liked that album so much. It was so poppy. Someone said ‘It’s like you’re older people making young music’. I couldn’t work out if that was good or bad.
“SOMEONE SAID ‘IT’S LIKE YOU’RE OLDER PEOPLE MAKING YOUNG MUSIC’. I COULDN’T DECIDE IF THAT WAS GOOD OR BAD”
CHRIS: We’ve certainly carried on in that vein. (Laughs)

First No. 1 single and second album
Were you aware of the connection to young gay people of the time growing up thinking ‘There’s virtually nothing but there is the Pet Shop Boys’.
NEIL: Well, of course. I always thought, looking back to my own youth, there was something very powerful about not knowing someone’s sexuality. We were talking earlier about One Direction and some fans believing Louis is in a relationship with Harry. For young gay people isn’t there something quite strong about that? Then, when someone is gay, its great knowing someone’s gay… but a group like One Direction, they have the grace to go along with that, in a way. Obviously, there’s a sort of romantic and erotic thing about it that girls like as well. I think that’s quite a powerful thing about pop groups, rather than everything. And now it’s great when people are gay. It’s almost a positive, which is a really amazing thing. Particularly for a female audience.

What do you make of Years and Years, who people sometimes say are similar to you?
NEIL: There’s a tendency when anyone is an electronic group making pop records to say it sounds like the Pet Shop Boys. Years and Years, who I like a lot by the way, I don’t think the album sounds remotely like us. But I never think anyone sounds like us when people say they do.
CHRIS: You’re wrong. There’s that Australian group, Tinie Tempah or something, Tay Melane or Tom…
NEIL: Tame Impala?
CHRIS: They sound just like you!
NEIL: I don’t think that. I like that album a lot. The music doesn’t sound like us though.
CHRIS: Sounds like you, though. You’ve been moonlighting.
NEIL: Tame Impala of the Pet Shop Boys. (Chris laughs) I think people who don’t know our records very well have a vague idea about what we should sound like. But Olly Alexander, I think he’s great. He’s a much better singer than I am. By about a million times. He’s got a beautiful voice.
What’s the best thing about being in the Pet Shop Boys?
NEIL: Well, it’s a 24-hour a day job which is maybe the worst thing about it.
CHRIS: Not Saturdays or Sundays.
NEIL: Getting to do this, to write songs, make records with Stuart Price, and people like him and go on tour. If all you’ve ever wanted to be is a songwriter... I never really wanted to be a performer, I became a performer by accident, then it’s really fantastic.
What about you, Chris? What have you enjoyed the most?
CHRIS: I’ve got my misery hat on.
Are there bits you’re proud of?
CHRIS: The best bit is going in the studio and seeing what happens.
NEIL: That’s what has kept us going all this time. It’s really, really fulfilling. It’s miraculous. You go in with something and you come out with something.
CHRIS: Particularly if it’s good. If it’s something you’d actually like to listen to. (Laughs)
Is there any song in particular that you wish you’d released as a single?
NEIL: I don’t think I really care about that. One thing I do think is you write songs and wish they were more popular. For instance, the single ‘Leaving’, I think it’s one of our best songs. At a different time it might have been a bigger single. Someone said you can’t write romance anymore because it’s not egotistical enough. We live in a tremendous age of narcissism. If you divided all modern pop music into narcissist or not narcissistic you’d find it’s one up massively. It’s because of cameras, selfies, social media. The digital era has given us the feeling that everyone is part of a TV show now. It’s a very different way of living your life. It’s changed the way people walk down the street, like they are famous.

Performing on TV in 2010
GETTY IMAGES, REX FEATURES
How did David Bowie influence you?
NEIL: He was a huge influence. I remember my brother and I watching the Old Grey Whistle Test. We’d already heard some of the songs on Sounds of the Seventies, which was on at 7pm. The camera started right on David Bowie’s face and it was just mesmerizing. My brother Simon and I immediately became massive David Bowie fans overnight. That was early ‘72. Before then it had been The Beatles. Bowie came along and you thought, ‘Wow’. We saw him at Newcastle Hall in 1972; it was half empty. He had astonishing charisma. But the influence is probably the electronic David Bowie. Not the Ziggy Stardust. Chris loved the song ‘Sweet Thing’ from Diamond Dogs, which was a very dark and strange song.
CHRIS: One of my favourite lines from David Bowie which I’ve lived my life under is “Don’t believe in yourself”. I think more of us shouldn’t believe in ourselves. The world would be a much better place. (Laughs)
Are you aware of how much love there is for you? A lot of it is focused on you [to Neil] but there is a lot of affection for you too [Chris]. I know that makes you feel uncomfortable. But do you feel it?
CHRIS: You get that feeling when you go on stage but I suppose everyone gets that. It is quite an amazing feeling. We do meet and greets in America. And people show us a certain amount of love. We get loads of that, which is really nice.
NEIL: We get a lot of gay guys who are older; a bit younger than me probably, and they say ‘Just want to thank you for all you’ve done for the community’ and I always think have we done much for the community, really? I think it’s really lovely of them. I also think people appreciate the fact we’ve been writing songs together for such a long period of time. There’s something slightly moving about that.
That your friendship has lasted…
NEIL: Yeah. That something can last that long in an ever-changing world… That generates a kind of warmth, assuming you don’t hate us. Also, there’s an inevitable thing when you’ve been around a long time, which generates a general loyalty. Boy George has it, for instance.
Would it be fair to say you have quite a complicated relationship with the gay thing? You’ve said you hate being listed as a gay popstar – but you have straight fans too.
NEIL: Yeah. I think the world has moved on now. My problem was always the way we were marketed. As soon as I came out as gay that institutionalised the Pet Shop Boys as ‘a gay band’. In America, for instance, when we were with Atlantic records the marketing was done by the gay marketing department. It was great that they had one. It was mainly dance music. Firstly, it implies gay people are never going to do anything of interest to straight people. No one ever thinks the other way around. And therefore you sort of have a niche audience and you have a niche act and you can go away and be gay – and I resent that actually. And I sort of resent the idea that people who aren’t gay have of being gay, which is a slightly narrow idea that doesn’t reflect my own interests, as it happens. So, that’s why you say an uneasy relationship, because of all the assumptions that go with it, which I think, are dying away. You could find an interview with me in the 80s saying ‘I thought the idea of being gay is old-fashioned’. The idea is about political oppression and I know there is still that but once that ceases, it doesn’t need to be like that anymore. I’ve always been against the idea of people going on about the ‘gay community’, and ‘the Asian community’… suddenly community leaders crop up out of nowhere totally unelected. I think we should have one community. I’ve said this all through my adult life. I think there’s a lot of divide and rule that goes on otherwise and I don’t like it. I think everyone is as important as anyone else. I just don’t like the divide and rule thing.

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