Pet Shop Boys will release the final set of albums in their definitive ‘Catalogue: 1985-2012’ series of reissues of all their Parlophone studio albums. This fourth batch of releases will see the PSB albums ‘Behaviour’ from 1990, the 1993 album ‘Very’ and the 1996 album ‘Bilingual’ reissued on August 31st, 2018. The albums have been remastered and repackaged, and will be accompanied by ‘Further listening’ albums of master quality bonus tracks – including demos, extended mixes and remixes of tracks from the albums and others created in the same period as each record.
‘Behaviour’ was Pet Shop Boys’ fourth studio album, recorded largely in Munich, Germany at producer Harold Faltermeyer’s studio. The album was then completed at London’s Sarm West Studios, and was released in October 1990 – hitting number two on the UK Album Chart and going on to earn platinum certification.
The LP is seen by some as one of Pet Shop Boys’ most contemplative and moving records, and features the singles ‘So hard’, ‘How can you expect to be taken seriously?’ and their classic track ‘Being boring’. This ‘Catalogue’ release of ‘Behaviour’ features Further listening bonus tracks such as an extended mix of ‘Where the streets have no name (I can’t take my eyes off you)’ and an ambient mix of ‘Music for boys’ – both of which are previously unreleased on CD.
Behaviour/Further listening 1990-1991:
CD 1
1 Being boring
2 This must be the place I waited years to leave
3 To face the truth
4 How can you expect to be taken seriously?
5 Only the wind
6 My October symphony
7 So hard
8 Nervously
9 The end of the world
10 Jealousy
CD 2
1 It must be obvious
2 So hard (extended dance mix)
3 Miserablism
4 Being boring (extended mix)
5 Bet she’s not your girlfriend
6 We all feel better in the dark (extended mix)
7 Where the streets have no name (I can’t take my eyes off you) (extended mix)
8 Jealousy (extended version)
9 Generic jingle •
10 DJ culture (extended mix)
11 Was it worth it? (twelve-inch mix)
12 Music for boys (ambient mix)
13 DJ culture (seven-inch mix)
- Previously unreleased
The 1993 album ‘Very’ was a number one record for Pet Shop Boys in the UK, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland, and has to date sold in excess of five million copies worldwide. It contains five singles, including their cover of ‘Go West’ – a number two hit for PSB – and lead single ‘Can you forgive her?’
Stylistically, ‘Very’ could be said to serve as an antithesis to ‘Behaviour’, insofar as the production and lyrical themes are generally more upbeat than those of the previous album. Visually, too, PSB reinvented their image to incorporate more vivid colours and brightness, including Very’s now-iconic “Lego” album cover and the ‘pointy hats’ worn by Chris and Neil. The album is also the first to be produced almost entirely by Pet Shop Boys themselves – with additional production and mix courtesy of Stephen Hague. This ‘Catalogue’ issue of ‘Very’ includes a Further listening disc of bonus material, such as the previously-unreleased tracks ‘Falling’ (a demo for Kylie Minogue), and a 1992 twelve-inch mix of ‘Go West’.
Very/Further listening 1992–1994:
CD 1
1 Can you forgive her?
2 I wouldn’t normally do this kind of thing
3 Liberation
4 A different point of view
5 Dreaming of the Queen
6 Yesterday, when I was mad
7 The theatre
8 One and one make five
9 To speak is a sin
10 Young offender
11 One in a million
12 Go West
CD 2
1 Go West (1992 twelve-inch mix)
2 Forever in love
3 Confidential (demo for Tina)
4 Hey, headmaster
5 Shameless
6 Too many people
7 I wouldn’t normally do this kind of thing (seven-inch version)
8 Violence (Haçienda version)
9 Falling (demo for Kylie)
10 Decadence
11 If love were all
12 Absolutely fabulous (single version)
13 Euroboy
14 Some speculation
15 Yesterday, when I was mad (single version)
16 Girls and boys (live in Rio)
Released in September 1996, ‘Bilingual’ was the sixth studio album to be released by Pet Shop Boys. It was a UK top five record upon release and included five singles, all of which were UK top 20 singles. Much of ‘Bilingual’ was influenced by the music of Latin America which Neil and Chris has been exposed to on a tour of that region.
Some of the album was produced by PSB while five tracks were co-produced by Chris Porter, two by Danny Tenaglia and one by K-klass. It has since gained platinum certification in Spain, and Gold in the UK. This ‘Catalogue’ release of ‘Bilingual’ includes a Further listening CD of bonus tracks, with previously-unreleased new versions of ‘Discoteca’ and ‘A red letter day’.
Bilingual/Further listening: 1995-1997:
CD 1
1 Discoteca
2 Single
3 Metamorphosis
4 Electricity
5 Se a vida é (That’s the way life is)
6 It always comes as a surprise
7 A red letter day
8 Up against it
9 The survivors
10 Before
11 To step aside
12 Saturday night forever
CD 2
1 Paninaro ’95
2 In the night (1995)
3 The truck-driver and his mate
4 Hit and miss
5 How I learned to hate rock ’n’ roll
6 Betrayed
7 Delusions of grandeur
8 Discoteca (single version) •
9 The calm before the storm
10 Discoteca (new version)
11 The boy who couldn’t keep his clothes on
12 A red letter day (expanded single version)
13 The view from your balcony
14 Disco potential
15 Somewhere (extended mix)
- Previously unreleased
The ‘Catalogue: 1985-2012’ reissues of ‘Behaviour’, ‘Very’ and Bilingual’ will go on sale 31st August 2018. The three albums will be packaged with an extensive booklet in which Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe discuss each song, illustrated with many archive photographs. The entire project is designed by Farrow. To pre-order the albums, please follow the links below:
‘Behaviour’ – https://lnk.to/PSBBehaviourMP
‘Very’ – https://lnk.to/PSBVeryMP
‘Bilingual’ – https://lnk.to/PSBBilingualMP
The ‘Catalogue: 1985-2012’ reissue series began last year with the release of ‘Nightlife’, ‘Release’ and ‘Fundamental’ which all entered the Top 40 album charts, followed by re-issues of ‘Yes’ and ‘Elysium’, and later ‘Please’, ‘Actually’ and ‘Introspective’.
The reissues of ‘Please’, ‘Actually’, ‘Introspective’, ‘Behaviour’, ‘Very’ and ‘Bilingual’ were originally released with bonus Further listening albums in 2001 and are being newly remastered with their original track-listings for this project.
