I never thought I would come back to this, but as you know, inspiration strikes me a lot at random.
Once again, I am putting in a nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; The Pet Shop Boys
Neil Tennant
Chris Lowe
Now the Pet Shop Boys are certainly not the first electronic band up for consideration or deserving to get in (cough, Kraftwerk, cough) but what they did should certainly not be doured. They took electronic music, added a ton of irony and social commentary and gave it a glossy finish. The result is music that has stood the test of time and even been ironic in and of itself.
An example of this has to do with the commercial above. It aired during the Super Bowl and instantly brought about a resurgence of the Pet Shop Boys and their music. It also was the starting point for my exploration. And it is the first song I present to you:
Now the ironic thing about this is that it was used in a commercial that actually was used to save people money, but the song, per Neil Tennant, is about two losers talking about dreams and plans that have no chance of working. Some people completely missed the message and criticized the song at the time for being too materialistic, a sign of the 80s. But in fact, the group were being tongue in cheek about it.
The next song is their famous cover of the Elvis Presley (and for me Willie Nelson) song "Always on My Mind" which was voted by the British public as the best cover of all time.
What's great about this cover to me is that this song is usually seen as a sad song. You see it sometimes on those pet adoption commercials. But what is done here is that the song and its sad lyrics are taken and given an upbeat mood about them via the instrumentalization. It brings to mind traveling on a road towards a destination. Doing that takes serious craftmanship.
Now my last song, and the one that truly blew my mind, combines the key aspects of the first two songs and brings them together in a stunning combination. The song is called "Suburbia"
I mean it, this truly blew my mind away. And it began at the sudden change of tone at about 1:14. it was building this dark and forboding mood and then all of the sudden, it turns into a kind of an intro for a family TV drama. It's brilliant, and apropros of the subject. But the content is still biting about the seemingly boring life in the suburbs and young people trying to break out. All under that seemingly jaunty tune. This was the song that made me want to write this article. It is pure genius and it confirms to me that the Pet Shop Boys do beling in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at some juncture.
