Frogtoon Music

West End Girls by Pet Shop Boys

Artist Biography For Pet Shop Boys

Pet Shop Boys Is A British Synthpop/dance Music Duo Consisting Of Neil Tennant And Chris Lowe And Were Formed In London UK In 1981. Post-Modern Ironists Cloaked Behind A Veil Of Buoyantly Melodic And Lushly Romantic Synth Pop Confections Pet Shop Boys Offer Wry Yet Strangely Affecting Cultural Commentary Communicated By The Morse Code Of Synth Washes And Drum Machine Rhythms. After First Emerging In The Mid-'80s With "West End Girls" And "Opportunities Let's Make Lots Of Money " Neil Tennant And Chris Lowe Quickly Established Themselves As Hitmaking Singles Artists Who Were Also Able To Craft Emotionally Resonant Albums Like 1988's Introspective And 1990's Behaviour. The Duo Navigated The Constantly Shifting Landscape Of Modern Dance-Pop With Grace And Intelligence Moving Easily From Disco To House Music To Thoughtful Synth Pop Without Losing Their Distinctive Style In The Process. Continuing To Evolve Artistically Pet Shop Boys Incorporated Latin Music On 1996's Bilingual Expanded Into Theater And Ballet And Morphed Into Elder Statesmen Of Electronic Pop Still Able To Release Interesting Albums After More Than 30 Years As Evidenced By Highlights Like 2016's Super And 2020's Hotspot. Pet Shop Boys Formed In London In August 1981 When Vocalist Tennant A Former Editor At Marvel Comics Who Later Gained Recognition As A Journalist For Smash Hits Magazine First Met Keyboardist Lowe A Onetime Architecture Student At An Electronics Shop. Discovering A Shared Passion For Dance Music And Synthesizers They Immediately Decided To Start A Band. After Dubbing Themselves Pet Shop Boys In Honor Of Friends Who Worked In Such An Establishment -- While Also Obliquely Nodding To The Sort Of Names Prevalent Among The New York City Hip-Hop Culture Of The Early '80s -- The Duo's Career First Took Flight In 1983 When Tennant Met Producer Bobby "O" Orlando While On A Writing Assignment. Orlando Produced Their First Single 1984's "West End Girls." The Song Was A Minor Hit In The U.S. But Went Nowhere In Britain And Its Follow-Up "One More Chance " Was Also Unsuccessful. Upon Signing To EMI Pet Shop Boys Issued 1985's Biting "Opportunities Let's Make Lots Of Money ." When It Too Failed To Attract Attention The Duo's Future Appeared Grim But Tennant And Lowe Then Released An Evocative New Stephen Hague Production Of "West End Girls " Which Became An International Chart-Topper. Its Massive Success Propelled Pet Shop Boys' 1986 Debut LP Please Into The Top Ten And When "Opportunities" Was Subsequently Reissued It Too Became A Hit. Disco A Collection Of Dance Remixes Was Quickly Rushed Into Stores And In 1987 The Duo Resurfaced With The Superb Actually Which Launched Two More Top Ten Smashes -- "It's A Sin" And "What Have I Done To Deserve This? " A Duet Between Tennant And The Great Dusty Springfield. Later That Year "Always On My Mind " A Lovely Cover Of The Perennial Elvis Presley Standard Reached Number One In Several Countries And The Top Ten In The U.S. A Documentary Film Titled It Couldn't Happen Here Was Released One Year Later. In October 1988 Pet Shop Boys Issued Their Third Studio LP The Eclectic Introspective. "Domino Dancing" And "Left To My Own Devices" Both Reached The Top Ten In Great Britain. The Following Year Pet Shop Boys Collaborated With A Variety Of Performers Most Notably Liza Minnelli For Whom They Produced The 1989 LP Results. They Also Produced Material For Springfield And Tennant Joined New Order Frontman Bernard Sumner And Ex-Smiths Guitarist Johnny Marr In The Group Electronic Scoring A Hit With The Single "Getting Away With It." Tennant And Lowe Reconvened In 1990 For The Muted Downcast Behavior Produced By Harold Faltermeyer. Their Hit Medley Of U2's "Where The Streets Have No Name" And Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" Was Released In 1991 And Was Followed In 1993 By Very Lauded As One Of The Duo's Finest Efforts. After A Three-Year Absence Pet Shop Boys Resurfaced With Bilingual A Fluid Expansion Into Latin Rhythms. Nightlife Followed In 1999 And Sparked The Dance Club Hit "New York City Boy " Whose Success Allowed The Group To Tour The U.S. For The First Time