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Alternative (album)
''Alternative'' is a compilation album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released on 7 August 1995 by Parlophone. ''Alternative'' is a two-disc set, consisting of 30 B-sides in chronological order. The title ''Alternative'' was a last-minute change from the title that had been long saved for such an album, ''Besides'', but that title was taken by American rock band Sugar, who released their own B-sides compilation two months prior. A remake of the original 7-inch "Paninaro", titled "Paninaro '95", was released as a single (which was included on the later '' PopArt: The Hits'' set) to promote the two-disc compilation which reached number two in the UK album charts. The cover of ''Alternative'' features photographs of Tennant and Lowe in fencing masks. The first copies of the CD have a lenticular image on the cover which shifts between the two photographs. Neil Tennant revealed in a radio interview with Absolute Radio that a second B-side album may be released in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pet Shop Boys
The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music history in the 1999 edition of '' The Guinness Book of Records''. Three-time Brit Award winners and six-time Grammy nominees, since 1984 they have achieved 42 top 30 singles, 22 of these being top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart, including four UK number ones: " West End Girls" (also number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100), " It's a Sin", a synth-pop version of " Always on My Mind", and "Heart". Other hit songs include a cover of " Go West", and their own " Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)", and " What Have I Done to Deserve This?" in a duet with Dusty Springfield. With five US top ten singles in the 1980s, they are associated with the Second British Invasion. At the 2009 Brit Awards in London, the Pet Shop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money)
"Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their debut studio album, ''Please'' (1986). It was released as a single in 1985 and re-recorded and reissued in 1986, gaining greater popularity in both the United Kingdom and United States with its second release, reaching number 11 on the UK Singles Chart and number 10 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. After a Super Bowl ad in February 2021, featuring the song, it re-entered the charts claiming the ''Billboard'' Dance/Electronic Digital Songs No. 1 spot on February 27, 2021, among others. Background The song was written during the Pet Shop Boys' formative years, in 1983. According to Neil Tennant, the main lyrical concept came while in a recording studio in Camden Town when Chris Lowe asked him to make up a lyric based around the line "Let's make lots of money". The first version of the song, recorded with the duo's first producer, Bobby Orlando, was not released; upon signing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Lipson
Stephen J. Lipson (born 16 March 1954) is an English record producer, audio engineer, guitarist and songwriter. As a record producer, he has worked with many artists including Annie Lennox, Propaganda, Act, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Will Young, Geri Halliwell, Jeff Beck and Hans Zimmer. He has also engineered, played guitar on and contributed to much of the programming on many of the records he has produced. Collaborations * ''Playing in the Flame'' – Sally Oldfield (1981) * '' Slave to the Rhythm'' – Grace Jones (1985) * ''Earthrise'' – Tandy Morgan (1985) * ''Street Fighting Years'' – Simple Minds (1989) * ''Flowers in the Dirt'' – Paul McCartney (1989) * ''Real Life'' – Simple Minds (1991) * ''Diva'' – Annie Lennox (1992) * ''A Spanner in the Works'' – Rod Stewart (1995) * ''Medusa'' – Annie Lennox (1995) * ''Live the Life'' – Michael W. Smith (1998) * '' Ronan'' – Ronan Keating (2000) * ''Scream If You Wanna Go Faster'' – Geri Halliwell (2001) * ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Domino Dancing
"Domino Dancing" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released as the lead single from their third studio album, ''Introspective'' (1988). It reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart and topped the charts in Finland and Spain. Background Written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, and influenced by Latin pop, the song was produced by Lewis A. Martinée, the Miami-based producer behind 1980s freestyle groups such as Exposé. The song was recorded at Martinée's studio in Miami, resulting in a considerably large number of studio musicians being featured on it for a Pet Shop Boys song. The duo had achieved three number ones in 1987 and 1988, and ''Domino Dancing'' was expected to continue this success. However, the public reception to the duo's new Latin sound proved disappointing. Tennant remembers: "...it entered the charts at number nine and I thought, 'that's that, then – it's all over'. I knew then that our imperial phase of number one hits was over." The s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heart (Pet Shop Boys Song)
"Heart" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their second studio album, ''Actually'' (1987). It was released as the album's fourth and final single on 21 March 1988. The song topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in April 1988, becoming the duo's fourth and final chart-topper to date in the United Kingdom. The group had initially written the song for Madonna, though they never asked her to record it, instead keeping it for themselves. Background Written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, "Heart" was the fourth and final single from the duo's second studio album, ''Actually''. A new mix different to the album version was released as a single in March 1988, ascending to the top of the charts to become the duo's fourth—and, to date, last—UK number-one single. It was also successful across Europe. The genesis of the song goes back to the sessions for the duo's first album '' Please'' in early 1986 with Shep Pettibone. Originally, the duo had planned to o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rent (song)
