#1031

It does.

Great artists but, hey, what can you say…

#1032

The Troggs

1 Like
#1033

I know you’re being facetious but my favourite number 39 is I’m Waking Up To Us by Belle & Sebastian

The two b-sides, I Love My Car and Marx and Engels, are both amazing.

4 Likes
#1034

So, It’s a Sin is officially the board’s favourite PSB number 1 according to that poll up there, followed by Always On My Mind, then West End Girls.

Fuck democracy though, it should be Always On My Mind.

1 Like
#1035

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1 Like
#1036

Did Rollin’ place?

1 Like
#1037

Yes, number 92

1 Like
#1038

Any and every time the Pet Shop Boys were on Top of the Pops my Mum used to say “oh look, it’s The Boring Boys”.

I think it’s possible she was a better music critic than those employed by The Guardian. Such a bland song to pick as the greatest No.1 of all time.

7 Likes
#1039

Good find. I could think of a 40 (Mantronix - Who Is It) and a 38 (Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way) but was struggling with a 39

1 Like
#1040

My dad’s from the north east, and I remember him telling me that West End Girls is actually about Newcastle, as all the posh people live in the west end and the east of the city is the grubbier bit. He’s wrong of course, it’s clearly about London, but at the same time, he’s kind of right. The prevailing wind in the UK is a westerly, meaning generally in the industrial revolution all the pollution would be blown over to the east of uk cities. So that’s why in the UK- and across much of Europe- the eastern bits of cities tend to be less affluent than the western bits. Thus giving West End Girls a universality it never knew it had. Or maybe the Pet Shop Boys did know, they’re a couple of boffins aren’t they.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk etc

13 Likes
#1041

Easier to read now it’s on the site.

4 Likes
#1042

“It’s about sex and escape. It’s paranoid.”

#1043

It’s about pollution, mate. I saw a whole TED Talk about it.

12 Likes
#1044

such a good list, fair dos

1 Like
#1045

I’m always pleasantly surprised at the retrospective praise that Pet Shop Boys seem to get in the media. Their popularity, both now and in their imperial 80s phase, never seems to marry up with the perception of them I have had for years.
I really liked them as a young teenager and I recall been slightly frustrated at middle school, when ‘Heart’ was the number one single at the time, and it seemed to me that absolutely nobody else liked them. I’ve always felt this; I remember been sat in a local working men’s club in 1993 and the video for ‘Go West’ came on the tv. Looking at the faces of a different generation watching this, it was a mixture of sheer horror and comedy! I actually remember my parents been genuinely worried about me when I was thrilled watching them perform ‘Rent’ on the London Palladium thing hosted by Jimmy Tarbuck, Chris dressed in this ridiculous outfit and a painted scare on his face, as they refused to bow to the Royal Box after the performance.
Somebody once described them as a mainstream cult band, and I think that sums them up nicely.

3 Likes
#1046

The Guardian is a bit of a mainstream cult newspaper, so it all makes sense really.

2 Likes
#1047

Jeez did Beetlebum really not show up at all?? Baffling.

4 Likes
#1048

Biggest omissions for me were:

Soul II Soul - Back To Life
M/A/R/R/S - Pump Up The Volume
Smokey Robinson - Tears Of A Clown

6 Likes
#1049

Can’t believe they left out Dusty. I’d definitely have had Three Lions in there, probably Brimful of Asha too.

Plus the winning band has two other number ones better than the one they chose, but other than that, good list.

#1050

White Town is crying somewhere in his bedroom.

1 Like