Yes, this video was indeed filmed in Puerto Rico back then. It was a pretty huge hit in Continental Europe, also here in my native Germany. Amazing stuff indeed!!
This video was filmed in old San Juan and el yunque,the beautiful rain forest in Puerto Rico. I remember everything very well because 3 friends of mine appears in the video. The pet shop boys are probably the best pop dance group in history . Very prolific, every album they release are mini masterpieces. For me , Behavior is the most important album of their career.
Domino Dancing may not have hit #1 on the pop charts, but it was a huge club hit. The introspective album contained extended remixes of some of their songs and the album's version of Domino Dancing was outstanding. It's Alright (the extended version, not the video) is incredible, one of my favorite cuts ever. the music goes on and on and on...
Their music never seems to age. After It's A Sin, this is my favourite PSB song. It's called "Domino Dancing" because they're all falling for her , like Domino's.
How I love this band, their incredible progressive videos! When I got acquainted with their work, it was 1989 and the first video that I saw on cable television was "It's A Sin", it made an indelible impression on me, I was a Soviet child and I didn't understand who Pet Shop Boys were and what it was. for the letter "M and two small TVs", it was a closed country, but good music and civilization still penetrated its territory, because art will find a way to show itself to the world !!!
I read this that way that the two boys become interested in each other after fighting on the beach. Their facial impressions in the end could be read as being very surprised about what just happened between them both :)
The Latin twist and freestyle sound of this song comes from the producer of the track, Lewis A. Martinee, AKA, Luis A. Martinez, a Latin songwriter and producer based in Miami. He produced a lot of freestyle arists in the 80s, most notably Expose (with accent on the "e"), a trio of beautiful Latina singers who scored a lot of pop hits from 1984 to 1993.
Very nice reaction, Dereck. I knew you would love this! You ABSOLUTELY must listen to the extended version. You will be in heaven. Yes, please react to more 80s music, especially freestyle. Stevie B, TKA, Noel, Expose, Cynthia, Lil' Suzy, George Lamond, Shana....just to name a few...lol. Peace!
Derek, you really need to listen to SO HARD from their 1990 album Behaviour. Knowing how much you love the synth, you will get plenty on this track produced by a true legend, the German producer, Harold Faltermeyer....... it was a big hit around the world in that same year. It’s one of my favorite song from this band.
"Introspective" is my personal favourite album from PSB, incredible sound even now, a big departure from their 2 first albums... Try the songs "Left To My Own Devices" and "I Want a Dog", AMAZING!!!!!!!
I love the pet shop boys! My brother introduced me to them, such great music. So easy to just sit back and relax listening to it or get up and dance. GREAT stuff
Pet Shops have always been my favorite musical group period. Check out Electronic, was a pet shop/ new order collab. The first Electronic album was GOLD
You should listen to the Introspective album version - it’s longer and even better. The track Left to my own devices from the same album is a work of genius.
Please try Electronic: Disappointed from 1992. It's collaboration of PSB(Neil Tennant vocals) and New Order. Very synth based, catchy almost melancholic beautifully melodic dance track. You'll like it, certainly won't disappoint You! :)
You should absolutely watch the extended version. The music video exists with the extended version and the remix is wicked with vinyl scrathes and all. You will go nuts with the remixed extended version. I hated that it didn't get to number 1 in England because it so deserved it. It's my favorite Pet Shop Boys song ever, there, I wrote it. Loved it when it was released and I still love it today. Truly so good it is timeless.
Yess, do more freestyle. Lisa Lisa, Exposé, Sweet Sensation, Cover Girls, Shannon, Debbie Deb, Connie, Trinere, Corina, Sa-Fire, pre-salsa La India and Brenda K. Starr, Company B, Nayobe, Nocera, Will to Power, Pretty Poison, Cynthia, Alisha, Chrissy-I-Eece, Stevie B, Noel, TKA, Pajama Party, Seduction, Nancy Martinez, Judy Torres, Monet, Olga, Shavonne, Xena, Fascination, Rio Sisters... So much fun stuff!
Rumors has it that when they spent ( pet shops ) some time in Brazil and were around the beach; they saw locals playing domino and when some of the players lost one round they had to dance. That's why it is call the domino dancing. The girl in the video is Donna Bowman and it seems she lives in Puerto Rico. Greetings from Colombia South America..
