Pet Shop Button Madness

I think Pet Shop Boys collectors have gone a little crazy. As mentioned in my last piece about their new album "Electric", Neil and Chris released a limited edition of 500 "Playbuttons". These little mp3 players were made available for pre-order on the official website with little fanfare and without a mail out. They sold out in a few days days.

As there was little publicity about these little collectibles, it seems some people missed out. Now
I can understand people may be frustrated at not being able to get hold of something immediately, but I've been a collector for over 20 years and I know that these things come around again. Almost every time I have spent a lot of money to get hold of something at the time of release (Flamboyant promo 12" for £50 comes to mind) it has become available for a fraction of the price about 6 month later. So why spend £100+ on a £15 mp3 player? Or £200 if it comes with a signed postcard?

These buttons may be scarce but I assure you they will creep out of the woodwork in a few months and I very much doubt they will be selling for £100 then. Yes, I have been wrong before about what will increase in value and what won't, but there is still no way an mp3 player disguised as a badge should be selling for the amount they are.

Add in the fact that the "Electric Box" has sold out in a few days it would seem that not only are Pet Shop Boys fans crazy, they also have deep pockets.

Pet Shop Boys are Electric

So "Electric" the new Pet Shop Boys album is out. Make no mistake; it's great. In fact it's the album I've been waiting for since about 1999.

The "Very" album was an obvious high point for Pet Shop Boys fans that not even the eclectic mess of "Bilingual" could dilute. "Nighlife" promised to take us back to the dance floor, but only took us there on crutches with a blind partner. "Release" is best forgotten and whilst things picked up with "Fundamental" and "Yes", our dancing shoes were still collecting dust.

Yes, Neil and Chris are superb songwriters and they have more strings to their bow than a "four-on-the-floor" pound; but albums such as "Release" and "Elysium" just don't cut the mustard for me or the majority of "Pet Heads". We just want to boogie. With lasers.

So Neil and Chirs have given us lasers, they've given us beats, they've given us synth riffs and vocoders in great big heaps in attempt to reclaim their crown as the synth pop kings. Credit should go to production prince Stuart Price who's work is brilliant. If you didn't like "Elysium" or you think they've lost their way, then rest assured, with this album Neil and Chis have reclaimed their crowns and glued them on

Also up for a gold star is Mark Farrow as the design of "Electric" is quite brilliant and ties the whole project together. Add in the innovative "Play Button" edition and the £500 "Electric Box" and you have a perfect release for the newly formed x2 records. I urge you to buy it.

Pet Shop Boys Live. This is my kind of music...

When I go to a concert, I go to see the group in the flesh. I go to hear them perform their music 'live' in a convivial atmosphere.

In reality, I have to stand next to a woman with the worlds largest handbag, who is accompanied by a man with loud verbal diarrhoea. Behind me stands a fat woman who wants to bump into my back every 3.12 seconds, with the only view of the stage possible being the drunken mosaic created by a sea of iPhone view finders.

But forgetting these major annoyances and trying to ignore the guy video recoding the crowd in front of me (I kid you not, he even had an Angry Birds iPhone cover), I try to concentrate on the performance.

"Pet Shop Boys Electric Live" is a stage show like no other. This show was close to being a religious experience and the MEN a cathederal to dance music. I began to fall deeper into the hacienda created by the music and realised standing still was impossible.

The main aspect of the show that stays with me is the lighting design. No, not just the lasers (which are great) but the whole effect of the show lighting. The stage almost seemed to have no limit, the music and lights began to surround us and draw us deeper in.

Highlights of the show are undoubtedly "I'm Not Scared", "It's A Sin" and "Vocal" but it is also great to hear the original 'Demo' version of "I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)" and the faster paced versions of "Rent" and "Love etc".

Despite a large number of the crowd only seeing the show though their view finders there was a good atmosphere; even Neil and Chis seemed to be smiling.

This concert was somethig to be savoured. A celebration of a genre of music through the back catalogue of one of its greatest exponents.

Truly electric.

PSB go for OMG

So there is absolutely no doubt that the new Pet Shop Boys album 'Electric' is going to be great. The teaser track 'Axis' is a hi-energy disco tour-de-force. The first single 'Vocal' is everything I ever wanted from a PSB single in the 21st Century. I think it is astounding. In fact 'Vocal' is so good it banishes the disappointment of 'Elysium'. Yes, it really is that good.

Electronic "Especially Bad Edition"

There have been many poor “remastered” CD’s issued by increasingly desperate record companies in recent years. The New Order “Deluxe Editions” of 2008 remain the pinnacle of record company ineptitude and stupidity.

But there has emerged a challenger to New Orders crown with the release of the “Special Edition” of Electronics’ eponymously titled debut.

