1.
Single (music)
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In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record, an album or an EP record. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats, in most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular, in other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. As digital downloading and audio streaming have become prevalent, it is often possible for every track on an album to also be available separately. Nevertheless, the concept of a single for an album has been retained as an identification of a heavily promoted or more popular song within an album collection. Despite being referred to as a single, singles can include up to as many as three tracks on them. The biggest digital music distributor, iTunes, accepts as many as three tracks less than ten minutes each as a single, as well as popular music player Spotify also following in this trend. Any more than three tracks on a release or longer than thirty minutes in total running time is either an Extended Play or if over six tracks long. The basic specifications of the single were made in the late 19th century. Gramophone discs were manufactured with a range of speeds and in several sizes. By about 1910, however, the 10-inch,78 rpm shellac disc had become the most commonly used format, the inherent technical limitations of the gramophone disc defined the standard format for commercial recordings in the early 20th century.26 rpm. With these factors applied to the 10-inch format, songwriters and performers increasingly tailored their output to fit the new medium, the breakthrough came with Bob Dylans Like a Rolling Stone. Singles have been issued in various formats, including 7-inch, 10-inch, other, less common, formats include singles on digital compact cassette, DVD, and LD, as well as many non-standard sizes of vinyl disc. Some artist release singles on records, a more common in musical subcultures. The most common form of the single is the 45 or 7-inch. The names are derived from its speed,45 rpm. The 7-inch 45 rpm record was released 31 March 1949 by RCA Victor as a smaller, more durable, the first 45 rpm records were monaural, with recordings on both sides of the disc. As stereo recordings became popular in the 1960s, almost all 45 rpm records were produced in stereo by the early 1970s
2.
Pet Shop Boys
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Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic pop duo, formed in London in 1981 and consisting of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. Pet Shop Boys have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, Other hit songs include a cover of Go West, Opportunities and What Have I Done to Deserve This. in a duet with Dusty Springfield. At the 2009 Brit Awards in London, Pet Shop Boys received an award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, in 2016, Billboard magazine named Pet Shop Boys the No.1 Billboard Dance duo/group over the 40 years since the charts inception in 1976. In 2017 the duo received NMEs Godlike Genius Award, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe met in an electronics shop on Kings Road in Chelsea, London, in August 1981. Recognising a mutual interest in music, they began to work together on material, first in Tennants flat in Chelsea and from 1982. It was during early years that several future hit songs were created, including Its a Sin, West End Girls, Rent. Their big break came in August 1983, when Tennant was assigned by Smash Hits to interview The Police in New York, the duo were obsessed with a stream of Hi-NRG records made by New York producer Bobby Orlando, simply known as Bobby O. According to Tennant, I thought, well, if Ive got to go and see The Police play, in April 1984, the Orlando-produced West End Girls was released, becoming a club hit in Los Angeles and San Francisco. On 2 November, it was voted Screamer of the Week by listeners of Long Island and it was a minor dance hit in Belgium and France, but was only available in the United Kingdom as a 12 import. In March 1985, after negotiations, Pet Shop Boys cut their contractual ties with Bobby O. Hiring manager Tom Watkins, they signed with the London-based Parlophone label, in April, Tennant left Smash Hits and in July, a new single, Opportunities, was released, reaching number 116 in the UK. The B-side to this single, In the Night, later resurfaced, in a remixed version, as the opening track to the duos first remix album, Disco. This version was used as the theme for the UK television series The Clothes Show. Unperturbed by the low position, the band returned to the studio in August to re-record West End Girls with producer Stephen Hague. Released in October 1985, this new version entered the charts at a similarly low position. It was subsequently number one in the United States, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Israel, New Zealand and Norway and it remains the most-heard Pet Shop Boys song to date. After the success of West End Girls, Pet Shop Boys released a single, Love Comes Quickly. The single reached number 19 in the UK Singles Chart and was followed by their album, Please
3.
Very (Pet Shop Boys album)
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Very is the fifth studio album by English electronic duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released in September 1993, nearly two and a years after the duos previous studio album, Behaviour, and the compilation album Discography. Very exhibits one of many turning points the Pet Shop Boys would make to their music, the content and lyrics led to Very being called their coming-out album, since it was during this time that Neil Tennant had publicly discussed his long-rumoured homosexuality. Very has sold more than five million worldwide, and contains five UK singles. After the Performance Tour of 1991, Pet Shop Boys elected to take a break, with that compilation many fans thought they were splitting because 1992 saw no new original works. However, in 1993, Pet Shop Boys came back together and this therefore, by many critics, is considered their Upper album as many thought Behaviour was a downer album. A limited edition of Very was also released as an album titled Very Relentless. The second disc, Relentless, was a dance album containing tracks that are more experimental and instrumental. There were plans to expand upon Relentless in 1994 by releasing the six tracks along with others, making a dance album. The six tracks on Relentless have not been released elsewhere since, the album was reissued in 1996 as a mid-price release, this time in a standard jewel case with a new sleeve showing an image of the original case. Very was re-released on 3 July 2001 titled Very, Further Listening 1992–1994, the re-released version was digitally remastered and came with a second disc featuring B-sides and previously unreleased material. The unreleased songs were recorded during the Very recording sessions, but Tennant, on 9 February 2009, the album was re-released yet again, still remastered, under the title Very, Remastered but this time containing only the 12 original tracks. Following the 2009 re-release, the 2001 2-disc remastered version was deleted and it can only be purchased second-hand or MP3 digital download. Some of the B-sides are also on Alternative, their 1995 album of B-sides, the original release of Very was packaged in a unique orange jewel case with raised bumps, designed by Daniel Weil of Pentagram in London. Very Relentless was similarly unique, with the two CDs housed in card sleeves with both of these housed in a translucent rubber case with raised bumps, in June 2000, Q magazine placed Very at number ninety-one on its list of The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. All songs except Go West written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, not the version featured on PopArt. Neil Tennant Chris Lowe Additional Pete Gleadall – programming J. J, with thanks to Graeme Perkins and Jaqueline Pierce – choir on track 121993 interview with Daniel Weil, designer of the Very package
4.
A-side and B-side
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The terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 78,45, and 33 1/3 rpm phonograph records, whether singles, extended plays, or long-playing records. Creedence Clearwater Revival had hits with both A-side and B-side releases, others took the opposite approach, producer Phil Spector was in the habit of filling B-sides with on-the-spot instrumentals that no one would confuse with the A-side. With this practice, Spector was assured that airplay was focused on the side he wanted to be the hit side, the earliest 10-inch,78 rpm, shellac records were single sided. Double-sided recordings, with one song on side, were introduced in Europe by Columbia Records. There were no record charts until the 1930s, and radio stations did not play recorded music until the 1950s, in this time, A-sides and B-sides existed, but neither side was considered more important, the side did not convey anything about the content of the record. The term single came into use with the advent of vinyl records in the early 1950s. At first, most record labels would randomly assign which song would be an A-side, under this random system, many artists had so-called double-sided hits, where both songs on a record made one of the national sales charts, or would be featured on jukeboxes in public places. As time wore on, however, the convention for assigning songs to sides of the record changed. By the early sixties, the song on the A-side was the song that the company wanted radio stations to play. It was not until 1968, for instance, that the production of albums on a unit basis finally surpassed that of singles in the United Kingdom. In the late 1960s stereo versions of pop and rock songs began to appear on 45s. The majority of the 45s were played on AM radio stations, by the early 1970s, double-sided hits had become rare. Album sales had increased, and B-sides had become the side of the record where non-album, non-radio-friendly, with the advent of cassette and compact disc singles in the late 1980s, the A-side/B-side differentiation became much less meaningful. With the decline of cassette singles in the 1990s, the A-side/B-side dichotomy became virtually extinct, as the dominant medium. However, the term B-side is still used to refer to the tracks or coupling tracks on a CD single. With the advent of downloading music via the Internet, sales of CD singles and other media have declined. B-side songs may be released on the record as a single to provide extra value for money. There are several types of material released in this way, including a different version, or, in a concept record
5.
