Almost a year after the Pet Shop Boys announced their Catalogue 1985-2012 reissue series - which, over the course of 2017, saw the expansion of the remaining un-reissued albums from the duo's Parlophone years - they will restart things with new remasters of the first three entries in the series.
The band's debut album Please (1986) and follow-ups Actually (1987) and Introspective (1988) will all be remastered and reissued March 2. These 2CD sets faithfully replicate the Further Listening bonus discs that accompanied each title when they were first remastered and expanded back in 2001; all that's changed here is improved mastering, much to the delight of fans who felt the original versions wanting. The series will continue in 2018 with new remasters of the other three albums expanded in 2001: Behaviour (1990), Very (1993) and Bilingual (1996).
New vinyl editions of the original albums will also be available.
These first three albums introduced the world to the inimitable team of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, whose slinky, urbane synth-pop and disco sensibilities made them a sensation on both sides of the Atlantic. All three LPs were Top 3 albums in the U.K. and produced international hits like "West End Girls," "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)," "It's a Sin," "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" and a cover of Willie Nelson's "Always On My Mind" which became 1987's coveted Christmas No. 1 single. Among the rarities on these sets include various B-sides and remixes (including unreleased mixes of "Opportunities" and "One More Chance") plus unreleased demos of songs the duo wrote and produced for Dusty Springfield (who dueted with the group on "Deserve This") and Liza Minnelli (whose Top 10 album Results (1989) - essentially, a PSB album with Liza's distinctive vocals - was remastered and expanded this year).
The CDs and vinyl sets are in stores March 2; Amazon U.K. links are live, with other territories forthcoming. Reacquaint yourself with the track lists below!
Please/Further Listening 1984-1986 (originally released as Parlophone 7243 5 30504 2 9, 2001 - reissued Parlophone, 2018)
2CD: Amazon U.S. (TBD) / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada (TBD)
LP: Amazon U.S. (TBD) / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada (TBD)
Disc 1: Remastered original album (released as Parlophone PCS 7303 (U.K.)/EMI America PW-17193 (U.S.), 1986)
- Two Divided by Zero
- West End Girls
- Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)
- Love Comes Quickly
- Suburbia
- Opportunities (Reprise)
- Tonight is Forever
- Violence
- I Want a Lover
- Later Tonight
- Why Don't We Live Together?
Disc 2 (* exclusive to this release)
- A Man Could Get Arrested (12" B-side)
- Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) (Full-Length Original 7") *
- In the Night
- Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) (Original 12" Mix) *
- Why Don't We Live Together? (Original New York Mix) *
- West End Girls (Dance Mix)
- A Man Could Get Arrested (7" B-side)
- Love Comes Quickly (Dance Mix)
- That's My Impression (Disco Mix)
- Was That What It Was?
- Suburbia (The Full Horror)
- Jack the Lad
- Paninaro (Italian Remix)
Tracks 1 and 6 from "West End Girls" 12" single - Parlophone 12R 6115, 1985
Track 3 from "Opportunities" single - Parlophone R 6097, 1986
Track 7 from "West End Girls" single - Parlophone R 6115, 1985
Tracks 8-9 from "Love Comes Quickly" 12" single - Parlophone 12R 6116, 1986
Track 10 from "Opportunities" 12" single - Parlophone 12R 6129, 1986
Tracks 11-13 from "Suburbia" 12" single - Parlophone 12R 6140, 1986
Actually/Further Listening 1987-1988 (originally released as Parlophone 72435 30506 2 7, 2001 - reissued Parlophone, 2018)
2CD: Amazon U.S. (TBD) / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada (TBD)
LP: Amazon U.S. (TBD) / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada (TBD)
Disc 1: Remastered original album (released as Parlophone PCSD 104 (U.K.)/EMI-Manhattan ELJ-46972 (U.S.), 1987)
- One More Chance
- What Have I Done to Deserve This? (Duet with Dusty Springfield)
- Shopping
- Rent
- Hit Music
- It Couldn't Happen Here
- It's a Sin
- I Want to Wake Up
- Heart
- King's Cross
Disc 2 (* exclusive to this release)
- I Want to Wake Up (Breakdown Mix) *
- Heart (Shep Pettibone Version)
- You Know Where You Went Wrong
- One More Chance (7" Mix) *
- It's a Sin (Disco Mix)
- What Have I Done to Deserve This? (Extended Mix)
- Heart (Disco Mix)
- A New Life
- Always On My Mind (Demo) *
- Rent (7" Mix)
- I Want a Dog
- Always On My Mind (Extended Dance Mix)
- Do I Have To?
- Always On My Mind (Dub Mix)
Tracks 2 and 7 from "Heart" 12" single - Parlophone 12R 6177, 1988
Tracks 3 and 5 from "It's a Sin" 12" single - Parlophone 12R 6158, 1987
Tracks 6 and 8 from "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" 12" single - Parlophone 12R 6163, 1987
Tracks 10-11 from "Rent" single - Parlophone R 6168, 1987
Tracks 12-13 from "Always On My Mind" 12" single - Parlophone 12R 6171, 1987
Track 14 from "Always On My Mind" limited 12" single - Parlophone 12RX 6171, 1987
Introspective/Further Listening 1988-1989 (originally released as Parlophone 72435 30507 2 6, 2001 - reissued Parlophone, 2018)
2CD: Amazon U.S. (TBD) / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada (TBD)
LP: Amazon U.S. (TBD) / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada (TBD)
Disc 1: Remastered original album (released as Parlophone PCS 7325 (U.K.)/EMI-Manhattan E1-90868, 1988)
- Left to My Own Devices
- I Want a Dog
- Domino Dancing
- I'm Not Scared
- Always on My Mind/In My House
- It's Alright
Disc 2 (* exclusive to this release)
- I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too) (Full Length Version) *
- Don Juan (Demo)
- Domino Dancing (Demo)
- Domino Dancing (Alternative Version)
- The Sound of the Atom Splitting
- What Keeps Mankind Alive?
- Don Juan (Disco Mix)
- Losing My Mind (Disco Mix)
- Nothing Has Been Proved (Demo for Dusty) *
- So Sorry, I Said (Demo for Liza) *
- Left to My Own Devices (7" Mix)
- It's Alright (10" Version)
- One of the Crowd
- It's Alright (7" Version)
- Your Funny Uncle
Original version of Track 1 from "Heart" single - Parlophone R 6177, 1988
Tracks 2-3 from "Domino Dancing" limited 12" single - Parlophone 12RX 6190, 1988
Tracks 4 and 7 from "Domino Dancing" 12" single - Parlophone 12R 6190, 1988
Tracks 5 and 11 from "Left to My Own Devices" single - Parlophone R 6198, 1988
Track 6 from "Can You Forgive Her?" CD single - Parlophone CDRS 6348, 1993
Track 8 from "Jealousy" 12" single - Parlophone 12R 6283, 1991
Track 12 from "It's Alright" 10" single - Parlophone 10R 6220, 1989
Tracks 13-15 from "It's Alright" single - Parlophone R 6220, 1989
BillyD says
Neil Tennant posted that these are exactly the same as the originals except for being a little louder so you don't have to buy the new ones.
I'm on the fence with this. Of course I must have them all, but really don't see the point. I didn't even buy the current reissues. Too many other reissues not in my collection and I'm rapidly running out of cd space.
Maybe I'll get the lp versions...