Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls (Please, 1986)

May 10, 1960: Paul Hewson was born in Dublin. He shortened his nickname from Bono Vox - Latin for "good voice" - to simply Bono and fronted the band U2. Bono was born of a Roman Catholic father and a Protestant mother. In 1977, he and school friends David Evans (later “the Edge”), Larry Mullen, Jr., and Adam Clayton formed a band that would become U2. Bono (sign up to follow by email) They shared a commitment not only to ambitious rock music but also to a deeply spiritual Christianity. Throughout U2’s career, religiosity has infused the group’s songwriting and performance. Read more: Britannica May 10, 1969: The Ventures make it to Number 4 with the Hawaii Five-O television series theme song. The ‘Original Hawaii Five-O’ soundtrack album released in 1969 was not a Ventures’ project. Mort Stevens, the writer of the Hawaii Five-O theme, knew the drummer Mel Taylor and they worked on a soundtrack album. Jack Lord Mel was the producer and Mort was the composer, arranger and conductor. The album contained not only the title theme but 11 other tracks that were ‘source music’, including one titled ‘Up Tight’, on which Mel, Bob Bogle and Gerry McGee were featured. There is some indication that Gerry played on one or more other tracks, but nobody seems to know for sure. Read more: The Ventures May 10, 1975: "Long Tall Glasses (I Can Dance)" by Leo Sayer topper out at 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Long Tall Glasses (I Can Dance)" is a 1974 song by Leo Sayer, co-written with David Courtney. It was released in the United Kingdom in late 1974, becoming Sayer's third hit record on both the British and Irish singles charts and reaching number four in both nations. It was included on Sayer's album Just a Boy. Read more: Wikipedia May 10, 1986: "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys hit Number 1 on the Hot 100 five months after going to Number 1 in their native UK. Its dark mood and synth-pop sound will forever make it one of the most memorable songs of the 1980s, and instantly catapulted the Pet Shop Boys into the limelight. Pet Shop Boys Neil Tennant started to write the song while staying at his cousin's house in Nottingham and watching a gangster film starring James Cagney. Just when he was about to head 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 TS Eliot's poem 'The Waste Land', particularly its different narrative voices and mysterious references. Read more: Smooth Radio May 10, 1997: "I Want You" by Australian pop duo Savage Garden peaked at Number 4 on the US music chart. In 1984, the UK pop group Wham! featured its two well-kempt members on the cover of "Make it Big," the album that spawned "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and a slew of other hits to guarantee interest in the duo's continuances for years to come. George Michael, unarguably more popular, stared away from the camera, while partner in suave Andrew Ridgeley looked straight at it. Savage Garden Just 13 years later, Savage Garden put out its eponymous debut disc, and nearly the same pose was postured by Australians Daniel Johns and Darren Hayes, the latter eyeing the universe while the former eyed any eye to grace the black and white cover. Hayes, of course, was Savage Garden's George Michael; he was the accented lead vocalist to be remembered by face and voice as the band's heartthrob even after its demise. Read more: Pop Rock Bands Sunday Bloody Sunday U2

For a certain cohort among our readership, the next sentence will undoubtedly cause a collective sigh, groan, gasp, wince… what have you: It was thirty years ago this month that the Pet Shop Boys single “West End Girls” became #1 on the UK music charts and soon thereafter in America too. That information came to me via the Pet Shop Boys’ Twitter feed this morning and boy did it make me feel old. For whatever dumb reason, I can actually recall exactly where I was when I first heard the tune myself. And then I realized that this “certain cohort” (i.e. people my age) are dwarfed in size, by quite a hefty margin, of our “millennial” readers who would most likely know the song, first and foremost, by its inclusion on the Grand Theft Auto V soundtrack in 2013. It’s all relative how we got here, but most people can probably agree that it’s a great song, no matter the decade. I was fortunate enough to see the Pet Shop Boys, in their prime, on their world tour of 1991 during a two-night, sold-out stand at Radio City Music Hall. It was an amazing spectacle, very much...

For nearly 40 years, the duo have served up social commentary and infectious electro-pop. As they release their 14th album, they remain a unique musical force, writes Nick Levine.