If Love Were All
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If Love Were All is a song by Noël Coward, published in 1929 and written for the operetta Bitter Sweet. The song is considered autobiographical, and has described as self-deprecating as well as one of the loneliest pop songs ever written. Ivy St. Helier performed the song in the 1933 film version of Bitter Sweet, in June 2009, an Off-Broadway play of the same name about Cowards relationship with Gertrude Lawrence premiered at Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York City. If Love Were All has been described as self-deprecating as well as one of the loneliest pop songs ever written, rod McKuen considers the song to be among the truly great songs about entertaining from the entertainment point of view. And also on Sarah Brightmans The Songs That Got Away, in the latter part of her life, Garland often included If Love Were All in her concert and television repertoire. Maria Friedman Alma Cogan Elaine Stritch Cultural impact of Noël Coward List of 1920s jazz standards
6.
Yesterday, When I Was Mad
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Yesterday, When I Was Mad is a single by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys released as the fifth and last single from their 1993 album Very. The single peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart, the song was remixed by Jam & Spoon for its single release, among other things removing a compression effect applied to Tennants voice during the verses. The B-sides included a cover of the Noël Coward song If Love Were All, Tennant has said that many of the lines in the song, such as And someone said, Its fabulous youre still around today—youve both made such a little go a very long way. Euroboy, a track written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe in the Eurodance mould of such bands as Cappella and Livin Joy, was released as one of the B-sides on Yesterday. It later appeared on the US release of the album Disco 2, the B-side collection Alternative, the track includes Chris Lowe in one of his rare lead-vocals performances, singing through a vocoder. The Boys claimed to have been unaware at the time of release that Euroboy was also the name of a gay pornographic magazine. It was occasionally performed live on the Asian leg of the bands 1994 Discovery tour, Yesterday, When I Was Mad If Love Were All Can You Forgive Her
7.
CD single
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This article is about the 12cm single. Not to be confused with 8cm single, the standard in the Red Book for the term CD single. A CD single is a single in the form of a standard size compact disc. It is not to be confused with the Mini CD single, the format was introduced in the mid-1980s but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s. With the rise in digital downloads in the early 2010s, sales of CD singles have decreased, commercially released CD singles can vary in length from two songs up to six songs like an EP. Some contain multiple mixes of one or more songs, in the tradition of 12 vinyl singles, depending on the nation, there may be limits on the number of songs and total length for sales to count in singles charts. Containing four tracks, it had a limited print run. CD singles were first made eligible for the UK Singles Chart in 1987, the Mini CD single format was originally created for use for singles in the late 1980s, but met with limited success, particularly in the US. The smaller CDs were more successful in Japan and have become more common in Europe. By 1989, the CD3 was in decline in the US and it was common in the 1990s for US record companies to release both a two-track CD and a multi-track maxi CD. In the UK, record companies would also release two CDs but, usually, these consisted of three tracks or more each. Pressure from record labels made singles charts in some countries become song charts, allowing album cuts to chart based only on airplay, without a single ever being released. At the end of the 1990s, the CD was the single format in the UK, but in the US. In Australia, the Herald Sun reported the CD single is set to become extinct, while CD singles no longer maintain their own section of the store, copies are still distributed but placed with the artists albums. That is predominantly the case for popular Australian artists such as Jessica Mauboy, Kylie Minogue and, most recently, Delta Goodrem, the ARIA Singles Chart are now predominantly compiled from legal downloads, and ARIA also stopped compiling their physical singles sales chart. On a Mission by Gabriella Cilmi was the last CD single to be stocked in Kmart, Target and Big W, sanity Entertainment, having resisted the decline for longer than the other major outlets, has also ceased selling CD singles. In Greece and Cyprus, the term CD single is used to describe a play in which there may be anywhere from three to six different tracks. These releases charted on the Greek Singles Chart with songs released as singles, in September 2003, there was talk of ringtones for mobile phones outstripping CD singles sales for the year 2004
8.
12-inch single
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The 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time compared to typical LPs. This allows for levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range. This record type is used in disco and dance music genres. They are played at either 33 1⁄3 or 45 rpm, 12-inch singles typically have much shorter playing time than full-length LPs, thus require fewer grooves per inch. This extra space permits a broader dynamic range or louder recording level as the grooves excursions can be greater in amplitude. Many record companies began producing 12-inch singles at 33 1⁄3 rpm, although 45 rpm gives better treble response and was used on many 12-inch singles, the gramophone records cut especially for dance-floor DJs came into existence with the advent of recorded Jamaican mento music in the 1950s. With the 1967 Jamaican invention of remix, called dub on the island, those specials became valuable items sold to allied sound system DJs, who could draw crowds with their exclusive hits. The popularity of sound engineer King Tubby, who singlehandedly invented and perfected dub remixes from as early as 1967. By then 10-inch records were used to cut those dubs, by 1971, most reggae singles issued in Jamaica included on their B-side a dub remix of the A-side, many of them first tested as exclusive dub plates on dances. Those dubs basically included drum and bass-oriented remixes used by sound system selecters, the 10-inch acetate specials would remain popular until at least the 2000s in Jamaica. Most likely, the use of exclusive dub acetates in Jamaica also led American DJs to do the same. In the United States, the 12-inch single gramophone record came into popularity with the advent of music in the 1970s after earlier market experiments. In early 1970, Cycle/Ampex Records test-marketed a 12-inch single by Buddy Fite, the experiment aimed to energize the struggling singles market, offering a new option for consumers who had stopped buying traditional singles. The record was pressed at 33 rpm, with run times to the 7-inch 45-rpm pressing of the single. Several hundred copies were available for sale for 98 cents each at two Tower Records stores. Another early 12-inch single was released in 1973 by soul/R&B musician/songwriter/producer Jerry Williams, 12-inch promotional copies of Straight From My Heart were released on his own Swamp Dogg Presents label, with distribution by Jamie/Guyden Distribution Corporation. It was manufactured by Jamie Record Co. of Philadelphia, PA, the B-side of the record is blank. The first 12-inch single made specifically for DJs was actually a 10-inch acetate used by a mix engineer in need of a Friday-night test copy for famed disco mixer Tom Moulton, the song was Ill be holding on by Al Downing
9.
Cassette single
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A cassette single is a music single in the form of a Compact Cassette. Bow Wow Wows C·30 C·60 C·90 Go was the first cassette single released in the U. K. in 1980, records released the first cassette single in the U. S. with the Go-Gos Vacation in 1982. The ZTT label made good use of the format by 1984, with singles by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Art of Noise, the format was used as a promotion in the 1990s, with Disney giving a cassingle to attendees of Hercules promotional events. Originally, most cassette singles were released in a sleeve that slipped over the outside of the release. This was then usually shrink wrapped in plastic, some singles contained one song on each side, much as 45s had done, but others repeated the songs on both sides. In some markets, cassette singles generally used the packaging as standard cassettes. As the cassette maxi-single was released, more intricate packaging was incorporated that looked similar to the packaging of a cassette release. These were placed in regular plastic cassette cases with a paper/cardstock insert, unlike a full-length cassette album, these were generally only one two-sided inlay instead of a fold-out. Maxi-singles usually contained four versions of a song, i. e. unique mixes & edits. In the U. S. cassette singles were completely phased out by the early 2000s, one reason for their lesser popularity was because they appeared to be an inefficient use of the media to consumers - a cassette single took up the same storage space as a full album
10.