The video was filmed in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. I knew one of the guys of the video, we were studying on the same University back in '88. The extended version or 12"mix video is more detailed on the story.
5:00 too funny. You say "Get the heck outta here" and moments later the girl throws her shoe towards the guy she literally wants to get the heck out of the room ;) Great timing!
wanna hear some crazy arrangement The KLF - Justified and Ancient (Stand By The JAMs), The KLF - Last Train to Trancentral, The KLF - What Time Is Love?(1991)
Its called Domino Dancing because a mutual friend of Neil and Chris would often play Chris in dominoes. And when he won he would stand up and start dancing. They called it dominion dancing.
You can’t go wrong with anything on this album. It’s top-to-bottom a masterpiece. The groove throughout is unstoppable. The beats hit hard. The self-titled track is lyrically sort of a “coming out” journey featuring classical, synth, and disco elements. There is also the epic extended mix cover of Willie Nelson’s “You Were Always on My Mind” (I wouldn’t recommend the radio edit) You won’t be disappointed with anything on Introspective. It’s probably one of my top 10 favorite albums of all time. 👌
Great song, thank you for playing it. A lot of people watching your reaction had themselves never heard the song. This song is lost to time and has never received the radio or video play it deserves.
Oh my Boys! PSB that is (& the eye candy is a+ hehe..)! Great different song/sound from them! If your a true PSB fan, you can just here the PSB nuance in any song they make! It's a distinct sound many don't pick up on. My top 2 artists of all time for me is PSB & Madonna. Never have I listened & bought everything they released, than them. Thanks Dereck!
Derek - the synthfest in Pet Shop Boys- Discoteca (Trouser Enthusiasts Remix) will blow your mind. Long song, dance track for a very serious song about a friend who discovered he's tested positive, dazed and confused, he just wants to go to a club and dance and try to forget for a moment the dangerous days that now lie ahead. This was back in a time, in the 90s, where the diagnosis of HIV was almost a foregone conclusion. Dark story but the music was amazing and that is exactly what makes PSB so incredible. The mix of emotions, lyrically and sonically.
Haha, you did see Neil Tennant. He was singing the thing 😂 One of my favourites of theirs is I wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind of Thing, if only for the suggestive lyrics 😈
Filmed in 1988 In. San Juan, Puerto Rico, money was tight so it was shot on a Shoestring budget for the pet shop boys back in those days. Written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, influenced by Latin pop and apparently also by the song "Elle est comme les étoiles" by Desireless, the song was produced by Lewis A. Martinée, the Miami-based producer behind 1980s freestyle groups like Exposé. The song was also recorded at Martinée's studio in Miami, resulting in a considerably large number of studio musicians for a Pet Shop Boys song being featured on it. The duo had achieved three number ones in 1987-1988 and Domino Dancing was expected to continue this success. But the public reception to the duo's new Latin sound proved disappointing. Tennant remembers: "...it entered the charts at number nine and I thought, 'that's that, then - it's all over'. I knew then that our imperial phase of number one hits was over."[
In ‘87 PSB took part in a TV show in the UK on the 10th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death where they performed a synth-pop version of Always On My Mind (Elvis’ recording of this song was the first successful recording of it having been recorded previously by Brenda Lee), the positive response to PSB’s performance led them to release it as a single which held #1 spot in the UK for 4 weeks and #4 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. On the album ‘Introspective’ they remixed it combining it with … wait for it …… ACID HOUSE!!! Bro, you’ve just got to hear it and maybe do an audio only reaction!! It’s a blast!! 😊
One of my favourite Pet Shop Boys tracks. Very proud they are British being a Brit myself. I'd recommend listening to Love Comes Quickly, Surburbia, I'm With Stupid or The Way It Used To Be..an album track from their 'Yes' album. If you like synths the instrumental break near the end of the latter track is one I'm sure you'll appreciate!
