Post-modern ironists cloaked behind a veil of buoyantly melodic and lushly romantic synth pop confections, Pet Shop Boys offer wry yet strangely affecting cultural commentary communicated by the Morse code of synth washes and drum machine rhythms. After first emerging in the mid-'80s with "West End Girls" and "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)," Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe quickly established themselves as hitmaking singles artists who were also able to craft emotionally resonant albums, like 1988's Introspective and 1990's Behaviour. The duo navigated the constantly shifting landscape of modern dance-pop with grace and intelligence, moving easily from disco to house music to thoughtful synth pop without losing their distinctive style in the process. Continuing to evolve artistically, Pet Shop Boys incorporated Latin music on 1996's Bilingual, expanded into theater and ballet, and morphed into elder statesmen of electronic pop, still able to release interesting albums after more than 30 years, as evidenced by highlights like 2016's Super and 2020's Hotspot.
Pet Shop Boys formed in London in August 1981, when vocalist Tennant (a former editor at Marvel Comics who later gained recognition as a journalist for Smash Hits magazine) first met keyboardist Lowe (a onetime architecture student) at an electronics shop. Discovering a shared passion for dance music and synthesizers, they immediately decided to start a band. After dubbing themselves Pet Shop Boys in honor of friends who worked in such an establishment -- while also obliquely nodding to the sort of names prevalent among the New York City hip-hop culture of the early '80s -- the duo's career first took flight in 1983, when Tennant met producer Bobby "O" Orlando while on a writing assignment. Orlando produced their first single, 1984's "West End Girls." The song was a minor hit in the U.S. but went nowhere in Britain, and its follow-up, "One More Chance," was also unsuccessful.
Upon signing to EMI, Pet Shop Boys issued 1985's biting "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)." When it too failed to attract attention, the duo's future appeared grim, but Tennant and Lowe then released an evocative new Stephen Hague production of "West End Girls," which became an international chart-topper. Its massive success propelled Pet Shop Boys' 1986 debut LP, Please, into the Top Ten, and when "Opportunities" was subsequently reissued, it too became a hit. Disco, a collection of dance remixes, was quickly rushed into stores, and in 1987 the duo resurfaced with the superb Actually, which launched two more Top Ten smashes -- "It's a Sin" and "What Have I Done to Deserve This?," a duet between Tennant and the great Dusty Springfield. Later that year, "Always on My Mind," a lovely cover of the perennial Elvis Presley standard, reached number one in several countries and the Top Ten in the U.S. A documentary film titled It Couldn't Happen Here was released one year later.
In October 1988, Pet Shop Boys issued their third studio LP, the eclectic Introspective. "Domino Dancing" and "Left to My Own Devices" both reached the Top Ten in Great Britain. The following year, Pet Shop Boys collaborated with a variety of performers, most notably Liza Minnelli, for whom they produced the 1989 LP Results. They also produced material for Springfield, and Tennant joined New Order frontman Bernard Sumner and ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr in the group Electronic, scoring a hit with the single "Getting Away with It." Tennant and Lowe reconvened in 1990 for the muted, downcast Behavior, produced by Harold Faltermeyer. Their hit medley of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" and Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" was released in 1991, and was followed in 1993 by Very, lauded as one of the duo's finest efforts.
After a three-year absence, Pet Shop Boys resurfaced with Bilingual, a fluid expansion into Latin rhythms. Nightlife followed in 1999 and sparked the dance club hit "New York City Boy," whose success allowed the group to tour the U.S. for the first time in eight years. While on tour, the pair also collaborated with playwright Jonathan Harvey on a musical surrounding gay life and societal criticisms, which the three had been planning since 1997. Closer to Heaven made its West End debut in 2001 and had a successful run for most of the year; Pet Shop Boys' score of the original cast recording was also a hit in the U.K. They still had time to make a record for themselves, too: In April 2002, Tennant and Lowe issued Release and Disco 3 was compiled for release the following year.
Pet Shop Boys continued releasing material throughout the decade's latter half. In 2005, they put together a volume of the Back to Mine series and released their music designed to accompany the 1925 silent film Battleship Potemkin, a soundtrack they'd performed a year earlier at a free concert/screening in Trafalgar Square. A year later, they issued Fundamental, a mature, sometimes political album produced by Trevor Horn. The live album Concrete: In Concert at the Mermaid Theatre appeared at the end of the year, and Yes -- a collaborative effort with the production crew Xenomania -- marked the band's tenth studio effort in March 2009. While playing shows in support of that album, Pet Shop Boys also released a hits compilation, Party, to coincide with the Brazilian leg of their tour. In 2010, the tour was documented on the CD/DVD release Pandemonium, and another greatest-hits compilation, Ultimate, arrived.
Their 2011 effort, The Most Incredible Thing, was a two-disc ballet score composed for the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London, while 2012's Format rounded up the duo's B-sides and bonus tracks from the years 1996-2009. Also in 2012, Pet Shop Boys released the sports-themed single "Winner" and performed the track at the 2012 Olympics Summer Games, held that year in their hometown of London. The track landed on that year's album Elysium, which was produced by Kanye West affiliate Andrew Dawson. Stuart Price (Madonna, Seal, Kylie Minogue) was the producer of 2013's Electric, an album that featured no ballads, just dance tracks.
