US Chart Roundup: Pet Shop Boys' 'Electric' Is Their Highest-Charting Album Since 'Very'

With everything on the Billboard Hot 100 remaining pretty much hooker meat, let's instead turn to the Billboard 200 album chart, where Pet Shop Boys' Electric goes in at #26. Like in the UK this past weekend, the duo have now landed their highest-charting album since Very. Here in the States, 1993 pop masterpiece Very peaked at #20, and eventually snagged a Gold certification.

Electric is now the Pet Shop Boys' seventh of their 12 studio albums to make the Top 40 in the US, and their first to do so since Yes clocked in at #32 in 2009. (It's follow-up, Elysium, made it to #44 last fall.)

Below is the full listing of how the duo's studio albums have charted in America. (Go here to see how they charted in the UK.)

1. Please (#7, 1986)
2. Actually (#25, 1987)
3. Introspective (#34, 1988)
4. Behaviour (#45, 1990)
5. Very (#20, 1993)
6. Bilingual (#39, 1996)
7. Nightlife (#84, 1999)
8. Release (#73, 2002)
9. Fundamental (#150, 2006)
10. Yes (#32, 2009)
11. Elysium (#44, 2012)
12. Electric (#26, 2013)

A job well done with their first outing on their own new label, x2. Now, roll on the tour — I've got tickets to see that laser fest on both nights they're playing in New York.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Blurred Lines" - Robin Thicke feat. T.I. & Pharrell *7 weeks*
2. "We Can't Stop" - Miley Cyrus
3. "Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons
4. "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams 
5. "Treasure" - Bruno Mars
6. "Can't Hold Us" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton
7. "Cruise" - Florida Georgia Line feat. Nelly
8. "Holy Grail" - Jay-Z feat. Justin Timberlake
9. "Cups" - Anna Kendrick
10. "Mirrors" - Justin Timberlake

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UK Chart Roundup: Pet Shop Boys' 'Electric' Is Highest-Charting Studio Album Since 1993's 'Very'

The Pet Shop Boys let the cat out of the bag a little early ahead of the publication of the official UK single and album chart today, by posting the following message on their official site:

In the UK, Electric has today entered the albums chart at number three. This is PSBs' highest album chart position since Very entered at number one in 1993. 

Electric is the duo's 12th studio LP, and now their 15th overall Top 10 entry on the UK album chart. (And, technically, B-sides collection Alternative made it to #2, in 1995 — so Electric is their highest chart position overall on the UK chart, studio albums or otherwise, since that one.) Their last studio album, Elysium, marked the lowest placing for the Pet Shop Boys in the Top 10 when it debuted at #9 last September.

Here now is the breakdown of all Top 10 entries by the PSBs on the UK album chart:

* Please (#3, 1986)
* Actually (#2, 1987)
* Introspective (#2, 1988)
* Behaviour (#2, 1990)
* Discography (#3, 1991) — hits collection
* Very (#1, 1993)
* Disco 2 (#6, 1994) — dance compilation series
* Alternative (#2, 1995) — B-sides collection
* Bilingual (#4, 1996)
* Nightlife (#7, 1999)
* Release (#7, 2002)
* Fundamental (#5, 2006)
* Yes (#4, 2009)
* Elysium (#9, 2012)
* Electric (#3, 2013)

SOME LINKS:

* My full review of Electric
* My interview with Neil and Chris
* PSBs' 12 Greatest Collaborations, by John Hamilton & myself


The UK Top 10:

1. "Wake Me Up" - Avicii *new* *new*
2. "Blurred Lines" - Robin Thicke feat. T.I. & Pharrell
3. ""Love Me Again" - John Newman 
4. "I Love It" - Icona Pop feat. Charli XCX
5. "Bang Bang" - Will.i.am
6. "La La La" - Naughty Boy feat. Sam Smith *new*
7. "Reload" - Sebastian Ingrosso feat. John Martin
8. "Come & Get It" - Selena Gomez *new*
9. "Jack" - Breach *new*
10. "Let Her Go" - Passenger

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Pet Shop Boys 'Electric' Might Be The #1 UK Album This Week (+ My Review)

Electric, the new, Stuart Price-produced album by Pet Shop Boys, was just released this week, and is currently only 1,500 copies behind Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines in the race for the #1 album in the UK. All of Neil and Chris' studio LPs have charted in the Top 10 in their home country, but their only #1 album to-date is Very, which was released 20 years ago. It's pretty fitting, then, that Electric is doing so well, considering it's the PSBs' best album since Very.