In Eight Years. While On Tour The Pair Also Collaborated With Playwright Jonathan Harvey On A Musical Surrounding Gay Life And Societal Criticisms Which The Three Had Been Planning Since 1997. Closer To Heaven Made Its West End Debut In 2001 And Had A Successful Run For Most Of The Year Pet Shop Boys' Score Of The Original Cast Recording Was Also A Hit In The U.K. They Still Had Time To Make A Record For Themselves Too In April 2002 Tennant And Lowe Issued Release And Disco 3 Was Compiled For Release The Following Year. Pet Shop Boys Continued Releasing Material Throughout The Decade's Latter Half. In 2005 They Put Together A Volume Of The Back To Mine Series And Released Their Music Designed To Accompany The 1925 Silent Film Battleship Potemkin A Soundtrack They'd Performed A Year Earlier At A Free Concert/screening In Trafalgar Square. A Year Later They Issued Fundamental A Mature Sometimes Political Album Produced By Trevor Horn. The Live Album Concrete In Concert At The Mermaid Theatre Appeared At The End Of The Year And Yes -- A Collaborative Effort With The Production Crew Xenomania -- Marked The Band's Tenth Studio Effort In March 2009. While Playing Shows In Support Of That Album Pet Shop Boys Also Released A Hits Compilation Party To Coincide With The Brazilian Leg Of Their Tour. In 2010 The Tour Was Documented On The CD/DVD Release Pandemonium And Another Greatest-Hits Compilation Ultimate Arrived. Their 2011 Effort The Most Incredible Thing Was A Two-Disc Ballet Score Composed For The Sadler's Wells Theatre In London While 2012's Format Rounded Up The Duo's B-Sides And Bonus Tracks From The Years 1996-2009. Also In 2012 Pet Shop Boys Released The Sports-Themed Single "Winner" And Performed The Track At The 2012 Olympics Summer Games Held That Year In Their Hometown Of London. The Track Landed On That Year's Album Elysium Which Was Produced By Kanye West Affiliate Andrew Dawson. Stuart Price Madonna Seal Kylie Minogue Was The Producer Of 2013's Electric An Album That Featured No Ballads Just Dance Tracks. In May 2014 The Duo Announced More Original Music This Time With A Concert Piece Scheduled For A July Date At Royal Albert Hall Commemorating British Code Breaker Alan Turing And Including The BBC Concert Orchestra. Price Returned As Producer Of 2016's Super The Second Album In A Row Where Pet Shop Boys Were "electronic Purists " Meaning No Guitars No Orchestral Support And No Organic Instruments. The Following Year Saw The Band Issue The Undertow EP Which Featured Two Remixes Of Super's "Undertow " A Remix Of "Burn " And A New Version Of "Left To My Own Devices " Produced By Stuart Price. They Were Also Awarded The Godlike Genius Award By NME. The Duo Issued The Agenda EP In Early 2019 And The Live Album CD/DVD/Blu-Ray Release Inner Sanctum Appeared In April It Was Recorded During Pet Shop Boys' Four-Day Residency In July 2018 At The Royal Opera House In London. Later In The Year They Started Issuing Songs From Their Next Long-Player Including "Dreamland " A Collaboration With Years & Years And "Burning The Heather " Which Featured Suede's Bernard Butler On Guitar. The Album Titled Hotspot Arrived In January 2020 And Was Their Third LP To Be Produced By Price. Discovery Live In Rio A Concert Originally Issued On Video In 1995 Was Issued On DVD And CD For The First Time In 2021. The Duo Also Released A Nearly Ten-Minute Classical-Inspired Single Titled "Cricket Wife." In May 2022 Pet Shop And British Pop Duo Soft Cell Released The Album *Happiness Not Included - Soft Cell First Studio Album In Nearly Two Decades. The Colab Included The Song “Purple Zone” Blending The Best Of Both Soft Cell And Pet Shop Boys Layering A Dazzling Synth Riff And Dance Floor-Ready Beat With Anthemic Vocals. Appropriately For The Pandemics The Track Laments Feeling Stuck In The Monotony Of Everyday Mundanities “Let’s Get Out Of This Life/ I’m Afraid And Alone ” Goes The Chorus. Paralyzed In The Purple Zone.” Their Much-Anticipated “Unity Tour” Of North America Alongside New Order Rescheduled Twice Following Pandemics Delays Kicked Off In Fall 2022 And Included Several Venues In Canada And The United States Featuring Paul Oakenfold As Special Guest DJ. Http //petshopboys.Co.Uk