Eurobeat
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Eurobeat is either a form of the British dance-pop variant of Eurodisco or Hi-NRG-driven Italo disco music that both developed in 1980s. In the United States, Eurobeat was sometimes marketed as Hi-NRG, Italo disco was often referred to as Eurobeat, probably due to the negative connotations of the word disco in the minds of the United States population in the 1980s. Eurobeat is also related to the Japanese Para Para dance culture as it influences many song. The term Eurobeat was first used in the UK when Ian Levines Eastbound Expressway released their single Youre a Beat in recognition to the tempo of Hi-NRG music emerging from Europe. The majority of Hi-NRG songs tended to be from 124 to 138 BPM whereas the European releases tended to be from 108 to 120 BPM. Many European acts managed to break through under this new recognition, namely the likes of Modern Talking, Bad Boys Blue, Taffy, Eurobeat was also applied to the first hits from the Pet Shop Boys and other UK-based dance music and electropop groups of the time. Those Eurobeat hits had a European beat, topped the UK charts, braun European Top 20 on MTV Europe also aired on MTV USA during summer 1987 to 1989, spreading the UKs Eurobeat sound. But after the summer of 1988, the style lost popularity, with the exception of Kylie Minogue, by the summer of 89 the term Eurobeat was replaced by other labels and the music changed to 90s Eurodance and mostly Euro house. The term Eurobeat was also used only in the UK during 1986–1988, for specific Italian 80s Euro disco imports, such as Sabrina Salerno, Spagna, meanwhile, in Japan in 1985, the term Eurobeat was applied to all continental-European dance music imports. These were mainly Italian and German-produced Italo disco releases and that sound became the soundtrack of the Para Para nightclub culture, that has existed since the early 1980s. Japan experienced Italo disco through the success of the German group Arabesque and this did not prevent the release of two Italo disco-sounding singles in 1985 and 1986, produced and mixed by Michael Cretu. The later solo success of Arabesques lead singer Sandra further introduced this sound to Japan, in Japan, this music is called Eurobeat, Super Eurobeat, and Eurobeat Flash. Despite its European origins, the Eurobeat styles main market has always been Japan and it appeals to open-minded Italo disco fans and some Euro-house fans. Eurobeats sound is its link to its Italo disco origins. These sounds are layered with vocals and natural instruments into complex, in 1998, Bemani, a branch of the video game company Konami made a hit video dance machine, Dance Dance Revolution. The game acquired Eurobeat songs from the Dancemania compilation series from Toshiba EMI, over time, DDR has featured Eurobeat songs on-and-off in their songlists. However, their number has dwindled due to efforts to make DDR more marketable to North American markets. Currently, there has been a push to add more Eurobeat into DDR, most recently with the addition of Super Eurobeat tracks in the latest arcade release, other music games in Konamis lineup feature a large number of Eurobeat tracks, including Beatmania, Beatmania IIDX, and jubeat
11.
Dance-pop
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Dance-pop is a pop and dance subgenre that originated in the early 1980s. It is generally up-tempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable, the genre, on the whole, tends to be producer-driven, despite some notable exceptions. Dance-pop borrowed influences from other genres, which varied by producer, artist, such include contemporary R&B, house, trance, techno, new jack swing, funk, synthpop, electropop and some forms of europop. Dance-pop is a mainstream style of music and there have been numerous pop artists. As the term started to go out of fashion by the late 1970s to early 1980s, other terms were commonly used to describe disco-based music, such as post-disco, club. Dance-pop music emerged in the 1980s as a combination of dance and pop, or post-disco, Dance-pop music was usually created, composed and produced by record producers who would then hire singers to perform the songs. In the beginning of the 80s disco was an anathema to the mainstream pop, according to prominent Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Madonna had a huge role in popularizing dance music as mainstream music, utilizing her charisma, chutzpah and sex appeal. Erlewine claimed that Madonna launched dance-pop and set the standard for the genre for the two decades. The staff of Vice magazine stated that her debut album drew the blueprint for future dance-pop, in the 1980s dance-pop was closely aligned to other up-tempo electronic genres, such as Hi-NRG. Prominent producers in the 1980s included Stock, Aitken and Waterman, during the decade, dance-pop borrowed influences from funk, new jack swing, and contemporary R&B. Other prominent dance-pop artists and groups of the 1980s included the Pet Shop Boys, Mel and Kim, Samantha Fox, Debbie Gibson, by the 1990s, dance-pop had become a major genre in popular music. Several dance-pop groups and artists emerged during the 1990s, such as the Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Backstreet Boys, during the early 1990s, dance-pop borrowed influences from house music, as well as contemporary R&B and new jack swing. Additionally, also in 1998, Cher released a song called Believe which made usage of a technological innovation of the time. An audio processor and a form of pitch modification software, Auto-Tune is commonly used as a way to correct pitch, since the late 1990s, the use of Auto-Tune processing has become a common feature of dance-pop music. Celine Dion also released a dance-pop song Thats the Way It Is by the end of 1999 and it has a moderately slow tempo but an up-beat song. At the beginning of the 2000s, dance-pop music was still prominent, nonetheless, as R&B and hip hop became extremely popular from the early part of the decade onwards, dance-pop often borrowed a lot of its influences from urban music. Dance-pop stars from the 1980s and 1990s such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Madonna, Janet Jackson, in Madonnas case, her album Music contained elements of Euro disco, especially the successful eponymous lead single. Britney Spears album Blackout contained influences of Euro disco, the mid-to-late 2000s saw the arrival of several new dance-pop artists, including Rihanna, Kesha, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry
12.
Synthpop
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Synth-pop is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic, art rock, disco, and particularly the Krautrock of bands like Kraftwerk. It arose as a genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late-1970s to the mid-1980s. In Japan, Yellow Magic Orchestras success opened the way for bands such as P-Model, Plastics. The development of polyphonic synthesizers, the definition of MIDI. This, its adoption by the acts from the New Romantic movement, together with the rise of MTV. Synth-pop is sometimes deployed interchangeably with electropop, but electropop may also denote a variant of synth-pop that places emphasis on a harder. In the late 1980s duos such as Erasure and Pet Shop Boys adopted a style that was successful on the US dance-charts. Some artists and bands were criticised for gender bending, Synth-pop was defined by its primary use of synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers, sometimes using them to replace all other instruments. Borthwick and Moy have described the genre as diverse but, many synth-pop musicians had limited musical skills, relying on the technology to produce or reproduce the music. The result was often minimalist, with grooves that were woven together from simple repeated riffs often with no harmonic progression to speak of. Early synth-pop has been described as eerie, sterile, and vaguely menacing, using droning electronics with little change in inflection, common lyrical themes of synth-pop songs were isolation, urban anomie, and feelings of being emotionally cold and hollow. Synthesizers were increasingly used to imitate the conventional and clichéd sound of orchestras, thin, treble-dominant, synthesized melodies and simple drum programmes gave way to thick, and compressed production, and a more conventional drum sound. Lyrics were generally optimistic, dealing with more traditional subject matter for pop music such as romance, escapism. According to music writer Simon Reynolds, the hallmark of 1980s synth-pop was its emotional, at times operatic singers such as Marc Almond, Alison Moyet and Annie Lennox. Because synthesizers removed the need for groups of musicians, these singers were often part of a duo where their partner played all the instrumentation. Later synth-pop saw a shift to a style influenced by other genres. Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used practically in a recording studio became available in the mid-1960s, the portable Minimoog, which allowed much easier use, particularly in live performance was widely adopted by progressive rock musicians such as Richard Wright of Pink Floyd and Rick Wakeman of Yes
13.
Parlophone
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Parlophone Limited is a German-British record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the company was formed in 8 August 1923 as The Parlophone Co. Ltd. which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a jazz record label. In 5 October 1926, the Columbia Graphophone Company acquired Parlophones business, name, Columbia Graphophone later merged with the Gramophone Company in 31 March 1931 to become Electric & Musical Industries Limited. George Martin joined EMI in 1950 as assistant label manager, taking over as manager in 1955, Martin produced and released a mix of product including comedy recordings of the Goons, the pianist Mrs Mills, and teen idol Adam Faith. For a long time Parlophone claimed the best-selling UK single She Loves You, peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, both by The Beatles. The label also achieved placement of seven singles at No.1 during 1964, Parlophone continued as a division of EMI until it was merged into the Gramophone Co. Ltd. on 1 July 1965. On 1 July 1973, the Gramophone Co. Ltd. was renamed EMI Records Limited, on 28 September 2012, regulators officially approved Universal Music Group s planned acquisition of EMI, on condition that its EMI Records Ltd. group would be divested from the combined group. EMI Records Ltd. included Parlophone and other labels to be divested and were for a time operated in a single entity known as the Parlophone Label Group. Warner Music Group later acquired Parlophone and PLG in 7 February 2013, making Parlophone their new third flagship label, alongside Warner Bros. Records, PLG was renamed as the Parlophone Records Limited group in May 2013. Parlophone is now the oldest of WMGs three flagship record labels, Parlophone was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The name Parlophon had been used for gramophones before the company began making records of their own. The labels ₤ trademark is a German L that stands for its original founder Lindström and it has coincidentally been said to resemble the British pound sign, which itself is derived from the letter L for the Ancient Roman unit of measurement Libra, which means pound in Latin. During World War I, the Transoceanic Trading Company was set up in the Netherlands to look after its overseas assets, on 8 August 1923, the British branch of Parlophone was established, led by artists and repertoire manager Oscar Preuss. Parlophone established a leasing arrangement with the co-owned United States-based record label Okeh Records. The CLPGS has published a list of Parlophone titles issued between the years of 1923 and 1956, in 1927, the Columbia Graphophone Company acquired a controlling interest in the Carl Lindström Company and in Parlophone. In 31 March 1931, Columbia Graphophone merged with the Gramophone Company to form Electric & Musical Industries Ltd, under EMI, Parlophone initially maintained its status as a jazz label. In about 1929 or 1930, the Rhythm Style Series started, besides the Okeh recordings, Parlophone also issued recordings from Columbia Records and Brunswick Records, as well as a few sessions produced at Decca Records. As time went on, the label also released speciality recordings of word and comedy recordings, including the comedy recordings of the Goons and Flanders
14.
