For reasons that are unlikely to ever become clear, I just developed an unexpected obsession with the music of Bobby O. I suppose I had always liked Pet Shop Boys, who regularly cite him as an influence, but he’s also got some pretty great tunes in his back catalogue (particularly Passion, Helpless, and She Has a Way).
Famously Neil Tennant‘s career had a bit of a turn left moment in 1983, when he was sent to New York to interview Sting, and decided to take the opportunity to go and visit his hero Bobby O. Fascinated by the never-ending churn of disco tracks with his name attached, he saw an opportunity to record together, and Bobby O was apparently also excited to work with an actual human being, rather than one of his many pseudonyms and manufactured groups.
The most common evidence of this era is the original release of West End girls, first released in April 1984. Quirkier than Stephen Hague‘s number 1 single version, it’s an interesting piece – it has a lot in common with many of Bobby O‘s tracks, but you can hear there’s something a bit different about this one. Something a bit more British, maybe?
Apart from that, there are a couple of demo tapes, and a heck of a lot of dodgy European reissues and remixes, the latest of which just came out last month, so the timing seems perfect to re-evaluate this largely-forgotten era of Pet Shop Boys‘ early history.
The Original Singles – 1984
Not well known, even among fans, is the fact that there were actually three singles in 1984. West End girls was the first, and of course the most famous. The main release was essentially two tracks:
- West End girls 5:00
- Pet shop boys 5:10
Bobby O seems to have done his own extended mix of the lead track (7:52), and then there are two edits of each track, which it’s probably fair to assume were never officially sanctioned by Pet Shop Boys. In the case of the lead track, those edits are the “single version”, which was released a decade later (below), and what fans have inexplicably come to call the “Nouvelle” version. Various versions and formats of this single were released in the USA (on Bobby O‘s O Records), UK (on Epic), Germany (on ZYX), Benelux (on ChanneL), and France (on Jonathan).
The follow-up only made it to Germany and Benelux, and was One more chance. Curiously there is no “original version” of this track, and while Pet Shop Boys were presumably aware of what’s going on (hence the Massive demo tape listed later), it is unclear whether they actually approved of this follow-up:
- One more chance (Kordak Remix) 3:29
- One more chance (Bobby O Remix) 5:36
The third single was only ever released in Germany, and is by far the worst of the lot – an awkward medley of West End girls and Corey Hart‘s Sunglasses At Night remixed by ZYX’s Mach 2, West End – Sunglasses is a very odd mix. While Pet Shop Boys surely can never have approved of this, Bobby O must have, as his dub of the previous single made it to side B:
- West End – Sunglasses 7:32
- One more chance (Bobby O Dub Mix) 4:43
The Demos – 1984
Exactly what was tried out is unknown, but Neil Tennant did post a photo of an early mix of an in-progress album from 1984, containing the following obscurities – I’ve corrected the titles below:
- West End girls
- Opportunities (let’s make lots of money)
- It’s a sin
- I get excited (you get excited too)
- Pet shop boys
- That’s my impression
- A man could get arrested
- Later tonight
- To speak is a sin
- Pet shop noise
- Pet shop boys X
- Rent
Their management company Massive also sent around a cassette featuring several of these tracks, which was presumably what ultimately got them signed to Parlophone:
- West End girls (Extended Mix)
- One More Chance (Kordak Mix)
- Opportunities (let’s make lots of money)
- I get excited (you get excited too)
- Two divided by zero
- Rent
- It’s a sin
- In the club or in the queue (Ray Roberts Studio Demo)
- I want a lover
- Later tonight
History books also mention an unreleased 28-minute version of Pet shop boys, which we can only hope will never see the light of day.
The Cash-Ins – 1986-1988
Some very complex legal wranglings left the original versions of three tracks in Bobby O‘s hands – West End girls, Pet shop boys, and One more chance. Losing control of these cannot have left Pet Shop Boys particularly upset, but the remixes that followed surely must have. What’s not clear is exactly who was responsible – Bobby O is often blamed by fans, but it seems to be exclusively his German record comnpany ZYX who released these, and given how few reissues his other works have ever received, it’s tempting to wonder how much of a hand he really had here. Whether he did or not, they are uniformly dreadful.
