That’s strange, the lyrics of the song says the west end is a unsavoury place to go. (In a west end town of a dead end world) Or maybe it’s a part of the west end that’s no good.
Yes, it was my favorite song for most of the 80's and the instrumental version happened to be one of the greatest "cruising" songs. My friends and I would get on the highway and just drive listening to the extended instrumental version.
When this was released during my senior year in high school in 1986, I was FLOORED! Still a banger after 39 years. It will never get old. Great reaction!
Awwwwwesome song. Was introduced to it at Toronto's Twilight Zone underground club in the early/mid 80s. The club programmed alot of cutting edge (Funk and Disco rhythmed) New Wave, Philly Disco-Soul, Funk... and the sounds we'd come to associate with Electrofunk and early (proto?) House. Actually my (😆64 year old) brain just remembered... they played the original Bobby Orlando "uptempo" version, and then, the downtempo Shep Pettibone version that came out months later. That song sounded sooooo good through the Twilight Zone sound system. Epic, hypnotic, and dreamy... yet intense.👍🏾 70s/80s club days. Wow. Where did the vibe go. Sigh....
@@mrcosta6963 The first version came out in 1984 and was a minor club hit. The famous version in this video that was a smash hit came out in autumn 1985.
Fun fact : At 4.48 the crowd in the distance are outside the south African embassy in london demonstrating for the end of apartheid and the release of nelson Mandela from prison .
They are of course from England. In the eighties we considered this, new wave music. At least my friends and I did. Tears for fears, flock of sea gulls, simple minds, Duran Duran, etc.
In England/UK, New Wave started after Punk - so late 70s (Elvis Costello, The Jam, XTC). By the time this song came out new wave was long dead here. The Pet Shop Boy's are more an extension of the Synth Pop bands of the early 80s - Human League, Depeche Mode, OMD, Flock of Seagulls etc.
If you're from England,then I'm puzzled that you class PSB as "New Wave". They were electro/electronic dance,along with New Order,Human League etc. New Wave was the aftermath of punk,or the less hard-core version of it.
The U.K. had the best groups in the 80's. I have seen Depeche Mode at the Rose Bowl (Pasadena) and Dodger Stadium both sold out. Awesome Concert at Dodger Stadium also Pet Shop Boys.
He's talking about London. The West End is known to be the richer or "posh" side of town. Like most songs, it can be up to interpretation, but I always felt like it was about wanting what you don't have or can't afford (coveting, so to speak). East End boys coming from the poorer, rougher side imagining what life would be like if they just had "that" kind of money to spend. Kind of like, "What fun could be had!?" ...And, "OOOhhhhh!! Those West End Girls!!" ;)
I feel the same way at 64! I love seeing these reactions though. It's great to see young people appreciating music that influenced millions of people. And that was before the internet and influencers and today's idiots on the www!
For me , it also takes me back to those years, yes : first year of high school, clever kid with good grades, but not really fitting in, finding solace in used book stores, but interesting times nonetheless😊
That's it, try and make a grown 69-year-old Man cry. lol I only moved 11 miles away but that was where I was born and raised for my first 29 years and that railway station(Waterloo) is where I am going tomorrow. That Number 42 Bus travels down my old High Street(Albany Road/Camberwell Road and it was great living just 2 miles from the heart of Central London.
Chris Lowe is a synth master! He has influenced many dance music artists but isn't recognised enough for his work in my opinion. They have done underround dance music, house/rave as well as pop.
Huge hit on the 1980s dance floor! Used to go to the club and the ladies would scream out rushing to the dance floor dragging their men with them. It would be so packed with people if you weren't out there from the previous song, you'd be out of luck. Awesome beat and great memories.
I was a nightclub DJ when this record came out in the UK. For a number of months you were expected to play this tune more than once each night. It went well with Planet Earth from Duran Duran, anything from Depeche Mode, orchestral manoeuvres in the dark, Ultravox with all stood still , fade grey from visage , anything from Gary Numan tears for fears , howard Jones , Grace Jones and many others.
When I was a freshman in a new town In 1984, I was the weird new kid from Hawaii in small town Florida. I casually mentioned loving this song somehow to this nice girl on my first day, who turned out to be the most popular girl in this new high school I was jn. I was a total fish out of water! I did not belong. One day after class, she put this 45 record on my desk as she walked out of the classroom. She said “I saw this this weekend and thought of you” and walked away because she was so cool. It changed my vibe in this new school and she made me feel welcomed. We eventually became really good friends. She died in a car accident right after we graduated. I think about her all the time. She was amazing. She’s now been gone longer than she was alive. She was amazing people. Her name is Karrie Gurney. ❤. Miss you still my friend.
The West End of London is the wealthier side of London and the East End was poorer and more working class. When talking about "The West End" in London it's often referring to the area with all the theatres and shows in a similar way to "Broadway" in New York.
