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BuzzJack Music Forum _ 20th Century Retro _ February album of the month - dandy*
Posted by: dandy* 6th February 2023, 08:12 PM
Pet Shop Boys - Introspective
Year of Release: 1988
Genre: Pop
Country: UK
So I had a few requests for an 80s album this month instead of my usual go to period of the 90s. I've been trawling through my album collection and have realised that, whilst the 80s is a GREAT decade for singles imo, it was more of a struggle than I'd anticipated to find an album that I truly loved. I feel a little guilty for going for an obvious pick such as Pet Shop Boys but hopefully I've chosen an album that gets overlooked a little in favour of their earlier 80s work. I'll also get this out there from the off so as to give the purists some time to get over the shock but I'm also including this album as a playlist that isn't actually the one released... yep, collective chart forum gasps!
Now before you get too drawn in by my confession, I am including all of the album so it is most definitely here but have also included a selection of the b-sides and demos from the time to boost it up to 10 tracks. All of the things I've chosen are from the expanded 'Further Listening' version of the album that the PSBs curated rather lovingly for all of their albums. In particular they were working very closely with Liza Minelli and Dusty Springfield at the time and so I've included a couple of songs they wrote for them. Hopefully this expands the album a bit whilst sticking to a true representation of the material they were working on at the time.
Earlier in the decade they had released a remix album called Disco, an album that contained the singles from their debut album in extended form plus Paninaro and In The Night to complete the set. I've always thought that album was the template for this release as it is a rare studio album that was most definitely aimed at the club market, all of the tracks on it are in their extended form whilst the normal length versions were retained exclusively for the singles... of which their were four... or possibly three and a half as Always On My Mind wasn't really from the same era.
I'm sure everyone knows Always On My Mind, albeit it features on this album in a suitably different format from the version that made UK #1 for Christmas 1987. Next up was Domino Dancing, a #7 hit and the first new track to be released. It was quite a departure for them at the time, bringing Latin styling to their brand of flamboyant pop - this was never a huge favourite of mine but it has really grown on me over the years and I think it's a great and distinctive track in their catalogue now. Next up was Left To My Own Devices, the opening track from the album and quite possibly my favourite PSB single ever. It's just such a PSB song with the strings and disco stylings but it's especially PSB in its lyrics... I mean "I was faced with a choice at a difficult age, would I write a book? Or should I take to the stage? But in the back of my head I heard distant feet, Che Guevara and De'bussy to a disco beat" surely has to be a contender for their best lyric ever and even the title of the single is such a wonderfully British turn of phrase. The aforementioned strategy of releasing 7" versions as singles made for good chart success, this made #4 and the final single made #5. That final single was It's Alright, a cover of the classic Sterling Void house anthem which they recorded to show their love of club music and the US house music scene that was beginning to take hold in the 80s. I must say that I think it's a good cover, it stays faithful to the original whilst making it sound like a song that you would believe was originally theirs.
The single versions of the four main songs:
The track listing I've gone for is as follows:
01 Left to My Own Devices
02 I Want a Dog
03 Domino Dancing
04 I'm Not Scared
05 Nothing Has Been Proved
06 Always On My Mind / In My House
07 Losing My Mind
08 I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)
09 It's Alright
10 Your Funny Uncle
I've bolded the ones that are on the normal single disc album and they're in the same order so you can listen to those if you would prefer to be a purist. With my additions, there was a total of five songs here that were hits for someone else, aside from the aforementioned singles from Elvis Presley and Sterling Void, the three others were songs that PSBs wrote that were hits for others. Liza Minelli took Losing My Mind into the UK top 10 and Dusty Springfield took Nothing Has Been Proved into the top 20. The final one was not too long after the album release in the form of I'm Not Scared by Eighth Wonder, the band that Patsy Kensit fronted and took to the UK top 10 as well. So, one way or another, there's a lot of success from this era. The album was a commercial success too, debuting at peaking at #2 in October 1988 (so many of their albums made #2!) and it spent its first 20 weeks inside the top 40 so had quite a sustained chart run. It was their final album to manage such a feat.
