Gezza

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!

#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

#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

Was just listening to the start of "Miracles" and it sounds sonically very close to "Frozen" by Madonna until the chorus- or is just me?

Tomorrow we lose our first 11!

#40 MIRACLES YEAR: 2003 PEAK POSITION: 10 Thunder is silent before you Roses bloom more to adore you too 12 years after “Discography” it was time for another GH set by the boys, this lead single returned them to the top 10 for the first time in 3 years. It is co-written by future chart topper DJ Fresh along with Adam F (himself a top 20 artist) and had a drum and bass backing which was altered by the PSB. Lyrics were inspired by Elizabethan Metaphysical poetry. AI: It’s a song about awe, but delivered with precision rather than spectacle. Tennant sings with a kind of hushed reverence, as if the emotion is too fragile to touch directly. It’s a lovely contrast to the more arch, ironic delivery he often uses. “Miracles” is a beautifully crafted, emotionally gentle PSB single—sonically lush, melodically graceful, and disarmingly sincere. It may not have the conceptual sharpness or narrative detail of their masterpieces, but it stands as one of their most elegant expressions of uncomplicated affection. Highest score: 9.5 @Popchartfreak lowest score: 2.5 @chartjack2

Everybody's 11 makes it safely into the top 40...... they won't all make it into the top 30!

#41 I GET ALONG YEAR: 2002 PEAK POSITION: 18 Took a long time to track you down Even then you were defiant It's not what you think it is, you said And proceeded to deny it A Deeply political song about the relationship between Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson (whatever happened to him) who had recently resigned from the Government (in 2001) due to scandal. Johnny Marr is again on guitar for a song which Tennant labelled as their “Oasis” track, the video meanwhile contains references to 9/11. It was released without any remixes which was unusual for the boys, they had asked Bowie to produce one but time constraints mean that never ultimately happened. AI: I Get Along is the Pet Shop Boys doing something deliberately unfashionable for them: a sweeping, guitar‑led, Britpop‑adjacent breakup anthem that disguises its venom beneath politeness. It’s a song about betrayal, political backstabbing, and emotional survival—but delivered with such melodic warmth that the bitterness feels almost elegant. The narrator’s insistence that he “gets along” is both true and untrue. It’s a coping mechanism, a mantra, a way of reclaiming dignity. The song is widely read as Neil Tennant’s response to the ousting of Peter Mandelson from government, a moment he found personally upsetting. Highest Score: 9.5 @Roba. Lowest Score: 2.5 @chartjack2

I agree- it's my definite favourite of the A-Sides on the single!

#42 HOW CAN YOU EXPECT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY? YEAR: 1991 PEAK POSITION: 4 You’re another major artist on a higher plane Do you think they’ll put you in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame? Originally pencilled in as a single in its own right to follow “Being Boring” the underperformance of that single meant that in the end this was a double A-Side with the ultra commercial “Where The Streets Have No Name (Can’t Take My Eyes Off You)”. It was remixed for single release by Brothers In Rhythm and thematically was written about pretentious pop stars. Originally the inspiration was said to be popstars in general but some time later Tennant confessed that it was inspired by Transvision Vamp front woman Wendy James who was purported to be a nightmare to interview by one of Tennant’s journalist friends. AI: The song mocks the very idea of pop stars demanding to be “taken seriously,” yet the track itself is produced with such grandeur — sweeping strings, dramatic chord changes, a stately tempo — that it sounds like a plea for gravitas. This tension is the point. Tennant and Lowe are skewering the self-importance of late‑80s pop culture while simultaneously proving they can operate at a level of sophistication that justifies the question. It’s satire wearing a tuxedo. Highest score: 9.5 @Mangø Lowest Score: 2.5 @chartjack2

#43 A RED LETTER DAY YEAR: 1997 PEAL POSITION: 9 But for all of those who don't fit in Who follow their instincts And are told they sin A song that had its origins in a desire by the pair to write a song using the cord progression in Beethoven’s “Ode To Joy” and featuring a Russian Choir. The red letter day in question is someone saying “I Love You”- the old romantics. It was suggested at the time that the sentiments reflected the wait for Labour to return to power and was also released on the day John Major announced the election back in 1997 but this appears to be entirely coincidental. It created a bit of chart history when it became the highest placed single to spend just 1 week in the top 40 when it dropped 9-42 in its second week. Chris Lowe has apparently called the promo the worst they ever did! AI: “A Red Letter Day” is a triumph of grand, orchestral optimism undercut by quiet emotional uncertainty. The choir is huge, but Neil’s vocal is small, almost swallowed by the arrangement. That contrast is deliberate: the world is celebrating, but the narrator isn’t fully convinced he belongs in the celebration. It’s a song about hope that sounds like it’s being performed by someone who isn’t sure they can feel it. “Go to work and take your calls…” — is classic Tennant: mundane routine set against the promise of emotional breakthrough. The narrator is waiting for a moment that will transform everything, but the song never confirms that the transformation actually arrives. Highest score: 10 @AH Gold lowest score: 2.5 @chartjack2