Up above you'll see my vinyl and CD copies of Electric, which just arrived yesterday. Super glamour.

Anyway, here's a nice roundup of Pet Shop Boys writing I've done in the past month:

* My full review of Electric
* My interview with Neil and Chris
* PSBs' 12 Greatest Collaborations, by John Hamilton & myself

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Pet Shop Boys 'Electric': Hear The Full Album

In case you missed it, Electric, the new Pet Shop Boys album (out next week) is streaming in full through the duo's official website and Pandora.

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Pet Shop Boys' "Thursday" Gets Teased With A Video Featuring Example

Pet Shop Boys have been teasing their Electric tracks ahead of the album's release on July 15. And today, on Thursday, we get "Thursday" — at least the bit featuring Example's and a little of Neil Tennant. (Missing is Chris Lowe's countdown of the days.) You may recall that Example came in at #6 on Chart Rigger's 10 Best Pop Singles Of 2012 roundup, courtesy of his feature on Calvin Harris' "We'll Be Coming Back."

"Thursday" truly is one of the most commercial-sounding singles the PSBs have recorded in eons. Enjoy these 30 seconds:

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Pet Shop Boys' 'Electric': A Roundup Of Song Clips + "Paninaro"/Dior Fashion Show

By now clips for several of the nine songs on the upcoming Pet Shop Boys album Electric — aside from singles "Axis" and "Vocal" — have found their way online. Below is a roundup of those, plus a video clip of the duo's "Paninaro" being used in the Dior Homme Spring - Summer 2014 fashion show in Paris.

"Bolshy"



"Love Is A Bourgeois Construct"



"Shouting In The Evening"



Dior Homme Paris Fashion Show — "Paninaro"

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Pet Shop Poster

Just caught this Canon-sponsored feature in the latest (June/July) issue of Details, which spotlights Fab.com founder Bradford Shellhammer's upstate New York country home — and, more importantly, his Pet Shop Boys poster in his country home.

It's provided inspiration for me to frame my own PSB Very poster, which I recently picked up off eBay in an effort to jazz up the Idolator office. I feel like I outgrew hanging posters on my walls at home about 15 years ago, but...

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My Pet Shop Boys Interview

As promised, my interview with both Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys is finally seeing the light of day! The rather lengthy chat I had with them for Idolator is now online. (We spoke for roughly 55 minutes.)

I'll post a link to the Instinct piece — which offers up different highlights from the conversation — once it's online, as well.

Pet Shop Boys speak to @idolator about the inspirations that drove them when recording new album #Electric - http://t.co/nPHHrhpJAA
— Pet Shop Boys (@petshopboys) June 22, 2013

Needless to say, this was definitely a career highlight. And I'm very thankful to Wayne Studer, curator of the highly informative Pet Shop Boys Commentary site, for linking to the piece and citing it in several of his Electric album track write-ups.

PSBs' new album Electric will be released on July 15.

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Pet Shop Boys' Ravey "Vocal" Video

Pet Shop Boys' "Vocal" video may be very on-a-budget, but it's still a fascinating watch. Well, fascinating for me, at least, since it's comprised of footage of late-'80s rave parties in the UK, and last year I spent about 6 hours over a three-day period watching such footage on YouTube into the wee hours.

If you watch closely, it almost looks like flashes of Chris Lowe, a confessed rave party-goer back in the day, appear in there.



In fact, there's a pretty spectacular British documentary on rave culture called Summer Of Rave, which you can watch right here:



As for "Vocal," press release notes that the single (presumably in all formats) will officially be released on July 22, a week after the new Pet Shop Boys album Electric is made available.

Final note: As mentioned before, I spent an hour interviewing Neil and Chris, and it's for two features — one for Idolator and one for Instinct. Expect one, if not both, pieces to be online in the next week or so.

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Pet Shop Boys' "Vocal": Hear The New 'Electric' Single

Following "Axis" and "Fluorescent," Pet Shop Boys have now let another preview of their trust-me-it's-excellent upcoming album Electric out into the ether: the radio edit of new single "Vocal"!

UPDATE: The full album version (all six+ minutes of it) is now available on iTunes, with a CD single, digital bundle and 12" to follow soon.



A vocal-less version of "Vocal" was previously played by Armin Van Buuren (hear it below), while the radio edit premiered last night on BBC Radio 2's Dance Years program, hosted by DJ Dave Pearce.