The versions by other acts of the tracks:
And that's it until we do the album listen later this week - Rollo, I'll do you a youtube video of the album in this format so it's easy to pull together. Hope you enjoy the selection, here's the spotify playlist if you fancy having a listen right now 
Posted by: King Rollo 6th February 2023, 09:37 PM
This is an excellent choice, it's up there with Actually as my favourite Pet Shop Boys album. I'll fix a date for the listen through after the 2000s forum have decided on when theirs will be.
Posted by: TheSnake 6th February 2023, 09:49 PM
It's Alright is my favourite track of the singles; the production certainly reminds me of Inner City - Good Life. The crowd noise at 2:57 anticipates the rave era and its use of crowd noise samples.
Eighth Wonder - I'm Not Scared is great, when I first discovered it a few years ago I wondered why it sounds much less dated than a lot of the pop from the era; then I found out who it was produced by!
Posted by: King Rollo 6th February 2023, 10:15 PM
Will Wednesday be OK for you Dandy? I'll do the Shakespears Sister album first followed by this one.
Posted by: dandy* 6th February 2023, 10:18 PM
Wednesday is good for me! I've created a single track of the album so I'll upload to youtube tomorrow and have it ready for the listen through.
I'm really looking forward to this week, two albums I know really well
Posted by: Brer 7th February 2023, 01:26 AM
Happy with Wednesday!
Have been discovering quite a few PSB songs from the #1 albums sessions (not that they had many #1 albums, but a lot of #2s and always being nominated for bonus plays 
), only right that I hear a full album from them at some point (and a bit more on top of that too) x
Posted by: Bjork 7th February 2023, 08:02 AM
Back in the day I remember being very disappointed with this album, cos I wanted a new album proper
Introspective seemed like a sorta remix album and was also very frustrated with the version they included of Always on my Mind, which was not it
Domino Dancing and Left to my own devices were great too
Personally I don't really consider it a proper studio album
Posted by: dandy* 7th February 2023, 09:22 AM
I’ve really mellowed to the version of Always on my Mind on here. On first listen I was like WTF?!!! but now I like it and think it works, albeit the middle section is probably too long. I can appreciate it as an update to bring it more in line with dance culture.
I Want a Dog is the only song I’m not really sold on. Cats >>>
Posted by: fiesta 7th February 2023, 03:19 PM
Excellent album. I like all the singles from it. It's alright is probably my least fave of them all but still good. I have Always On My Mind and the cover versions of Losing my mind (written by Stephen Sondheim) and Im not scared on 7" (also have Dusty's In private too).
Posted by: Popchartfreak 7th February 2023, 06:00 PM
well, obviously I love Introspective and the bonus tracks to boot! 
I was a little disappointed at the time that there weren't more songs on it, but oh my word play it loud on a proper sound system and it positively THROBS and makes you want to dance. I did a copy of it at the time for my (not that much older than me) boss and he also didn't like I Want A Dog, mostly cos of the lyrics. I told him to treat it as an instrumental with a few random words on it and just go for the groove, which seemed to do the trick 
I was not so fussed about the new version of Always On My Mind, m'self, but esp loved the singles in either version, and Dusty's gorgeous version of Nothing Has Been Proved is breathtakingly 60's and 80's both. If I'd had my way with tracklistings of versions of the album I'd also bung none-PSB-sung Daydreaming in, the album non-single that they wrote for Dusty in which she raps. Yes, 60's soul legend Dusty raps as only Dusty could do a rap: sultry class.
I Get Excited is a great B side good enough for any album, Your Funny Uncle is unusual and not at all dance, lovely sounding record, 2 minutes of sweetness with typically odd lyrics. I'd add another Liza track just before it I think to lower the bpms - the fabulous Pet Shop song If There Was Love - had they ever included it (and Dusty's) on an extended version of Introspective. Which they didn't, I think. So think of them as 2 unknown gems I'm plugging that might one day turn up in an online song contest... 
