Thanks to Chart Rigger for pointing out it has been 15 years since one of the greatest CD's ever came out. OK, I might be a bit biased, I do happen to love pretty much everything Pet Shop Boys. I remember the first time I heard/saw the video to West End Girls. I am sure I was still in diapers, after all that came out in 1984. Sue me, I was in high school at least. But what surprises me, I had very little clue at the time that I was gay, but I immediately fell in love with PSB.
Click Continue Reading to read more about my PSB love affair with Very
It wasn't until much later, after I finally came out of that dreaded closet, that I learned that the lead singer, Neil Tennant, is gay. There have been lots of rumors about the other band member, Chris Lowe, but he has kept his sexuality private.
So fast forward to 1991. 4 days before my 23rd birthday in 1991, my mother finally passed away from cancer after battling with it for almost 4 years. Shortly before she passed, I was coming to terms with my own sexuality, but it wouldn't be until after her death that I would finally break down the closet doors. That December, I met my first "real" boyfriend. I only say "real" because I had dated a few guys before that, but nothing that lasted more than a few months and definitely nothing serious. So 1991, was a very huge year for me in learning and discovering who I was. And finally starting to realize the potential future that laid before me.
I will admit after West End Girls, I kinda lost track of PSB. There wasn't much airplay for them in my conservative neck-of-the-woods. So in 1991, Discography came out. The CD mainly consisted of singles from their previous CD's, but it also included a few new ones. This is when I became a crazy fanatic of Pet Shop Boys. I was now going to the gay bar in Champaign (an hour from where I was living at the time) just to dance every weekend. There were a few of the singles from Discography that were played. My favorite at the time (and the video was played pretty much every night) was Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You). But after listening to that CD repeatedly over and over and over everyday, I soon found other songs that I loved even more than WTSHNO(ICTMEOF). This made me go out and buy all of those previous PSB CD's that I had missed.
Now fast forward to 1993. I had been living with my first "real" boyfriend, yep we were still together, for over a year now. I was still dealing with my discovery and realization that I was gay. But I was also learning what it was like to be with somebody else. I never once dated anybody in junior high, high school or college. I went on a few dates with a guy when I first started college, but I was still too much in the closet to deal with that. And shortly before I met Mark, I had dated Kevin for about 6 or 7 weeks. But that was my first trial dating scene, and I had a lot to learn about dating. So here I am in '93 living with Mark.
So in 1993, PSB released a new single Can You Forgive Her?. Not only was the song very catchy but it was a great dance single. The remixes were played constantly at the local gay dance club. And the video was spectacular. This single and video showed a new phase of PSB, a new phase that showed them going into a totally new and wonderful musical area for them. The second single was their version of the Village People song Go West and was a HUGE success. The video once again was wonderfully done and was clearly like nothing else out at that time. Then came the release of the new CD. I went out and bought since I was so in love with Can You Forgive Her? and Go West. The CD was kickass! The case was a very unique orange plastic case with raised bumps that reminded me of legos! The case defintely stood out from any other CDs. But when I started listening to the CD, I was totally blown away by the music. The second track I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing really hit home with me. Here I was living a life that was very new and foreign to me. I no longer had my mother to talk to. I was discovering my new gay life. And I was living with somebody who I had met a little over a year before that and I was in love with. And here this song was talking about how I was feeling at the time.
Ask me why, I say it's most unusual
How can I even try to explain
Why today I feel like dancing
Singing like lovers sing
When I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing,
I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing!
Ask me when, I say it started when I met you.
And ever since then I knew that the past couldn't last
For right now, I think I'm running a race that I know I'm gonna win
And I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing,
I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing |
And the third track, Liberation was just as powerful to me at the time.
Your love is liberation
To free in me the trust, I never dared
I always thought the risk too great
But suddenly, I don't hesitate, so
Take my hand,
Don't think of complications
Now, right now,
Your love is liberation |
I could go on and on about the other songs. Yesterday When I Was Mad. Go West. A Different Point Of View. But pretty much every song on Very really is awesome. Now, I need to go revisit these songs. They always take me back to that innocent time in my life when I was first discovering my first love and being gay. You know, I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing! Yeah right! LOL
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which is from his his fourth album 