"Rent" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their second studio album, '' Actually'' (1987). It was released as the album's third single on 12 October 1987. Song information The lyric is commonly thought to deal with a financially one-sided relationship, i.e. that of a kept man, the title implying more specifically the lot of a rent boy. Neil Tennant, however, stated in the ''Actually: Further Listening'' liner notes: It peaked at number 8 in the British charts. Producer Stephen Hague remixed the song for single release. Video The video for the song was directed by Derek Jarman. It features two intercut storylines. One, filmed in black and white, shows Chris Lowe arriving at King's Cross station by train and walking past various low-life characters. The other, filmed in colour, features Margi Clarke as the partner of a wealthy man (played by Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath Alexander George Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath (6 May 1932 – 4 April 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
What Have I Done To Deserve This? (song)
"What Have I Done to Deserve This?" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys and soul singer Dusty Springfield, taken from the duo's second studio album, '' Actually'' (1987). The song was released as the second single from the album on 10 August 1987. A commercial success in both the United Kingdom and United States, the song helped revive Springfield's career and led to a resurgence of interest in her music. Following the single, the Pet Shop Boys wrote and produced the singles " Nothing Has Been Proved" and "In Private" for Springfield, both included on her album ''Reputation'' (1990). Background "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" marked Pet Shop Boys' first major collaboration with another recording artist. The song was originally written and demoed around Christmas 1984 with the assistance of notable American songwriter Allee Willis It was originally intended for use on ''Please'', but the problem was to decide who’d sing the other half of the duet. Various con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helena Springs
Helena Lisandrello, known professionally as Helena Springs (born 1961), is an American singer. The singer was first a backup vocalist for Bob Dylan, starting in 1978 aged 17, and co-wrote 19 songs with him, more than any of his other collaborators. She was a vocalist for Dylan's 1978 World Tour, and the following year on his Gospel Tour. Springs appeared on his albums '' Street-Legal'' (1978), ''Bob Dylan at Budokan'' (1978), and '' Slow Train Coming'' (1979), as well as the compilation '' The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979–1981'' (2017). She stopped working with Dylan in either late 1979 or early 1980. As a solo artist signed to Arista Records, Springs released the albums ''Helena'' in 1986 and ''New Love'' in 1987, and several singles. She has been a backup singer for other artists, including David Bowie and Mick Jagger, Bette Midler, Pet Shop Boys, and Elton John. Springs later worked in cabaret, and launched a line of toy dolls. She had personal relati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
It's A Sin
"It's a Sin" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their second studio album, ''Actually'' (1987). Written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, the song was released on 15 June 1987 as the album's lead single. It became the duo's second number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks atop the chart. Additionally, the single topped the charts in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, while reaching number nine on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. A demo of the track was first cut in 1984 with Bobby Orlando, and the song's form in the demo remained intact to the final version, although the released production is far more dramatic. Writing and inspiration In this song, Tennant describes some impressions he got from his time at the Catholic St Cuthbert's High School in Newcastle upon Tyne. He ended up feeling that everything he had done or was going to do was a sin. Tennant has said that he wrote the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suburbia (song)
"Suburbia" is a song by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was remixed and released as the fourth single from the duo's debut studio album, '' Please'' (1986), and became the band's second UK top-10 entry, peaking at number 8. "Suburbia" has drawn comparisons to the theme from ALF, which coincidentally premiered the day that the song was released. Background and music video The song's primary inspiration is the 1983 Penelope Spheeris film '' Suburbia'', and its depiction of violence and squalor in the suburbs of Los Angeles; in addition, the tension of the Brixton riots of 1981 and of 1985 hanging in recent memory led Neil Tennant of the duo to thinking about the boredom of suburbia and the underlying tension among disaffected youth that sparked off the riots at the least provocation. The various versions of the song are punctuated by sounds of suburban violence, riots and smashing glass, as well as snarling dogs on the re-recorded single version (extended even furt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paninaro (song)
"Paninaro" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Originally a A-side and B-side, B-side to the 1986 single "Suburbia (song), Suburbia", it was released as a Special edition, limited-edition single in Italy that same year. In 1995, a re-recording titled "Paninaro '95" was released to a wider market, to promote the duo's B-side compilation album ''Alternative (album), Alternative'' (though only the original version was included on the compilation). Background The song is about the 1980s Italian youth subculture known as the Paninaro, paninari; derived from the word ''panino'', Italian for sandwich, they were known for congregating in restaurants serving sandwiches and in the first US-style fast food restaurants, as well as their preference for designer clothing and 1980s pop music such as the New Romanticism, New Romantic music of Italo disco. Neil Tennant has said that they were drawn to the concept due to having shared those preferences. Lyrics "Paninaro" is one of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