The reason this has a Latin/Freestyle flavor is because it was produced by Lewis Martineé, a DJ from Miami, FL, my hometown. He's the one who discovered Expose' and worked with many other artist during that time and he played a major role in the Freestyle movement. This was a distinct departure from the Pet Shop Boys earlier albums. They were looking for something different and found it in Miami 😀
This was played a lot on the freestyle music clubs in the 80s. It feature The Voice in Fashion who has 2 big freestyle hits with Only on the night and Give me your love
This song is about HIV and Aids - friends of the Pet Shop Boys were dying during the 80's and they wrote this as a reaction to that. That's what the line "Watch them all fall down" is referring to
It was not emphasized enough that PSB totally paid homage to the Freestyle Latin genre! Even filmed the darn video in PR! Good job Dereck for pointing that out. Years later, they would do a reggaeton-ish tune called Twenty-Something and got Los Evos Jedi to do a remix. You should do a reaction on that!
Domino dancing is a metaphor for people dying of aids. They had a close friend and personnal assistant who always performed a dance after beating them at dominoes, who died of hiv.
Many thing to say about it, first of all, PSB included the extended version of the song in the album Intronspective (not the single version). This version has its own video version, just the same story but with exclusive adittional scenes and telling a bit more info about the story. If you like the song, you have to watch the full extended version. It's amazingly good: ua-cam.com/video/-xeSg_ORzEs/v-deo.html The song was a hit in latin countries, Number 1 in Spain, but a bit of flop in English speaker countries. It was before the success of latin singers like Gloria Stefan or Ricky Martin. MTV banned the video because the homorerotic fight at the end of the video. It explains why the single dropped. The director of the video, who was straight, wanted to give to the story a multiple visions, the song itself has. In fact, the song talks about a person who is handsome/beauty and goes with different people having sex. The dark side of the song is when they say "watch them all fall down" because many people think it could talk about falling down with the beauty of a person. But also falling down because of AIDS, an illness which affected to many people (specially gay people) in the late 80's. A friend of Neil Tennant had died a few months before because of it, I think. The Domino Dancing is a paralelism with the idea of putting some Dominoes pieces back to another in a row. when you push one, this one pushes another one and so on. Like one lover to another one. As you can see, it's a very smart song and now the song is considered a big classic with many listens on Spotify and many views on UA-cam (for an 80's song). There is another latin PSB's song. Se a vida e (That's the way live is). I recommend to you this song (the full version of Left to my own devices). It's amazing: ua-cam.com/video/JBwYCUVpTUQ/v-deo.html
@Dereck Reacts: Your PSB to-do list :) : - Vocal - Being Boring - Love Comes Quickly - So Hard - It's Alright - Go West - Miracles - Left To My Own Devices (both 1988 and 2017 versions) - Leaving - The Pop Kids
In the early years of freestyle music there was John rocca from the UK. He produced hits like IOU, pop goes my love with by the group Freestyle, and when he went on a solo career he had underground hits like- I want to be real and - once upon a time , must check these out
I always assumed that it was about AIDS and a gay man who had a partner who slept around, with both members of PSB being gay and this being at the height of the pandemic.... obviously that wasn’t displayed in the video as in the 80s it wasn’t widely accepted and both members were quite vague about their sexuality at that time.... Could be wrong tho....
Hi Dereck, I just wanted to let you know that I love freestyle music as well! My favorite freestyle performer is Cynthia! I love her songs "If I Had The Chance" "Endless Nights" "Change On Me" "Thief Of Hearts" "What Will It Take" & "Gonna Get Over You"! I also love Expose! Some of my other favorite freestyle artists are Denine, Noel, Debbie Deb, Company B, The Cover Girls, Johnny O, Angelina & Rockell ! I love Rockell's songs "In A Dream" & "When I'm Gone"! You have to check out Debbie Deb's "When I Hear Music" & "Lookout Weekend" and Noel's "Silent Morning" & "Will I Find True Love"! You will love them!
You are just reviewing all the 80s goodies ❤ Thank you! Not sure if anyone mentioned this in your comments but those of us who listened to this music back then in the US got teased and bullied pretty badly. This music bumped up against all the macho long hair bands and, well... ...we would get teased pretty badly. Kids with Mohawks would even randomly get beat up by police.