Absolutely, my best high school friend was a big PSB fan, in many ways he was the popular extrovert (Neil) I was the shy introvert (Chris) we used to get on our bikes and ride to the airport to watch the planes. People used to say we were “being boring”. He died from leukaemia when we were 17. RIP Paul Major! ❤
By the early 1980s, the old shipping docks of east London had closed, as newer and larger vessels had to dock further east, and that was causing some social problems there. In any case, the East End had long been a working-class area, in contrast to the West End, where the fashionable girls of the song's title live.
Psb are legends. They are still doing fantastic albums. They will release an album with a lot of strings in 2024, after an amazing electronic trilogy with Stuart Price. They are the only band that keep doing excellent electro pop gems as well as ballad masterpieces. It's complicated to give one song to listen because they have done so much different songs. There are the usual hits of the 80's (like it's a sin, heart, always on my mind, some in the 90's like go west) and then the album songs, the b sides, collaborations etc. Psb made music for a musical, a ballet, many side projects. Maybe you could try the song kings cross, it's a masterpiece from their album Actually, surely the biggest album of the 80's in my opinion. You can try "The way it used to be"(2010) something only psb is able to produce.
Having my coming-out as a gay young man in Germany in 1985, THIS was the song! I miss these days so much - the best time of my life with the best music ever!
Vienna by Ultravox epitomises the early synth new wave vibe, as does Fade to Grey by Visage. And then there’s The Eurythmics, Human League, Adam and the Ants, Duran Duran….where do you stop? Great times
and all were regarded by some critics as mere 'pop' with no substance that would soon be forgotten! How wrong they were! Compared to what is being produced today, these were glory days indeed.
Written by Pet Shop Boys. They are singer Neil Tennant and keyboardist and programmer Chris Lowe. You have it in reverse: West side is the good side. East side is the bad side. Oakland, across from my hometown San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Manila fit this. Good song 👍 Suggested videos 📹: 1 Pet Shop Boys perform Suburbia. 2 Pet Shop Boys and the late Dusty Springfield sing What Have I Done to Deserve This.
I was a young man in the 80s at university. The fertile music then was risqué and amazing. Nowadays the music is all ‘safe’ no controversy, and ultimately dull!
other songs worth listening to from the pet shop boys are... "what have I done to deserve this?" and "you are always on my mind."(a cover of a Elvis Presley song )
I was working in London at the time this was made, while in my twenties ( I was a cameraman) and this song was huge because it caught the zeitgeist of the time. London was booming and super-rich. The video style was very typical of the time, style over substance often! But few songs from that era, can capture exactly how it felt to be there, at that time....
Left To My Own Devices is my favorite. Much of their stuff sounds house music-ish. Opportunities, It’s A Sin, What Have I Done to Deserve This?, and Always On My Mind were their other big hits. Heart is a song they wrote for Madonna but she said no. It does sound like something she’d sing. Domino Dancing is their take on 80s Latin dance music.
Spring of ‘86. My family and I were moving from Mobile, Alabama to Charleston. South Carolina and this song was brand-new on the radio at the time. This song, “Manic Monday” by The Bangles and “Addicted To Love” by Robert Palmer.
This was SO GOOOOOOOD, SUPER-LOUD in the NIGHT CLUBS, back in the day!! GREAT DANCE TUNE!! Beefy Base!! LOVE IT!! ❤ (Yeah, Tasha - I saw you chair-dancin'!!!) 🤍 Great Reaction!!
This song right here defined 1986 like no other song. It came out of nowhere, sounded like nothing on radio, had a haunting tune and took everyone by surprise. No one (then) knew that the meaning of the song was simply about boys and girls, with the boys going a step up in class to meet the posh girls of the West End. Perfect in every way.
Love this song! Oh to pick one fav 80's song! There are so many! INXS original , " Don't Change " " Kiss the Dirt " The Cult, " She Sells Sanctuary" NEW ORDER, " Blue Monday " " Age of consent "
@@BlueBayou75 AWESOME!!💙🌞 Thank you for your reply! 🎶🙌 New Order has so many amazing songs, as does InXs!! Hard to name a few!! I got to see INXS a lifetime ago, 2 nights in a row here in Arizona! With Michael singing! It was so amazing! I've never seen New Order, yet I love them eternally! & they are still making music! So cool!! ( my grown kids grew to love them from hearing me play their music in the car and at home!! ) Of course Blondie, Rapture, Heart of Glass..... so many awesome bands!!♥️🎶🙌💃
And 10 yrs later In 1994 GOLDIE who created time-stretching beats, one of the innovators of Drum n' Bass - with it's uniquely English BPMs released the seminal INNER CITY LIFE. The very first Drum n' Bass hit showing another side of London with the extraordinary vocals of Diane Charlemagne! This seminal track was a GAME CHANGER as was it's video depicting real London life for those living in it's projects or as we call them council estates. A MUST to react to!! The English are always using their eccentric side mixed with creative side to innovate music & inspire, as with their fashion.