In May 2014, the duo announced more original music, this time with a concert piece scheduled for a July date at Royal Albert Hall commemorating British code breaker Alan Turing and including the BBC Concert Orchestra. Price returned as producer of 2016's Super, the second album in a row where Pet Shop Boys were "electronic purists," meaning no guitars, no orchestral support, and no organic instruments. The following year saw the band issue the Undertow EP, which featured two remixes of Super's "Undertow," a remix of "Burn," and a new version of "Left to My Own Devices," produced by Stuart Price. They were also awarded the Godlike Genius Award by NME.
The duo issued the Agenda EP in early 2019, and the live album CD/DVD/Blu-ray release Inner Sanctum appeared in April; it was recorded during Pet Shop Boys' four-day residency in July 2018 at the Royal Opera House in London. Later in the year, they started issuing songs from their next long-player, including "Dreamland," a collaboration with Years & Years, and "Burning the Heather," which featured Suede's Bernard Butler on guitar. The album, titled Hotspot, arrived in January 2020 and was their third LP to be produced by Price. Discovery (Live in Rio), a concert originally issued on video in 1995, was issued on DVD and CD for the first time in 2021. The duo also released a nearly ten-minute classical-inspired single titled "Cricket Wife."
In May 2022 Pet Shop and British pop duo Soft Cell released the album *Happiness Not Included - Soft Cell first studio album in nearly two decades. The colab included the song “Purple Zone”, blending the best of both Soft Cell and Pet Shop Boys, layering a dazzling synth riff and dance floor-ready beat with anthemic vocals. Appropriately for the pandemics, the track laments feeling stuck in the monotony of everyday mundanities: “Let’s get out of this life/ I’m afraid and alone,” goes the chorus. Paralyzed in the purple zone.”
Their much-anticipated “Unity Tour” of North America alongside New Order, rescheduled twice following pandemics delays, kicked off in Fall 2022 and included several venues in Canada and the United States, featuring Paul Oakenfold as special guest DJ.
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Radiophonic
Pet Shop Boys Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In the air
The night was long
Now the crowd has gone
There's sunlight on my bed
Feels like a radiophonic
Workshop's
It could make you weep
I can't get to sleep
There's ringing in my ears
Like a radiophonic workshop
Orchestrating all my
Stupid fears
[Chorus]
Radiophonic
I think I'm in love
Radiophonic
I think I'm in love
My skin is itching
I'm totally twitching
With the pounding in my head
Like a dub sub-sonic beat-box
Booming bass under the bed
My hands are shaking
My mind is aching
With a feeling deep inside
That you've been staring
Sending signals
Every time our paths collide
[Chorus]
Think I'm in love
[Chorus]
In the air
In the air
The lyrics to Pet Shop Boys' song Radiophonic describe the aftermath of a night out, where the singer is lying in bed and feeling the lingering effects of the music they had been listening to earlier. They describe the sensation as feeling like a "radiophonic workshop," a reference to the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, a sound effects and music production unit that was active from the 1950s to the 1990s. The "beaming straight into my head" line suggests that the music is still playing in their mind, and the ringing in their ears hints at possible hearing damage from the loud noise.
As the song progresses, the singer starts to feel like they are falling in love with the music, as if it were a person. They describe feeling signals and connections every time their paths collide, perhaps referencing the way music can feel like a form of communication, or how we can feel connected to others through shared musical tastes. The repetitive "Radiophonic, I think I'm in love" chorus reinforces this idea, as if the singer is trying to convince themselves of their feelings.
Overall, Radiophonic is a tribute to the power of music to move and affect us, long after the songs have ended. The use of references to the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and sub-sonic beat-boxes gives the song a nostalgic, retro feel, while the lyrics capture the universal experience of being swept away by music.
Line by Line Meaning
In the air
The feeling of unease or anticipation is prevalent.
In the air
The feeling continues.
The night was long
The past was difficult and there are still repercussions.
Now the crowd has gone
The presence of other people held off emotions temporarily, but now they are surfacing.
There's sunlight on my bed
A new day is dawning, but that doesn't necessarily mean everything is okay now.
Feels like a radiophonic Workshop's
Beaming straight into my head
The onslaught of sound and emotion is overwhelming.
It could make you weep
The intensity of the feelings is almost too much to bear.
I can't get to sleep
The mind is racing and sleep is elusive.
There's ringing in my ears
The remnants of the overwhelming emotions linger even after the stimuli have lessened.
Like a radiophonic workshop
Orchestrating all my
Stupid fears
The anxiety and fear is relentless and inescapable.
Radiophonic
I think I'm in love
This intense experience is addictive and even when it's painful it's hard to let go.
My skin is itching
I'm totally twitching
With the pounding in my head
The physical symptoms of anxiety are hard to ignore.
Like a dub sub-sonic beat-box
Booming bass under the bed
The physical symptoms persist and may be impacting the environment around them as well.
My hands are shaking
My mind is aching
With a feeling deep inside
The intensity of the emotions is impacting physical and mental wellbeing.
That you've been staring
Sending signals
Every time our paths collide
The person they're fixated on may be the source of the extreme emotions, whether positive or negative.
Radiophonic
I think I'm in love
The addictive quality of the intense emotions persists.
Radiophonic
I think I'm in love
They're aware the intensity of their emotional reaction might not be healthy, but they can't help but be caught up in it.
In the air
The song ends with the same feeling of unease or anticipation as it began.
In the air
The feeling continues even after everything else fades away.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: CHRISTOPHER LOWE, NEIL TENNANT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind