Hello PopLifer readers. For those of you who actually want to read us banging on about the Pet Shop Boys again – apologies, we are taking a short break in our rundown of their 10 best ever. Probably a day or two. Writing about 14 Pet Shop Boys songs at length has sent us into such a spiral of over-excitement that on doctor’s orders we are taking a break. We are on a strict musical diet of Travis and kd lang until our blood pressure drops to a safe level again. In the meantime, if you want to have your say on what should be in the final three then comment or email us at popliferblog@gmail.com and if you say something lovely or clever we will include it.

It’s not all hi-nrg pop and gay icons at PopLifer, you know. While Neil has been working out new ways to say “lovely tune” in the Pet Shop Boys rundown and thinking about Gore Vidal, Chris  has been an embedded reporter prowling the Olympic Village and playing his major role in the “greatest show on earth” (or as major a role as you can from the cheapest of the cheap seats). Here are five things about the Olympic experience which you can’t pick up from watching on TV.

The velodrome (left) amid the drizzle and the brollies, the stoicism and an army of recycling bins.

1. ‘Look at the size of that thing’ comments Luke Skywalker as a band of renegade rebels approach the Death Star. Similar jaw dropping awe is stirred as you are first guided into the Olympic Park in East London, though there are marginally fewer people in uniform awaiting you. A sweeping velodrome, dramatic half-pipe aquatics centre and a giant, looming main stadium are the three totems of a park dotted with temporary venues and littered with the usual paraphernalia you can expect from hundreds of thousands of people gathering to enjoy themselves – overpriced food stalls, bad coffee and warm lager.  This half of PopLifer used to reside a mere Mo Farrow 5000 metres from the Park and the transformation from desolate Warriors-style urban wasteland is enormous, complete and extraordinary.

2. The Olympics is like a sporting e of fuzzy warmth. You constantly chat to people about other events they may have seen, where they are going and trade tales of toilet lines – often while in toilet lines. Not unlike Glastonbury I suspect, except London is the playground rather than a field in Wiltshire and you are more likely to be talking to someone who reads the Daily Mail rather than Spiritualized liner notes. Great social divides are genuinely crossed.

3. Athletes are in good nick. No revelation perhaps  but I’m not talking about the athletes you see from the gods but the ones you bump into in and around the park taking in the atmosphere either side of competing. There are lots of people in tracksuits walking around with accreditation but you can tell which is an athlete because he or she is supremely primed, their skin alone emitting a smug superiority. With not a single blemish or suggestion of a late night, they pad about smiling generously at us odd workers who’ve escaped from the anthill with our pasty faces and awkwardly fitting tee-shirts. In each caught eye you can see that, in this moment and in this place, their decision to forego fun, friendships and normality is fully justified. Continue reading →

Oh, you know the drill by now. We’re writing about the 10 best Pet Shop Boys songs of all time (our A sides) and the next 10 best (our B sides). It’s all in honour of their current single “Winner” which – ironically – isn’t really a winner at all. But these songs really are… For introduction and general love letter to the band click here.

A Side – What Have I Done To Deserve This?

We’ve referred before to the vicious battles that have gone on at PopLifer over this top ten, but here’s one that we were in complete agreement on: “What Have I Done To Deserve This?” is an absolute PSB masterpiece. It’s odd to think about this 25 years later, but in 1987 there was every reason to suspect the PSBs might turn out be a flash in the pan. Their debut, “Please”, had been a patchy affair, and although they had a very distinctive take on electropop, it was easy to imagine the zeitgeist moving on with a small shrug. But then came “What Have I Done To Deserve This?”, in which the band revealed and fulfilled their ambitions for true pop greatness. The jabbing synth hook and deadpan Tennant vocal  would have been more than enough to make it a great song, but it was enlisting Dusty Springfield which proved the stroke of genius. They resurrected the 60s legend’s career and she rewarded them with a primal scream of monumental proportions, topping off a a perfect, spiky duet charting an unhealthy relationship dynamic. Key lyric: “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

B Side – It’s A Sin Continue reading →