These are from my home town of Newcastle in the north of England, UK. North East UK is the home of The Animals, Sting (The Police), Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music), Sam Fender, Hank Marvin & Bruce Welch (The Shadows), Prefab Sprout, and ..er..Cheryl Cole. To name but a few. Not too bad.
Remember this song being played in the clubs a lot in the 80's. Hadn't heard it in awhile. There's a lot of great music from the 80's. Some suggestions are Chaka Khan's I Feel For You and Ain't Nobody. Also Lets Groove by Earth Wind and Fire. Enjoyed the reaction! Particularly when you realized what they were saying😂
You MUST check out "Opportunities" and "Suburbia" from their first album (which had this one on it too). I also love "DJ Culture." I'm a progressive rock fan, and these guys were that level in synth-pop (along with Tears for Fears and a few others)!
This song captures a moment in time in the 80's so perfectly... it brings me back to my first trip to London, where this was playing on my Virgin Atlantic flight, all over London... where you could really FEEL this song everywhere. Every time I hear it it takes me back.
If you are doing PSB you have to do "It's a Sin" also "Being Boring". Both songs will tear me up each time even after 30-40 years. They also did a wicked version of the Broadway classic "Somewhere". Most of their music has a message, many about history as Neil got a history degree from Oxford.
Domino Dancing, It's a Sin, Heart, Rent, Opportunities, What Have I Done to Deserve This?, Being Boring, It's Alright, Can You Forgive Her?. Soo many great songs by the PSB and many have multiple remixes.
Pet Shop Boys is a great group. It ain't called the Wild West for no reason. Sun rises in the East, but it sets in west. Being Boring song. Talk Talk - Songs - Talk Talk, It's my life
"One Thing Leads to Another" is a groovy but rare 1993 track from PSB that just got rereleased last week. Other songs you should check out, "Opportunities", "Heart", "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk", "Home and Dry"
@@quincee3376 yes, from their 1993 album Relentless. It was a bonus CD packaged with limited editions of their album Very. But Relentless was just rereleased last week on vinyl LP, CD and download. CORRECTION - It is available for pre-order and will be released later this month. But I would definitely call "One Thing Leads to Another" the 90's equivalent to West End Girls.
Love this track!! Being a Londoner, I'm an East end boy! And this really reminds me of Christmas shopping in London in 1985 busy busy busy! If you look at the video, it was like that! Old Ford escort cop cars! 😂👏
No,in London anyway,the west end is glamorous and contains upper class girls. East end boys are rough and working class. The posh girls like a bit of rough now and then.
This was written with London in mind, and the West end was the classy part of town compared to the East end, which was traditionally a bit rough and edgy, partly due to the docks being there. I knew a few East end guys who had intentionally gone to clubs in the West end to pick up a more 'up market' female who was in turn looking for a 'bit of rough' to spice up her life - certainly not with marriage in mind, as east end guys hadn't gone to private schools and could never be introduced to her parents. A very different thing is our class system here. The part at the beginning about kicking in chairs and knocking down tables is typical UK city behaviour every weekend with drunken fighting in almost every large city, behaviour which would be more likely to be associated with the wilder east end boys of the song if you want to go with stereotypes.
left to my own devices. go west. where the streets have no name. it's a sin. what have i done to deserve this. opportunities. heart. so hard. always on my mind. you can start by reacting to these song. this band is very brilliant.
@@laurabrevitz3944 i love it too my friend. with the late dusty springfield may god rest her soul. they produced an album for dusty and they wrote her songs in the album.check out her songs from this album (in private, nothing has been proves).
As others have mentioned, the East end of London is the seedy side. The West end is where more well off people are. In 2004, iirc, I I had this song playing on my iPod while walking in Leicester Square at 4AM.
I agree 👍💯💯👍💯👍👍 Pet Shop Boy's also showed that you don't have to jump around,get nekked and act a damn fool in order to make great Music 🎶🎤🎶🎤🎶 All Time Classic song and legendary band
I have fond memories of cruising with my mom in her Monte Carlo and her blasting this one and Little Red Corvette by Prince when I was a little girl lol❤
I completely agree with you guys. Most of the songs of80's and 90's had a kind of message - they were at least about something. And I could identify with that. Thanks for great reaction (and dancing !!) :-) Greetinz from Poland !
Drake sang the chorus of West End Girls in the track "All the Parties" on his most recent album so it's nice to see how the PSB are still influential decades after this song has been released.
pet shop boiys from my town, Blackpool, you stil see them in the pubs and clubs around blackpool on a night out . they do perform in blackpool sometiems too.
I wish she was, she was living in a motel in America as a recluse when they wrote ‘what have I done to deserve this’ loads of female artists put themselves forward to sing the female part. They said “no it’s dusty or no one”! It was her last number one before she passed!
Did you guys notice the Desperately Seeking Susan poster with Madonna in the movie theater box office? React to their songs Suburbia, It's A Sin, You Were Always On My Mind (Willie Nelson cover) and What Have I Done To Deserve This (duet/collaboration with Dusty Springfield) please.