EMI
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EMI was a British multinational conglomerate founded in March 1931 and was based in London. At the time of its break-up in 2012, it was the fourth-largest business group and its EMI Records Ltd. group of record labels included EMI Records, Parlophone, Virgin Records and Capitol Records. EMI also had a publishing arm, EMI Music Publishing—also based in London with offices globally. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE100 Index, other members of the Sony consortium include the Estate of Michael Jackson, The Blackstone Group, and Abu Dhabi–owned investment fund Mubadala Development Company. The new vertically integrated company produced sound recordings as well as recording, the companys gramophone manufacturing led to forty years of success with larger-scale electronics and electrical engineering. He was killed in 1942 whilst conducting flight trials on an experimental H2S radar set, post-war, the company resumed its involvement in making broadcasting equipment, notably providing the BBCs second television transmitter at Sutton Coldfield. It also manufactured broadcast television cameras for British television production companies as well as for the BBC, the commercial television ITV companies also used them alongside cameras made by Pye and Marconi. Exports of this piece of equipment were low, however, the company was also for many years an internationally respected manufacturer of photomultipliers. This part of the business was transferred to Thorn as part of Thorn-EMI, in 1958 the EMIDEC1100, the UKs first commercially available all-transistor computer, was developed at Hayes under the leadership of Godfrey Hounsfield, an electrical engineer at EMI. In 1973 EMI was awarded a prestigious Queens Award for Technological Innovation for what was called the EMI scanner. After brief, but brilliant, success in the imaging field, EMIs manufacturing activities were sold off to other companies. Subsequently, development and manufacturing activities were sold off to companies and work moved to other towns such as Crawley. Emihus Electronics, based in Glenrothes, Scotland, was owned 51% by Hughes Aircraft, of California, US and it manufactured integrated circuits electrolytic capacitors and, for a short period in the mid-1970s, hand-held calculators under the Gemini name. Early in its life, the Gramophone Company established subsidiary operations in a number of countries in the British Commonwealth, including India, Australia. Over 150,000 78-rpm recordings from around the world are held in EMIs temperature-controlled archive in Hayes, in 1931, the year the company was formed, it opened the legendary recording studios at Abbey Road, London. During the 1930s and 1940s, its roster of artists included Arturo Toscanini, Sir Edward Elgar, during this time EMI appointed its first A&R managers. These included George Martin, who brought the Beatles into the EMI fold. When the Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company in 1931, at this point RCA had a majority shareholding in the new company, giving RCA chair David Sarnoff a seat on the EMI board
15.
Songwriter
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A songwriter is an individual who writes the lyrics, melodies and chord progressions for songs, typically for a popular music genre such as rock or country music. A songwriter can also be called a composer, although the term tends to be used mainly for individuals from the classical music genre. The pressure from the industry to produce popular hits means that songwriting is often an activity for which the tasks are distributed between a number of people. For example, a songwriter who excels at writing lyrics might be paired with a songwriter with a gift for creating original melodies, pop songs may be written by group members from the band or by staff writers – songwriters directly employed by music publishers. Some songwriters serve as their own publishers, while others have outside publishers. The old-style apprenticeship approach to learning how to write songs is being supplemented by university degrees and college diplomas, a knowledge of modern music technology, songwriting elements and business skills are necessary requirements to make a songwriting career in the 2010s. Several music colleges offer songwriting diplomas and degrees with music business modules, the legal power to grant these permissions may be bought, sold or transferred. This is governed by international copyright law, song pitching can be done on a songwriters behalf by their publisher or independently using tip sheets like RowFax, the MusicRow publication and SongQuarters. Skills associated with song-writing include entrepreneurism and creativity, songwriters who sign an exclusive songwriting agreement with a publisher are called staff writers. In the Nashville country music scene, there is a staff writer culture where contracted writers work normal 9-to-5 hours at the publishing office and are paid a regular salary. This salary is in effect the writers draw, an advance on future earnings, the publisher owns the copyright of songs written during the term of the agreement for a designated period, after which the songwriter can reclaim the copyright. In an interview with HitQuarters, songwriter Dave Berg extolled the benefits of the set-up, unlike contracted writers, some staff writers operate as employees for their respective publishers. Under the terms of work for hire agreements, the compositions created are fully owned by the publisher. In Nashville, young writers are often encouraged to avoid these types of contracts. Staff writers are common across the industry, but without the more office-like working arrangements favored in Nashville. All the major publishers employ writers under contract, songwriter Allan Eshuijs described his staff writer contract at Universal Music Publishing as a starter deal. His success under the arrangement eventually allowed him to found his own publishing company, so that he could. keep as much as possible, songwriters are also often skilled musicians. In addition to selling their songs and musical concepts for other artists to sing, songwriters need to create a number of elements for a song
16.
Neil Tennant
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Neil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer, songwriter and co-founder of the synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He also was a journalist for Smash Hits, and was assistant editor for the magazine for a period in the mid-1980s. Neil Francis Tennant was born in North Shields, a port near Newcastle upon Tyne to William W. Tennant, a sales representative. He has a sister, Susan, and two younger brothers, Simon and Philip. The family moved to a house in Greenfield Road, Brunton Park. As a child, Tennant attended St. Cuthberts Grammar School, Tennants songs This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave and Its a Sin refer to his early life in Catholic school and the strict upbringing there. While at school, Tennant played guitar and cello, at age sixteen, he played in a folk music group called Dust, whose most popular song was called Can You Hear the Dawn Break. They were heavily influenced by The Incredible String Band, during his teenage years, he was a member of the youth theatre at the Peoples Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1975, having completed a degree in history at North London Polytechnic and he was responsible for anglicising the dialogue of Marvels catalogue to suit British readers, and for indicating where women needed to be redrawn for the British editions. He also wrote occasional features for the comics, including interviews with pop stars Marc Bolan, in 1977, he moved to Macdonald Educational Publishing where he edited The Dairy Book Of Home Management and various illustrated books about cookery, playing the guitar, and other home interests. Then he moved to ITV Books where he edited TV tie-in books, the following year he became Assistant Editor. He also edited the 1982,1983 and 1984 editions of The Smash Hits Yearbook, at Smash Hits, an opportunity arose for him to go to New York to interview The Police. While there, Tennant arranged to meet Bobby Orlando, a producer whom both he and Lowe admired, Tennant mentioned that he was writing songs in his spare time and Orlando agreed to record some tracks with him and Lowe at a later date. Orlando subsequently produced the Pet Shop Boys first single, West End Girls, alongside his work with Chris Lowe as Pet Shop Boys, Tennant has worked on several side projects including, In 2014, Tennant provided vocal on Were You There by Diamond Version. In 2008, Tennants vocals featured in The Killers Christmas song Joseph, Better You Than Me alongside Brandon Flowers, in 2007, Tennant co-produced Rufus Wainwrights album Release the Stars. In June 2006, Tennant provided backing vocals on Throw by DJ Fresh, in 2005, Tennant provided lyrics and sang on the track Tranquilizer by DJ Tom Stephan. Under numerous guises and aliases, Stephan had previously remixed Pet Shop Boys tracks such as Paninaro 95, Minimal, New York City boy, in 1998, along with Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, Tennant sang backing vocals on the Robbie Williams single No Regrets. In April 1996, Tennants vocals were featured on two recordings by the British group Suede that were released as b-sides to their single Filmstar
17.
Record producer
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A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously, all of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
18.