29TH JULY Opening the BRITS this year was the all-star collaboration of Five and Queen on the latter’s “We Will Rock You” which was only ever a B-side for the band on 1977’s “We Are The Champions” (#2). With Brian May and Roger Taylor guesting on the track it seemed like the perfect track to put Five’s career back on the track after the disappointment of their last single “Don’t Wanna Let You Go” only reaching No 9. It’s wasted little time in marching straight to the top on a sale of 77,500, the lowest tally in 12 weeks but regardless Five’s second chart topper in 8 months and Queen’s 6th. However it wasn’t the biggest selling single of the week, that went to the ongoing saga of the Ronan Keating ineligible CD version of his single “Life Is A Rollercoaster”. Although versions of the single are very hard to come by it still managed to sell 14,000 copies by midweek, enough even at that point to wipe out Five’s end victory margin of just 3,000 over Keating this week (74,500) in total sold. Someone’s head should roll at Polydor for the error. After a break of two years from the chart Louise Nurding is now Louise Redknapp following her marriage to Jamie Redknapp and is back in the charts with “2 Faced”. No need to worry though as it instantly becomes her biggest hit coming in at No 3 (54,000), it precursors her third album “Elbow Beach” next month and is the singer’s 7th top 10 single. Louise can perhaps sympathise with Farah Franklin who it was announced has left Destiny’s Child this week. Her departure times perfectly with their new single “Jumpin’ Jumpin’” arriving at No 5 (36,000), it’s a fourth single to be lifted from the album “Writing’s On The Wall” (and a fourth top 10 to boot) which has yet to hit the top 10 itself but is up 29-23 this week and may make it yet. “Affirmation” is the name of the second Savage Garden album and now also the title of the biggest single to be taken from it as it debuts at No 8 (30,000), not bad for a fourth release! The band are currently on tour in the US before heading here in November but the album’s sales of 230,000 must be a disappointment after the 900,000 selling debut. Eminem continues his numerical sequential movement down the charts 3-4 (39,000) and the Corrs fall 2-6 (35,000) but top the album charts to make up for it. Limp Bizkit topple 4-7 (31,000), Aaliyah drops 5-10 (28,000) and Alice Deejay hold up well 8-9 (28,000) and also debut at No 8 on the album charts proving that they can shift LP’s too! 1- WE WILL ROCK YOU- Five & Queen (77,500) 2- LIFE IS A ROLLERCOASTER- Ronan Keating (74,500) 3- 2 FACED- Louise (54,000) 4- THE REAL SLIM SHADY- Eminem (39,000) 5- JUMPIN JUMPIN- Destiny’s Child (36,000) 6- BREATHLESS- The Corrs (35,000) 7- TAKE A LOOK AROUND (MISSION IMPOSSIBLE M:2)- Limp Bizkit (31,000) 8- AFFIRMATION- Savage Garden (30,000) 9- WILL I EVER- Alice Deejay (28,000) 10- TRY AGAIN- Aaliyah (28,000)

22ND JULY Originally penned by Rick Nowells and Greg Alexander for the latter’s second New Radicals album before the group split, “Life Is A Rollercoaster” was passed onto Ronan Keating and ends up at No 1 this week. It continues Keating’s perfect start to his solo career after “When You Say Nothing At All” also made 1 last year but its sale of 94,458 is only a fraction of its real sales after one of the CD releases was deemed to be ineligible due to CD1 featuring media content (an interview with Keating) which was not also an audio track leaving just the cassingle and a limited edition CD2 counting towards its sales. It was deleted by Polydor and another CD version released but not before 100,069 of its sales were lost so the opening would have been 194,527 had all formats been eligible. Meanwhile Aaliyah is now a moviestar starring in her first film “Romeo Must Die” which hit the screens in the US back in the Spring but isn’t due here until Autumn, and what do you know she’s also recorded a song for it. “Try Again” actually comes with the writing and production credentials of Timbaland (you can hear the man himself rap the opening lines of Erik B & Rakim’s “I Know You Go Soul” at the start) and gives Aaliyah her first UK top 10 single new at No 5 (38,000) after topping the US charts last month. A quiet week this week with no other new entries to tell you about, Aaliyah and Ronan aside everything slips a place, The Corrs 1-2 (63,000), Eminem 2-3 (52,000) and Limp Bizkit 3-4 (41,000). Similarly descending are Steps 5-6 (37,000), Artful Dodger 6-7 (32,000), Alice Deejay 7-8 (30,000) and Samantha Mumba who slides slightly quicker 8-10 (25,000) but kudos to Darude who hold at No 9 (27,000). 1- LIFE IS A ROLLERCOASTER- Ronan Keating (94,458) 2- BREATHLESS- The Corrs (63,000) 3- THE REAL SLIM SHADY- Eminem (52,000) 4- TAKE A LOOK AROUND (THEME FROM MI: 2)- Limp Bizkit (41,000) 5- TRY AGAIN- Aaliyah (38,000) 6- WHEN I SAID GOODBYE/ SUMMER OF LOVE- Steps (37,000) 7- WOMAN TROUBLE- Artful Dodger Ft Robbie Craig & Craig David (32,000) 8- WILL I EVER?- Alice Deejay (30,000) 9- SANDSTORM- Darude (27,000) 10- GOTTA TELL YOU- Samantha Mumba (25,000)