Posted by: dandy* 7th February 2023, 06:14 PM
Yes it’s the lyrics on I Want a Dog that I can’t get past. Musically it is fine but pay attention and it’s like a comedy sketch parody of them. Plus I find it bizarre that he loves dogs one minute then hates them on I’m Not Scared
Posted by: Jade 7th February 2023, 06:34 PM
I have only listened to their singles collection 
checking out their studio albums is looooong overdue so consider me excited for this!
also - this!
Posted by: Suedehead2 7th February 2023, 08:36 PM
“Che Guevara and Debussy to a disco beat” is one of the poshest deliveries of a lyric ever, particularly by a Geordie vocalist.
Posted by: Colm 8th February 2023, 01:00 PM
I must re-listen to this. I never saw it as a proper album and more of a side project.
Posted by: dandy* 8th February 2023, 01:26 PM
Join us this evening if you're around
Posted by: King Rollo 8th February 2023, 02:58 PM
The listen through will start at 8.30 with Hormonally Yours followed by Introspective
Posted by: Colm 8th February 2023, 07:04 PM
Ok. I'll try and be available for both of those.
Posted by: King Rollo 8th February 2023, 08:15 PM
Starting in 15 minutes here:
https://sync-tube.de/room/yfweF2_6
Posted by: Colm 9th February 2023, 08:01 AM
I really enjoyed this listening session.
Posted by: Bjork 9th February 2023, 04:37 PM
I gave it a listen today and have to say I was very disappointed
Always thought this was a proper album
After listening, I really don't count it as a proper album anymore
should be counted as a remix album
but even as a remix album the songs too long and dragged, especially the Dog one is terrible and neverending
the remix of Always on my Mind made me run and listen to the single short version.
Posted by: JulianT 9th February 2023, 05:42 PM
Thanks for a fun session guys!
Some of the tracks did go on a little bit but mostly I really enjoyed it and the dog song was actually a surprise highlight - loved the instrumentals!
Posted by: Popchartfreak 9th February 2023, 07:23 PM
sorry I missed this, I did want to join but I'm away friday through Sunday in London for a gathering, busy with work all week, preparing 18th birthday stuff next week, in Birkenhead Fri-sun following week for an 80th birthday, and weekend after that Weymouth for tha actual 18th birthday so I'm what you might call a bit short on available time starting tonight!
Sorry about that! Normal service will be resumed in March, apart from BJSC which I still hope to get through in one evening for semi and final. So if I go quiet for a day or so that'll be why! Sheer exhaustion
Posted by: Brer 9th February 2023, 11:17 PM
I think I was maybe not in the best mood to fully appreciate this album last night as I was a bit tired but I found it was all generally very good but not anything especially mindblowing. I do think I'd probably enjoy most of these songs more in shorter edit forms to be honest (although I was told the single version of 'Domino Dancing' cuts out the breakdown which was my favourite part of it boo x).
Top 5 of the actual album (out of the 6 tracks on offer lol):
1 I'm Not Scared
2 I Want A Dog - we hate the anti cat propaganda but the instrumental was great x
3 Left To My Own Devices
4 Domino Dancing - Axel F teas
5 It's Alright
'Always On My Mind' has never been one of my favourites from PSB and the version on this album didn't change that, I don't dislike it but fairly comfortably last.
Including the extra songs Dandy added in, 'Losing My Mind' was my favourite and would probably slot in 3rd on that list. Quite liked 'I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)' as well.
Posted by: dandy* 10th February 2023, 04:28 PM
Thanks for the thoughts everyone… I can absolutely see why the length of the tracks wouldn’t be for everyone but I’m very grateful you all made the effort to stick through them
Also, colour me shocked at how well I Want a Dog was received. And glad you enjoyed the listen through colm, good to have you join in!
Posted by: Jester 10th February 2023, 04:34 PM
Bit late, sorry!
Love this album especially Left To My Own Devices and Domino Dancing. I prefer Actually as an album but this is a close second. Great choice!
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