H.M.V Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 2 hours ago, Gnomicide said: I can't stand Pet Shop Boys (which I may have mentioned more often than Crazyfool1 mentions his hat) but they'd get a huge crowd. I can't stand them either. They make me feel sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eFestivals Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 27 minutes ago, H.M.V said: I can't stand them either. to me they represent everything that Thatcher put onto the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Irons Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 16 minutes ago, eFestivals said: to me they represent everything that Thatcher put onto the country. PSB? that's an interesting statement. In what ways? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jparx Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 Thatcher is responsible for a lot of awful shit, but inventing synth pop certainly is top of the list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eFestivals Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 4 minutes ago, Jeremy Irons said: PSB? that's an interesting statement. In what ways? fuck the world and "Let's Make Lots Of Money". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quark Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 14 minutes ago, eFestivals said: fuck the world and "Let's Make Lots Of Money". I always listen to that as poking fun at that concept - have I been doing it wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maelzoid Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 Yowser! A lot of PSB hate here. I think they're great. Yes, there was some shitty Synthpop, but lots of brilliant stuff m ore than mitigates: PSB, New Order, Depeche Mode, Talk Talk, Tears for Fears, Human League. And there's no way Thatcher had anything to do with it, other than provide a horrid social situation that inspired artists to rebel against. PSB may sound a bit yuppieish in places but there's so much more depth to them than such a reductive view suggests. If they play, I'll be there and I'm sure we'll get along without you very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
incident Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 8 minutes ago, eFestivals said: fuck the world and "Let's Make Lots Of Money". It's not a celebration of the concept though. It's much the same as The Specials writing Ghost Town a few years before. "This was in the Eighties, during Thatcherism, and suddenly there had been this huge philosophical shift in the country where the idea of making money was a good thing. People started talking about yuppies and buying Filofaxes and all that kind of stuff, and this was meant to be a sort of satire on that. It's a classic Chris idea: let's say the unsayable." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maelzoid Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 1 minute ago, Quark said: I always listen to that as poking fun at that concept - have I been doing it wrong? No you got it right. If nothing else, Neil Tennant is an arch ironist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jparx Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 4 minutes ago, maelzoid said: Yowser! A lot of PSB hate here. I think they're great. Yes, there was some shitty Synthpop, but lots of brilliant stuff m ore than mitigates: PSB, New Order, Depeche Mode, Talk Talk, Tears for Fears, Human League. And there's no way Thatcher had anything to do with it, other than provide a horrid social situation that inspired artists to rebel against. PSB may sound a bit yuppieish in places but there's so much more depth to them than such a reductive view suggests. If they play, I'll be there and I'm sure we'll get along without you very well. For the record I was just having a laugh - don't mind some PSB at all. New Order are one of my favourite bands so no issue from me with the genre! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eFestivals Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 5 minutes ago, Quark said: I always listen to that as poking fun at that concept - have I been doing it wrong? I've just been wondering if I have been. But along with that song title, everything else about them as a band is similarly plastic-80s too. Not formed for artistic output, and with a love of miming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quark Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 1 minute ago, eFestivals said: I've just been wondering if I have been. But along with that song title, everything else about them as a band is similarly plastic-80s too. Not formed for artistic output, and with a love of miming. Any chance that your view is slightly coloured by the fact that, from what I've seen you post on the topic, you really REALLY didn't like a lot of the 80s in general? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eFestivals Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 2 minutes ago, Quark said: Any chance that your view is slightly coloured by the fact that, from what I've seen you post on the topic, you really REALLY didn't like a lot of the 80s in general? oh, absolutely. Much like now, there was a wrong side to be on and a right side to be on. Everything about PSB screamed the wrong side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaledonianGonzo Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 I always assumed Tennant was a leftie and songs like Shopping and Rent were skewering the yuppies rather than celebrating them. That said I was definitely wrong about Morrissey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastynh Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 59 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said: I always assumed Tennant was a leftie and songs like Shopping and Rent were skewering the yuppies rather than celebrating them. That said I was definitely wrong about Morrissey. Tennant is/was one of the biggest donators to the Labour party. Synth pop has always been very anti establishment and anti Thatcher. It was ridiculed as not being proper music. It is also massively gay. It may have been the soundtrack to the 80's and people automatically identify that with the Thatcher years, but synth pop was definitely not right wing or utopian The grabbing hands, grab all they can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eFestivals Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 26 minutes ago, eastynh said: Tennant is/was one of the biggest donators to the Labour party. Synth pop has always been very anti establishment and anti Thatcher. It was ridiculed as not being proper music. It is also massively gay. It may have been the soundtrack to the 80's and people automatically identify that with the Thatcher years, but synth pop was definitely not right wing or utopian The grabbing hands, grab all they can. everyone who picks a synth becomes left wing...? It didn't work for Phil Collins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastynh Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 12 minutes ago, eFestivals said: everyone who picks a synth becomes left wing...? It didn't work for Phil Collins. Not really. I thought the discussion was about 80's synth pop? New Order, Human League, Depeche Mode and so on. No one mentioned Phil Collins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eFestivals Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 Just now, eastynh said: Not really. I thought the discussion was about 80's synth pop? New Order, Human League, Depeche Mode and so on. No one mentioned Phil Collins. I was talking specifically about PSB, who certainly didn't wear left wing politics openly (unlike other bands) to anything in my vision. Perhaps I got it wrong, but they looked like yuppies and sung about making money like yuppies, to a background of plastic music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastynh Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 5 minutes ago, eFestivals said: I was talking specifically about PSB, who certainly didn't wear left wing politics openly (unlike other bands) to anything in my vision. Perhaps I got it wrong, but they looked like yuppies and sung about making money like yuppies, to a background of plastic music. You are wrong on this one Neil. Tennant has always been massively left wing. PSB have always been dripping in irony. There is absolutely nothing yuppie about them in any way. Please define plastic music for me. I would call PSB music as high nrg, gay, proto disco, electro pop. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superscally Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 19 minutes ago, eFestivals said: I was talking specifically about PSB, who certainly didn't wear left wing politics openly (unlike other bands) to anything in my vision. Perhaps I got it wrong, but they looked like yuppies and sung about making money like yuppies, to a background of plastic music. Did one of the top ten covers of all time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuie Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 2 minutes ago, eastynh said: You are wrong on this one Neil. Tennant has always been massively left wing. PSB have always been dripping in irony. There is absolutely nothing yuppie about them in any way. My knowledge of them doesn't go back to the 80's but I've always had this impression too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eFestivals Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 2 minutes ago, eastynh said: You are wrong on this one Neil. Tennant has always been massively left wing. PSB have always been dripping in irony. There is absolutely nothing yuppie about them in any way. how can I be wrong about what they represent to me..? What they are in reality is one thing, the image they portrayed and (for example) the titles of songs was something else. 2 minutes ago, eastynh said: Please define plastic music for me. I would call PSB music as high nrg, gay, proto disco, electro pop. definitely not what I know of as high energy. From where I was musically at the time, just being a synth band and very much a pop band was probably enough for them to get fixed in my mind as that plastic thing. If you wanted 'credible' synth that was to be found elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quark Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 17 minutes ago, Superscally said: Did one of the top ten covers of all time... You know this just demands the question of the other 9 right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superscally Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 2 minutes ago, Quark said: You know this just demands the question of the other 9 right? That's a nice job. Watch this space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quark Posted November 29, 2019 Report Share Posted November 29, 2019 Just now, Superscally said: That's a nice job. Watch this space. I shall ready my judgement. I've actually got a playlist I've been building up of originals vs covers, so I ain't coming into this gunfight with a knife Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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