#44 NEW YORK CITY BOY YEAR: 1999 PEAK POSITION: 14 Then as the evening falls You can return its calls Intended as a tribute to the disco era, this was co-produced and co-written by David Morales and was designed to sound in the “Village People vein”. It was originally going to be the first single from “Nightlife” but the record company thought it too camp to lead with apparently! I’ve no idea what they mean……… AI: “New York City Boy” is the Pet Shop Boys at their most unapologetically flamboyant. It’s not subtle. It’s not restrained. It’s not trying to be clever. It’s a full‑throttle, mirrorball‑shattering homage to the late‑70s club era — Village People, Salsoul, Studio 54, the whole mythology of disco excess. It’s about the fantasy of New York — the idea that somewhere out there is a city where you can finally be the version of yourself you’ve always imagined. The line “You feel the deal is real” captures it perfectly. It’s about transformation, self‑invention, and the liberating anonymity of a big city. Highest score: 10 @chartjack2 Lowest score: 3 @Jade

#45 SINGLE BILINGUAL YEAR: 1996 PEAK POSITION: 14 'Adelante!' Through the door 'Un momento, por favor' This is what I get paid for 'Muchas gracias, senor' A song which was originally called “Latino” got transported into this light tune which had its promo shot at Stanstead Airport and detailing the life of a fictional Euro-businessman. Tenant “The Narrator” is "a glib Euro Businessman, a glib Eurocrat who flies business class and likes the privileges. He tries to pick up chicks at meet ‘n’ greets, he pretends to be a sophisticated ladies man but he’s not really communicating either and he knows it. In actual fact he’s a hopeless, tragic, wreck” Tenant commented. It was called “Single” on the album but got the added “Bilingual” for single release to distinguish itself from the then recent song from Everything But The Girl of the same title AI: “Single‑Bilingual” is not just a character study; it’s a worldview. The narrator is a high‑functioning, multilingual, hyper‑mobile professional — the kind of person the 90s celebrated as the future. But Tennant and Lowe see the cracks. The song is a portrait of a man whose identity has been replaced by his CV. The brilliance lies in how the track inhabits this persona rather than mocking him. The writing is some of Tennant’s most precise. The narrator lists his achievements — languages spoken, cities travelled, deals closed — with the same emotional tone someone might use to read a shopping list. That flatness is the point. It’s the cold, metallic counterpoint to the album’s sunlit tracks — the boardroom to “Se a vida é”’s beach. Highest score: 9- @gooddelta @Popchartfreak Lowest score: 2.5 @chartjack2

Tinters tells me that they also wanted "Sodom and gomorrah show" as a single but that was also stopped by the record company. That would have made a cracking single, not sure about radio play though😁

Well let's enjoy the video while we can if current Internet rumours are true about the injunction.....