Dereck, the last one you did was their first number 1 - West End Girls. Check out a couple that are missing: Always on my mind and Heart. This way you'll have all four PSB number 1s covered from their imperial phase. It's all commerce anyway, nothing related with the quality of the music which is high up there to this day! Look, if you look for a latin sound in PSB, you would be surprised, they have expressed love for latin music on different occasions after touring the continent. Check out their 1996s, highly latin flavoured album "Bilingual". You could do reactions of the singles "Se a vida e" and "Single Bilingual". The fourth single off the album (and the special version of it, as well as re-issued version further listening) "A red letter day" contains a b-side "The boy who couldn't keep his clothes on" - you will find yourself directly at Rio's carnival! Then check the single "Memory of the future" from 2012 - there's a remix by one Brazilian producer - you'll hear familiar beats. And of course check the 2nd single from their 2016 album Super called "Twenty-something"! Yes, they're synth pop duo in the core, but during the years have experimented and went quite crossgenre! Cheers!;)
Yes, I just discovered a track of one of the further albums called ' A Man Could Get Arrested' the 12" version which is a great breakdancers/bodypoppers track to do this to.
People will love the 7:47 min. extended version of Domino Dancing. Four more really good Pet Shop Boys songs that you may have never heard before are: 1) Miracles 2) The Resurrectionist (Extended version which runs 5:41 mins.) 3) Did You See Me Coming 4) Was It Worth It. Enjoy!
It's called domino dancing because she has all the guys falling for her,one after another.
titats about aids bro
@@humbertto yes correct
From an allegorical sense perhaps. However the Pet Shop Boys had a close friend that would do a little celebration dance when he won a domino game.
@@cappaculla this is actually the real reason.
Well we were all in love of the hot chic a 😍😂 good memories
Pet Shop Boys are simply the masters of electronic music. Truly. 35+ years later and they are still making great music.
Pet shop Boys - being Boring . This is one of the most stylish videos with a beautiful melody and smart lyrics, you will love it.
yes he will!.....one of the best songs from PSB
Yes, please!
Yesssss!! My favorite song and video by the PSB’s!!
Love that song. So soothing indeed
Research shows you're right.
Yes, this video was indeed filmed in Puerto Rico back then. It was a pretty huge hit in Continental Europe, also here in my native Germany. Amazing stuff indeed!!
This video was filmed in old San Juan and el yunque,the beautiful rain forest in Puerto Rico. I remember everything very well because 3 friends of mine appears in the video. The pet shop boys are probably the best pop dance group in history . Very prolific, every album they release are mini masterpieces. For me , Behavior is the most important album of their career.
What about Donna Bottman ,the charming girl starring in the video ? Any info on the internet,
may be you know something about her.
Thanks a lot.
I've been a fan since the 80s. When it comes to synth pop, nobody beats the boys!
Pet Shop Boys are simply brilliant. Their songs oooze class and sophistication.
Their music can't be beat! My favorite 80s group hand down and their videos are outstanding!!
Domino Dancing may not have hit #1 on the pop charts, but it was a huge club hit. The introspective album contained extended remixes of some of their songs and the album's version of Domino Dancing was outstanding. It's Alright (the extended version, not the video) is incredible, one of my favorite cuts ever. the music goes on and on and on...
What? How could you not see Neil Tennant? He was singing throughout.
Oh this 80s one of my many many favorites. I love the 80s music.
Neil Tennant was everywhere. At one point he was starring directly into the camera, the only face on the screen. Chris Lowe was the DJ.
Their music never seems to age. After It's A Sin, this is my favourite PSB song. It's called "Domino Dancing" because they're all falling for her , like Domino's.
Filmed in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Glad you got around to my fav psb song,fantastic synth and that beautiful spanish guitar
How I love this band, their incredible progressive videos! When I got acquainted with their work, it was 1989 and the first video that I saw on cable television was "It's A Sin", it made an indelible impression on me, I was a Soviet child and I didn't understand who Pet Shop Boys were and what it was. for the letter "M and two small TVs", it was a closed country, but good music and civilization still penetrated its territory, because art will find a way to show itself to the world !!!
I read this that way that the two boys become interested in each other after fighting on the beach. Their facial impressions in the end could be read as being very surprised about what just happened between them both :)
Or feeling so stupid they fought over a girl who doesn't care.
La pelea en el mar parece una alusión a la película muerte en venecia que aborda esa tematica.
The Latin twist and freestyle sound of this song comes from the producer of the track, Lewis A. Martinee, AKA, Luis A. Martinez, a Latin songwriter and producer based in Miami. He produced a lot of freestyle arists in the 80s, most notably Expose (with accent on the "e"), a trio of beautiful Latina singers who scored a lot of pop hits from 1984 to 1993.