Side note: Since letting on that I've heard Electric in full and interviewed Neil and Chris, I've been hit with a lot of tweets and messages asking when there'll be a review or feature online. Look for the first of a several features coming sometime the week after this coming one. I'm doing a bit of coast-to-coast traveling at the moment, but trust me, I'm itching to get something online myself!

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Pet Shop Boys Tease "Fluorescent"

Much like "Axis," "Fluorescent" is neither the best song on upcoming Pet Shop Boys album Electric (save that title for "Inside A Dream" or "Love Is A Bourgeois Construct" or "The Last To Die" or "Thursday"), nor is it one you'll want to skip over. In fact, Electric is an album album — one that you'll want to play the whole way through then lament that it's over so quickly and then start it all over again. "Repeat listens" is what they call it.

Anyway, here's one-minute-and-11-seconds of "Fluorescent."

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Pet Shop Boys Reveal 'Electric' Tracklist, Release Date & "Axis" Video

Oh, right — Pet Shop Boys have an album coming out this summer. I'd almost forgotten, since they first announced 12th LP Electric about a month-and-a-half ago. Turns out the album, which was originally slated for a June release, will now be out worldwide on July 15, via the Boys' brand new label x2 (or "times two"), through Kobalt Label Services.

The first taste of the Stuart Price-produced Electric is opening track "Axis," which contains no real singing by Neil Tennant, but plenty of spoken phrases and Italo disco mixed with Giorgio Moroder-esque flourishes.

And here's a video!



No word yet on whether "Axis" is an official single, but my guess would be that it's simply a teaser, much in the way "Invisible" was for Elysium last year.

Pet Shop Boys' official site also notes that Electric has a run time of about 50 minutes, and contains nine tracks altogether — eight originals and a cover of Bruce Springsteen's 2007 song "Last To Die." And get ready to arch an eyebrow, because rapper Example features on a song called "Thursday."

Electric tracklist

1. Axis
2. Bolshy
3. Love is a bourgeois construct
4. Fluorescent
5. Inside a dream
6. The last to die
7. Shouting in the evening
8. Thursday (featuring Example)
9. Vocal

"Axis" is available on iTunes now, while Electric is up for pre-order.

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Pet Shop Boys Announce New Album 'Electric', Release Video Trailer

Two Pet Shop Boys albums within a year of each other? And this one produced by Stuart Price? And called Electric? And featuring a cone hat at the beginning of a video tease that clearly harkens back to the Very era? With a song snippet that obliterates the low-tempo feel of last year's Elysium?



I am more than A-okay with this. Especially since the song in the video sounds very Italo disco. Electric will be released in June.

The duo also announced on their official site that they've parted ways with Parlophone after 28 years (not a surprise, given that parent company EMI was acquired by Universal Music Group last fall), and have signed a new global deal with Kobalt Label Services.

“We are hugely proud of the new album and are very pleased to be working in conjunction with Kobalt. We’d like to thank everyone we’ve worked with at Parlophone over the last 28 years both in the UK and abroad. When we signed to the label in 1985 we had no idea how long and successful a relationship we were embarking on. However it is also exciting now to commence a new phase working with a new team in a new business structure and we look forward to a creative and equally fulfilling relationship with Kobalt.”

June is only three months away, which means there should hopefully be a single in the near future. (Pet Shop Boys' site says further album details "will be announced soon.")

Just give me Very 2 or even Yes 2 — but, you know, with a completely new twist and all that — and I'll be happy.

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Here's Pet Shop Boys' "Memory Of The Future" Mixes & B-Sides Out In US On January 1

Pet Shop Boys' third Elysium single "Memory Of The Future" will get an official US release via two digital bundles on January 1. Below is the tracklist and the lyric video, which features the Stuart Price seven-inch mix of the song.



DIGITAL BUNDLE 1
Memory of the future – Stuart Price new single mix
Listening
One night
Inside

DIGITAL BUNDLE 2 (Memory of the future remixed)
Stuart Price remix
Ulrich Schnauss remix
DJ Waldo Squash remix
Digital Dog remix

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Pet Shop Boys' "Memory Of The Future": Hear Stuart Price's Seven-Inch Mix

"Memory Of The Future" is one of my favorite tracks off Pet Shop Boys' latest LP, Elysium, and so I'm jazzed that it's being released as the album's third single (on December 31). Even more rad: it's received a full-on radio mix overhaul by Stuart Price (listen below), who previous whipped up the Boys' 2009 Brit Awards medley and remixed their Yes single "All Over The World."

