Pet Shop Boys - Behaviour (Anniversary Celebration)

UK release date: October 22nd 1990
UK album chart peak: #2
US album chart peak: #45

Buy Behaviour here (Amazon UK)
Read my Pet Shop Boys anniversary celebration posts here

Following back to back number ones with Always On My Mind and Heart, Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tenant described his disappointment with brand new single Domino Dancing 'only' making number seven on the UK charts in 1988. Their imperial phase, he declared, was over. While he was right that they wouldn't get another UK number one single (yet), they definitely had some of their best work ahead of them. Domino Dancing's parent album, Introspective, contained my favourite Pet Shop Boys single ever (Left To My Own Devices) while 1990's Behaviour is considered, rightfully, one of their best albums to date. While there are hints of the grandiose drama of previous hit singles, it is more understated body of work focusing on use of analogue synthesizers and even (gasp) guitar, courtesy of Johnny Marr. This naturally crafted a different type of sonic result for Neil and Chris, with melodies enhanced and their poignant lyrics shining through brightly. I remember hearing the album and thinking it sounded like they'd written their own style of west end musical. I also recall feeling that this was a transitional Pet Shop Boys, ushering in the 1990s with something different and new, an enduring pop album that would stand the test of time. Turns out this was one of the times I was right. While not as big a seller as some of their other albums, Behaviour hit number two in the UK, went platinum and still spawned four top twenty hit singles.

So Hard:
I don't think I bought So Hard on the day it was released, but I was such a fan at this point that I know I went and bought it during the first week of release. It was, in hindsight, the perfect song to bridge the gap between the Introspective album and Behaviour. There were still exuberant flourishes, thanks to those ravishing strings and bass, but were juxtaposed with bittersweet melodies - making this a heartbreaking ballad dressed up as a dreamy dance track. The lyrics, all about a couple pretending their infidelity isn't happening, wasn't something I could relate to then but it felt so grown up and complex that I would savour every word - like a soap opera set to music. The Pet Shop Boys name still commanded huge sales so the single shot into the top five in the UK, peaking at a very respectable number four. Swirling dance mixes via Julian Mendelsohn and KLF sent it to the upper echelons of the US dance charts. It was a scintillating peak into Behaviour but the best is yet to come.

Being Boring:
The second single from the album was and is one of their most underrated. A shimmering ballad all about how your life, views and perceptions change as you grow older and are afforded the luxury of hindsight and reflection, this should have been prime fodder for the competitive 1990 Christmas number one race. It may well have been just slightly too sophisticated to stand out at one of the busiest single release times of the year. There is no denying this beautiful and graceful track is a gorgeous, seductive treat for the listener. The album version gives the sumptuous score time to breathe, but even in an edited down single mix there is still a sense of the music seeping into your consciousness. I loved this song from the moment I heard the Behaviour album and was so pleased it was picked as a single, yet so sad it stalled at number 20. Years later, after the guys wrote Baby for Alcazar and The Loving Kind for Girls Aloud, I imagined that Bananarama would revive this song in the style of their Please Yourself album. It is ripe for rediscovery and I'm still waiting...

Where The Streets Have No Name (Can't Take My Eyes Off You) / How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously?
I suspect that the record label got a little antsy after Being Boring failed to meet their chart expectations and thus, pulled out all the stops to get the album campaign back on track. Not only was album track How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously significantly remixed for the single version (including some rather ripping Brothers In Rhythm mixes, who would - like the Pet Shop Boys - go onto work with Kylie), but a brand new track was added as a double A side. Ah, the double A side - the staple of the charts in the 80s and 90s. Streaming has done away with that somewhat, but it was sales gold back in the day. Seriously... was allegedly a swipe at Wendy James from Transvision Vamp for crimes unknown to me. It was the medley aa-side, however, that got all the attention and sent the release (and the Pet Shop Boys) back into the top 5. Taking the overwrought nature of the U2 song and mixing it with the Franki Valli classic became synthesizer magic. Neil sang the title refrain to both songs in exactly the same style, outing the similarity between the two - it flowed brilliantly and made it feel as if they had always meant to be sung as one. U2 famously issued a statement saying "what have we done to deserve this"?! I rather think they probably didn't mind once the royalty cheques started flooding in. A great party anthem that sounds great next to earlier tracks like Always On My Mind and later tracks such as Go West.

Jealousy:
There is such pomp and circumstance to this song that it feels like it could be a national anthem to bad relationships everywhere. And probably was. Neil and Chris take the all consuming titular emotion and wrap it in orchestral scores and buttery synths so decadent that it could be the arrangement to a Hollywood movie. Every word is so vivid and accurate that it feels like a searing insight into every time the green eyed monster has reared its head in your own life. The remixes may have seduced the dance clubs but the sound haunted the stay at home introspectives for years after its release (the same is true of the entire behaviour album). Robbie Williams later covered this song but the Pet Shop Boys remain the definitive version. An added draw for me (as someone besotted was Liza Minelli's Pet Shop Boys collaboration Results) was the inclusion of their version of her Stephen Sondheim penned hit, Losing My Mind. I was giddy with anticipation at hearing it and while I think Liza has the edge, it was a real gift to hear their own take on the song.