Tag: Pet Shop Boys

August 8, 2024

Pet Shop Boys – Jealousy (UK 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1991

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“Jealousy” is a song originally written in 1982 by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, recorded for their fourth studio album, Behaviour (1990). It was released on 27 May 1991 as the album’s fourth and final single. The song reached #12 on the UK singles chart.

Neil Tennant states that “Jealousy” is the first proper song ever composed by the duo. Chris Lowe composed the melody at the piano in his parents’ home and, as he felt it should be a ballad, asked Tennant to write an intense-sounding lyric. Tennant complied by writing a lyric about the simplest form of jealousy: infidelity suspicions aroused by someone’s indifferent or disrespectful attitudes towards another person’s feelings (such as making his/her partner wait all night for a phone call that never comes). The song was then left off three albums because the duo were waiting for legendary film composer Ennio Morricone to agree to score the orchestral arrangement for the song. Morricone’s answer never came, and Harold Faltermeyer ended up doing the arrangement for the song’s release on Behaviour.

The album version, coming at the end of Behaviour, closed off the album with a sampler-based orchestral outro. The single version is slightly remixed and uses a real orchestra instead during the outro. The extended version of the single version lengthens the outro while adding an orchestral intro as well; in addition, Neil Tennant recites a quote from William Shakespeare’s Othello (Act III, Scene III) over both sequences:

Not poppy, nor mandragora,
Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,
Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep
Which thou owedst yesterday.

The B-side “Losing My Mind”, taken from the Stephen Sondheim musical Follies, was based on a demo originally recorded as a proposal for the Liza Minnelli album Results. Its release here follows the releases of Minnelli’s version on both Results and as the lead single from the album. As with the A-side, “Losing My Mind” was released in an extended mix (the “Disco mix”) on the 12-inch single which was recorded in 1988-89.

SIDE A:
Jealousy (Extended Mix) 7:56
Arranged By [Orchestral Arrangement] – Harold Faltermeyer
Engineer – Brian Reeves
Producer – Harold Faltermeyer, Pet Shop Boys
Recorded By [Orchestra] – Mike Jarret
Written-By – Tennant/Lowe

SIDE B:
Losing My Mind (Disco Mix) 6:08
Engineer – Roy Spong
Producer – Pet Shop Boys
Programmed By [Additional Programming] – Newman
Written-By – Sondheim

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Parlophone – 12r6283, Parlophone – 20 4224 6
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: UK
Released: May 28, 1991
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style: Synth-pop, Ballad

CREDITS:

Design – Mark Farrow, Pet Shop Boys, 3a*
Mixed By – David Jacob
Photography By – Eric Watson (3)

NOTES:
Orchestra recorded at Abbey Road Studios.
Manufactured in the UK

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
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

June 13, 2024

Blur – Girls & Boys (US Limited Edition 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1994

“Girls & Boys” is a song by English rock band Blur, released in March 1994 by Food Records as the lead single from the group’s third studio album, Parklife (1994). The frontman of Blur, Damon Albarn wrote the song’s lyrics with bandmembers Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree, while Stephen Street produced it.

Charting at number five on the UK Singles Chart, “Girls & Boys” was Blur’s first top-five hit and their most successful single until “Country House” reached number one the following year. In the United States, the track reached number 59 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number four on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Kevin Godley produced the music video for the song. “Girls & Boys” was named single of the year by NME and Melody Maker and was nominated for best song at the MTV Europe Music Awards.

Damon Albarn was inspired to write the song while on holiday in Magaluf, Spain, with then-girlfriend Justine Frischmann, lead singer of Elastica. According to Albarn, the city had “really tacky Essex nightclubs” and a rampant sexual scene among visitors, with “All these blokes and all these girls meeting at the watering hole and then just copulating. There’s no morality involved, I’m not saying it should or shouldn’t happen.” The music has a convergence of various pop and dance styles, summed up by bassist Alex James as “Disco drums, nasty guitars and Duran Duran bass.” Drummer Dave Rowntree admitted that he is not playing on the track, being replaced by a drum machine he programmed. He said it was his favourite song on Blur: The Best Of (2000) because he “isn’t really in it. It’s cool not being in your own song.” The vocals were recorded with a demo featuring only the keyboards. This song is written in the key of G minor.

