1986's number one Mega-hit "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys. I re-edited my own-vid remix tribute from the "Shep Pettibone 45t Prime Cut-Dub Mastermix" (which also was enjoyed with the "Dub Mix" & "Ultimix" remix version). It could be probably, one of the singles with more remixes released at Music History. Hope you'll enjoy it!
Review.- Pet Shop Boys are an English synthpop/pop music/electronic music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant (born as Neil Francis Tennant in July 10, 1954, North Shields, Tyne and Wear, England)
who provides main vocals, keyboards and very occasionally guitar, and Chris Lowe (born as Christopher Sean Lowe in 4 October 1959, Blackpool, Lancashire, England) on keyboards and occasionally on vocals. The duo write the vast majority of their songs and have also written songs for other artists.
Pet Shop Boys formed in London in August 1981 when vocalist Neil Tennant (a former editor at Marvel Comics who later gained some notoriety as a journalist for Smash Hits magazine) first met keyboardist Chris Lowe (a onetime architecture student) at an electronics shop. Discovering a shared passion for dance music and synthesizers, they immediately decided to start a band. Dubbing themselves the Pet Shop Boys in honor of friends who worked in such an establishment -- while also obliquely nodding to the sort of names prevalent among the New York City hip-hop culture of the early 1980s -- the duo's career first took flight in 1983, when Tennant met producer Bobby "O" Orlando while on a writing assignment. Orlando produced their first single, 1984's "West End Girls." The song was a minor hit in the U.S. but went nowhere in Britain, and its follow-up, "One More Chance," was also unsuccessful.
Upon signing to EMI, the Pet Shop Boys issued 1985's biting "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)." When it too failed to attract attention, the duo's future appeared grim, but they then released an evocative new Stephen Hague production of "West End Girls," which became an international chart-topper. Its massive success propelled the Pet Shop Boys' 1986 debut LP Please into the Top Ten, and when "Opportunities" was subsequently reissued, it too became a hit. Disco, a collection of dance remixes, was quickly rushed into stores, and in 1987 the duo resurfaced with the superb Actually, which launched three more Top Ten smashes -- "It's a Sin," a lovely cover of the perennial "Always on My Mind," and "What Have I Done to Deserve This?," a duet between Tennant and the great Dusty Springfield. A documentary film titled It Couldn't Happen Here was released the following year.
Also in 1988, Pet Shop Boys issued their third studio LP, the eclectic Introspective. The single "Domino Dancing" was their final Top 40 hit in the U.S.
Neil Tennant is openly gay, although he refused to confirm rumours about his sexuality in the 1980s until finally coming out shortly after the release of 1993's Very in Attitude, a UK gay lifestyle magazine. Lowe, meanwhile, has remained tight-lipped on the subject. The duo are sometimes incorrectly assumed to be a couple (in the 1990 biography Pet Shop Boys, Literally, Tennant recalls that even their ex-manager, Tom Watkins, was under this impression for a time).
Pet Shop Boys are seen as significant figures in gay culture for such songs as "Can you forgive her?", "It's a sin" (for which gay director Derek Jarman produced the video), "New York City Boy" and their cover of Village People's "Go West". They have written a song about a young male fan spending a night with a rapper, based on Eminem, called "The night I fell in love" and a song about coming out, "Metamorphosis". Their 1990s single "Being boring" dealt with the gay experience and the devastation wrought by the AIDS crisis; the song (and its supporting video, filmed by Bruce Weber), remains one of their most popular. However, Neil Tennant has stated many times that his lyrics are not specifically gay. Many of their songs are written from an ambiguous view point that can be taken any way the listener perceives it, and this goes some way to explain why a large segment of their die-hard fans are heterosexual.
Pet Shop Boys have performed and worked with many artists considered to be gay and bisexual icons such as Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Dusty Springfield, Bananarama, Boy George, Kylie Minogue and Madonna. Pet Shop Boys attempted to organise and perform in a planned 2001 tour of out gay musicians, entitled 'Wotapalava'. However, the plans were later put on hold and the idea seems to have been discarded.
The Duo have sold more than 50 million records worldwide. The longevity of their career is generally attributed to their ability to create melodic and interesting pop/dance music. Since 1986, they have had thirty-nine Top 30 singles and twenty-two Top 10 hits in the UK, including four number ones: "West End Girls", "It's a Sin", "Always on My Mind" and "Heart".