'How Can You Expect to be Taken Seriously?' is tremendous, 'I Get Along' doesn't really do it for me and 'Miacles' is lovely.

A few good moments in there but only a 4 for me.

Miracles is one one of my fave 2000's PSB singles, it's lovely and quite agree with the AI commentary, for which I hold my head in shame, eek! I liked the lushness, the Madonna vibes and the optimism and imagery, and at least it made the top 40 here!

#39

YESTERDAY WHEN I WAS MAD

 

YEAR: 1994

PEAK POSITION: 13

 

"It's fabulous you´re still around today,

You've both made such a little go a very long way"

 

A fifth release from “Very” which of course meant that it had to have a remix before making it to single status, this time around it was undertaken by Jam & Spoon.  Thematically it’s about the stresses of touring, promoting and generally being a popstar, lyrics are plucked from things that people actually said to the duo over the years which haven’t been the nicest.

 

It’s out first 11 to leave the rate sorry @AH Gold

 

AI: a venomously funny takedown of critics, fame, and the absurdity of being a pop act in the early 90s. It’s a rare moment where their wit turns openly barbed, yet the song remains impeccably crafted and weirdly glamorous.

 

This is one of the few PSB songs where Neil Tennant drops the mask of polite detachment and leans into outright irritation. But crucially, the anger is stylised. It’s not a tantrum; it’s a monologue. The song frames frustration as theatre — a camp, exaggerated recounting of slights, insults, and industry nonsense.

 

Lines like the oft‑quoted “You have a certain quality which really is unique — expressionless, such irony, although your voice is weak” are devastating because they’re delivered with deadpan poise. Neil weaponises understatement. The song becomes a catalogue of micro‑humiliations, each one sharpened into a punchline.

Highest score: 11 @AH Gold

Lowest score: 2.5 @chartjack2

Can't remember what I gave this but all 5 singles off Very were great, including this! BPM wise this must be one of their fastest singles I'd imagine?

Edited Wednesday at 14:542 days by Mangø

I gave that a 6 so slightly below the average.

great fun this one, it's always amusing to have a go at the bitchy critics (and indeed throw awareness out there for those not fond of what are perceived as weaknesses by non-fans). The remix was pretty good too, manic suited the deadpan. The video, like all of the Very videos, is great, Chris' head as multiple ceiling lights swaying with a smile on alone is worth it. Fabulous, though obviously it's not one you can easily singalong to anthemic-wise.

#38

PANINARO 95

 

YEAR: 1995

PEAK POSITION: 15

 

But life moves on, I'm talking history

And now I've got to find someone who'll dance with me

 

A 1986 B-Side in its original form, it also appeared on the “Disco” album becoming a fan favourite over the years.  Lyrically inspired by the 80s Italian youth subculture “Paninari” known for their love of fashion, designer clothes, italo disco music, and hanging around US style restaurants.  It was actually a song written after the event, the boys expressed an interest in the cult when they were promoting “West End Girls” in Italy and told a Rolling Stones reporter who was interviewing them shortly after, they misinterpreted this as the boys having written a song called “Paninaro”.  They thought it was a great idea and set about putting pen to paper!  The music itself was originally called “I’m In Love With A Woman” and was designed to be given to the group’s manager Tom Watkins who was going to launch his own music career as part of a duo but this came to nothing and ended up getting refashioned into this

 

Come 1995 it was picked from their b-sides compilation album “Alternative” to become a single.  The track uses a snip of a Chris Lowe interview where he says :

 

“I don’t like country-and-western. I don’t like rock music. I don’t like, I don’t like rockabilly or rock ’n’ roll particularly. Don’t like much really, do I? But what I do like I love passionately.”

 Tennant reflected "We wrote it because you could go 'woh, woh, woh.' We were obsessed with songs that had 'woh, woh, woh' in them. Remember 'Tarzan Boy' by Baltimora?"

 

For the 95 version Lowe wrote new rap.

 

AI: Paninaro ’95 is the Pet Shop Boys turning one of their most cult‑ish B‑sides into a full‑blown statement of identity — a celebration of style, attitude, and subculture that becomes, almost accidentally, one of the most revealing songs Chris Lowe ever “sings.” It’s both a remix and a re‑framing: harder, sleeker, and more emotionally legible than the 1986 original.

 

The 1995 version reframes that worldview for a new era. Where the original was fascinated by Italian youth culture, Paninaro ’95 becomes a commentary on PSB fandom, masculinity, and the duo’s own mythos. It’s Chris as the eternal cool kid: aloof, stylish, and slightly ridiculous — and the band knows it.

Highest score: 9- @gooddelta

Lowest Score: 2.5 @chartjack2

Paninaro is so unique, good to see Chris taking the lead on an (eventual) single.

I really like the other two that recently went out too, 80s being left unscathed but their output then was incredible, so it's fair.

Whilst I remember the thread will take a pause after tomorrow as I'm away on a shirt trip so will resume on Friday 20th!

I do prefer the 80s version of Paninaro and only gave this one a score of 4.5.

Love this one, it captures that hedonistic mid-90s feel so perfectly.

They had so many incredible B-sides so I was happy one of them was eventually transcended into an A-side! I'm still quite fond of Paninaro and I think I do prefer the '95 version.

The original Paninaro is up there as one of my fav PSB songs, the 95 version I like slightly less but it’s still great and worth an 8.

It was a good version, and great to see as a hit, but the original was always my "should have been a single" PSB track first choice, banging and exciting and great to see Chris getting a go upfront. that's a 10/10 for me. This is lesser.

Someone suggested that they should have called the b-sides album "Besides'. 😄

2 hours ago, Colm said:

Someone suggested that they should have called the b-sides album "Besides'. 😄

Marillion's b-sides album from 1988 is called 'B'Sides Themselves'

#37

DID YOU SEE ME COMING?

 

YEAR: 2009

PEAK POSITION: 21

 

You don’t have to be

in “Who’s Who”

to know what’s what

 

Written as a ballad and taking inspiration for a title from the saying “They must have seen you coming” to imply naivety, this was the final top 30 single for the duo.  Former Electronic bandmate Johnny Marr pops up on guitar and of course Xenomania are on production duties though they didn’t co-write this one.

 

The boys wanted “All Over The World” as the second release from “Yes” but the label preferred this one.

 

AI: By the time Yes arrived in 2009, the Pet Shop Boys were consciously re‑embracing pop sheen after the darker, more conceptual Fundamental. Did You See Me Coming? sits at the heart of that pivot: bright, melodic, and immediate, but with the duo’s trademark emotional ambiguity threaded through every line. It’s the kind of song that sounds like a carefree strut down Oxford Street but reveals its anxieties the moment you stop dancing.

 

The hook frames the narrator as someone boldly stepping into love. But the confidence feels slightly performative. The title question isn’t triumphant; it’s insecure. It’s the voice of someone who hopes they were noticed, who wants to believe the connection was inevitable.

Highest score: 10 @chartjack2

Lowest score: 3 @Julian_

one of my finds in the rate among their later work!

So we'll take a break for a week whilst real life intervenes!