Wonderful words by Balearic Mike.

“Oh Mike, will you stop ‘wanging on’ about Pet Shop Boys?”

“No, No I will not stop ‘wanging on’…”

At the end of 1987 it’s fair to say that Pet Shop Boys were entering the height of their “Imperial” phase. They’d just had a Christmas #1 in the UK, with their fabulous cover version of the Willie Nelson / Elvis Presley classic, Always On My Mind. Rounding off a sensational run of hit singles, which included their second and third #1’s, and on their way to a fourth in early 1988. Neil Tennant certainly agreed: “I think this is our imperial album. The one where we felt, making it, that we understood the essence of pop music, and so we felt we could do what we liked… and this was what we wanted to do.”

What Neil and Chris Lowe wanted to do was turn their usual writing process on its head. Having become very disciplined at writing 4-minute pop songs, which they would then expand and remix to make into 12” versions, on this album they would reverse engineer the songs. Starting with an 8-minute-plus track, they would then edit down for a radio mix. They also wanted every track on the album to be a single, which they almost / sort of, managed, ish. The end result has more in common with their superb Disco mini-LP than a regular pop album. I don’t think this is a bad thing, but it is very daring. When I think of 6-track albums, I think of more experimental records, like Talk Talk’s Spirit Of Eden, which coincidently was released the previous month.

This change in their musical creative process was also accompanied by a change in graphic design. Gone was the classy, minimalism of their previous ‘white’ album sleeves, and instead a bright, colourful, and completely abstract design by Mark Farrow was used for the album cover. For the first time there wasn’t an image of the duo on the cover. This decision seemed the perfect choice for the fallout from 1988’s second summer of love. The title, Introspective, was chosen, partly because they both agreed that the songs were quite introspective, but also because they thought it sounded “a bit ravey.” Introspective, to me, is Pet Shop Boys’ acid house album, and it’s superb from start to finish.

The album opens with Left To My Own Devices, which is sometimes referred to as their “Bohemian Rhapsody” moment, but it’s far better than that slice of pompous tosh. Here they worked with super producer Trevor Horn, to create a symphonic disco epic. I prefer the 12” ‘Disco Mix” rather than the album version, but both are incredible. Beginning with a full orchestra, it gives the album the perfect dramatic opening. 

The next track, I Want A Dog, had been released as the b-side to the single, Rent, but for the LP, Neil and Chris asked Chicago house godfather Frankie Knuckles to remix it. The results are a stunning, deep, sexy, sophisticated house version. Frankie actually produced 4 mixes, and so there are 3 unreleased Frankie Knuckles remixes of I Want A Dog that I demand are released this instant!

Domino Dancing was the first single taken from the album, and for me this one of their most Balearic tracks. It’s a freestyle, electro-disco, meets Spanish guitars classic. The video for this song is also very Balearic, but sounded the death knell for their mainstream chart success in America as it was deemed a bit ‘homo-erotic’. 

I’m Not Scared was originally written for and released by Patsy Kensit and her group Eighth Wonder. This is also massively Balearic – championed, and comped, by DJ Harvey no less. Although Chris and Neil produced both versions, and both are very similar musically, the PSB version isn’t quite as good as Patsy’s. There’s something about her vocal that just gives the song something extra. Incredible. 

Next up is that Christmas #1, but remixed into Always On My Mind / In My House, which, as suggested by the title, morphs into a killer, just under 10-minute, deep house groove. 

The album closes with a controversial, yet wonderful cover of Sterling Void’s 1987 Marshall Jefferson-produced house anthem, It’s Alright. PSB’s version is pretty faithful in to the original, although they do add a beautiful gospel-tinged vocal intro. Neil also, very subtly, alters the lyrics, adding an extra verse. “I know it’s gonna be aright”, is switched to “I hope it’s gonna be alright”, changing the mood of the song from outright optimism, to one of doubt and uncertainty. That’s a very Pet Shop Boys thing to do.

I originally bought the standard UK album, but a few years later picked up the incredible 3×12” version, which was released the following year. I got my copy in 1991. My girlfriend at the time had a part time job in the local shopping centre, and occasionally worked on the record counter – everywhere sold records back then – and she discovered this, just sat on the shelf, unsold, almost 2 years later. Using her staff discount she procured it for me. It’s a gorgeous thing, and they repeat a lovely detail that they first used on the 12”s of West End Girls and Love Comes Quickly, in copying the large centre labels of the seminal Italo-Disco records released by Fuzz Dance and Alexander Robotnik. It’s a lovely design touch. As Chris Lowe famously once said, “If something looks good, it probably is!”

P.S. It’s also worth picking up the “Introspective: Further Listening” CD, which has loads of great extra stuff on it.

To parp my own trumpet just a little bit, I’ve written an article called “The Disco Mix” for the latest issue of Disco Pogo magazine, which details my top 20 Pet Shop Boys dancefloor moments.

For more from Balearic Mike you can find him on both Facebook and Instagram – @balearicmike. 

Mike has a Mixcloud page packed with magnificent, magical, music, and you can catch him live on 1BTN, from 12 noon until 2 (UK time) every 1st and 3rd Friday.

You can also check out the super silk screen prints of “Balearic Wife” over at @jo_lambert_print