To commemorate their 20th anniversary, Pet Shop Boys will reissue five of their original studio albums – “Please,” “Actually,” “Introspective,” “Behaviour” and “Very” – on July 3, 2001.
Each has been re-mastered and will be accompanied by a bonus CD in a custom slipcase. For the five bonus CDs, each titled “Further Listening,” the British duo have compiled a compelling selection of mixes, hits, previously unheard versions and b-sides that, together with the re-mastered studio albums, documents their career from 1984 until 1994.
In addition, each album comes with a bonus 36-page booklet featuring full lyrics, rare archive photographs and new interviews with the duo in which they discuss the background to every song. To coincide with the EMI/Capitol releases, London-Sire Records will release “Bilingual” in the same packaging.
In what was a highly prolific period, Pet Shop Boys became the most successful duo of all time, with four No. 1 singles, and album sales totalling 30 million. A stream of classic singles was accompanied in many cases by equally strong b-sides, all of which are included here.
In compiling each “Further Listening” CD, Pet Shop Boys have chosen tracks of master quality recorded during the same period of time as the main album as well as their own remixes of their tracks.
Also included are Pet Shop Boys versions of songs written for Tina Turner, Kylie Minogue, Liza Minnelli and Dusty Springfield, plus their live version of Blur’s “Girls and Boys,” a track Pet Shop Boys originally remixed.
Pet Shop Boys are currently working on a new album for release early in 2002. Meanwhile, “Closer To Heaven,” the musical they have written with playwright Jonathan Harvey, began preview performances at London’s Arts Theatre on May 15 prior to its official opening on May 31.
Also this summer, the band will embark on the Wotapalava tour, hitting 20 U.S. cities. Wotapalava, British slang meaning “what a bother,” is a Lollapalooza-type festival tour with three stages – Rock/Pop, Dance DJs and Camp/Cabaret. Pet Shop Boys headline the tour, joined by artists such as Sinead O’Connor, Rufus Wainwright, Soft Cell, Magnetic Fields and the Village People, and DJs Danny Tenaglia and Paul Oakenfold.
WOTAPALAVA Tour:
- 13-Jul-01 – Miami Bayfront Amphitheatre
- 15-Jul-01 – Atlanta Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheatre
- 18-Jul-01 – Wantaugh, N.Y. Jones Beach Amphitheatre
- 20-Jul-01 – Boston Bank Boston Pavilion
- 21-Jul-01 – Washington, D.C. Merriweather Post Pavilion
- 22-Jul-01 – Holmdel, N.J. PNC Bank Arts Center
- 25-Jul-01 – Pittsburgh Post Gazette Pavilion
- 27-Jul-01 – Toronto Molson Amphitheatre
- 28-Jul-01 – Detroit DTE Energy Music Center
- 29-Jul-01 – Chicago World Music Theatre
- 31-Jul-01 – Denver Red Rocks/Fiddler’s Green
- 3-Aug-01 – San Francisco Shoreline Amphitheatre
- 4-Aug-01 – Irvine, Calif. Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
- 5-Aug-01 – San Diego Coors Amphitheatre
- 8-Aug-01 – Dallas Smirnoff Music Center
- 10-Aug-01 – San Antonio Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
- 11-Aug-01 – Houston Woodlands Pavilion