Finger crossed that Stuart produces Neil and Chris' next album, which they've said they're recording now, and will be in the dance-pop vein. Hear the snazzy new "Memory Of The Future" below.

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Pet Shop Boys Announce Third 'Elysium' Single: "Memory Of The Future"

Following "Leaving," Pet Shop Boys will release "Memory Of The Future" as the next single off Elysium. On their official site, they note that the full details will be made available in November, and that there will be a remix of the song by Stuart Price, who also did the single mix for their Yes single "All Over The World" in 2009.

I have to admit, "Memory Of The Future" is one of my favorite tracks off Elysium, next to "A Face Like That." As I wrote when I reviewed the album for Idolator in September, the song "is classic Pet Shop Boys, from its irresistible melody to the snaky disco beat."

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UK Chart Roundup: Calvin Harris & Florence Welch Are #1...Again

"Sweet Nothing," Calvin Harris' fifth single from upcoming album 18 Months, has become his ninth Top 10 hit in the UK as a lead artist, and his second pair-up with Florence Welch to hit #1 in 2012 (following his remix of Florence + The Machine's "Spectrum"). The song also marks the sixth time Harris has had a hand in a chart-topping single, after his own "I'm Not Alone," Dizzee Rascal's "Dance Wiv Me," Rihanna's "We Found Love," said remix of Flo's "Spectrum" and his production work on Cheryl Cole's "Call My Name."

Elsewhere, Pet Shop Boys' second Elysium single "Leaving" debuts at #44. It's far better than previous singles "Winner" (#86) and "Together" (#58) fared, but still a shame, considering it's easily the duo's best single in two decades. Their last single to crack the Top 40 was "Did You See Me Coming" in 2009, which peaked at #21.

The UK Top 10:

1. "Sweet Nothing" - Calvin Harris feat. Florence Welch *new* *1 week*
2. "Don't You Worry Child" - Swedish House Mafia
3. "Gangnam Style" - PSY
4. "Diamonds" - Rihanna
5. "Skyfall" - Adele 
6. "Standing In The Dark" - Lawson *new*
7. "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" - Taylor Swift
8. "One More Night" - Maroon 5
9. "Turn Around" - Conor Maynard feat. Ne-Yo
10. "I Cry" - Flo Rida

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Pet Shop Boys' "Leaving" EPs Now On iTunes

All three EPs for Pet Shop Boys' second Elysium single "Leaving" are now available on iTunes around the world. On Friday, we premiered the gorgeous "Believe In PSB Remix" — essentially an old-fashioned 12" mix — of the song on Idolator. I also did a new interview with producer Andrew Dawson for the write-up. Go read!

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Pet Shop Boys' Single "Leaving" To Get Full US Release On October 16

Earlier this week Pet Shop Boys premiered their video for second Elysium single "Leaving" — a cheapo affair that edits bits of their recent live-streamed Berlin concert in with black and white shots of people on a train — and now it's been announced that the song will get a full single release in the States.



Three digital bundles for "Leaving" will hit iTunes on October 16, and they'll contain the following:

Digital bundle 1
Leaving
1. Leaving
2. Hell
3. In his imagination
4. Baby (2003 demo)

Digital bundle 2
Leaving Remixed
1. Leaving (Lost her love remix)
Remixed by Dusty Kid
2. Leaving (Believe in PSB remix)
Remixed by Pet Shop Boys
3. Leaving (demo)

Digital bundle 3
Leaving again
1. Leaving (PSB Side-by-side remix)
Remixed by Pet Shop Boys
2. Leaving (HappySad remix)
Remixed by Andrew Dawson
3. Leaving (PSB Freedom remix)
Remixed by Pet Shop Boys

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Pet Shop Boys' "Leaving" Release To Come Packed With Several Goodies

Pet Shop Boys' second Elysium single "Leaving" gets its official UK release on October 15, and will arrive in several formats: three digital bundles, two CD singles and 12" vinyl.

What's interesting is that, in additional to the usual round of remixes, we'll get two new B-sides — "Hell" and "In His Imagination" — as well as the original demos for "Leaving" and the song "Baby," which was written for and recorded by Alcazar back in 2009.

Ah, "Baby" — such a hot tune. But, Jesus, where the fuck did the last three years go?

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