Please

One of the many remarkable things about the Pet Shop Boys is that they were far more popular than their influences while introducing elements that logically should’ve made them less successful. Inspired by queer club anthems by Divine and the Flirts, the budding Latin freestyle sound epitomized by Shannon‘s breakout pop hit “Let the Music Play,” and the dancefloor-friendly end of post-punk epitomized by New Order, history major Neil Tennant and former architecture student Chris Lowe set off gaydar in a big way while also coming across unabashedly erudite about mass and highbrow culture: “West End Girls” quotes both Blondie and T. S. Eliot while offering class-conscious sociological commentary in the sprit of Grandmaster Flash‘s “The Message” but with as many specifically Angloid references as Blur or Pulp’s at their Brit-poppy-est.

Heard today, PSB’s 1986 debut sounds like the progenitor of recent records by Yelle, Diamond Rings, and countless other indie-rock-approved but relatively small-scale dance acts. Please, however, sold three million copies worldwide; “West End Girls” topped the pop charts in both the UK and the US; follow-up single “Suburbia” was song of the year for massively influential Los Angeles modern rock station KROQ, and… read more »