Thanks for pointing that out so I didn't have to ! Yeah the keyboard riff is a typical Expose' sound from Martinee'...very Miami sounding.
Very nice reaction, Dereck. I knew you would love this! You ABSOLUTELY must listen to the extended version. You will be in heaven.
Yes, please react to more 80s music, especially freestyle. Stevie B, TKA, Noel, Expose, Cynthia, Lil' Suzy, George Lamond, Shana....just to name a few...lol. Peace!
ah just checked out the 12" version again, even more synths and more latin salsa synths.. a wicked combination..
Grew up listening to Pet shop boys in the Uk in the 80’s. They were very cool at that time and all their videos told a story.
Greatest duo ever, or should I say, greatest pop group ever!
Derek, you really need to listen to SO HARD from their 1990 album Behaviour. Knowing how much you love the synth, you will get plenty on this track produced by a true legend, the German producer, Harold Faltermeyer....... it was a big hit around the world in that same year. It’s one of my favorite song from this band.
good song, and a little more obscure.
Oh definitely - “so hard” brought back the 70’s disco wall of sound vibe and was bloody brilliant.
"Introspective" is my personal favourite album from PSB, incredible sound even now, a big departure from their 2 first albums... Try the songs "Left To My Own Devices" and "I Want a Dog", AMAZING!!!!!!!
Pet Shop Boys are the best !
I love the pet shop boys! My brother introduced me to them, such great music. So easy to just sit back and relax listening to it or get up and dance. GREAT stuff
Awesome reaction as usual. Love PSB. Another one to react to ‘Love Comes Quickly’ has always been my fav by them.
Pet Shops have always been my favorite musical group period. Check out Electronic, was a pet shop/ new order collab. The first Electronic album was GOLD
You should listen to the Introspective album version - it’s longer and even better. The track Left to my own devices from the same album is a work of genius.
Your use of genius is conservative.
Jive Bunny You’re right. I should have said that it’s a work of spiritual, intellectual and artistic brilliance.
@@colinmackillop That's more like it!
Jive Bunny I apologise for my earlier unacceptable lack of gravitas
Totally agree about the extended remix on introspective being better...
Pet Shop Boys, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears = Pinnacle of 80s music greatness and that's saying a lot.
“Impressed” is an understatement when describing the Pet Shop Boys.
Please try Electronic: Disappointed from 1992. It's collaboration of PSB(Neil Tennant vocals) and New Order. Very synth based, catchy almost melancholic beautifully melodic dance track. You'll like it, certainly won't disappoint You! :)
I loved this song. I was so happy that groups and artists from other countries were doing latin on top 40 radio.
For more Latin vibes from the Pet Shop Boys (and more homoerotic imagery ;) ) check out "Se A Vida E (That's The Way Life Is)".
Another great track of theirs from those times is Single (Bilingual)
Need to explore more! I’ve only heard their 80’s and early 90s album
Check out their entire “bilingual” album!! They had plenty of Latin inspiration for this entire album
You should absolutely watch the extended version. The music video exists with the extended version and the remix is wicked with vinyl scrathes and all. You will go nuts with the remixed extended version. I hated that it didn't get to number 1 in England because it so deserved it. It's my favorite Pet Shop Boys song ever, there, I wrote it. Loved it when it was released and I still love it today. Truly so good it is timeless.
Yess, do more freestyle. Lisa Lisa, Exposé, Sweet Sensation, Cover Girls, Shannon, Debbie Deb, Connie, Trinere, Corina, Sa-Fire, pre-salsa La India and Brenda K. Starr, Company B, Nayobe, Nocera, Will to Power, Pretty Poison, Cynthia, Alisha, Chrissy-I-Eece, Stevie B, Noel, TKA, Pajama Party, Seduction, Nancy Martinez, Judy Torres, Monet, Olga, Shavonne, Xena, Fascination, Rio Sisters... So much fun stuff!
YES ! More Latin freestyle from the 80's ! New York & Miami represent !
My all time favorite of theirs. Such a great sexy latin dance beat. Sooooooo good!! Can't get enough of this song!
Rumors has it that when they spent ( pet shops ) some time in Brazil and were around the beach; they saw locals playing domino and when some of the players lost one round they had to dance. That's why it is call the domino dancing. The girl in the video is Donna Bowman and it seems she lives in Puerto Rico. Greetings from Colombia South America..