6:20 thats what I miss about music back then, the little stories you'd get in the song. As an example an album like "Comin out Hard" 8ball & MJG, the whole thing was a series of stories basically.
😲🧐🤔 I'm so glad you said that!!😁 I listen to 60's, and 70's rock and Soul, in different styles!! Here comes the 80's, same thing, and there are groups that I know you all haven't even heard of yet!! Then from the early 80's that's when I discovered Reggae, with all it's different styles, dancehall, cultural, Ragga, etc!! So, when you mentioned today's music, I agree, there's no meaning or substance!! I call it "Bubble Gum" music!!🤨🧐😬😩
Love Skinny Puppy, and so great to see someone discovering them for the first time! I finally got to see them live last year, and they put on a great show on top of sounding awesome and getting the crowd moving! They did this whole progression of taking off masks and layers throughout the show...at one point the singer was revealed as an "alien", and then his alien brain was removed and it spewed out flower petals. I thought it was confetti until I came home and found actual flower petals stuck in my hair. It was wild! After all the masks were removed, these guys were the most sincere and thankful to their long time fans. Amazing experience!
West End Girls (upper Class-Rich girls) East End Boys (Lower Class - Street Guys) West End Girls... Flirting with danger...
I always seen it as the opposite. The East side rich boys coming in and stealing their girls on the West side
That’s strange, the lyrics of the song says the west end is a unsavoury place to go.
(In a west end town of a dead end world)
Or maybe it’s a part of the west end that’s no good.
@@mariannesigley9086 With Biden at the helm, it is definitely a west-end town of a dead-end world.
...nope the west end of London is mega rich...you couldn't buy a 10 foot by 10 foot room for under half a million pounds....😂
@@glastonbury4304 maybe its not about just London. Listen to the lyrics, he says west end is dead end right in the song
This song sounded like nothing else when it came out. It sill has such a unique sound in many ways. It's extraordinary.
exactly
Gives me BladeRunner Vibes.
It was totally different from any other 'UK' chart music of the time. I wasn't into chart music btw.
Yes you are right gosh
Yes, it was my favorite song for most of the 80's and the instrumental version happened to be one of the greatest "cruising" songs. My friends and I would get on the highway and just drive listening to the extended instrumental version.
When this was released during my senior year in high school in 1986, I was FLOORED! Still a banger after 39 years. It will never get old. Great reaction!
1984 in Europe 👍
Class of 87 here.
Awwwwwesome song. Was introduced to it at Toronto's Twilight Zone underground club in the early/mid 80s.
The club programmed alot of cutting edge (Funk and Disco rhythmed) New Wave, Philly Disco-Soul, Funk... and the sounds we'd come to associate with Electrofunk and early (proto?) House.
Actually my (😆64 year old) brain just remembered... they played the original Bobby Orlando "uptempo" version, and then, the downtempo Shep Pettibone version that came out months later.
That song sounded sooooo
good through the Twilight Zone sound system. Epic, hypnotic, and dreamy... yet intense.👍🏾
70s/80s club days. Wow.
Where did the vibe go.
Sigh....
@@mrcosta6963 The first version came out in 1984 and was a minor club hit. The famous version in this video that was a smash hit came out in autumn 1985.
I spent time in London during the 80s. Whenever I hear this song I am transported back to that place and time in my life.
Same. Good times.
One the best U.K. bands of the last 40 years.
One of the iconic songs that epitomized the 80s. Such great times.
No bling, no b*tches, no bragging about how much they have. Just a smooth sound,
Still, the line "How much have you got...?"
Facts
Fun fact : At 4.48 the crowd in the distance are outside the south African embassy in london demonstrating for the end of apartheid and the release of nelson Mandela from prison .
They are of course from England. In the eighties we considered this, new wave music. At least my friends and I did. Tears for fears, flock of sea gulls, simple minds, Duran Duran, etc.
Definitely New Wave.
Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, Arcadia, Yazoo, The Human League, Berlin, Klaus Nomi...so many great bands and singers came out during that era..
In England/UK, New Wave started after Punk - so late 70s (Elvis Costello, The Jam, XTC). By the time this song came out new wave was long dead here. The Pet Shop Boy's are more an extension of the Synth Pop bands of the early 80s - Human League, Depeche Mode, OMD, Flock of Seagulls etc.
If you're from England,then I'm puzzled that you class PSB as "New Wave". They were electro/electronic dance,along with New Order,Human League etc. New Wave was the aftermath of punk,or the less hard-core version of it.
The U.K. had the best groups in the 80's. I have seen Depeche Mode at the Rose Bowl (Pasadena) and Dodger Stadium both sold out. Awesome Concert at Dodger Stadium also Pet Shop Boys.
