- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- Pet Shop Boys are a synthesizer-driven dance-pop duo that has made consistently good albums for more than 30 years.
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Pet Shop Boys – Actually (1987): Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and primary keyboardist Chris Lowe, Pet Shop Boys are a synthesizer-driven dance-pop duo that has made consistently good albums for more than 30 years, becoming known for their ironic lyrics and detached social commentary. The first two singles by Pet Shop Boys, “West End Girls” – a long-time favorite of mine whose opening lyric is “sometimes you’re better off dead” – and the satirical song “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)” initially flopped, though both were massive dance-club hits when they were re-released a year or so later. The latter song was featured in a Super Bowl ad for Allstate in February 2021; and both “Opportunities” and “West End Girls” re-entered the record charts, with “Opportunities” reaching #1 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Digital Song chart and “West End Girls” making it to #6.
Actually is the second and probably best album by Pet Shop Boys; it features two Top Ten hits, “It’s a Sin” and a glorious duet with British white soul legend Dusty Springfield, “What Have I Done to Deserve This?”. Pet Shop Boys have sold an estimated 100 million records and were listed as the most successful duo in U.K. music history in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records.