#46 I’M WITH STUPID YEAR: 2006 PEAK POSITION: 8 Is stupid really stupid Or a different kind of smart? Arriving back in the charts with a splash, this single explored the relationship between then Prime Minister Tony Blair and George W Bush (stupid) and became their final top 10 single as an act. Matt Lucas and David Walliams starred in the promo which naturally helped, and proved the boys were right in their single choice after Parlophone wanted “Minimal” as the lead single from the album “Fundamental”. It also marked the final time the duo appeared on Top Of The Pops as the show was axed later in 2006, the performance on the show was originally going to include dancers with masks of Blair and Bush on, however the BBC intervened and said there had to be balanced politically so in addition to Blair and Bush other masks included were of Cameron, Putin, and Menzies Campbell. Good old BBC. AI: Released in 2006 as the lead single from Fundamental, the song is a masterclass in PSB’s favourite trick: using pop as a Trojan horse for political commentary. On the surface, it’s a lover’s quarrel. Underneath, it’s a satire of the Blair–Bush alliance during the Iraq War. By framing political obedience as a toxic relationship, the song becomes both funnier and more damning. Lines about trust, manipulation, and blind loyalty land with double force. PSB usually excel at ambiguity; here, the target is clear enough that the song risks becoming a political cartoon. Highest score: 10 @chartjack2 Lowest score: 3- @Julian_

Certainly not lead single material

Until now I'm the only person to lose a 10, tomorrow our next will exit!

#47 BEFORE YEAR: 1996 PEAK POSITION: 7 Coincidence and patience Will mend this fatal flaw An attempt to write a US hit so Tennant stated, the original plan was to get this produced by David Morales but the plan fell through and Danny Tenaglia ended up doing an emergency remix for them. It served as the first release from the “Bilingual” album and was their first top 10 single in 2 years. The line around “a man who loved too much- he ended up in a prison cell” was popularly thought to be about Oscar Wilde but Tenant confirmed that it really referred to OJ Siimpson AI: The song’s central idea is simple: you should have loved me before it was too late. But the delivery is so restrained that the accusation feels like a sigh rather than a scream. It’s a breakup song built on regret rather than blame. The repeated insistence on before becomes a kind of emotional timestamp — a reminder that love is not just about feeling but about timing, readiness, and courage. There’s also a classic PSB subtext: the narrator has been patient to the point of self-erasure. The song quietly critiques the idea of waiting for someone who never quite arrives. Highest Score: 8.5 @AH Gold Lowest Score: 2.5 @chartjack2

#48 SOMEWHERE YEAR: 1997 PEAK POSITION: 9 You wanna live in this lousy world? A track from the musical “West Side Story”, this was picked as a single to promote their residency at the Savoy Theatre and in which the track would play a starring role as the new single. It was also used to promote a repackaged “Bilingual” album and wasn’t the first time they had worked on a Stephen Sondheim track as Liza Minelli’s cover of “losing Mt Mind” had also been produced by the group. AI: “Somewhere” is one of the boldest choices in the PSB catalogue: taking West Side Story’s most fragile, hopeful ballad and blowing it up into a widescreen, orchestral‑dance anthem. Where the original is intimate and trembling, the Boys make it public, collective, and unmistakably queer. The song’s dream of a place “for us” becomes, in their hands, a coded promise of belonging for anyone who’s ever felt outside the norm. It’s PSB doing what they do best: turning longing into architecture. It’s “Go West”’s spiritual sibling: a vision of a better world delivered with camp sincerity and political undertones. Highest score: 9- @King Rollo Lowest score: 2- @Julian_

Yes sorry it wasn't finding you

#49 DJ CULTURE YEAR: 1991 PEAK POSITION: 13 Consider for a minute who you are What you'd like to change, never mind the scars This track was based around Tennant’s thoughts on how DJ’s would sample songs and how that aligned with people who would also sample the attitudes of the past, or as he put it “"Political postures and social attitudes are glibly sampled from the past and the present like beats on dance records" The, then, most recent example of this was the speeches of George Bush who quoted Churchill during the first Gulf War, the concept of reinvention to escape mistakes most obviously in the lyrics “Like Liz before Betty, She after Sean” referring to Elixzabeth Taylor before her visit to the Betty Ford Clinic and Madonna’s new image after her divorce from Sean Penn. The song was recorded as one of two new songs for their first compilation “Discography” and the end refrain “And I My Lord, May I Say Nothing?” was famously Oscar Wilde’s words after being sentenced to hard labour at his trial for homosexuality in 1895 (a scene recreated in the promo). It also charted as a remix by The Grid at No 40 charting separately due to regulations around the number of formats at the time. AI: DJ Culture is a commentary on how fame, image, and narrative distort reality. Released in 1991 — just as superstar DJs were beginning to eclipse the music itself — the song skewers the idea that DJs (and by extension, celebrities) rewrite their own histories to appear more authentic, more tortured, more profound. It’s not an attack; it’s an observation. But it’s a sharp one. it’s not really about DJs. It’s about: · image · reinvention · self‑curation · the stories we tell to survive in public In an era of social media, the song feels more relevant than ever. Everyone is a DJ now — remixing their own life. Highest score: 9.5 @dandy* @mαngo Lowest score: 2 @Ghoulian