Frogtoon Music - Song Info: West End Girls

"West End Girls" Is A Song By Pop Duo Pet Shop Boys. It Was Written By Neil Tennant And Chris Lowe And Included In Their Debut Album Please. The Single Became Their First Hit Reaching Number One On The U.S. Billboard Hot 100 And The UK Official Charts In 1986. The Lyrics Were Written In The Early 1980s. The Title And Refrain Refer To London's Divide Between The Traditional And Working Class East End And The Cosmopolitan Consumer-Driven West End. The Lyric "From Lake Geneva To The Finland Station" Refers To The Train Route Taken By Vladimir Lenin When He Was Smuggled By The Germans To Russia During World War I And To Edmund Wilson's Book On The Subject To The Finland Station. There Is Further Russian Revolution Imagery In The Bobby Orlando Produced Version Of The Single Which Includes The Line "All Your Stopping Stalling And Starting / Who Do You Think You Are Joe Stalin?" This Line Was Removed For The 1985 Version. Neil Tennant Has A Degree In History And His Interest In Russian History Is Evident In Many Other Pet Shop Boys Projects Such As Their Soundtrack To The Silent Film The Battleship Potemkin. The Single Was First Released In April 1984 Through Writer/producer Bobby Orlando's Label And Although Not A Hit In The United Kingdom It Was A Minor Dance Hit In The Netherlands Belgium France And The USA. This Initial Release On Epic In The UK Featured A Mainly Instrumental B-Side Called "Pet Shop Boys". There Have Been Numerous Reissues And Remixes Of Orlando's Version As He Still Owns The Original Recordings. The Video Featured Tennant And Lowe Walking Through The Eponymous "West End" As Locals. Having Signed To The EMI Label Parlophone And Watching Their First Major Label Single—"Opportunities Let's Make Lots Of Money "—sink Without A Trace The Pet Shop Boys Decided To Give "West End Girls" Another Release. After Serious Reworking By Producer Stephen Hague The Track Was Re-Released In August 1985 To Greater Acclaim. Stephen Hague Suggested Slowing The Song Down From Its Faster 1984 Version. It Was Number One On The UK Singles Chart For Two Weeks And Number One On The Billboard Hot 100 For One Week Six Months After Its British Chart Success . It Also Was A Top 5 Hit In Australia And Throughout Europe. The Success Of The Song Helped The Album Please Climb Into The Top 5 Of The Album Charts On Both Sides Of The Atlantic. The Video For The Second Release Was Directed By Andy Morahan And Eric Watson It Consists Of Shots Of Tennant In Various Down-At-Heel Parts Of London While Lowe Glowers Behind Him. FIRST VERSION
Written By Neil Tennant & Chris Lowe
Produced By Bobby Orlando
Recorded New York USA Winter 1983
Released 9 April 1984 SECOND VERSION
Written By Neil Tennant & Chris Lowe
Produced By Stephen Hague
Engineered By David Jacob
Recorded At Advision Studios 1985
Additional Vocals By Helena Springs
Released 28 October 1985

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