"DJ Culture" is a song by English

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

duo

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 i ...

from their first greatest hits album, '' Discography: The Complete Singles Collection'' (1991). It was released on 14 October 1991 as the album's lead single, peaking at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. Another version of the song, remixed by the Grid and entitled "Dj culturemix", was also released as a single and reached number 40 on the UK Singles Chart. The B-side was "Music for Boys". According to the singer Neil Tennant, the song concerned the insincerity of how President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

's speeches at the time of the

First Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

utilised

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

's wartime rhetoric, in a manner similar to how artists sample music from other artists. The music video alternately features Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe as a pair of doctors, a pair of soldiers in desert combat dress, a judge presiding over

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

(the line "And I my lord, may I say nothing?" is a close paraphrase of Wilde's comment after being sentenced to hard labour for homosexual practices) and a football referee and fan. The French sample in the song is taken from the 1950 Jean Cocteau film '' Orphée'': in it coded and poetic messages are sent over the radio.

Critical reception

Upon its release, Paul Mathur, writing for ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'', felt "DJ Culture" "recall PSB's earliest work" as "Tennant intones rigorously over the usual unabashed keyboard surge, like an indoor version of ' West End Girls'." Simon Dudfield of '' NME'' felt it was "sub-standard Pet Shop Boys" with "no surprises". He stated, "Please could they deliver another chorus? There needs to be some proof of pop elegance if Tennant's irony and aloofness is going to sound anything other than smarmy, sickly and sad. A plastic veneer smothers the disco beat, the strings from their last single remain and the ' Suburbia'-style shock of keyboards that sets up the tawdry chorus suggests ideas are running dry."

Track listings

UK 7": Parlophone / R 6301

# "DJ Culture" # "Music for Boys" * also the track listing for the US 7" releases on EMI.

UK 12": Parlophone / 12R 6301

# "DJ Culture" (Extended mix) # "Music for Boys" # "Music for Boys (Part 2/Ambient Mix)"

UK CDs: Parlophone / CDR 6301

# "DJ Culture" # "Music for Boys" # "DJ Culture" (Extended mix)

UK 12" / 12RX 6301 and CDs: Parlophone ("Dj Cultu''remix''")

# "Dj Cultu''remix''" - 5:51 # "Music for Boys (Part 3)" - 5:37 # "Overture to ''Performance''" - 6:15 Track 2 is a remix by Altern-8 Track 3 is an orchestra medley featuring " It's a Sin", " Being Boring", " Opportunities", " So Hard ", " Jealousy", " Suburbia", " How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?", " What Have I Done To Deserve This?", and " West End Girls".

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dj Culture 1991 singles 1991 songs Parlophone singles Pet Shop Boys songs Songs written by Chris Lowe Songs written by Neil Tennant