Reviving the PSB Song Game

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York Minster
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Reviving the PSB Song Game

#1 Post by York Minster »

Roll up! Roll up! The song game is back. Plenty of new songs since the last go round, and never a bad time to revisit the back catalogue since the re-issues are selling.

A refresher for those who forgot how to play. It's simple.

Each poster comments on the song given by the previous poster, and leaves a song for the next player. Say how stupendous or horrendous it is. How grand the production or weak the keyboard motif. How does it make you feel. Anything you like. If you're Drico be sure to write a dissertation. Everyone wins! You may play multiple times, but be sure to take breaks. Mixes are allowed, as well as Tennant/Lowe works. Bootleg mixes and songs produced for others are highly suspect.


First song: Inside
And tryin' to figure out what happened to 'Germaine Propaine'
"He couldn't have fell off that hard" Ain't no way
"What happened to the way you was rappin' when you was scandalous
That Canibus turned into a television evangelist"
Plus he raps with his regular voice [BOOSH! BOOSH!]
[BOOSH! BOOSH!] (What was that?) Pet Shop Boys

Bulldog

Re: Reviving the PSB Song Game

#2 Post by Bulldog »

Very good. Neil being Brian Wilson around 1965. Should have been included on Elysium instead of insipid fillers like "Breathing space".

My turn: Inside a dream.

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jasonjohn
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Re: Reviving the PSB Song Game

#3 Post by jasonjohn »

Hehe, Breathing Space is an absolute favourite of mine.

Inside A Dream: Terrific track that really holds up the Electric momentum. The production works well and there is the nifty double bassline at 3:45 that is quite exciting :dance: I'm still not sure what the opening vocals are saying? Lyrically it's pretty basic, and far from my favourite type of PSB track where they mix in sentiment and observation, but works well as a dance track! :up: :up: :up:

Next up: Casanova in hell

joe stalin
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Re: Reviving the PSB Song Game

#4 Post by joe stalin »

Casanova in hell

Described elsewhere as a massive conceit. I think my favourite version is by Rufus on Concrete. Reminds me of Love is a Catastrophe. Songs that may be clever but I've never clicked with. Not horrendous by any degree but not one of their best

Next up: Young Offender

Tom Angel
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Re: Reviving the PSB Song Game

#5 Post by Tom Angel »

Young Offender

The single that never was. The King to the trite serfdom of Yesterday, when i was mad. The gaze of an older man upon the younger generation. It's one of those first moments of mortality, when you look around and things have changed. Is that fire in your eyes or the glow of machines? A moment of utter clarity as the electronics dart and pulse with a throbbing life of their own. With university degrees soundtracked to the bleep of Mario and Sonic, this is the sound of Pet Shop Boys catching the zeitgeist. Closing with the wry 'you're you're than me, obviously .' Perfection.

Next up:

To Step Aside
in suits or sequins/or twin sets and pearls

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Pod
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Re: Reviving the PSB Song Game

#6 Post by Pod »

To Step Aside is a standout track on Bilingual for me. Neil’s voice and lyrics are nuanced, suggesting more than they actually say. The track is filled with joyous, if subdued, sounds. It’s lyrics at the time hinted the PSB may be about to give up the mantle and ‘step aside’ to allow others to front the songs they write, thank goodness that didn’t happen.

Next track: Burn
Just for the sake of it, make sure you're always frowning. :|
It shows the world that you've got substance and depth.

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tottenhammattspurs
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Re: Reviving the PSB Song Game

#7 Post by tottenhammattspurs »

Burn.

For me, the standout track on Super. It’s too short though. If his was allowed to build and breathe into a five min stomper, we’d have a track that could give Vocal a run for its money.

Next up..... To Face The Truth
is is and isnt isnt

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Actually
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Re: Reviving the PSB Song Game

#8 Post by Actually »

To face the truth

Certainly fits well within Behaviour. I remember my first listen to this and that was a time of pure heartache for me. Was just trying to bounce back after a failed long distance relationship with a beautiful Irish girl and my eyes were always red. Beautiful wistful sounds make a perfect background for Neil's emotional voice. Love the line "It's the only thing to do" in the third verse. I've always reflected how Pet Shop Boys songs have proved to be a soundtrack of my life and when Behaviour came out it was when I lost my first real love. The whole album sums up that bleak period but To face the truth, musically & lyrically sends my emotions rising....

Next up;

Twenty-something
I'm too weak to be strong

Straight_Talker
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Re: Reviving the PSB Song Game

#9 Post by Straight_Talker »

My favourite track from “Super”. Every time I hear the lyrics saying...

“Take your smart phone
and make your way home
on your own”

...and the music cuts back to the rif, I get tingles down the back of my neck.

Simple, thought provoking pop perfection.

On a side note, it didn’t come across well when performed live, which is maybe why it was dropped from the Super playlist?

Next up:

Shouting in the evening
More strobes and BANGING, please!

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Re: Reviving the PSB Song Game

#10 Post by Drico One »

Shouting in the evening? When the duffest track on the album is this good, it's no surprise that Electric is one of their very best records. It encapsulates Electric's ecstatic sense of wild abandon, hammers home its point, and doesn't outstay its welcome. Rather like me. Arguably, the best segue since Opportunities (Reprise).

Next: Postscript.

Drico.
The pale kid that hides in the attic behind his PC...

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Re: Reviving the PSB Song Game

#11 Post by Flaffer »

Perhaps the rawest, most exposed emotion in a PSB track. Typically for a group who are often perceived as, wrongly, cold and aloof, the track is hidden after a song re-contextualised as a lament to the death of a gay utopia and is, so we believe, addressed to a lover dying as a result of aids. The “All alone now you’re gone .......” part of Paninaro 95 is itself a postscript aptly enough
Still waiting to hear the Adam Freeland, Manhattan Clique and Axwell mixes of Integral.

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Re: Reviving the PSB Song Game

#12 Post by Flaffer »

Also the track is a prediction of bad times to come as opposed to the usual song type lamenting the past. Next Disco Potential
Still waiting to hear the Adam Freeland, Manhattan Clique and Axwell mixes of Integral.

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stussyboy
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Re: Reviving the PSB Song Game

#13 Post by stussyboy »

Disco Potential - better title than song. A big-beat drum loop is vaguely pleasant but doesn’t really go anywhere, some PSB-by-numbers chords at the breakdown and some falsetto phoned in vocals from Neil. Not up to their usual b-side standards for me.

Next up : DJ culture
NewYork London Tokyo LosAngeles

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NikacP0kac
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Re: Reviving the PSB Song Game

#14 Post by NikacP0kac »

Lovely, typical early 90's PSB mid-tempo tune - love the verses, but the chorus is absolutely grating. The sentiment is the best characteristic of the song and you have to listen to the extended mix for complete enjoyment, to let the lovely bassline have some breathing space.

Next up: Somebody Else's Business
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Re: Reviving the PSB Song Game

#15 Post by Gabby »

One of several of the great "new" tracks on Disco 3, and that cheeky vocal riff from "Love Comes Quickly" at the end seals the deal for me! It evokes being totally besotted with someone who essentially doesn't feel the same, and is "busy minding somebody else's business" and yet somehow you can't help but be enthralled and excited by that person despite the continual let downs and disappointments. Who hasn't been there? Another skillfully written track that touches an emotional nerve in many people I imagine. This track, along with several on Disco 3, didn't deserve to be here but instead on a "proper" studio album. :D

Next up: The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On

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