Pet Shop Boys 'Suburbia'

Chart Peak: 8
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Charted at No. 23 on 30th September, reached No. 8 for 2 weeks in mid-October. 'Suburbia' is the group's 4th Top 20 hit in less than a year.

In contrast to the amount of Duran Duran that I unwillingly have inflicted on me, the PSBs seem like an act who aren't really on enough Now albums. Nine appearances in their own right (plus the one under a pseudonym and their guest appearance with Robbie Williams) hardly seems to scratch the surface of their run of hit singles over nearly 25 years, and you'd think they're exactly the sort of act who'd embrace the concept. Perhaps because of the perspective that writing this blog has given me, I've found myself warming to the duo and even bought a best-of album although the weird twist is that most of my favourite tracks of theirs aren't in the Now series; and I'm not just showing off there, I'm including some of their biggest hits like 'It's A Sin' and 'West End Girls'. In fact the version of the Pet Shop Boys on the Now albums is a version I like less than the one I know from their full chart career.

Back when I was an eight-year old hearing this song, I didn't know what Suburbia was, let alone that I lived in it (Kenton, Middlesex, if you wanted to know). I promise it's not only because of my location that I've never been very fond of this song (after all, Neil Tennant is from a suburb too); it just feels a bit too much of a cliche. Worse, it feels a bit thin as a record, despite the fact that this single version is re-recorded from the original album track. If anything I actually prefer the original B-side 'Paninaro', which was later re-recorded and became a hit in its own right in 1995. That didn't get onto a Now album either.

Also appearing on: Now 7, 10, 11, 15, 18, 20, 26, 28 [as Absolutely Fabulous], 35, 72
Available on: Ultimate [+Video]