Album: Behaviour
Artist: Pet Shop Boys
Artist: Pet Shop Boys
Born: Chelsea, London
Released: October 1990
Genre: Electronic
Influenced: Pulp, U2, Underworld, Divine Comedy, Coldplay
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Inspired by Depeche Mode's Violator, the Pet Shop Boys' fourth album Behaviour shares similar attributes: a low-key but lyrically mature opening, precise analogue synths and personal themes. Like Depeche Mode, PSB also started out labelled as synthpop but developed into electronic music pioneers. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe were two Northerners that met in London in the 80s and shared a love of dance music. Tennant's work as a journalist for Smash Hits gave him access to musicians all around the world, and it was meeting New York producer Bobby Orlando, who specialised in uptempo dance music like Hi-NRG, that gave the duo their break. Recorded as part of the Orlando sessions, West End Girls was a success in the US in 1984, long before it peaked at No.1 in the UK in early 1986 in a re-released version. It remains one of the great pop singles. On the back of the song's success, Tennant left his post as Deputy Editor of Smash Hits and set about exploring various dance music strands from techno to Eurodisco. Bizarrely, one of my Dad's most out of character purchases was PSB's third studio album, Introspective, which I distinctly remember for its rainbow cover design and brilliant dance cover version of country classic, Always On My Mind. The unusual decision to create an LP of six extended dance tracks, which were released as shortened singles, didn't affect sales of Introspection but, according to Tennant, might have dampened interest in their follow-up album, Behaviour. Another factor may have been that Britain was in the grips of acid house fever and this record's more futuristic, deep house sound didn't really fit with those heady times. Whatever the reasons, it's a shame (no, worse, it's a sin), because Behaviour is by far PSB's best record.
Produced by Harold Faltermeyer, famous for his collaborations with Giorgio Moroder as well as his film soundtracks (check out this beauty), Behaviour was recorded in Munich and has a warmer sound than most PSB records, partly thanks to the use of older electronic equipment, especially analogue synths. This new approach is best illustrated on the brilliantly layered opening to Being Boring, which mixes piano and guitar with synths, before Lowe's strings introduce Tennant's reflective, poignant lyrics. This is not just a song about growing up, but also the decimation of the gay community after the AIDS virus ("All the people I was kissing / some are here and some are missing / in the 1990s"). Being Boring may be one of PSB's finest musical creations but it was their first single not to chart in the Top 10 for four years. Instead, it's now a staple of their live performances. What I love about the album is that it's consistently brilliant throughout and has a uniform mood. Highlights for me are My October Symphony (which features the guitar work of Johnny Marr and was, improbably, the inspiration for Guns N' Roses' November Rain), Nervously, So Hard and Jealousy. So Hard is one of the best examples of the brilliant songwriting on the album, especially the line, "We've both given up smoking 'cause it's fatal / so whose matches are those?". Creating intelligent electronic music and abandoning dance music, at a time when many people were out of their minds on ecstasy, was a brave move but one that ultimately paid off handsomely for the group.
Inspired by Depeche Mode's Violator, the Pet Shop Boys' fourth album Behaviour shares similar attributes: a low-key but lyrically mature opening, precise analogue synths and personal themes. Like Depeche Mode, PSB also started out labelled as synthpop but developed into electronic music pioneers. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe were two Northerners that met in London in the 80s and shared a love of dance music. Tennant's work as a journalist for Smash Hits gave him access to musicians all around the world, and it was meeting New York producer Bobby Orlando, who specialised in uptempo dance music like Hi-NRG, that gave the duo their break. Recorded as part of the Orlando sessions, West End Girls was a success in the US in 1984, long before it peaked at No.1 in the UK in early 1986 in a re-released version. It remains one of the great pop singles. On the back of the song's success, Tennant left his post as Deputy Editor of Smash Hits and set about exploring various dance music strands from techno to Eurodisco. Bizarrely, one of my Dad's most out of character purchases was PSB's third studio album, Introspective, which I distinctly remember for its rainbow cover design and brilliant dance cover version of country classic, Always On My Mind. The unusual decision to create an LP of six extended dance tracks, which were released as shortened singles, didn't affect sales of Introspection but, according to Tennant, might have dampened interest in their follow-up album, Behaviour. Another factor may have been that Britain was in the grips of acid house fever and this record's more futuristic, deep house sound didn't really fit with those heady times. Whatever the reasons, it's a shame (no, worse, it's a sin), because Behaviour is by far PSB's best record.
Produced by Harold Faltermeyer, famous for his collaborations with Giorgio Moroder as well as his film soundtracks (check out this beauty), Behaviour was recorded in Munich and has a warmer sound than most PSB records, partly thanks to the use of older electronic equipment, especially analogue synths. This new approach is best illustrated on the brilliantly layered opening to Being Boring, which mixes piano and guitar with synths, before Lowe's strings introduce Tennant's reflective, poignant lyrics. This is not just a song about growing up, but also the decimation of the gay community after the AIDS virus ("All the people I was kissing / some are here and some are missing / in the 1990s"). Being Boring may be one of PSB's finest musical creations but it was their first single not to chart in the Top 10 for four years. Instead, it's now a staple of their live performances. What I love about the album is that it's consistently brilliant throughout and has a uniform mood. Highlights for me are My October Symphony (which features the guitar work of Johnny Marr and was, improbably, the inspiration for Guns N' Roses' November Rain), Nervously, So Hard and Jealousy. So Hard is one of the best examples of the brilliant songwriting on the album, especially the line, "We've both given up smoking 'cause it's fatal / so whose matches are those?". Creating intelligent electronic music and abandoning dance music, at a time when many people were out of their minds on ecstasy, was a brave move but one that ultimately paid off handsomely for the group.
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