Absolutely Fabulous (song)
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Absolutely Fabulous is a song produced by British electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. The song was released as a single for 1994s Comic Relief, the song is based on the BBC comedy show of the same name and features sound bites taken from the first series of that show. The single since peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, the single was more successful in Oceania region by debuted and peaked at number 2 in both Australia and New Zealand, which was also the highest peak position ever for the duo in Australian charts. Coincidentally this single is the Pet Shop Boys last top 10 single in both Australia and New Zealand to date, the clips from the first two original series are shown throughout the video as well. Apart from its release as a single, the song Absolutely Fabulous also appears on the Further Listening disc that came with the 2001 re-issue of the Pet Shop Boys album Very. The music video clip of the features on Pet Shop Boys video compilation Various, available on VHS. The Our Tribe Tongue-In-Cheek Mix version of the features on the bands Disco 2 album
19.
Paninaro (song)
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The capitalization of song titles in this article may be disputed. Please see the discussion on this subject before making changes. Paninaro is a song by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys, originally a B-side to the 1986 single Suburbia, it was released as a limited-edition single in Italy during the same year. In 1995, a re-recording titled Paninaro 95 was released to a wider market, neil Tennant has said that they were drawn to the concept due to having shared those preferences. Paninaro is one of the few Pet Shop Boys songs in which Chris Lowe provides the majority of the vocals, Tennant, meanwhile, only sings the title repeatedly in intervals. A remixed version was included on the 1986 remix album Disco, the new recording included a rap in the middle of the song, newly written by Lowe, it laments the loss of the lover referred to in the pre-existing lyrics. The written lyrics in the final are also changed to were rather than are in referring to the lost love, the 1995 version received remixes from Angel Moraes, Tin Tin Out, and Tracy & Sharon. Tom Stephan of Tracy & Sharon would continue to remix for the Pet Shop Boys as his later alias Superchumbo, the 1995 version is included on the 2003 compilation album PopArt and the 2001 2CD re-release of Bilingual. Paninaro 95 –7,30 Paninaro 95 –7,47 Paninaro 95 –8,30 Paninaro 95 –5,47 Paninaro 95 –10,39 Paninaro 95 –4,10 In the Night –4,24 Girls & Boys –5,04 A1. Paninaro 95 –7,30 A. Paninaro 95 –10,39 B1, Paninaro 95 –9,35 A self-produced music video, filmed in Italy, was used for the original release, it consisted of footage of the duo singing the song alongside locals. The Paninaro 95 video was directed by long-time Pet Shop Boys director Howard Greenhalgh, the Top of the Pops performance of Paninaro 95 replicated the imagery of the music video, with the same costumes, lighting, and male dancers involved
20.
Dance Club Songs
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The Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U. S. dance clubs. It is compiled by Billboard exclusively from playlists submitted by nightclub disc jockeys who must apply, the current number-one song on the Dance Club Songs chart for the issue dated April 15,2017, is Lick Me Up by Tony Moran and Dani Toro featuring Zhana Roiya. Dance Club Songs has undergone several incarnations since its inception in 1974, originally a top-ten list of tracks that garnered the largest audience response in New York City discothèques, the chart began on October 26,1974 under the title Disco Action. The chart went on to feature playlists from various cities around the country from week to week, Billboard continued to run regional and city-specific charts throughout 1975 and 1976 until the issue dated August 28,1976, when a thirty-position National Disco Action Top 30 premiered. During the first half of the 1980s the chart maintained eighty slots until March 16,1985 when the Disco charts were splintered and renamed, two charts appeared, Hot Dance/Disco, which ranked club play, and Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales, which ranked 12-inch single sales. Only Hot Dance Club Songs still exists today and these stations are also a part of the electronically monitored panel that encompasses the Hot 100. Radio airplay is not limited to that counted on the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, during this time, Billboard rival publication Record World was the first to compile a dance chart which incorporated club play on a national level. Noted Billboard statistician Joel Whitburn has since adopted Record Worlds chart data from the weeks between March 29,1975 and August 21,1976 into Billboards club play history. For the sake of continuity, Record Worlds national chart is incorporated into both Whitburns Dance/Disco publication as well as the 1975 and 1976 number-ones lists, with the issue dated August 28,1976, Billboard premiered its own national chart and their data is used from this date forward. For the full list of all 100 All Time Top Dance Club Artists, both Enrique Iglesias and Dave Aude are tied with 14 number-ones on the chart, the most among male artists. Iglesias, however, is the male vocalist to accomplish this feat, while Aude is the only producer to achieve this milestone. Four acts have attained thirteen number-one songs, Whitney Houston, Kylie Minogue, Yoko Ono, Kylie Minogue became the first act to have two songs in the top three on March 5,2011. Her song Better than Today was number-one while Higher, a song by Taio Cruz on which Minogue features, was number three, the first 12-inch single made commercially available to the public was Ten Percent by Double Exposure in 1976. The first number one on Billboards Disco Action chart was Never Can Say Goodbye by Gloria Gaynor in 1974, the first number one on Billboards National Disco Action Top 30 was You Should Be Dancing by the Bee Gees in 1976. Beginning with the February 23,1991 issue, the dance chart became song specific, in all scenarios this was due to the tracks being included in film soundtrack albums. In 1978, four tracks from Thank God Its Friday, in 1980, madonna holds the record for the most chart hits, the most top-twenty hits, the most top-ten hits and the most total weeks at number one. The Trammps are the act to replace themselves at number one. The longest running number-ones on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart are Bad Luck by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes2 in 1975, both entries spent eleven weeks in the top spot
21.
Disco 2
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Disco 2 is the eighth album by UK electronic music duo Pet Shop Boys. Released in September 1994 by Parlophone Records, it consists of remixes of songs from their 1990 Behaviour,1993 Very, the tracks on the CD were mixed into one long continuous megamix by DJ Danny Rampling. As a result, most of the tracks are in edited versions, some of the tracks were reduced by more than half of their original lengths in this way. In addition, some tracks were sped up or slowed down, a limited edition of the album was released in the USA and contained a second CD with b-sides and additional mixes. Absolutely Fabulous –0,29 I Wouldnt Normally Do This Kind of Thing –4,15 I Wouldnt Normally Do This Kind of Thing –2,59 Go West –3,40 Liberation –6,09 So Hard –2,48 Can You Forgive Her
22.
Alternative (album)
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Alternative is a compilation album by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was first released in 1995, Alternative is a 2-disc set, consisting of 30 B-sides in chronological order. Alternative only really gained popularity among devoted fans of Pet Shop Boys with the exception of the UK, a remake of the original 7-inch Paninaro, titled Paninaro 95, was released as a single to promote the 2-disc compilation. The cover of Alternative features photographs of Tennant and Lowe in fencing masks, the first copies of the CD have a lenticular image on the cover which shifts between the two photographs. Neil Tennant admitted in a interview with Absolute Radio that a second B-side album may be released in 2010. This materialised on 11 November 2011 when the duo announced through Varsity that they would release another B-sides album in February 2012 titled Format, all tracks written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, except where indicated. J
23.
Vocoder
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A vocoder is a category of voice codec that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption, voice transformation, etc. The decoder applies these control signals to corresponding filters for re-synthesis, since these control signals change only slowly compared to the original speech waveform, the bandwidth required to transmit speech can be reduced. This allows more speech channels to share a single communication channel, by encrypting the control signals, voice transmission can be secured against interception. Its primary use in fashion is for secure radio communication. The advantage of this method of encryption is that none of the signal is sent. The receiving unit needs to be set up in the same filter configuration to re-synthesize a version of the signal spectrum. The vocoder has also used extensively as an electronic musical instrument. The decoder portion of the vocoder, called a voder, can be used independently for speech synthesis, the human voice consists of sounds generated by the opening and closing of the glottis by the vocal cords, which produces a periodic waveform with many harmonics. This basic sound is filtered by the nose and throat to produce differences in harmonic content in a controlled way. There is another set of sounds, known as the unvoiced and plosive sounds, the vocoder examines speech by measuring how its spectral characteristics change over time. This results in a series of signals representing these modified frequencies at any time as the user speaks. In simple terms, the signal is split into a number of frequency bands, thus, the vocoder dramatically reduces the amount of information needed to store speech, from a complete recording to a series of numbers. Information about the frequency of the original voice signal is discarded. It is this aspect of the vocoding process that has made it useful in creating special voice effects in popular music. Analog vocoders typically analyze an incoming signal by splitting the signal into a number of tuned frequency bands or ranges, a modulator and carrier signal are sent through a series of these tuned bandpass filters. In the example of a robot voice, the modulator is a microphone. There are usually between eight and 20 bands, the amplitude of the modulator for each of the individual analysis bands generates a voltage that is used to control amplifiers for each of the corresponding carrier bands. The result is that components of the modulating signal are mapped onto the carrier signal as discrete amplitude changes in each of the frequency bands
24.