It's true about the name of the song. Neil Tennant tell it in some interviews.
They didn't give up on their Latin inspired tracks. Se E Vida E is a bop and was quite successful all over Europe. I think you'll like it a lot.
James T Ord That entire album was Latin inspired.
That song... se a vida e... Made me cry when i heard it for the first time...
How do they do this? It is PET SHOP BOYS, of course!! I love you and your reaction to them, Dereck.
This is a great 80s gem!!! Great reaction!!
Domino Dancing is so 80s. Just love it!
One of the greatest song ever with its complicated composition 🖤🔥 Considered a phenomenal in 80's.
The video was filmed in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. I knew one of the guys of the video, we were studying on the same University back in '88. The extended version or 12"mix video is more detailed on the story.
They are the masters of techno/pop/dance/electro/remix genres for a reason!
i think one of the clearest strokes of genius in this song is the spanish guitar. they are brilliant.
I remember holidaying in puerta Rico years ago and meeting the hotel manageress. I was like “she’s beautiful and looks really familiar”. It was her!
5:00 too funny. You say "Get the heck outta here" and moments later the girl throws her shoe towards the guy she literally wants to get the heck out of the room ;) Great timing!
wanna hear some crazy arrangement The KLF - Justified and Ancient (Stand By The JAMs), The KLF - Last Train to Trancentral, The KLF - What Time Is Love?(1991)
My favorite Pet Shop Boys track, extended version is even better. Great reaction
The boy dancing with the girl in minute 4:25 is Ricky Martin...confirmed by him.
Its called Domino Dancing because a mutual friend of Neil and Chris would often play Chris in dominoes. And when he won he would stand up and start dancing. They called it dominion dancing.
The video was recorded in Puerto Rico...
You can’t go wrong with anything on this album. It’s top-to-bottom a masterpiece. The groove throughout is unstoppable. The beats hit hard. The self-titled track is lyrically sort of a “coming out” journey featuring classical, synth, and disco elements. There is also the epic extended mix cover of Willie Nelson’s “You Were Always on My Mind” (I wouldn’t recommend the radio edit) You won’t be disappointed with anything on Introspective. It’s probably one of my top 10 favorite albums of all time. 👌
In the 2003 DVD commentary by Neil and Chris, Neil states that the lady cast in this was a librarian!
AMAZING VIDEO! "Watch them all fall down, dude...." Chris Lowe's the DJ, dude.🤩🤩🤩
Great song, thank you for playing it. A lot of people watching your reaction had themselves never heard the song. This song is lost to time and has never received the radio or video play it deserves.
Oh my Boys! PSB that is (& the eye candy is a+ hehe..)! Great different song/sound from them! If your a true PSB fan, you can just here the PSB nuance in any song they make! It's a distinct sound many don't pick up on. My top 2 artists of all time for me is PSB & Madonna. Never have I listened & bought everything they released, than them. Thanks Dereck!
Derek - the synthfest in Pet Shop Boys- Discoteca (Trouser Enthusiasts Remix) will blow your mind. Long song, dance track for a very serious song about a friend who discovered he's tested positive, dazed and confused, he just wants to go to a club and dance and try to forget for a moment the dangerous days that now lie ahead. This was back in a time, in the 90s, where the diagnosis of HIV was almost a foregone conclusion. Dark story but the music was amazing and that is exactly what makes PSB so incredible. The mix of emotions, lyrically and sonically.
Yes it was shot in Puerto Rico, the album was made in London and Miami.
Haha, you did see Neil Tennant. He was singing the thing 😂 One of my favourites of theirs is I wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind of Thing, if only for the suggestive lyrics 😈
Filmed in 1988 In. San Juan, Puerto Rico, money was tight so it was shot on a Shoestring budget for the pet shop boys back in those days.
Written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, influenced by Latin pop and apparently also by the song "Elle est comme les étoiles" by Desireless, the song was produced by Lewis A. Martinée, the Miami-based producer behind 1980s freestyle groups like Exposé. The song was also recorded at Martinée's studio in Miami, resulting in a considerably large number of studio musicians for a Pet Shop Boys song being featured on it.
