Friday, February 9, 2007

Chris Lowe

After a short "tale" about Neil Tennant, it's time now to give you some bio info about Christopher Sean Lowe (born on October 4, 1959 in Blackpool, Lancashire, England)

As a kid, he attended the Arnold School (then named Arnold House School), a private school in his home town of Blackpool. While there, Lowe played trombone in a seven-piece dance band called One Under The Eight, that played old-time favourites like "Hello Dolly", "La Bamba" and "Moon River". Lowe's grandfather had been a trombonist and was a member of comedy jazz troupe The Nitwits. Lowe became a skilled pianist and debuted as keyboard player in the progressive rock band, Stallion.

Lowe studied architecture at University of Liverpool from 1978. During a work placement in 1981 at a London architectural practice, he designed a staircase for an industrial estate in Milton Keynes. It was at this time that he met Neil Tennant in a hi-fi shop on the Kings Road in London. Although Lowe has not been involved in many solo projects, in 1993 he wrote and produced the track "Do The Right Thing" for the footballer, Ian Wright. The song featured backing vocals by the long-time Pet Shop Boys backing singer, Sylvia Mason-James and the single featured remixes by Rollo. In 2004 Lowe, using the alias "Blockhead," wrote what is best described as a chill out track called "Blockhead" that was featured on a "Café Mambo" chill-out compilation. He has also written the music for a song featured in the revival of Bent at the Trafalgar Studios in Whitehall in 2006. He once stood in for Pete Tong when he was sick to present the Essential Selection on BBC Radio 1. In 1995 he had a cameo in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. In 1997 his flat featured an in-depth feature in Elle Decoration magazine. Lowe has a passion for Japanese cuisine and recently acquired a minority stake in Japanese noodle bar chain Wagamama according to a report by the venture capital group 3i. He also has an impressive collection of sun glasses.

Thursday, February 8, 2007

Please (1986)

This is their first album, released in 1986 and one of the best I might say. According to the duo, the album's title was chosen so that people had to go into a record shop and say "Can I have the Pet Shop Boys album, Please?".

Complete list of songs:

Two Divided By Zero
West End Girls
Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money)
Love Comes Quickly
Suburbia
Tonight Is Forever
Violence
I Want A Lover
Later Tonight
Why Don't We Live Togheter?

BEST OF: West End Girls - witch is also the first song I ever listened and loved from the PSB.

Opportunities

I've got the brains, you've got the looks
Let's make lots of money
You've got the brawn, I've got the brains
Let's make lots of -

I've had enough of scheming and messing around with jerks
My car is parked outside, I'm afraid it doesn't work
I'm looking for a partner, someone who gets things fixed
Ask yourself this question: Do you want to be rich?

I've got the brains, you've got the looks
Let's make lots of money
You've got the brawn, I've got the brains
Let's make lots of money

You can tell I'm educated, I studied at the Sorbonne
Doctored in mathematics, I could have been a don
I can program a computer, choose the perfect time
If you've got the inclination, I have got the crime

Oh, there's a lot of opportunities
If you know when to take them, you know?
There's a lot of opportunities
If there aren't, you can make them
Make or break them

I've got the brains, you've got the looks
Let's make lots of money
Let's make lots of -
(Aahhhhh) Money
(Aahhhhh)
(Aahhhhh - Di du da di da bu di ba)

You can see I'm single-minded, I know what I could be
How'd you feel about it, come and take a walk with me?
I'm looking for a partner, regardless of expense
Think about it seriously, you know, it makes sense

Let's (Got the brains)
Make (Got the looks)
Let's make lots of money (Oohh money)
(Let's) You've got the brawn
(Make) I've got the brains
Let's make lots of money (Oohh money)

I've got the brains (Got the brains)
You've got the looks (Got the looks)
Let's make lots of money (Oohh money)
Money

INFO: Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" was released as a single in 1985 and then in 1986, gaining greater popularity in both the UK and U.S. with its second release. Can be found on 1986's albums, Please and Disco.

Neil Tennant

It's about time to tell you boys and girsl about Neil Tennant, as you know, one of the Pet Shop Boys member. According to Wikipedia:
Neil Francis Tennant was born on July 10, 1954.

As a child, Neil attended St. Cuthbert's Grammar School, an all-boys' Catholic school in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. (Sting went to the same school.) Neil's songs "This Must Be The Place I Waited Years To Leave" and "It's A Sin" refer to his early life in Catholic school and the strict Catholic upbringing there. "It's A Sin" caused controversy with its implicit criticism of Catholic education. Whilst at school Neil played guitar and cello. At the age of 16, he played in a group called Dust, whose most popular song was a called "Can You Hear The Dawn Break?". They were heavily influenced by The Incredible String Band.

In 1975, having completed a degree in history at North London Polytechnic, Neil worked briefly as an editor for the UK branch of Marvel Comics. He was responsible for anglicizing the dialogue of Marvel's catalogue to suit British readers, and for indicating where women needed to be redrawn more decently for the British editions. In 1977, he moved to Macdonald Educational Publishing and, later, ITV Books. In 1982 he joined the British teen pop magazine Smash Hits, where he rose to Assistant Editor. At Smash Hits, an opportunity arose for him to go to New York to interview The Police. Whilst there, Tennant arranged to meet Bobby Orlando, a producer who 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".

