Pet Shop Boys: Pop Genius

A majority of pop music is drivel of course. A majority of most things are drivel. Most pop music treats it's audience without respect, and seems to be produced for the sole purpose of making money. It's very difficult to make money from launching pop acts. I've seen this in my professional life, hundreds of thousands spent to garner a chart position of #42. You can spend as much as you like but if the song doesn't resonate with folk it won't matter.



But the best exponents of pop like Abba, Girls Aloud, Madonna in her prime (oh yeah they all eventually go off the boil) and hundreds of others combine great sing-a-long tunes, arresting image, memorable lyrics and a respect for their audience. It's not controversial to laud these particular acts anymore - Girls Aloud are cool now, and Abba's greatness has been well & truly recognised. But despite much critical acclaim, it's always been viewed, in certain company, as a bit suspect to express a love for the Pet Shop Boys.



I love their image: Chris Lowe, silent & motionless in the background, occasionally stabbing a keyboard, Neil Tennant self contained, suited, satirical, arching an eyebrow. They refused to play the usual role of electronic pop groups, bouncing around, being 'up', expressing the most general uplifting emotions. PSB always were interested in the specific, in multi-layered adult themes rather than simple slogans. Their first single's a masterpiece:







Pet Shop Boys 'West End Girls'

Of course eventually they left behind this dowdiness for those crazy designer outfits. They were certainly striking, and I guess showed that they had a sense of humour. I liked the whole anti-rock thing, though it was implied rather than spelt out - the way that they pointed out the inherent ridiculousness of the whole theatre of rock performance. The impossibility of authenticity and recreating it night after night on stage. Neil Tennant spoke of their 'Imperial Phase', when they could do no wrong. These tracks come from that period - just perfect pop.

Pet Shop Boys 'Suburbia'

Pet Shop Boys 'It's A Sin'

'Being Boring' is my favourite PSB song, in fact one of my all time faves. Apparently an elegy for those struck by the AIDS virus, I find it very touching, yet I'm not sure why. There's certainly a melancholy to it, and I'm always a sucker for that, but maybe it's just the strings programming.


In a world where 'gay' is used as a synonym for 'crap', perhaps it was their perceived gayness (Neil Tennant only out-ed himself quite late in their career) which meant PSB weren't treated with the respect that rock bands of the time were - at least by a lot of my contemporaries. The fact is that there was always a universality to their music, and it's good to hear they are to be recognised at the BRITS this month.





Pet Shop Boys 'Being Boring'





Pet Shop Boys 'Jealousy'

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