Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls

Neil Tennent, an editor of the British pop magazine Smash Hits, and Chris Lowe, an architecture student, met at an electronics shop in London in August 1981, they became friends, and started to write and record songs together.

In 1983, Tennant met producer Bobby Orlando, while on an assignment in New York interviewing Sting for Smash Hits. After listening to some demos, Orlando offered to produce for the duo.

In 1984, the duo recorded three songs with Orlando, at Unique Studios in New York, 'West End Girls', 'Opportunites (Let's Make Lots Of Money)', and 'One More Chance'. Orlando played most of the instruments in the song, including the jazz riff at the end. Lowe played one chord and the bassline. It included a drum part lifted from Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean', and an arrangement involving what Tennant called "Barry White' chords". Orlando was thrilled by the song's production; his idea was to make a rap record in a British accent.

In April 1984, 'West End Girls' was released, becoming a club hit in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and a minor dance hit in Belgium, and France, but was only available in the United Kingdom as a 12 inch import.

In March 1985, after long negotiations, Pet Shop Boys cut their contractual ties with Orlando, and hired manager Tom Watkins, who signed them with EMI. They re-recorded 'West End Girls' with producer Stephen Hague, and re-released the song in late 1985, topping the charts in both the UK and the U.S.

Tennant started to write the song when he was staying at his cousin's house in Nottingham while watching a gangster film. Just when he was going to sleep, he came up with the lines: "Sometimes you're better off dead, there's a gun in your hand and it's pointing at your head".

The lyrics were inspired by T.S. Elliot's poem The Waste Land, particularly in the use of different narrative voices and arcane references

The video was directed by Andy Morahan and Eric Watson, and consists of shots of the duo around London. The video was nominated for Best New Artist in a Video at the 1986MTV Video Music Awards, but lost to A-Ha's 'Take On Me:.

Click the link below to download the following:
Video
Original 7 inch Version
10 inch Version
Acid House Mix
Nouvelle Version Remix 1986 - Single Version
Remix 1986
Shep Pettibone Mastermix
Dub Version
James Brown Mix
West End Dub
Montreal 12 inch Mix
Remix 2005
Montreal Dub
It Couldn't Happen Here Movie Mix
Bobby O Extended Version
Disconect Edit
Extended Club Mix
Original Mix
Sasha Remix
Snatch Mix
StreetLab Remix
House Mix

Pet Shop Boys - Extended Version - 1984 Edition B-Side
Pet Shop Boys - Single Version - 1984 Edition B-Side
A Man Could Get Arrested - Single Version - 1985 Edition B-Side
A Man Could Get Arrested - Alternate Version - 1985 Edition B-Side
Sunglasses - B-Side To Sunglasses Remix Edition
One More Chance (Dub Mix) - 2nd B-Side on Sunglasses Remix Edition

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=2ccb7d0cd98a6267aaca48175a79d1c32d31431bafab49f85621d66e282a0ee8

Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls - Video