Pet Shop Boys, provided a remix of the track for the single release. The single’s front cover was taken from a pack of Durex condoms.

The accompanying music video for “Girls & Boys” was directed by English singer, songwriter, musician and music video director Kevin Godley. It features Blur performing the song against a bluescreen backdrop of documentary footage of people on Club 18-30 package holidays. Godley branded the video as “Page 3 rubbish”, while Blur found it “perfect”.

SIDE A:
Girls & Boys (PSB 12″ Mix) 7:15
Programmed By – Pete Gleadall
Remix, Producer [Additional] – Pet Shop Boys

SIDE B:
Girls & Boys (Album Version) 4:18

Girls & Boys (PSB 7″ Mix) 4:04
Programmed By – Pete Gleadall
Remix, Producer [Additional] – Pet Shop Boys

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
Poster: Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1994	Girls & Boys	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#59
1994	Girls & Boys	U.S. Billboard Alternative Airplay	#4
1994	Girls & Boys	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs	#21
1994	Girls & Boys	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales	#23
1994	Girls & Boys	U.S. Billboard Mainstream Top 40	#40

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: SBK Records – Y-58155
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Maxi-Single, Limited Edition, Orange
Country: US
Released: 1994
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Synth-pop, Indie Rock, Britpop

CREDITS:

Producer – Stephen Street
Written-By – James*, Albarn*, Rowntree*, Coxon*

NOTES:
Pressed on transparent orange vinyl.
Contains a 20″ x 30″ fold-out poster.

From the LP “PARKLIFE”

Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!

Password: burningtheground

You can help show your support for this blog by donating using PayPal. I appreciate your help.

May 10, 2024

Pet Shop Boys – Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You) / How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously? (UK 7″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1991

“Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You)” is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. The song is a medley of U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”, a 1967 song by Frankie Valli, though in an arrangement informed by the 1982 disco version of the song by the Boys Town Gang rather than the original. The song accompanied “How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?”, the third single from their fourth studio album, Behaviour (1990), as a double A-side in the United Kingdom (both singles were released separately in the United States). Released in March 1991 by Parlophone, the song became the duo’s 15th consecutive top-20 entry in the UK, peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart.

The single’s other A-side, “How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?”, criticizes the insincere humanitarian messages of a number of pop stars during the 1980s and the institutionalization of rock and roll. The band noted that “one song is about rock stars so to have a U2 song with it serves as a further comment.”

Also of note the version of “How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?” is the “7” Perfect Attitude Mix” but not the same version that appeared on the U.S. CD Single this version is also used for the music video containing the “Gotta Have Fun” samples this mix only appears on the UK 7″ single, and the video. The mix title does not appear on the sleeve or record label.

SIDE A:
Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You) (7″ Edit) 4:32
Engineer – Ren Swan
Engineer [Assistant Engineer] – Steve Fitzmaurice
Guitar – J.J. Belle
Producer – Julian Mendelsohn, Pet Shop Boys
Sequenced By – Dominic Clarke
Vocals [Additional Vocals] – Tessa Niles
Written-By [I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You] – Bob Gaudio/Bob Crewe
Written-By [Where The Streets Have No Name] – Clayton, Evan, Mullen, Hewson*

SIDE AA:
How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously? 4:09
Mixed By – Brothers In Rhythm, Paul Wright
Mixed By [Assisted By] – Richard Edwards
Producer – Harold Faltermeyer, Pet Shop Boys
Remix, Producer [Post-production] – Brothers In Rhythm
Written-By – Tennant/Lowe*

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1991	Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You)	U.S. Billboard Hot 100	#72
1991	Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You)	U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music Club Play	#4

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Parlophone – R 6285, Parlophone – R6285, Parlophone – 2042547
Format: Vinyl, 7″, 45 RPM, Single, Stereo
Country: UK
Released: Mar 11, 1991
Genre: Electronic, Pop
Style: Synth-pop

CREDITS:

Design – Mark Farrow, PSB*, 3a*
Photography By – Lawrence Watson

NOTES:
A: listed as “7” Edit” only on the record label.

