Pet Shop Boys Day
There’s a lot going on in the world of entertainment today. James Darren announced, very last minute, that he’s performing tomorrow at some old-age RV park in Arizona and that makes me rather sad – he should be packing lounges in Vegas but I don’t know the whole story behind it so I’ll try not to judge. A new episode of 24 airs tonight, the last of the pre-writer’s strike episodes. There’s a new episode of Big Bang Theory in which it is rumoured Rock Band will play a heavy role – will Sheldon challenge Wil Wheaton for the title of Best Rock Band Performer Ever? President Obama (still feels good and not just a little odd to say that) will be holding his first press conference. Depeche Mode also updated their website with some goodies about their new album, Songs of the Universe. And Love, Etc., the first single from the forthcoming Pet Shop Boys album Yes, got its first airplay in the UK today – I have yet to hear it.
With so much happening today it’s hard to decide what to focus on but there are a couple great discussions on the Pet Shop Boys fan page on Facebook that got the juices flowing. Two subjects particularly got my attention: What did you think of the album Release? And when and why did you become a fan? I’m tempted to do a retro album review of Release but for now I thought I’d discuss the evolution of my PSB fandom.
Most of Actually (their second album) peaked my interest in the late 80s when my sister and her boyfriend at the time would listen to it – particularly King’s Cross stood out to me as some unique and One More Chance was a fun way to start off an album. But it wasn’t until Behaviour in 1990 that caused me to become a real fan; it is still by far one of my favorite albums of all time of any genre. By the time Discography came out the next year I was practically a rabid fan. From ‘91 to ‘93 (ages 11 to 13) Pet Shop Boys probably made up about half of all the music I was listening too - I never got sick of any of it (save West End Girls which gets old fast). I had Discography on tape and I swear I listened to that thing so much on my walkman and stereo that I nearly wore the tape out. This largely motivated my drive to buy a CD player, the first piece of major electronics I ever bought myself.
The first CD I ever bought was Behaviour and to this day it is probably the most played of all my CDs. I would let the CD play for hours as I’d read (particularly The Siege, a DS9 novel by Peter David always reminds me of that album and vice versa); play video games, or just listen. I remember Please on CD being my favorite gift at my birthday party in Grade 8. By the time Very came out I had converted my whole family - Very didn’t leave the family CD player for months. I remember playing games like Final Fantasy 2 with my mom as we’d listen to Very. Later when Alternative came out we’d listen to that too, now playing Final Fantasy 3, but it being a collection of B-sides my family’s interest seemed to wane a bit.
By the time Bilingual came out I was listening to it by myself again, now while I spent time on the computer – Bilingual was good and signified a new period but it didn’t quite capture my interest to the obsession-inspiring degree Behaviour, Discography, and Very did.
When Nightlife came out I listened to it a few times but then it spent an unconscionable amount of time in a CD wallet, ignored. In later years I would rediscover it and find In Denial and Footsteps to be among my favorite songs ever.
I interrupted a date to buy Release, listened to it once or twice and forgot about it (and the girl!). A couple years later I went back and rediscovered such gems as London, The Samurai in autumn, and Love Is a Catastrophe – the latter two truly beautiful songs and London served as a bit of an inspiration, theme song, and driving force behind the Europe trip of 2005. Seriously, I would listen to that song as I prepared my pitch to get London added as a stop on that trip and as my mom will tell you it was the crowning jewel of the vacation.
With Fundamental I was back on the ground floor – I knew about it ahead of time, bought it the day it came out, and frankly absolutely loved all but one song. It really meant a lot to me to know that quality timeless music was still being produced somewhere in the sea of crap out there on the radio. Easily raising to the ranks of Behaviour and Very this is one of my favorite albums of all time.
With my hope for future quality music in the universe restored I planned an entire vacation around seeing the Pet Shop Boys live in concert for the first time ever on the Fundamental tour. If I had a bucket list, this was very high on it. The second the tickets went on sale I was there clicking away getting the best seats. A delightful (for the most part) train ride to Seattle and a stop at The Cheesecake Factory (and a dodgy hotel) brought us to the show, surrounded for the first time in my life by people who were as big a fan as I, some even bigger. The show was fantastic. In the league of Hootie & The Blowfish and Depeche Mode – although I still have to say Depeche Mode puts on the best show anywhere if only for Enjoy The Silence. But nevertheless what you get at a Pet Shop Boys concert you can’t find anywhere else – and I’m not just talking about the $130 USD I gladly, almost gleefully, spent at the Merch table.
So today a new chapter in the story opens.
