"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 ''Please'' is a word used in the English language to indicate politeness and respect while making a request. Derived from shortening the phrase "if you please" or "if it please(s) you", the term has taken on substantial nuance based on its in ...

'' (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 Penelope Spheeris (born December 2, 1945 or 1946; sources differ) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. She has directed both documentary and scripted films. Her best-known works include the trilogy titled '' The Decline of ...

film ''

Suburbia A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include Commercial area, commercial and mixed-use development, mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a ...

'', and its depiction of violence and squalor in the suburbs of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

; in addition, the tension of the Brixton riots of 1981 and of 1985 hanging in recent memory led

Neil Tennant Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for ''Smash Hits'', and ...

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 further on the music video), which were derived from typical scenes in suburbia. The version used for the video was the song that appeared on the ''

PopArt ''PopArt: The Hits'' is a greatest hits album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released on 24 November 2003 by Parlophone. The album consists of Pet Shop Boys' top 20 UK singles along with two new tracks, "Miracles" and "Flamboya ...

'' compilation in 2003. The video was directed by Eric Watson, and features footage of the duo in a Los Angeles suburb, as they happened to be there for that year's

MTV Video Music Award The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video categor ...

s and a contrasting image of British suburbia, filmed in

Kingston-upon-Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

, a suburb of south-west

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The B-sides to the single were "Jack the Lad" and "

Paninaro Paninaro (; feminine: ''Paninara''; plural: ''Paninari''; feminine plural: ''Paninare'') is a term that identifies a phenomenon born in the eighties in Milan which then spread first in the Milanese metropolitan area and then throughout Italy and t ...

". "The Full Horror" mix of ''Suburbia'' and the ''Italian Mix'' of ''Paninaro'', which appeared on the ''Suburbia'' 12-inch, both also appeared on the Pet Shop Boys' album '' Disco'', and were later collected on the 2001 2-disc re-release of "Please".

Track listings

7-inch: Parlophone / R 6140 (UK) # "Suburbia" – 4:06 # "Paninaro" – 4:37 2×7-inch: Parlophone / RD 6140 (UK) # "Suburbia" – 4:05 # "Paninaro" – 4:37 # " Love Comes Quickly" hep Pettibone Mastermix(Early Fade) – 6:12 # "Jack the Lad" – 4:30 # "Suburbia Pt. Two" – 2:20 MC: Parlophone / TC R 6140 (UK) # "Suburbia" – 4:06 # "Paninaro" – 4:37 # "Jack the Lad" – 4:30 # "Love Comes Quickly" hep Pettibone Mastermix– 7:34 MC: Parlophone / TR 6140 (UK) # "Suburbia" (The Full Horror) – 8:55 # "Paninaro" – 4:37 # "Jack the Lad" – 4:30 # "Love Comes Quickly" hep Pettibone Mastermix(Even Earlier Fade) – 5:31 12-inch: Parlophone / 12 R 6140 (UK) # "Suburbia" (The Full Horror) – 8:55 # "Paninaro" – 4:37 # "Jack the Lad" – 4:30 12-inch: EMI America / V-19226 (US) # "Suburbia" (The Full Horror) – 8:55 # "Suburbia" (7-inch version) – 4:06 # "Jack the Lad" – 4:30 * "Suburbia" (New version, The Full Horror and Part Two remixed by

Julian Mendelsohn Julian Mendelsohn is an Australian record producer, audio engineer and mixer. Early life After completing school in Australia, Mendelsohn moved to the United Kingdom. He secured his first job in 1974 at Milner Sound Fulham Rd. Chelsea, run b ...

)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

In Australia, "Suburbia" missed the Kent Music Report Top 100 Singles chart, but was listed as one of the singles receiving significant sales reports beyond the top 100 for one week in November 1986, being ranked tenth on this list.

Background and music video

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

Further reading