Can You Forgive Her? (song)
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Can You Forgive Her. is a song by Pet Shop Boys, recorded for their 1993 album Very. Starting with a crash of synth and trumpet, it remains one of the more dramatic songs recorded by the duo—reminiscent of early hits like Its a Sin. It was released as Verys lead single, almost four months before the LP itself, although it peaked outside the Billboard Hot 100, it became a number 1 single on the US Dance chart. The title of the song derives from the Anthony Trollope novel of the same name, the second B-side, What Keeps Mankind Alive. also appears on the 2001 re-release of Introspective, which implies it was recorded between 1988 and 1989. The song is a cover of a composition, written in collaboration by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. In marketing for the single, the Pet Shop Boys adopted a bizarre costume involving red coveralls, the music video was directed by Howard Greenhalgh and depicts the duo wearing the costumes while wandering in a surreal computer-generated environment. Live action shots were filmed in a number of well known or futuristic locations around London. They cross London Bridge in the rush hour crowd and also walk over the footbridge at Poplar station on the Docklands Light Railway and they are shown at the top of The Monument in the City of London. The park scenes were filmed in Battersea Park and one shot shows them standing in one of the sculptures from the 1951 Festival of Britain fun fair. The single cover and two inserts with small models depicted Pet Shop Boys costumes, and were photographed by Marcus Leith, –5,53 Can You Forgive Her. –3,54 Hey, Headmaster –3,06 Can You Forgive Her, –7,26 I Want to Wake Up –5,25 What Keeps Mankind Alive. –3,25 Can You Forgive Her, –5,53 In 2003, the Swedish blues rock band Sky High released a boogie rock version of Can You Forgive Her. In 2011, Finnish folk metal band Finntroll covered the song for the limited version of their album Nifelvind
25.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
26.
Please (Pet Shop Boys album)
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Please is the first album by English electronic music group Pet Shop Boys, released in 1986. According to the duo, the title was chosen so that people had to go into a record shop and say Can I have the Pet Shop Boys album. The album has sold around 3 million copies worldwide, hits from Please are West End Girls, Opportunities, Suburbia, and Love Comes Quickly. West End Girls was a hit in both the UK and the United States, Please is musically simpler than, but lyrically just as rich as, Pet Shop Boys later work. The instrumentals are comparable to other techno pop of this period, as with many early PSB albums, the lyrics were considered androgynous, the stories they contain being equally applicable to gay and heterosexual relationships. Tennant, in particular, enjoyed this ambiguity and refused to comment on his own sexuality until he came out shortly prior to the 1993 release of Very. The tiny cover photograph enclosed by a sea of white has been seen by some observers as a reaction to the traditional album cover. With the new CD cases of the time being necessarily smaller than designs seen on 12 albums, the actual size of the image is the same size as a 35mm photographic negative. Although some commentators have remarked that Two Divided by Zero samples a Texas Instruments Speak & Spell toy from the 1980s, this is a myth. Neil Tennant stated in an interview in the BBC Radio documentary About Pet Shop Boys that the used on Two Divided by Zero was in fact a talking calculator he had bought for his father. Please was re-released on 4 June 2001 as Please/Further Listening 1984–1986, the re-released version was not only digitally remastered but came with a second disc of B-sides and previously unreleased material from around the time of the albums original release. Yet another re-release followed on 9 February 2009, under the title of Please and this version contains only the 11 tracks on the original. With the 2009 re-release, the 2001 2CD re-release was discontinued, Suburbia was dramatically remixed for the single release. Violence was later re-recorded by the Pet Shop Boys for a charity concert at The Haçienda nightclub in the early 1990s, the Pet Shop Boys later sampled the Please version of Love Comes Quickly for their song Somebody Elses Business, which appeared on the Disco 3 album. Tonight Is Forever was later covered by Liza Minnelli on the Pet Shop Boys-produced album Results. –4,44 A man could get arrested –4,11 Opportunities -4,36 * In the night –4,51 Opportunities –7,00 * Why dont we live together. -5,14 * West End girls –6,39 A man could get arrested –4,51 Love comes quickly –6,50 Thats my impression –5,19 Was that what it was. –5,17 Suburbia –8,58 Jack the lad –4,32 Paninaro –8,38 Track #4 is an unreleased mix - different from the actual 12 version released in 1985
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Actually
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Actually is the second studio album by English pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released in 1987 by record labels Parlophone and EMI Manhattan. Actually was released on 7 September 1987 by record label Parlophone in the UK and EMI Manhattan in the United States, in TV commercials for the release, Lowe and Tennant were shown in black tie, blank-faced against a white background. Actually spawned four UK Top 10 singles, the No.1 lead-off single Its a Sin, Rent, during this period the Pet Shop Boys also completed a full-length motion picture called It Couldnt Happen Here. Featuring songs by the duo, it was most famous for containing the video for Always on My Mind, Actually was re-released in 2001 as Actually/Further Listening 1987–1988. Yet another re-release followed on 9 February 2009 under the title of Actually and this version contains only the 10 tracks of the original release. With the 2009 re-release, the 2001 2CD re-release was discontinued, Actually has sold over 4 million copies to date. Actually has been received by critics. Robert Christgau gave the album an A– grade, writing this is pop music with something actual to say—pure commodity. In his retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that Actually is the album the Pet Shop Boys perfected their melodic, Actually is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2006 Q magazine placed the album at No.22 in its list of 40 Best Albums of the 80s, in 2012 Slant listed the album at No.88 on its list of Best Albums of the 1980s. This is despite the fact that the song is actually a critique of privatisation in Britain under Margaret Thatcher, Tennant later remarked, The Eighties were very concerned with buying and selling. However I couldnt think of anything particularly interesting to say about shopping so the words are about the government selling off nationalised industries, at the time it was oppressive in London – there were these flaming adverts saying Tell Sid, the campaign for the government gas sell-off. Shopping is also the other song, furthermore, despite Tennant voting for Labour in the 1987 election, he reflected in 2006 his hope that Thatcher would prevail regardless, so as not to ruin an album about Thatcherism. All tracks written by Pet Shop Boys, except as noted. J
28.
Introspective
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Introspective is the third studio album by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was first released on 11 October 1988 and is the Pet Shop Boys second-best-selling album and it is so named because all the songs, although its a dance album, are introspective. The album was unusual in that it reversed the typical process by which pop/dance acts released singles. Songs from the album that were released as singles were released as shorter and it is also notable that of the seven songs on the album, only two were actually written specifically for this project— those being Left to My Own Devices and Domino Dancing. Always on My Mind was re-recorded for this album and mixed with In My House, the album was certified Platinum in Spain. Introspective was re-released in 2001 as Introspective/Further Listening, the re-released version was digitally remastered and came with a second disc of B-sides and previously unreleased material from around the time of the albums original release. Yet another re-release followed on 9 February 2009, under the title Introspective and this version contains only the 6 tracks on the original. With the 2009 re-release, the 2001 2CD re-release was discontinued, nevertheless, Introspective remains, according to Tennant, the best-selling Pet Shop Boys album internationally. It peaked at No.2 in the UK Albums Chart, behind U2s Rattle, not the same version featured on Alternative
29.