He's talking about London. The West End is known to be the richer or "posh" side of town. Like most songs, it can be up to interpretation, but I always felt like it was about wanting what you don't have or can't afford (coveting, so to speak). East End boys coming from the poorer, rougher side imagining what life would be like if they just had "that" kind of money to spend. Kind of like, "What fun could be had!?" ...And, "OOOhhhhh!! Those West End Girls!!" ;)
And we all know that West End Girls love "a bit of rough". 😊
I am 53, anytime I see first reaction stuff, with music I've heard for so many years, I feel so old 😅
I feel the same way at 64! I love seeing these reactions though. It's great to see young people appreciating music that influenced millions of people. And that was before the internet and influencers and today's idiots on the www!
Why old? I would counter with the idea that you just know more.
I do like this song mostly because it brings me back walking around the mall in the 80's with my mom. Nostalgia 💯
Nostalgia is a dirty rat bastard, isn't it? Every time i hear these old 80s pop songs it reminds me of My Childhood as an 80s Kid.....Class of '75!!!
For me , it also takes me back to those years, yes : first year of high school, clever kid with good grades, but not really fitting in, finding solace in used book stores, but interesting times nonetheless😊
@@philipdavidson8420 sounds like me but my teens were in the 90s
@@klbbeeswillow Okay ! 😊
wot mall is that then? Leister Square?
That's it, try and make a grown 69-year-old Man cry. lol
I only moved 11 miles away but that was where I was born and raised for my first 29 years and that railway station(Waterloo) is where I am going tomorrow.
That Number 42 Bus travels down my old High Street(Albany Road/Camberwell Road and it was great living just 2 miles from the heart of Central London.
Chris Lowe is a synth master! He has influenced many dance music artists but isn't recognised enough for his work in my opinion. They have done underround dance music, house/rave as well as pop.
Huge hit on the 1980s dance floor! Used to go to the club and the ladies would scream out rushing to the dance floor dragging their men with them. It would be so packed with people if you weren't out there from the previous song, you'd be out of luck. Awesome beat and great memories.
I was a nightclub DJ when this record came out in the UK. For a number of months you were expected to play this tune more than once each night. It went well with Planet Earth from Duran Duran, anything from Depeche Mode, orchestral manoeuvres in the dark, Ultravox with all stood still , fade grey from visage , anything from Gary Numan tears for fears , howard Jones , Grace Jones and many others.
One of my favorite song from the 80s
When I was a freshman in a new town In 1984, I was the weird new kid from Hawaii in small town Florida. I casually mentioned loving this song somehow to this nice girl on my first day, who turned out to be the most popular girl in this new high school I was jn. I was a total fish out of water! I did not belong. One day after class, she put this 45 record on my desk as she walked out of the classroom. She said “I saw this this weekend and thought of you” and walked away because she was so cool. It changed my vibe in this new school and she made me feel welcomed. We eventually became really good friends. She died in a car accident right after we graduated. I think about her all the time. She was amazing. She’s now been gone longer than she was alive. She was amazing people. Her name is Karrie Gurney. ❤. Miss you still my friend.
That bass line is burned into memory from when I first heard the song when it came out.
The West End of London is the wealthier side of London and the East End was poorer and more working class. When talking about "The West End" in London it's often referring to the area with all the theatres and shows in a similar way to "Broadway" in New York.
Westminster Abbey, Houses of parliament. West London
This was a classic that got to No1 in the USA on the 10th may 1986❤
This song was big in the mid 80’s in high school. Class of 1987 😎
"Being Boring" is a fantastic song of theirs, worth checking out. It's all about nostalgia, hits harder as I get older.
Totally agree! It always hurts my heart and soul.
Beng Boring is a masterpiece. Deep pocket and meaning.
Absolutely, my best high school friend was a big PSB fan, in many ways he was the popular extrovert (Neil) I was the shy introvert (Chris) we used to get on our bikes and ride to the airport to watch the planes. People used to say we were “being boring”. He died from leukaemia when we were 17. RIP Paul Major! ❤
"Miracle" and "King of Rome" are very unique and wonderful PSB' songs! Please guys, check out!
By the early 1980s, the old shipping docks of east London had closed, as newer and larger vessels had to dock further east, and that was causing some social problems there. In any case, the East End had long been a working-class area, in contrast to the West End, where the fashionable girls of the song's title live.
That's what I had thought. Posh girls with working class boys. I suppose Billy Joel's Uptown Girl follows a similar theme.
Sydney is the same as London, Sydney's eastern suburbs is the rich side and the western suburbs the working class
The first 45 seconds puts you right back to the mid '80s. Great song. And, Fletch is on the movie marquee!
Other songs to check out by them include "Go West", "What Have I Done to Deserve This", and "Opportunities".
You forgot "It's a Sin"!
"What have I done to deserve this" is my favorite by them
Go West is a actually a cover song,originally a hit in 1979 for the Village People!
I also recommend It's a Sin as the next one to do.
It's a sin.
