West End Girls

	Chart positions ; Explanation of the data
	Singles
	West End Girls

West End Girls is a 1984 song written by the band Pet Shop Boys . It appeared on the album Please .

history

Recording and production

In 1981, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe met in an electronics store and formed the band called Pet Shop Boys . Two years later they met producer Bobby Orlando in New York , who produced some recordings of the album Please with them. After a lawsuit, the band turned to producer Stephen Hague of the Parlophone record label .

The song "West End Girls" was recorded in 1984 with Bobby Orlando at Unique Studios in New York and first released on April 9, 1984. It reached number 3 in Belgium . Only after the re-release of the new recording with Stephen Hague on October 28, 1985, the title became a world success. It reached number one in the United States , Great Britain , New Zealand , Canada and Norway .

A new recording of the song ( New Lockdown Version ) was released on June 1, 2020.

Music and lyrics

The song corresponds to the genre synth-pop , but with hip-hop influences. In terms of the melody, the band was based on the Grandmaster Flash classic Grandmaster Flash . The song was played with an E-mu emulator . The backing vocals were sung by Helena Springs.

During a stay in Nottingham , Tennant wrote the rough version of the song, a crime film served as inspiration. This signs the beginning: "Sometimes you're better off dead, There's gun in your hand and it's pointing at your head" (German: Sometimes you're better off dead, you hold your pistol in your hand and it points at your head ). Tennant wrote the rest of the text together with Lowe based on the poem Das Wüsten Land by TS Eliot . The song is about young women from the West End of London , on men from that of proletarians occupied East End hit. Of course, he refers to the past and focuses on class differences and inner-city pressure.

reception

In general, the song received very good reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic wrote a review on the album "Please" and described the song as hypnotic. Rob Hoerburger from Rolling Stone rated the hit as catchy and the synthesizer riffs as laughable.

A Swedish girl group - cover band of the Pet Shop Boys is named after the song " West End Girls ".

In American Dad's episode "Friendship Connects" Steve plays part of the song.

Music video

The music video directed by Eric Watson was shot in London . It consists of many scenes cut together: in one you see the subway, in the other a double-decker bus and also the Tower Bridge . In the action, the Pet Shop Boys perform the song in London.