The duo had achieved three number ones in 1987-1988 and Domino Dancing was expected to continue this success. But the public reception to the duo's new Latin sound proved disappointing. Tennant remembers: "...it entered the charts at number nine and I thought, 'that's that, then - it's all over'. I knew then that our imperial phase of number one hits was over."[
In ‘87 PSB took part in a TV show in the UK on the 10th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death where they performed a synth-pop version of Always On My Mind (Elvis’ recording of this song was the first successful recording of it having been recorded previously by Brenda Lee), the positive response to PSB’s performance led them to release it as a single which held #1 spot in the UK for 4 weeks and #4 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
On the album ‘Introspective’ they remixed it combining it with … wait for it …… ACID HOUSE!!! Bro, you’ve just got to hear it and maybe do an audio only reaction!! It’s a blast!! 😊
Nice reaction! Love that song.
One of my favourite Pet Shop Boys tracks. Very proud they are British being a Brit myself. I'd recommend listening to Love Comes Quickly, Surburbia, I'm With Stupid or The Way It Used To Be..an album track from their 'Yes' album. If you like synths the instrumental break near the end of the latter track is one I'm sure you'll appreciate!
Love this reaction! My fav PSB song. And yes it was made in my Puerto Rico! Sounds very Latin too!
Love pet shop boys!! 😊
🎶💗🎶💗🎶
Supposedly it's Ricky Martin dancing with her at 4:28. Wearing the white turtleneck.
PSB are masters of production and arrangement.
Pet Shop Boys are genius of the music...
The reason this has a Latin/Freestyle flavor is because it was produced by Lewis Martineé, a DJ from Miami, FL, my hometown. He's the one who discovered Expose' and worked with many other artist during that time and he played a major role in the Freestyle movement. This was a distinct departure from the Pet Shop Boys earlier albums. They were looking for something different and found it in Miami 😀
You're not wrong - the video was shot in San Juan and used local actors.
Try Being Boring! Really nice song about living in the era of HIV.
Love this song! Probably my favorite by the PSB’s, and the video is awesome!
Amazing song too
This was played a lot on the freestyle music clubs in the 80s. It feature The Voice in Fashion who has 2 big freestyle hits with Only on the night and Give me your love
"I thought that when we fought I was to blame
But now I know you play a different game."
This song is about HIV and Aids - friends of the Pet Shop Boys were dying during the 80's and they wrote this as a reaction to that. That's what the line "Watch them all fall down" is referring to
Please also check out their iconic video of their single "Heart", also released in 1988 (it was the single right before "Domino Dancing").
It was not emphasized enough that PSB totally paid homage to the Freestyle Latin genre! Even filmed the darn video in PR! Good job Dereck for pointing that out.
Years later, they would do a reggaeton-ish tune called Twenty-Something and got Los Evos Jedi to do a remix. You should do a reaction on that!
*Rushes to get my headphones*
Very beautiful track,synth magic
Domino dancing is a metaphor for people dying of aids. They had a close friend and personnal assistant who always performed a dance after beating them at dominoes, who died of hiv.
OMG I looooooved this song.!!!!!
Many thing to say about it, first of all, PSB included the extended version of the song in the album Intronspective (not the single version). This version has its own video version, just the same story but with exclusive adittional scenes and telling a bit more info about the story. If you like the song, you have to watch the full extended version. It's amazingly good:
ua-cam.com/video/-xeSg_ORzEs/v-deo.html
The song was a hit in latin countries, Number 1 in Spain, but a bit of flop in English speaker countries. It was before the success of latin singers like Gloria Stefan or Ricky Martin. MTV banned the video because the homorerotic fight at the end of the video. It explains why the single dropped. The director of the video, who was straight, wanted to give to the story a multiple visions, the song itself has. In fact, the song talks about a person who is handsome/beauty and goes with different people having sex. The dark side of the song is when they say "watch them all fall down" because many people think it could talk about falling down with the beauty of a person. But also falling down because of AIDS, an illness which affected to many people (specially gay people) in the late 80's. A friend of Neil Tennant had died a few months before because of it, I think.
The Domino Dancing is a paralelism with the idea of putting some Dominoes pieces back to another in a row. when you push one, this one pushes another one and so on. Like one lover to another one. As you can see, it's a very smart song and now the song is considered a big classic with many listens on Spotify and many views on UA-cam (for an 80's song). There is another latin PSB's song. Se a vida e (That's the way live is).