Psb are legends. They are still doing fantastic albums. They will release an album with a lot of strings in 2024, after an amazing electronic trilogy with Stuart Price. They are the only band that keep doing excellent electro pop gems as well as ballad masterpieces. It's complicated to give one song to listen because they have done so much different songs. There are the usual hits of the 80's (like it's a sin, heart, always on my mind, some in the 90's like go west) and then the album songs, the b sides, collaborations etc. Psb made music for a musical, a ballet, many side projects.
Maybe you could try the song kings cross, it's a masterpiece from their album Actually, surely the biggest album of the 80's in my opinion.
You can try "The way it used to be"(2010) something only psb is able to produce.
Yup, couldn't agree more. Thirteen studio albums and counting. Even Petheads have difficulty pinning down their top 5 PSB tracks.
@@ianwyj1 yes it's difficult to do a top 5 with all the great songs petheads love.
Having my coming-out as a gay young man in Germany in 1985, THIS was the song! I miss these days so much - the best time of my life with the best music ever!
Vienna by Ultravox epitomises the early synth new wave vibe, as does Fade to Grey by Visage. And then there’s The Eurythmics, Human League, Adam and the Ants, Duran Duran….where do you stop? Great times
and all were regarded by some critics as mere 'pop' with no substance that would soon be forgotten! How wrong they were! Compared to what is being produced today, these were glory days indeed.
Definitely look at some Ultravox, their songs are fantastic.
these are my people
Written by Pet Shop Boys. They are singer Neil Tennant and keyboardist and programmer Chris Lowe.
You have it in reverse: West side is the good side. East side is the bad side. Oakland, across from my hometown San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Manila fit this.
Good song 👍
Suggested videos 📹: 1 Pet Shop Boys perform Suburbia. 2 Pet Shop Boys and the late Dusty Springfield sing What Have I Done to Deserve This.
west side of blackpopol is BAD east side the posh side.
but this is about london this song
I was a young man in the 80s at university. The fertile music then was risqué and amazing. Nowadays the music is all ‘safe’ no controversy, and ultimately dull!
remember the fuss over Frankie Goes To Hollywood and their first hit 'Relax' and its amazing semi-pornographic video?!!
other songs worth listening to from the pet shop boys are...
"what have I done to deserve this?" and "you are always on my mind."(a cover of a Elvis Presley song )
It's a Willie Nelson song.
Elvis did it before Willie, but Brenda Lee was the first person to record it.
I was working in London at the time this was made, while in my twenties ( I was a cameraman) and this song was huge because it caught the zeitgeist of the time. London was booming and super-rich.
The video style was very typical of the time, style over substance often!
But few songs from that era, can capture exactly how it felt to be there, at that time....
Pet shop boys were ahead of their time!! 🔥🔥
Left To My Own Devices is my favorite. Much of their stuff sounds house music-ish.
Opportunities, It’s A Sin, What Have I Done to Deserve This?, and Always On My Mind were their other big hits.
Heart is a song they wrote for Madonna but she said no. It does sound like something she’d sing.
Domino Dancing is their take on 80s Latin dance music.
Brilliant
Spring of ‘86. My family and I were moving from Mobile, Alabama to Charleston. South Carolina and this song was brand-new on the radio at the time. This song, “Manic Monday” by The Bangles and “Addicted To Love” by Robert Palmer.
This was SO GOOOOOOOD, SUPER-LOUD in the NIGHT CLUBS, back in the day!! GREAT DANCE TUNE!! Beefy Base!! LOVE IT!! ❤ (Yeah, Tasha - I saw you chair-dancin'!!!) 🤍 Great Reaction!!
This song right here defined 1986 like no other song. It came out of nowhere, sounded like nothing on radio, had a haunting tune and took everyone by surprise. No one (then) knew that the meaning of the song was simply about boys and girls, with the boys going a step up in class to meet the posh girls of the West End. Perfect in every way.
Love this song! Oh to pick one fav 80's song! There are so many!
INXS original , " Don't Change "
" Kiss the Dirt "
The Cult, " She Sells Sanctuary"
NEW ORDER, " Blue Monday "
" Age of consent "
I agree with "Don't Change", "Blue Monday", and "Age of Consent
@@BlueBayou75 AWESOME!!💙🌞 Thank you for your reply! 🎶🙌
New Order has so many amazing songs, as does InXs!! Hard to name a few!! I got to see INXS a lifetime ago, 2 nights in a row here in Arizona! With Michael singing! It was so amazing!
I've never seen New Order, yet I love them eternally! & they are still making music! So cool!! ( my grown kids grew to love them from hearing me play their music in the car and at home!! )
Of course Blondie, Rapture, Heart of Glass..... so many awesome bands!!♥️🎶🙌💃
All 3 🔥
@@monicamad1285 🙌🎵🎶💃
And 10 yrs later In 1994 GOLDIE who created time-stretching beats, one of the innovators of Drum n' Bass - with it's uniquely English BPMs released the seminal INNER CITY LIFE. The very first Drum n' Bass hit showing another side of London with the extraordinary vocals of Diane Charlemagne! This seminal track was a GAME CHANGER as was it's video depicting real London life for those living in it's projects or as we call them council estates. A MUST to react to!!
