Uploaded February 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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On paper, Pet Shop Boys are an unlikely pop behemoth. A former pop journalist and an architecture student, their first hit, “West End Girls,” had their thirty-year-old middle-class British frontman embodying Grandmaster Flash. Starting off as what could’ve quite easily remained a one-hit wonder, they defined British synth pop in the late 1980s, combining the cutting edge of dance music with their intelligent self-reflective lyricism. By 1987 they had hit their imperial phase with a song that attacked the Catholic Church with
Hi-NRG bombast and extraneous countdowns. This is New British Canon and this is the story of "It’s a Sin”.

#petshopboys #80spop #musicdocumentary

Fact-checking by Chad Van Wagner.

00:00 Introduction
00:41 The Beginnings of Pet Shop Boys
06:18 A Dead End World: "West End Girls"
16:46 It's a, It's a, It's a, It's a: It's a Sin
24:49 Actually: The Imperial Phase
31:55 Enduring Legacy: When An Empire Falls

Pet Shop Boys, Literally by Chris Heath, 1990, William Heinemann London
Please Liner Notes by Neil Tennant & Chris Lowe, 2001
Actually Liner Notes by Neil Tennant & Chris Lowe, 2001
“Pet Shop Boys: The South Bank Show” (1992) dir. Steve Jenkins
“Neil Tennant” Kirsty Young, Desert Island Discs, Feb 2007
“The Pet Shop Boys: An ex-Smash Hits Writer and the Grandson of a Nitwit” Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, Dec 1985
“The Pet Shop Boys’ music mixes New York hip hop styles with lots of English irony” Jon Savage, Spin Magazine, Feb 1986
“Pet Shop Boys: What Does It Take To Make These Men Happy?” Chris Heath, Smash Hits, Feb 1986
“Track Record: West End Girls” Jim Betteridge, International Musician & Recording World, March 1986
“Take: 1 Wasteland, 2 Pet Shop Boys, 7 Deadly Sins, 15 Monks” William Shaw, Smash Hits, 1 July 1987
“Pet Shop Boys: Cheeseburgers, Carrot Cake and Coffee (yum!?)” Chris Heath, Smash Hits, Mar 1988
“Outsiderdom: The Pet Shop Boys” Mat Snow, Q Magazine, Aug 1988
“Pet Shop Boys: Tum-Ti-Tum!” Tom Hibbert, Q Magazine, Dec 1990
“Pet Shop Boys: Oh Mister Songwriters!” Adrian Deevoy, Q Magazine, January 1992
“Pet Shop Boys: Our Back Catalogue Is 25 Years Of Social Commentary” Julian Marszalek, The Quietus, Mar 2009
“Classic Tracks: Pet Shop Boys 'It's A Sin'” Richard Buskin, Sound on Sound, Dec 2010
“For Hard-Core Petheads: The Tennant Interview In Full” Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish, Jun 2009
“Poptimism: Imperial” Tom Ewing, Pitchfork, May 2010
“Pet Shop Boys: cab drivers ask us if we've retired” Dorian Lynskey, The Guardian, Sep 2012
“Neil Tennant: The Mojo Interview” Ian Harrison, Mojo Magazine, Aug 2013
“The Lowdown: Pet Shop Boys” David Burke, Classic Pop, Nov 2018
“Pet Shop Boys: 'The acoustic guitar should be banned’” Alexis Petridis, The Guardian, Jan 2020
“Neil Tennant on West End Girls: 'It's about sex and escape. It's paranoid’” Laura Snapes, The Guardian, Jun 2020
“It’s a Sin — pure pop provocation from the Pet Shop Boys” Arwa Haider, Financial Times, Oct 2021
“Pet Shop Boys interview – SMASH the system” John Earls, Classic Pop, Jul 2023
“Pet Shop Boys: ‘Music has ceased to be ageist’” Laura Snapes, The Guardian, Feb 2024

Soundtrack
Luar - Citrine (soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
Jesse Gallagher - The Golden Present
Luar - Anchor (soundcloud.com/luarbeats)

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