Behaviour (Pet Shop Boys album)
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Behaviour. is the fourth studio album by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was first released in 1990, a special edition Japanese release included an additional Mini CD, exclusive artwork and printed lyrics in a white velvet-like box. At his Red Deer studio in Munich, Germany, because they were dissatisfied with the available digital synthesisers and samples, Pet Shop Boys wanted to use analogue synthesisers. Faltermeyer was a choice for producer as he happened to be an expert on analogue equipment. The result was a Pet Shop Boys album different from both the album, Introspective and the 1993 follow-up, Very. Later, singer Neil Tennant would reflect on the different style of Behaviour and it was more reflective and more musical-sounding, and also it probably didnt have irritatingly crass ideas in it, like our songs often do. Tennant later reflected the album was inspired by fellow synthpop group Depeche Modes album Violator, the album was certified Gold in Spain. Along with the others of the groups first six albums, in 2001, Behaviour. was re-released as Behaviour. /Further Listening. The re-released version was remastered, and accompanied with a second disc of B-sides. Notable songs on the disc include Miserablism, DJ Culture, Was It Worth It. Miserablism, a poignant satire of Morrissey, was intended for inclusion on Behaviour, up until the day it was sent for mastering. DJ Culture and Was It Worth It. were the two recorded for the Pet Shop Boys 1991s compilation album, Discography, The Complete Singles Collection. Music for Boys was originally credited as Music for Boys Part 2 and was the b-side to DJ Culture, the original B-side version can also be found on the 1995 compilation album Alternative. Yet another re-release followed on 9 February 2009, under the title of Behaviour and this version contains only the 10 tracks on the original. With the 2009 re-release, the 2001 2CD re-release was discontinued, so Hard The video was directed by Eric Watson. The b-side was It Must Be Obvious, with the USA release also featuring the Italian Mix of Paninaro, remixes were by the Pet Shop Boys themselves, the KLF and David Morales. The KLF also remixed It Must Be Obvious, which was available on The KLF versus Pet Shop Boys CD and 12 of the single. Being Boring The video was directed by Bruce Weber, the b-side was We All Feel Better in the Dark
30.
Bilingual (album)
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Bilingual is the sixth studio album by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 2 September 1996 by Parlophone. The album reached number four on the UK Albums Chart, lower than their previous five albums which had all reached the top three. It yielded five singles all reached the UK top 20—all. Bilingual continues the heavily instrumented arrangements and backing vocals Pet Shop Boys began adding to their music with the album Very, as suggested by the title, the songs on the album have worldwide influences, particularly from Latin America. After the release of their Very album, Pet Shop Boys toured South America and were influenced by the beats, three of the songs have bilingual lyrics, mixing the English language with Spanish and Portuguese. In late 1995, the band ended their contract with the American branch of EMI, a renewed marketing campaign was launched to promote the band in the United States via both radio airplay and club play. The singles released from the album were all successful, with three of them—Before, Se a vida é and A Red Letter Day—reaching the UK top 10, a fourth, the English/Spanish-language composition Single-Bilingual, peaked within the top 20. Se a vida é would spend eight weeks in the Top 40 before dropping out in early November, numerous dance remixes were also made which helped the track become one of the biggest club hits of the second half of the 1990s. It was eventually released in the US in April 1997 as a double A-side single with To Step Aside, to promote the package, thirteen mixes of To Step Aside were commissioned, most of them released promotionally only. Earlier in 1996, prior to the release, Tennants vocals were featured on two live recordings by the British group Suede, which were released as B-sides to their single Filmstar. One track was a cover of the Pet Shop Boys track Rent while the second was a duet with Suede singer Brett Anderson on the Suede song Saturday Night. In addition, the Pet Shop Boys collaborated with David Bowie on the song Hallo Spaceboy, in late 1996 The song Up Against It became a radio hit in Sweden and some other countries but never had a release as a CD single. Bilingual was recorded at Bunk Junk & Genius, Sarm West and Sarm Hook End, Axis, Bass Hit, in 1997, Pet Shop Boys decided to perform a series of concerts at the Savoy Theatre in London. To promote the concerts released a cover version of Somewhere from West Side Story. The single reached the UK top 10 and Bilingual was re-released in a Special Edition, including the new single, the album was certified Platinum in Spain. In 2001, Pet Shop Boys reissued their first six studio albums, the re-released version was not only digitally remastered but came with a second disc of B-sides and previously unreleased material from around the time of the albums original release. Yet another re-release followed on 9 February 2009, under the title of Bilingual and this version contains only the 12 tracks on the original. With the 2009 re-release, the 2001 2CD re-released was discontinued, the album was also released in vinyl format in limited numbers and commands high prices on auction and record collector sites
31.
Nightlife (Pet Shop Boys album)
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Nightlife is the seventh studio album by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 8 October 1999 by Parlophone. After the release and promotion of their previous album, Bilingual, the track Happiness Is an Option is based on Sergei Rachmaninoffs classical piece Vocalise, Op.34, No.14. The album was a commercial success, reaching number seven on the UK Albums Chart. It also became their lowest charting album in the US. It received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, in Denial is a duet featuring Kylie Minogue. It was seen as a risk by critics because this project came at a time when Minogue was experiencing low record sales, Pet Shop Boys had previously written a song titled Falling for Minogues 1994 album Kylie Minogue. The year after Nightlifes release, Minogue also signed to Parlophone, Minogue would later sing In Denial on her Showgirl, The Greatest Hits Tour, with Tennants pre-recorded vocals being played as part of the duet while Minogue sang live. For the promotion of the album, the adopted a stark new appearance. Now, the duo ubiquitously appeared wearing thick, dark eyebrows, inspired by Kabuki theatre, yellow or orange wigs in a variety of hairstyles, inspired by the punk subculture, and black sunglasses. This was supported by a series of outfits in dark, muted colours, photographs involving the costumes were often set in urban environments, the Midland Grand Hotel in Kings Cross, London was used as the setting to debut the look. The costumes were used for photographs, the album cover and liner notes, all the single covers. Finally, they are given dogs on leashes and released into a different world, conceptualised among the band members, McNeil, and director Pedro Romhanyi, the video was created to showcase the costumes. According to Tennant, the costumes helped him to himself from the songs. In other interviews, he explained that they played into his belief in the need for pop stars to have bigger than life public images, effort was also spent on designing the tours visuals, with sets designed by deconstructivist architect Zaha Hadid. The stage was modular, and could fit in differently-sized venues, all tracks written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, except where noted. A limited edition set of Nightlife was released in the United States. Credits adapted from the notes of Nightlife
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Release (Pet Shop Boys album)
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Release is the eighth studio album by the English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was first released in 2002, while recording the new songs for the hits collection it was decided to produce a full studio album instead. Release was the least commercially successful of all Pet Shop Boys albums to date, in the UK it charted at number 7, in Germany at number 3. On its first release, a run of metallic effect embossed sleeves were available in a choice of four colours, grey, blue. In the US, this limited run also came with a bonus CD including remixes, the artwork was designed by Greg Foley of the New York design group and magazine publishers Visionaire and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package. The album marked a significant departure from work, being apparently guitar—and piano—driven. Apart from the track London, recorded in Berlin with producer Chris Zippel, Pet Shop Boys produced the album themselves and then commissioned Michael Brauer to mix it. The original version of the album had eleven tracks but I Didnt Get Where I Am Today was removed from the album before release and later became a bonus track on the 2004 single Flamboyant. Other tracks recorded during the sessions for the album ended up as B-sides are Between Two Islands, Searching for the Face of Jesus, Sexy Northerner. Another track, Time on My Hands, appeared on the 2003 release, the directors for all three music videos for the albums singles are photographers by trade, Wolfgang Tillmans directed Home and Dry, Bruce Weber directed I Get Along, and Martin Parr directed London
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Fundamental (Pet Shop Boys album)