The English are always using their eccentric side mixed with creative side to innovate music & inspire, as with their fashion.
These are from my home town of Newcastle in the north of England, UK. North East UK is the home of The Animals, Sting (The Police), Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music), Sam Fender, Hank Marvin & Bruce Welch (The Shadows), Prefab Sprout, and ..er..Cheryl Cole. To name but a few. Not too bad.
Neil is, Chris is from Blackpool
Remember this song being played in the clubs a lot in the 80's. Hadn't heard it in awhile. There's a lot of great music from the 80's. Some suggestions are Chaka Khan's I Feel For You and Ain't Nobody. Also Lets Groove by Earth Wind and Fire. Enjoyed the reaction! Particularly when you realized what they were saying😂
You guys might like Dream Academy, Life in a Northern Town. A pretty good forgotten one hit wonder from the same period.
Fantastic song!
Classic iconic track. So nostalgic. Melancholy.
A nostalgic song about nostalgia.
Sunchyme!
80's clubs hit this one every night
You MUST check out "Opportunities" and "Suburbia" from their first album (which had this one on it too). I also love "DJ Culture." I'm a progressive rock fan, and these guys were that level in synth-pop (along with Tears for Fears and a few others)!
PSB are disco dance electronic pop icons with a looooooong list of hits.
This song captures a moment in time in the 80's so perfectly... it brings me back to my first trip to London, where this was playing on my Virgin Atlantic flight, all over London... where you could really FEEL this song everywhere. Every time I hear it it takes me back.
I was 16 in 1986 in the UK and yes I loved West End girls.
If you are doing PSB you have to do "It's a Sin" also "Being Boring". Both songs will tear me up each time even after 30-40 years. They also did a wicked version of the Broadway classic "Somewhere". Most of their music has a message, many about history as Neil got a history degree from Oxford.
Domino Dancing, It's a Sin, Heart, Rent, Opportunities, What Have I Done to Deserve This?, Being Boring, It's Alright, Can You Forgive Her?. Soo many great songs by the PSB and many have multiple remixes.
Pet Shop Boys is a great group.
It ain't called the Wild West for no reason. Sun rises in the East, but it sets in west. Being Boring song.
Talk Talk - Songs - Talk Talk, It's my life
In London the West End is the more classy upmarket area, the East End is traditionally rougher & tougher, more working class.
Correction, they are still touring in 2023. The Pet Shop Boys are awesome.
Saw them last year with New Order and Pet Shop Boys are still fantastic!!!! I would definitely go see them again.
"One Thing Leads to Another" is a groovy but rare 1993 track from PSB that just got rereleased last week. Other songs you should check out, "Opportunities", "Heart", "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk", "Home and Dry"
1993?
@@quincee3376 yes, from their 1993 album Relentless. It was a bonus CD packaged with limited editions of their album Very. But Relentless was just rereleased last week on vinyl LP, CD and download.
CORRECTION - It is available for pre-order and will be released later this month.
But I would definitely call "One Thing Leads to Another" the 90's equivalent to West End Girls.
The 'One Thing Leads to Another' I remember was from like 1982 and by The Fixx.
@@steventownley8254 thx.
@@Mr7c2ll ah that's what i was thinking of.
I love this song, is a masterpiece ❤
This was a new sound back in the 80's... So many songs were redefining music... it was a great time to be young and experience life.
A little ABC would be cool too. When Smokey sings comes to mind.
They Done a song with Dusty Springfield 'What Have I Done to Deserve This?' which was pretty big in the mid 80s
I miss the 80's sound so much!
Hi watching from UK 🇬🇧 Pet shop boys were big in the 80s they were one of my favourite bands 👍👍👍
80s classic! ♥
Love this track!! Being a Londoner, I'm an East end boy! And this really reminds me of Christmas shopping in London in 1985 busy busy busy! If you look at the video, it was like that! Old Ford escort cop cars! 😂👏
I saw them in concert and few times and the crowd always goes nuts.
Thats still banging 35 years later!
No,in London anyway,the west end is glamorous and contains upper class girls.
East end boys are rough and working class.
The posh girls like a bit of rough now and then.
How can you not love synth pop of the 80s I hope yall do some of the smiths on your 80s stream
This was written with London in mind, and the West end was the classy part of town compared to the East end, which was traditionally a bit rough and edgy, partly due to the docks being there.
I knew a few East end guys who had intentionally gone to clubs in the West end to pick up a more 'up market' female who was in turn looking for a 'bit of rough' to spice up her life - certainly not with marriage in mind, as east end guys hadn't gone to private schools and could never be introduced to her parents.
A very different thing is our class system here.