Why would you include a second CD with new edits of songs that are completely unrelated to the original album and exclude the rare and unreleased single edit of “Tighten Up”? Why add alternative versions of tracks recorded eight years later and omit remixes of “Getting Away with It” which have never been released on CD in the UK? Why label “Feel Every Beat” as the “2013 Edit” when it is in fact the DNA remix from 1991?

The release of this CD is a mercenary act that has been conducted by people who are completely ignorant. If you were to be generous to EMI records, you would describe this collection of music as ‘eclectic’. If you were feeling evil you would say it is a complete mess not worthy of a single penny of your hard earned cash.

If a CD is worth reissuing as a “Special Edition” surely it is worth getting right? This lazy ‘scatter gun’ approach to track selection is pathetic. I guess we should be grateful nothing on these two CDs has been taken from a vinyl source (unlike the afore mentioned New Order releases) and the uninspiring packaging does at least contain some new sleeve notes.

Personally I think it should be relabelled as the “Especially Bad Edition” and I encourage everyone to steer clear of it.

Naughty boys and their yellow magic

For a devoted fan of electronic music the pickings were slim in the early 90's. A backlash against the synth driven pop of the 80's led to the rise of Britpop and the guitar driven dirges of Pulp, Blur, Oasis, et al. During these bleak days I sought solace in a variety of strange (electronic) music; "any port in a storm" and all that.

Artists such as Wendy Caros and Isao Tomita didn't appeal too much (as my tastes have matured and both now have a place in my music collection) and never really came up to the standards of my hero Jean Michel Jarre. Tangerine Dream and The Art of Noise were two bands that I felt I should like, rather than having a natural affinity for. Yello and Vangelis were all well and good, but they still lacked melodic drive and proved to have quite inconsistent back catalogues (I'm thinking more Vangelis than Yello here to be fair).

That left the 'odd child' of electronic music; Yellow Magic Orchestra. My introduction to them came through their remix album Hi-Tech/No Crime. Albums like this where were quite de rigueur in the 90's (The Art of Noise's "FON Mixes" and Yello's "Hands on Yello" etc etc). I liked a lot of the melodies in the album but it somehow left me cold and uninterested. Yellow Magic Orchestra albums were (and to a certain extent still are) difficult to obtain and so my interest in them cooled. However, in 2003, remastered versions of their albums were released in the UK and I dipped my toe back into the YMO water.

To listen to Yellow Magic Orchestra you have to re tune your ears away from western sensibilities and remember this band were trying to do something new. Not only were they determined to retain the sound of their Japanese heritage but they also wanted to add the bright fun loving melodies and sounds so despised by Kraftwerk and their contemporaries. They were, and remain, unique and fun loving.

P.S. As I mentioned earlier, not all Y.M.O. albums are easy to come by in the UK. Albums such as "Solid State Survivor" and "Yellow Magic Orchestra" are very easy to find, whilst "×∞Multiplies" and "BGM" are quite rare. Consequently, the unscrupulous are trying to make a killing on amazon by charging silly money for these rarer albums. Top tip is to use eBay and collector sites such as eil.com as they actually represent the best value for money and there can even be a bargain or two to be had.

Wikipedia isn't always right

Wikipedia isn’t always right. I know this as members of the public occasionally refer to it in order to tell me how to do my job. Why anyone would trust a website with life and death decisions is beyond me. Especially one that tells you “West End Girls” by Pet Shop Boys wasn’t released in the UK.

Yes, that’s right. According to Wikipedia, West End Girls in its original form, as produced by Bobby Orlando, wasn’t released in the UK. Both the listing for the song and the main entry for the group state: “In April 1984, "West End Girls" was released, becoming a club hit in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and a minor dance hit in Belgium, and France, but was only available in the United Kingdom as a 12" import."

It really doesn’t matter that this statement is referenced with a link to the BBC website as it’s demonstrably wrong. 

To start with, the same Wikipedia page that says the single was only available as an import lists the original UK release along with all of the others. Secondly it is a matter of record that West End Girls reached number 121 in April 1984 on the UK Gallup singles chart. Thirdly and most tellingly of all is the fact that I, and many others, own a copy of the ‘Epic’ UK release.  

The original version of West End Girls was recorded in New York in September 1984 and produced by Bobby Olrando. It was released on Orlando’s “Bobcat Records” in the USA and subsequently licensed to various record labels in the rest of the world. In the UK, Epic Records offered a one off deal to release and distribute the track. Thus Epic Records catalogue number A4292 (7”) and TA4292 (12”) released on 9^th April 1984 is Pet Shop Boys “West End Girls”. 

That’s a fact, no matter what the BBC or Wikipedia may tell you.