Burning The Ground Exclusive 1990
“So Hard” is a song by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Behaviour (1990). The song is about “two people living together; they are totally unfaithful to each other but they both pretend they are faithful and then catch each other out”. It peaked at No. 4 in the United Kingdom and reached the top three in at least seven European countries, including Finland, where it reached No. 1.
In the United States “So Hard” was a huge club hit peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Dance Chart on December 7, 1990, after spending fourteen weeks on the survey, “So Hard” also reached No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart respectively.
SIDE A:
So Hard (Extended Dance Mix) 6:37
So Hard (Single) 3:59
SIDE B:
So Hard (Dub) 7:34
Edited By – Danton Supple
It Must Be Obvious 4:24
Engineer, Mixed By – Danton Supple
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | So Hard | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #62 |
| 1990 | So Hard | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #4 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: EMI USA – V-56194
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Maxi-Single
Country: US
Released: Oct 4, 1990
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
CREDITS:
Engineer – Brian Reeves (tracks: A1 to B1)
Mixed By – Julian Mendelsohn (tracks: A1 to B1)
Producer – Harold Faltermeyer (tracks: A1 to B1), Pet Shop Boys
Programmed By [Additional] – Dominic Clarke
Written-By – Neil Tennant And Chris Lowe*
NOTES:
Printed in USA.
Find the 12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
THE GEAR:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Black
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
DAC: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Happy New Year!!!!!
My favorite single PSB.
Can you send me (to email) a link to download this single?
Thanks Paul
Hi Paul!
Can you send me (email) a link to dwl this single?
Hello Paul,
Great to see that you still post PSB updates !
I must be a PSB fan as big as you are an Olivia fan 😉 I think I’ve got ev-ery-thing from them.
This “Behaviour” time was indeed fantastic and “So Hard” a magnificient PSB track.
BTW…Vinny Vero who you now know did produce some remixes for them (that I would really like to get in high quality)
Great song like Being Boring released in the same year. I have mostly the cd singles by PSB released between 1989-1993.
Thanks Paul 🙂
Hi Paul,
love the pet shop boys. this was a great lead off single for the
album. it also had lots of remixes, and formats like cd-singles
and cassette. the artwork was a little plain. but the song and
lyrics were classic pet shop boys.
thanks for continuing with the classic synthpop songs.
later
-1
Thanks for this! The PSBs did some brilliant extended mixes of their singles, and this one ranks amongst their very best. The KLF mix (on the second UK 12”) is also a standout.
Hi Paul
Indeed, the The KLF vs Pet Shop Boys remixes of So hard & It must be obvious are – literally – out of this world (i have the flac files from my cd single somewhere…)
https://www.discogs.com/fr/Pet-Shop-Boys-So-Hard-The-KLF-vs-Pet-Shop-Boys/release/67206
Thanks for the remastering , a bit of a PSB fan myself, especially all these exclusive “b” sides as we used to call them when we had other sides 😉
Many thanks for this! I loved this one — loved the album, loved the single, loved the remixes. PSB were in fantastic form during this era, transitioning into the ’90s exceptionally well.
I agree with you, David this PSB period was fantastic I loved all of the singles from this album especially “So Hard” and “Being Boring”.
One of my favorite singles by the Pet Shop Boys. Love Harold Faltermeyer’s production and those intense orchestra hits!! Thank you Paul for a terrific posting!!
Jeff
One of my favorites too, Jeff it is like candy for my ears the entire production is layered beautifully. 🙂
Thanks, Paul! I will have to admit that even though I was still actively deejaying in multiple clubs in 1990, I never once played this song and never once heard it on the radio, even during mix nights (I would record them every week with an 8 hour VHS tape while I was deejaying to compare). Very strange to see that it was #2 in Club Play. Interestingly, I recall several techno songs in 1992 that sound quite similar to So Hard from an instrumental point of view.
Thanks again!
I had to make a correction the song actually went to #4 on the Billboard Dance Chart and #2 on the Maxi-Singles Sales Chart. Radio did not give the song much hence only peaking at #62. I can tell you in my part of the world “So Hard” was in heavy rotation at the clubs usually at the peak of the night definitely a floor filler.
Hello Paul, I hope you are well together with your family, thank you very much for such a magnificent album, long live Synth-pop, greetings.
You’re welcome 🙂
Paul, very good single, from this duo that simply marked a generation, thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome 🙂