The part at the beginning about kicking in chairs and knocking down tables is typical UK city behaviour every weekend with drunken fighting in almost every large city, behaviour which would be more likely to be associated with the wilder east end boys of the song if you want to go with stereotypes.
left to my own devices.
go west.
where the streets have no name.
it's a sin.
what have i done to deserve this.
opportunities.
heart.
so hard.
always on my mind.
you can start by reacting to these song. this band is very brilliant.
What have I
What have I
What have I done to deserve this
GREAT song.
@@laurabrevitz3944
i love it too my friend.
with the late dusty springfield may god rest her soul.
they produced an album for dusty and they wrote her songs in the album.check out her songs from this album (in private, nothing has been proves).
The 80s are not complete without Wham or Culture Club.
80s were everything one of my childhood favorites
As others have mentioned, the East end of London is the seedy side. The West end is where more well off people are.
In 2004, iirc, I I had this song playing on my iPod while walking in Leicester Square at 4AM.
Some songs are simply timeless masterpieces.
I agree 👍💯💯👍💯👍👍 Pet Shop Boy's also showed that you don't have to jump around,get nekked and act a damn fool in order to make great Music 🎶🎤🎶🎤🎶 All Time Classic song and legendary band
Mega track from Pet Shop Boys! One of my all time fave 80s tracks!
Not normally my genre of music. But for a pure Pop song - this is Number 1 in my book.
I have fond memories of cruising with my mom in her Monte Carlo and her blasting this one and Little Red Corvette by Prince when I was a little girl lol❤
East End Boys = fabulous. Georgie, Ronnie, Billy and Shane. We had FUN! But not that type as my cousin was their best mate 🤣
Their first hit, my first Maxi 12” ever
I completely agree with you guys. Most of the songs of80's and 90's had a kind of message - they were at least about something. And I could identify with that. Thanks for great reaction (and dancing !!) :-) Greetinz from Poland !
One of the biggest hits of 1986
Check out “Love comes Quickly, and Kings Cross,”
Drake sang the chorus of West End Girls in the track "All the Parties" on his most recent album so it's nice to see how the PSB are still influential decades after this song has been released.
But he had no permission to do so
...and is possibly getting sued for it. At least credit your predecessors folks if you can't be original.
A favorite 80's song : New Kids on the Block..."Please Don't Go Girl"
pet shop boiys from my town, Blackpool, you stil see them in the pubs and clubs around blackpool on a night out . they do perform in blackpool sometiems too.
“Opportunities”, “What Have I Done To Deserve This”, and “It’s A Sin” are all reaction-worthy by the Pet Shop Boys
I enjoyed your genuine reaction and perspective. This is a timeless Jam for the ages.
This was Filmed in London. 👍
Dusty Springfield of "Son of a Preacher Man" fame, is the back up singer on this entire album.
I'm afraid this statement is 100 percent inaccurate. Dusty sings with Pet Shop Boys on one song on their second album.
I wish she was, she was living in a motel in America as a recluse when they wrote ‘what have I done to deserve this’ loads of female artists put themselves forward to sing the female part. They said “no it’s dusty or no one”! It was her last number one before she passed!
Did you guys notice the Desperately Seeking Susan poster with Madonna in the movie theater box office?
React to their songs Suburbia, It's A Sin, You Were Always On My Mind (Willie Nelson cover) and What Have I Done To Deserve This (duet/collaboration with Dusty Springfield) please.
I had forgotten about this one!! Good stuff!!
Amadeus Amadeus oh oh oh Amadeus `that’s the chorus, the song is AMADEUS by FALCO
Such a big song of my childhood
6:20 thats what I miss about music back then, the little stories you'd get in the song. As an example an album like "Comin out Hard" 8ball & MJG, the whole thing was a series of stories basically.
My favorite 80's song!
One of those so 80s songs, it's so cool 😎
They have the coolest sound and Neil Tennant has one of the best pop voices there is.
Pet Shop Boys - Go West, is another amazing one, and it's a cover of a song by the Village People.
This song became great by adding the trumpet.
😲🧐🤔 I'm so glad you said that!!😁 I listen to 60's, and 70's rock and Soul, in different styles!! Here comes the 80's, same thing, and there are groups that I know you all haven't even heard of yet!! Then from the early 80's that's when I discovered Reggae, with all it's different styles, dancehall, cultural, Ragga, etc!! So, when you mentioned today's music, I agree, there's no meaning or substance!! I call it "Bubble Gum" music!!🤨🧐😬😩
Love this song, nobody sounded like these guys.
Love Skinny Puppy, and so great to see someone discovering them for the first time! I finally got to see them live last year, and they put on a great show on top of sounding awesome and getting the crowd moving! They did this whole progression of taking off masks and layers throughout the show...at one point the singer was revealed as an "alien", and then his alien brain was removed and it spewed out flower petals. I thought it was confetti until I came home and found actual flower petals stuck in my hair. It was wild! After all the masks were removed, these guys were the most sincere and thankful to their long time fans. Amazing experience!