Rather than being Pet Shop Boys singles, all three were effectively singles by a German ZYX artist called Manfred Alois Segieth, under his Hurricanes and Tess alter-egos. He seems to have created all the remixes (many of which are pretty poor), and also recorded both of the b-sides, which have zero connection with Pet Shop Boys.
First was West End girls ’86:
- West End girls (Remix ‘86) 5:00
- Theme for the Pet Shop Boys (performed by Hurricanes) 5:00
An edit of each of these was released on the 7″ version, but both of those turn up again later. Next came One more chance (New Remix 86), later reissued without any changes as New Remix 88:
- One more chance (Hurricane Mix by Tess) 4:57
- Theme for the Pet Shop Boys (Pt II) (performed by Hurricanes) 4:58
Again, edits of both were released on the 7″. And just as before, the third was the worst of the lot, an exceptionally badly mixed megamix, released in 1988, and released as ZYX Mega Mix:
- Megamix (West End – Sunglasses / One more chance / West End girls) 8:04
- West End girls (Remix ’86 – Single Version) 3:28
- One more chance (Hurricane Mix by Tess – Single Version) 3:25
Separately, there was a fourth single, The Ultimate Mix (also released in 1988), with a near-identical track listing, but this time the megamix was by Mario Aldini:
- The Ultimate Mix (Sunglasses at Night / West End girls / One more chance) 5:38
- West End girls (Remix ’86 – Single Version) 3:28
- One more chance (Hurricane Mix by Tess – Single Version) 3:25
The Reissues – 1992 and Beyond
Having cemented their place in history with no fewer than six singles, Bobby O‘s European record companies turn up again every few years with some new, and typically dreadful cash-in on a reissue of a cash-in. First was a 4 CD box set The Maxi-CD Collection Of The Pet Shop Boys, which contained the nine tracks from the West End girls, West End – Sunglasses, One more chance (New Remix ’86), and ZYX Mega Mix singles listed above (inexplicably, the original One more chance, West End girls ’86, and The Ultimate Mix were omitted).
Next came this bizarre 1992 CD of remixes by an uncredited individual:
- West End girls (Acid House Mix) 7:08
- West End girls (James Brown) 6:15
- West End girls (Original) 7:46
- West End girls (Montreal 12″) 8:17
- West End girls (Montreal Instrumental) 5:33
- West End girls (Montreal Dub) 6:49
- West End girls (Montreal 7″) 4:09
Followed by a 1995 CD single:
- West End girls 5:00
- West End girls (Remix ’86) 5:00
- West End girls (Single Version) 3:21
After a ten-year gap, the next was 2005’s bizarre CD Megamix (Original Giga Mix / House Remixes 05), a two-part megamix by ZYX’s latest artist Isy B, and containing remixes by him/her on the second half. It’s not fully clear to me what Original Giga Mix is.
- One more chance (Original) 3:23
- West End – Sunglasses (Original) 4:26
- West End girls (Original) 6:13
- Original Giga Mix 6:08
- West End girls (Remix 05) 5:46
- Pet shop boys (Remix 05) 5:00
- West End – Sunglasses (Remix 05) 4:34
- One more chance (Remix 05) 4:54
This one apparently erroneously samples Stephen Hague‘s version of West End girls, so is probably a bit of a legal minefield. ZYX appears to have given up after that, but then the Dutch label High Fashion Music took over the regular reissues, with this digital release first appearing a couple of years ago. I’ve corrected the mix titles for consistency with the other releases above
- West End girls (Single Version) 3:24
- West End girls 5:03
- One more chance (Bobby O Remix) 5:36
Finally, November 2020 just saw this new set, West End girls (2020 Remixes):
- West End girls (Michael Gray Classic Sultra Remix)
- West End girls (Ben Liebrand 9 Course Suite) 8:38
- West End girls (Ben Liebrand Bass Mix)
- West End girls (Moplen Classic West End Mix)
For now, that ends the sorry saga of Pet Shop Boys‘ early years. Three good songs, followed by countless dreadful remixes and poorly curated reissues. Really, they deserve a lot better – but could have ended up with much worse.
Music for stowaways 