Bringing you yesterday's post today! 45 minutes of Pet Shop Boys 12" mixes from the 1980s (but mostly 1988).
At school, my friend Adrian was really into the Pet Shop Boys, I was into Depeche Mode. The consequence of this was I bought every 12" single that I could get my hands on by the latter and ignored the former, knowing that we could swap records and do our own C90s.
It turned out to be a rather one-sided relationship in that respect, as Adrian didn't buy much Pet Shop Boys music beyond West End Girls (naturally, the Stephen Hague remix that eventually took Neil and Chris to #1 in 1985).
He also took a rather more relaxed approach to vinyl care, as I discovered when he eventually returned the 12" of Stripped, lent in more or less pristine condition and received looking like the Incredible Hulk had taken an intense dislike to it, bent, scuffed, scratched.
I remained good friends with Adrian for the rest of our school days, but I never lent him one of my records again.
And I never got to hear any more Pet Shop Boys 12" singles either, yet for some inexplicable reason didn't start buying them myself either.
So, it was many, many years later before I started immersing myself in their extended mixes, beyond the Disco compilation and the bonus Mix disc with the PopArt singles collection. And of course, they're brilliant.
This selection randomly grabs half a dozen A-sides from the 1980s, and demonstrate that the 12" single was no mere marketing gimmick, but a way of giving the songs room to breathe on the dancefloor.
Stephen Hague's refresh of West End Girls is the definitive take, but I've a lot of love for the original version by Bobby Orlando, even if it lacks the confidence and swagger of the later version.
What Have I Done To Deserve This? is labelled as a dub mix but the vocals are pretty much fully intact which, let's face it, you'd be a fool to mess with when you have Neil duetting with Dusty Springfield. Shep Pettibone and Junior Vasquez do not disappoint.
In 1987, I was more familiar with Ian Levine as the guy the tabloids would wheel out for angry quote every time the BBC threatened to cancel or change Doctor Who. I had no real idea of his 'proper' job as a DJ and involvement in the Northern Soul and Hi-NRG. Not my favourite mix of It's A Sin, but Ihe isolated vocoder bits are a nice touch.
The commercial releases of Left To My Own Devices featured remixes by Trevor Horn, Stephen Lipson, Shep Pettibone and Frankie Knuckles. Pet Shop Boys singles were also beloved by the DJ promo-only services, with their music also finding edits and remixes by Razormaid and Disconet. This extended mix of Left To My Own Devices is by Steve Smith, which I discovered on the Art Of Mix: Art Of Compilation 1 CD.
For Domino Dancing, Neil and Chris are at the controls with Lewis A. Martineé. I was less keen on this song at the time, but it's grown on me over the years and I particularly love this 12" version.
Last but not least, the boys took on an Elvis Presley classic and made it their own. The King managed #9 in the UK in 1972; Pet Shop Boys spent 4 weeks at #1, which probably says it all. Again, a bright remix from Julian Mendelsohn,
Lots more in the PSB 12" collection for a future post. Enjoy!
1) West End Girls (Extended Mix) (1984)
2) What Have I Done To Deserve This? (Dub Mix ft. Dusty Springfield) (1988)
3) It's A Sin (Remix) (1987)
4) Left To My Own Devices ('New Toy Mix') (1988)
5) Domino Dancing (Disco Mix) (1988)
6) Always On My Mind (Extended Dance Version) (Cover of Elvis Presley) (1988)
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