MANUFACTURED IN THE UK BY EMI RECORDS LIMITED.

Buy the 7″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!

Password: burningtheground

You can help show your support for this blog by donating using PayPal. I appreciate your help.

October 18, 2023

Pet Shop Boys – Heart (UK 12″)

Burning The Ground Exclusive 1988

Spooky Season Spin 

The music video alone qualifies this one for a spooky season spin.

“Heart” 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, “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 offer it to Hi-NRG singer Hazell Dean or—more notoriously—Madonna, but they ultimately kept it for themselves. The duo’s version of the song was intended to be used in the Steven Spielberg-produced film Innerspace, but the dance sequence it was intended for was at the wrong tempo for the song. The song was originally called “Heartbeat”, but was changed after Culture Club drummer Jon Moss announced the formation of a group named Heartbeat UK.

The lyrics are more traditional than most Pet Shop Boys songs, being a straightforward declaration of love—a characteristic common in many pop songs. On the commentary of the Pet Shop Boys’ live video album Cubism, Tennant reveals that the “oh – ah – oh’oh ah” refrain which repeats throughout the song features the vocals of himself, Pavarotti, and Wendy Smith (of Prefab Sprout).

According to Tennant, they were inspired by the song I Like You by Phyllis Nelson, which was produced by Shep Pettibone, who did a remix of Heart.

The song was re-recorded for Actually with producer Andy Richards and was mixed by Julian Mendelsohn. The single remix is an edit of the Richards’ version with the use of a wah-wah guitar, giving the song more of a 1970s sound.

Despite topping the UK chart for three weeks and being a worldwide success, the duo themselves tend to dismiss it, with Lowe stating in 2001: “It just shows that chart positions aren’t the be-all and end-all. ‘Heart’ isn’t in the same league as ‘Being Boring’.” However, many fans regard the song highly and Pet Shop Boys like it enough to have performed the song on their 1989 tour, the Fundamental world tour in 2006 and 2007 as well as their Pandemonium tour in 2009–2010.

When included in the retrospective PopArt: The Hits collection, the album version of the track was used for the UK release rather than the hit single mix, the reason for this is unknown. The single mix was included in the US release.

Music video

Directed by Jack Bond, director of the band’s 1987 film It Couldn’t Happen Here, the music video for “Heart” is based on the 1922 film Nosferatu. The video opens with Tennant and his bride (played by model Danijela Čolić Prižmić) being driven to a castle with Lowe as his chauffeur. As he goes to bed with his bride, the vampire, played by Ian McKellen, spies them. Later, he seduces the bride and bites her. Finally, Lowe drives Nosferatu and his bride away, leaving Tennant to stare bitterly after them from a castle window. The video was shot in Mokrice Castle, Slovenia, then one of the Yugoslavia republics.

SIDE A:
Heart (Disco Mix) 8:28
Engineer – Tony Phillips
Guitar – J. J. Belle*
Producer – Andy Richards, Pet Shop Boys

I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too) 4:54
Engineer – Mark Stent
Guitar – Steve Lipson*
Programmed By [Fairlight], Organ [Hammond] – Blue Weaver
Vocals [Additional] – Dee Lewis, Shirley Lewis

SIDE B:
Heart (Dance Mix) 6:10
Engineer – Tony Phillips
Engineer [Remix] – Steve Peck
Guitar – J. J. Belle*
Producer – Andy Richards, Pet Shop Boys
Remix, Producer [Additional Production] – Shep Pettibone

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Parlophone – 12R 6177, Parlophone – 12R6177
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: Mar 21, 1988
Genre: Electronic
Style: House, Synth-pop

CREDITS:

Design – Mark Farrow, Pet Shop Boys
Mastered By – Nick Webb
Photography By – Eric Watson (3)

NOTES:
Dee Lewis courtesy of Phonogram.
Mastered at Abbey Road Studios.

Buy the Neil 12″ at DISCOGS

Buy the Chris 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!

Password: burningtheground

You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.