Although Tennant avoided the issue of homosexuality in the 1980s, preferring his lyrics to be androgynous, shortly after the release of 1993's Very he publicly "came out" in Attitude, a UK gay lifestyle magazine. According to the musician Tom Stephan aka Superchumbo, they had a two-year romantic relationship.

As of 2006 Tennant and Lowe are still going strong as Pet Shop Boys. Neil has a hi-tech, state of the art recording studio in his home in Durham and many songs from 2002's Release album were recorded there. Tennant is also known for his support of modern art, and was a judge for the 1998 Turner Prize as a representative of the Patrons of New Art. According to Rufus Wainwright's official website Tennant is to be the executive producer for Wainwright's next album Release The Stars, due to be released in May 2007. Wainwright made a special appearance during a live show of Tennant's.

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

West and Girls

Sometimes you're better off dead
There's gun in your hand and it's pointing at your head
You think you're mad, too unstable
Kicking in chairs and knocking down tables
In a restaurant in a West End town
Call the police, there's a madman around
Running down underground to a dive bar
In a West End town

In a West End town, a dead end world
The East End boys and West End girls
In a West End town, a dead end world
The East End boys and West End girls
West End girls

Too many shadows, whispering voices
Faces on posters, too many choices
If, when, why, what?
How much have you got?
Have you got it, do you get it, if so, how often?
And which do you choose, a hard or soft option?
(How much do you need?)

In a West End town, a dead end world
The East End boys and West End girls
In a West End town, a dead end world
The East End boys and West End girls
West End girls
West End girls

(How much do you need?)

In a West End town, a dead end world
The East End boys and West End girls
Oooh West End town, a dead end world
East End boys, West End Girls
West End girls

You've got a heart of glass or a heart of stone
Just you wait 'til I get you home
We've got no future, we've got no past
Here today, built to last
In every city, in every nation
From Lake Geneva to the Finland station
(How far have you been?)

In a West End town, a dead end world
The East End boys and West End girls
A West End town, a dead end world
East End Boys, West End girls
West End girls

West End girls

West End girls
(How far have you been?)

Girls
East End boys
And West End girls
And West End girls
(... forever)
And West End girls
(How far have you been?)

East End boys
The West End girls
The West End boys
And West End girls

The West End girls
The West End boys
The West End girls

Who are the Pet Shop Boys

Well, this is an easy one :). Pet Shop Boys are Neil (Francis) Tennant, and Cris Lowe (Christopher Sean Lowe). They met accidentally in a HI-FI shop on King's Road, and while waiting to be helped, they started a conversation about musicians and synthesizers. After going their separate ways from the hi-fi shop, they kept in touch and soon became friends and musical collaborators, writing songs together in Neil's apartment on his synthesizer. Although in general they had different musical tastes, they found they shared a passion for Euro-Disco and hi-NRG music. They also soon discovered a mutual fondness for the music of the American dance producer Bobby 'O' Orlando.

In the summer of 1983, a remarkable string of coincidences came into play. Smash Hits assigned Neil the task of traveling to New York City to review a Police concert and to interview Sting, who happened to be a fellow alumnus of St. Cuthbert's School (coincidence #1). And, as it also happened, the building in which Neil was scheduled to meet Sting was the same building in which Bobby O had his offices (coincidence #2). So on August 19—two years to the day after he and Chris first met (coincidence #3)—Neil arranged to meet Bobby O, which was not a particularly difficult thing to do considering his credentials as a British pop music journalist.

Neil and Bobby O wound up having lunch together at a small restaurant nearby on Broadway, the Applejack Diner. During the course of their conversation, Neil "let slip" that he was a member of a songwriting duo interested in making music somewhat influenced by Bobby O himself. The producer immediately agreed, without having heard so much as a single song or demo tape, to cut a record with them. (He later confessed that he liked Neil's "look" as a potential pop star as well as the idea of recording with a singer with a strong British accent.)

Neil returned to London to file his articles with Smash Hits, but a few weeks later he was back in New York, this time accompanied by Chris. While working with Bobby O at Unique Studios, Sugar Hill, and Bobby O's own studio, they recorded several of their newer songs: West End Girls, Opportunities and One More Chance. It was also apparently around this time that Chris and Neil decided to change the name of their duo to Pet Shop Boys. Inspired by some friends who indeed owned a pet shop, it sounded to them like something that a "British hip-hop group" might call themselves.

Although these initial recordings with Bobby O achieved only limited success, it was enough to get their career rolling. Of course, it was a rearrangement and re-recording of "West End Girls" roughly two years later for EMI that proved their true breakthrough. The rest is history...

I used http://www.geowayne.com as a source for this post, for more accurate info about Pet Shop Boys.

Monday, February 5, 2007

About this site

Well folks, I'm a huge Pet Shop Boys fan and I wanted you to know that too :). So I stared this personal blog as a dedication to all the PSB fans around the globe and, of course, as a tribute to Pet Shop Boys. And this is how this PSB odyssey begins...

P.S. My english is not to good, but I hope you'll all get the picture :)