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Fundamental is the ninth studio album by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released in May 2006 in the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan, and Canada, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number five on 28 May 2006. In the US the album peaked at #150 selling 7,500 copies in its first week, as of April 2009 it had sold 46,000 copies in the US and 66,000 copies in the UK. Fundamental earned two Grammy nominations at the 2007 Grammy Awards for Best Dance/Electronic Album and Best Dance Recording with Im with Stupid. The album was produced by the Pet Shop Boys and Trevor Horn and it features eleven new Pet Shop Boys compositions, the liner notes show that the album is dedicated to two executed Iranian gay teenagers, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, who were hanged on 19 July 2005. Some reports have suggested the two may have been executed for engaging in behaviour, though the official Iranian report was that they were hanged for raping a 13-year-old boy. The album was well received by critics, some considering it to be their best album since Very. Specific contemporary issues discussed in the lyrics include tensions and fears in the United States caused by the War on Terrorism, addressed in such as Psychological. Other songs refer to the politics of the home country, Indefinite leave to remain refers to an immigration status in the United Kingdom. Im with Stupid, meanwhile, touches upon both countries by satirizing Blairs alliance with George W. Bush, other subject matters are dealt with as well. Casanova in Hell is about the 18th century historical figure Giacomo Casanova, tennant refers to, specifically, the book Casanovas Homecoming by Arthur Schnitzler as his inspiration for the song. The Sodom and Gomorrah Show references two of the cities of sin, Sodom and Gomorrah, in saying that to learn to go where angels fear to tread is to learn to live freely. The album is Pet Shop Boys first collaboration with Trevor Horn since the 1989 single Its Alright, Horn was also musical director for the Radio 2 concert, which featured the BBC Concert Orchestra. Special limited editions of the include a second bonus CD called Fundamentalism. The disc includes remixed tracks with contributions by artists such as Alter Ego, in Private, here presented as a duet with Elton John, was originally a Dusty Springfield song written and produced by the Pet Shop Boys. First released as a single in 1989, it was included on the 1991 album Reputation. Powerful opening track Fugitive contains lyrics suggestive of a dialogue between two terrorists clean and prepared, to be led, indivisible, thus continuing the themes of the main album. All songs written by Neil Tennant/Chris Lowe except where noted and this was quickly followed up on 23 December, when pop music fansite Popjustice gave the first review of the album
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Yes (Pet Shop Boys album)
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Yes is the tenth studio album by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 18 March 2009 by Parlophone. The album was recorded throughout 2008 and is produced by Brian Higgins, Xenomania also co-wrote three of the tracks. Guitarist Johnny Marr and string arranger Owen Pallett appear as well, love Etc. was released on 16 March 2009 as the albums lead single. Yes debuted at four on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 27,639 copies. Early sales figures predicted that the album would enter at number one, the album was hit by a minor manufacturing error as well, some booklets included with initial copies of the Yes etc. double CD set were stapled in the wrong order. EMI set up a website for anyone affected by this to claim a new booklet, a standard, single-disc vinyl LP was also issued, but did not coincide with the international CD and download release. On 1 June 2009, Did You See Me Coming. was released worldwide on a number of physical and digital formats, a limited German-only Beautiful People CD and download followed in October. The five-track Christmas, Pet Shop Boys first EP release, was released on 14 December 2009, with All Over the World acting as the radio promo. The album was nominated for Best Electronic/Dance Album at the 2010 Grammy Awards, Yes was supported by a comprehensive world tour that stretched across 2009–2012. A recording of the made in London in December 2009 was released in a CD/DVD package on 15 February 2010 as Pandemonium. The album sleeve was designed by Mark Farrow and Pet Shop Boys, the tick on the cover is made up of eleven coloured squares. It was inspired by German artist Gerhard Richter, specifically his 4900 exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, the albums cover was nominated in the 2010 Brit Insurance Design Awards shortlist in the Graphics category. All tracks written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, except where noted, credits adapted from the liner notes of Yes
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Elysium (Pet Shop Boys album)
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Elysium is the eleventh studio album by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. Released on 5 September 2012, it is the final album with Parlophone. The album was produced during 2012 in Los Angeles by Andrew Dawson, Pet Shop Boys began writing the songs for the album during a period of five weeks in Berlin, Germany in the beginning of 2011. Most of the album was written during the Progress Live concert tour with Take That from May to July 2011, in January 2012, Pet Shop Boys went to Los Angeles to work with American producer Andrew Dawson for three months. The duo were interested in working with Dawson after seeing his name in the credits for the Kanye West albums 808s & Heartbreak, Chris Lowe has described Elysium as having the same feel as Behaviour, but sonically I think its very different. Pet Shop Boys considered Happy Sad as title of the album, lyrically the album can be interpreted as about being us at our stage in our life, doing what we do, according to Neil Tennant. There are two CD formats, a single CD and a special edition which includes instrumentals of each song. A double-vinyl album was released in limited quantities which also includes the instrumental versions, the artwork was designed by Mark Farrow. A teaser video was released in June 2012 for the track Invisible, the short film was made by Brian Bress and the song features backing vocals by singer-songwriter James Fauntleroy II and veteran singers Oren, Maxine and Julie Waters. The albums first official single is Winner, which was released digitally on 3 July 2012, the Winner EP includes the non-album tracks A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi, The Way Through the Woods and a cover version of Bee Gees I Started a Joke. A second digital EP of Winner containing remixes by Andrew Dawson, John Dahlbäck, memory of the Future was released as the albums third and final single on 31 December 2012. A seven-inch mix was commissioned by Stuart Price, as well as remixes from Price, Ulrich Schnauss, DJ Waldo Squash and it also contains three non-album tracks Listening, One Night and Inside. Elysium has received positive reviews from music critics. Simon Price of The Independent on Sunday wrote, If Elysium has a weakness, once you accept that, and surrender to the tranquil beauty of Chris Lowes synth textures, you quickly realise that Neil Tennant is on top lyrical form. Robert Christgau of MSN Music quipped that although the album may seem too restrained. And the understated beats suit their elysian equanimity, drowned in Sounds Jon Clark viewed the album as a cohesive and strong effort that can stand up with some of best, calling it a wise and knowing homage to the life of a pop star. BBC Musics Nick Levine commented that although Elysium isnt quite a top-drawer Pets album like 1988s Introspective or 1993s Very, owen Myers of the NME characterised the album as a massive foamy middle-finger to retromania, running elegantly from jangly indie to kraut jabs. Allmusic editor David Jeffries referred to Elysium as an interesting, sour, despite dubbing album opener Leaving excellent, musicOMHs Laurence Green felt that the rest of the album never materialises in the way youd quite hope it would
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Electric (Pet Shop Boys album)
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Electric is the twelfth studio album by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 12 July 2013, and is their first album not to be released on Parlophone. It was released on the own label, x2, through Kobalt Label Services. In their native United Kingdom, Electric was BBC Radio 2s Album of the Week from 8 July 2013 and it features a collaboration with British singer-songwriter/rapper Example. Electric hit No.3 and No.26 in the UK and US respectively, the album also performed very well in other markets. It was supported by the Electric Tour which visited 46 countries through 112 concerts, Pet Shop Boys recorded the album in London, Berlin and Los Angeles from November 2012 to April 2013. On 30 April 2013, the duo announced on their website that they had recorded the album over the last six months, with Fluorescent in particular written, stuart Price was chosen to produce the album. Price finished mixing the album in late April 2013, when Pet Shop Boys began working with Price, they made it clear that they wanted to make a dance record. Price stated that his goal was for track to have a euphoric. The more dance-influenced nature of Electric was a response to the mood of their previous album, Elysium. The album is the first Pet Shop Boys studio album that was not released through Parlophone, the 28-year relationship between the duo and the label ended when Pet Shop Boys announced that Electric would be released through Kobalt Label Services. Pet Shop Boys subsequently announced that the album would appear on their own label, x2, Chris Lowe was given credit for naming the label. Pet Shop Boys intend to release all of their albums on x2. The album was released worldwide on 15 July 2013 in four formats, CD, digital download, Playbutton. On 14 March 2013, Pet Shop Boys debuted a trailer for Electric on YouTube. The tours first official date took place at the Movistar Arena in Santiago, on 30 April 2013, immediately following the official album announcement on Pet Shop Boys website, the lead single Axis premiered online, and was released digitally the following day. The Boys Noize remix of the song was released on 14 May, the second official single Vocal premiered on 1 June 2013 on DJ Dave Pearces BBC Radio 2 show Dance Years, followed by a digital release on 3 June. A CD single, digital download and 12 vinyl single were all released on 29 July 2013, a music video for the single was released on 18 June. The entire album was available for streaming in the UK via The Guardian, the third official single Love Is a Bourgeois Construct was announced on 22 July 2013, with a release on 2 September
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Discography: The Complete Singles Collection
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Discography, The Complete Singles Collection is the first greatest hits album by the English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released in early November 1991, as the name suggests, Discography is a collection of all of the hit singles by Pet Shop Boys up to that point. It is an 18-track compilation, sixteen of which are released to that date. The album contains the Pet Shop Boys cover version of U2s hit Where the Streets Have No Name, although the albums songs were released in some other form, this compilation only features seven-inch versions. Being replaced with How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously, which itself was not on the audio versions of the album, despite being part of a double A-side with Where the Streets Have No Name. Neil Tennant Chris Lowe Pet Shop Boys discography, Discography, The Complete Singles Collection at AllMusic Discography, The Complete Singles Collection at Discogs