I recommend to you this song (the full version of Left to my own devices). It's amazing:
ua-cam.com/video/JBwYCUVpTUQ/v-deo.html
@Dereck Reacts: Your PSB to-do list :) :
- Vocal
- Being Boring
- Love Comes Quickly
- So Hard
- It's Alright
- Go West
- Miracles
- Left To My Own Devices (both 1988 and 2017 versions)
- Leaving
- The Pop Kids
Love the videos, seeing your reactions to some of my favourites. Please review Pet Shop Boys Always on my mind.
The Spanish guitar is supreme
Obsessed with this song 💕❤️💕
All questions are answered when you learn it's produced by Lewis A. Martineé. PSB wanted to work with him.
Only one of the very best 80s pop songs. And fantastic video: the power of female beauty over men.
In the early years of freestyle music there was John rocca from the UK. He produced hits like IOU, pop goes my love with by the group Freestyle, and when he went on a solo career he had underground hits like- I want to be real and - once upon a time , must check these out
"Always on my mind" phenomenal track! You will love it!
Britsh Freestyle i remember in 1988 in vacation with my parents in old st juan porto rico they recording this music movie i saw it all up close...
I always assumed that it was about AIDS and a gay man who had a partner who slept around, with both members of PSB being gay and this being at the height of the pandemic.... obviously that wasn’t displayed in the video as in the 80s it wasn’t widely accepted and both members were quite vague about their sexuality at that time.... Could be wrong tho....
That's how I always interpreted the song, as well.
Hi Dereck, I just wanted to let you know that I love freestyle music as well! My favorite freestyle performer is Cynthia! I love her songs "If I Had The Chance" "Endless Nights" "Change On Me" "Thief Of Hearts" "What Will It Take" & "Gonna Get Over You"! I also love Expose! Some of my other favorite freestyle artists are Denine, Noel, Debbie Deb, Company B, The Cover Girls, Johnny O, Angelina & Rockell ! I love Rockell's songs "In A Dream" & "When I'm Gone"! You have to check out Debbie Deb's "When I Hear Music" & "Lookout Weekend" and Noel's "Silent Morning" & "Will I Find True Love"! You will love them!
You are just reviewing all the 80s goodies ❤ Thank you! Not sure if anyone mentioned this in your comments but those of us who listened to this music back then in the US got teased and bullied pretty badly. This music bumped up against all the macho long hair bands and, well... ...we would get teased pretty badly. Kids with Mohawks would even randomly get beat up by police.
Listen to and check out all videos and singles from BILINGUAL album. It’s entirely Latin. It’s their personal best. Amazing album.
I FALL IN LOVE WITH THIS MUSIC SINCE I HEARD THIS SONG IN 1988 ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONG BUT I LOVE ALL THEIR ALBUMS
The cemetry scene is kept in the 12 inch (Extended) video version
Dereck, the last one you did was their first number 1 - West End Girls. Check out a couple that are missing: Always on my mind and Heart. This way you'll have all four PSB number 1s covered from their imperial phase. It's all commerce anyway, nothing related with the quality of the music which is high up there to this day! Look, if you look for a latin sound in PSB, you would be surprised, they have expressed love for latin music on different occasions after touring the continent. Check out their 1996s, highly latin flavoured album "Bilingual". You could do reactions of the singles "Se a vida e" and "Single Bilingual". The fourth single off the album (and the special version of it, as well as re-issued version further listening) "A red letter day" contains a b-side "The boy who couldn't keep his clothes on" - you will find yourself directly at Rio's carnival! Then check the single "Memory of the future" from 2012 - there's a remix by one Brazilian producer - you'll hear familiar beats. And of course check the 2nd single from their 2016 album Super called "Twenty-something"! Yes, they're synth pop duo in the core, but during the years have experimented and went quite crossgenre! Cheers!;)
Yes, I just discovered a track of one of the further albums called ' A Man Could Get Arrested' the 12" version which is a great breakdancers/bodypoppers track to do this to.
Great reaction Dereck
People will love the 7:47 min. extended version of Domino Dancing. Four more really good Pet Shop Boys songs that you may have never heard before are:
1) Miracles 2) The Resurrectionist (Extended version which runs 5:41 mins.) 3) Did You See Me Coming 4) Was It Worth It. Enjoy!