Bilingual (album)

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Bilingual
Bilingual cover
Studio album by Pet Shop Boys
Released September 2, 1996
Recorded  ???
Genre Dance pop
Length 53:56
Label Parlophone
Producer(s) Pet Shop Boys
Chris Porter
Danny Tenaglia
K-Klass
Pet Shop Boys chronology
Alternative
(1995)		 Bilingual
(1996)		 Nightlife
(1999)


Bilingual is the tenth album, the sixth of entirely new music, by the UK electronic music group Pet Shop Boys.

Bilingual exhibits continuing changes Pet Shop Boys began making to their music with the album Very, in particularly more heavily instrumented arrangements and more backing vocals. As suggested by the title, the songs on the album have worldwide influences, particularly from Latin America. After the release of their Very album, Pet Shop Boys toured South America and were influenced by the beats and rhythms associated with Latin American music. Three of the songs have bilingual lyrics, mixing the English language with Spanish and Portuguese.

Bilingual never achieved the popularity of Very despite following its predecessor into the UK album chart Top 10, although the singles achieved success with three of them - "Before", "Se A Vida E (That's The Way Life Is)" and "A Red Letter Day" - all reaching the UK top 10 and the English/Spanish language composition "Single" also going Top 20, and the album went on to sell 1.5 million copies globally. The single "Se A Vida E (That's The Way Life Is)" peaked at number eight in the UK charts in late August 1996, having gained a great deal of radio airplay, and secured the band their first appearance on UK music show 'Top of the Pops' since 1993. The song soon became the summer party anthem of the year for those people who were not advocates of the UK's ever-growing club culture of the late 1980s and the 1990s, helped by its Portuguese/Brazilian feel, Latino influences and a popular video shot by Bruce Weber set mainly in a water park located in south Florida. "Se A Vida E" would spend nine weeks in the Top 40 (a long time for a single that failed to reach Number One in those days) before eventually dropping out in early November. Numerous dance remixes were also made which helped the track become one of the biggest club hits of the second half of the 1990s.

Earlier in 1996, prior to the album's release, Tennant's vocals were featured on two live recordings by the British group Suede, which were released as b-sides to their single "Filmstar". One track was a cover of the Pet Shop Boys track "Rent", while the second was a duet with Suede singer Brett Anderson on the Suede song 'Saturday Night'.

In 1997, Pet Shop Boys decided to perform a series of concerts at the Savoy Theatre in London. To promote the concerts they decided to release a cover version of "Somewhere" from West Side Story and to call the concerts "Pet Shop Boys Somewhere". The single reached the UK top 10, and Bilingual was re-released as a "Special Edition" including the new single and a bonus CD of remixes and b-sides.

In 2001, Pet Shop Boys re-issued their first six studio albums, and Bilingual was rereleased as Bilingual/Further Listening 1995-1997. The re-released version was not only digitally remastered but came with a second disc of B-sides and previously unreleased material from around the time of the album's original release.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Bilingual

  1. "Discoteca"
  2. "Single"
  3. "Metamorphosis"
  4. "Electricity"
  5. "Se a vida é (That's the way life is)"
  6. "It always comes as a surprise"
  7. "A red letter day"
  8. "Up against it"
  9. "The survivors"
  10. "Before"
  11. "To step aside"
  12. "Saturday night forever"

[edit] Bilingual Special Edition Bonus CD (1997)

  1. "Somewhere" (Extended mix)
  2. "A red letter day" (Trouser Enthusiasts Autoerotic Decapitation mix)
  3. "To step aside" (Brutal Bill mix)
  4. "Before" (Love to Infinity Classic Paradise mix)
  5. "The boy who couldn't keep his clothes on" (Danny Tenaglia International Club mix)
  6. "Se a vida é" (Pink Noise mix)
  7. "Discoteca" (Trouser Enthusiasts Adventure Beyond The Stellar Empire mix)

[edit] Further Listening 1995-1997 CD (2001)

  1. "Paninaro '95"
  2. "In the night" (1995)
  3. "The truck-driver and his mate"
  4. "Hit and miss"
  5. "How I learned to hate rock 'n' roll"
  6. "Betrayed"
  7. "Delusions of grandeur"
  8. "Discoteca" (single version)
  9. "The calm before the storm"
  10. "Discoteca" (new version)
  11. "The boy who couldn't keep his clothes on"
  12. "A red letter day" (expanded single version)
  13. "The view from your balcony"
  14. "Disco potential"
  15. "Somewhere" (extended mix)

[edit] Personnel

  • Neil Tennant
  • Chris Lowe


Guest musicians

  • Pete Gledall - Programming on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11 & 12
  • SheBoom - Drums and percussion on tracks 1 & 2. Additional drums and percussion on track 5
  • Robin Jones - Percussion on track 6. Additional percussion on track 1
  • Davide Giovanni, Joseph De Jesus, Weston Foster & Lino Rocha - Additional vocals on track 1
  • Sylvia Mason-James - Vocals on track 3
  • Ritchie Birkett - Keyboards on track 3
  • Simon Cotsworth - Programming on track 3
  • Trevor Henry/The Ignorants - Scratching and additional keyboards on track 3
  • Kevin Robinson, Bud Beadle & Fayyaz Virji - Brass on track 3
  • J.J. Belle - Guitar on track 5
  • Mike Innes, Noel Langley, Richard Sidell & Andy Hamilton - Brass on track 5
  • Chris Cameron - Additional keyboards on track 6 & 9. String arrangement and conduction on track 9
  • Hugh Burns - Guitar on track 6
  • Andy Hamilton - Saxophone on tracks 6 & 9
  • Katie Kissoon - Additional vocals on tracks 6 & 9
  • Alyosha Zolotukhin - Choir arrangement on track 7
  • Graeme Perkins - Choir co-ordinator on track 7
  • Victor Popov - Choir director on track 7
  • The Choral Academy of Moscow - Choir on track 7
  • Barbara Tucker, Karen Bernod & Carole Sylvan - Additional vocals on track 7 & 10
  • Johnny Marr - Guitar and additional vocals on track 8
  • Greg Bone - Guitar on track 9
  • Andy Duncan - Drums and percussion on track 9
  • Danny Tenaglia and Louie 'Balo' Guzman - Drum programming on track 10
  • Pete Dao - Keyboards on track 10
  • Phil Pagano - Programming on track 10
  • Eddie Montilla - Additional keyboards on track 12

[edit] Singles

[edit] Before

  • UK release: 22 April 1996, #7
  • US release: 28 June 1996, #1 (Dance)

The first single to be released from Bilingual was "Before" on April 22, 1996. It was co-produced with Danny Tenaglia and featured Barbara Tucker, Carole Sylvan and Karen Bernod on backing vocals. The b-sides were "Hit and miss" and "The truck-driver and his mate".

[edit] Se a vida é (That's the way life is)

  • UK release: 12 August 1996, #8
  • US release: see below

The second single from Bilingual was "Se a vida é (That's the way life is). It was co-produced with Chris Porter and featured drums by Glasgow group She-Boom. Remixes were done by Mark Picchiotti, Deep Dish and Pink Noise. The b-sides were "Betrayed" and "How I learned to hate rock'n'roll".

[edit] Single-Bilingual

  • UK release: 11 November 1996, #14
  • US release: not released

The third single to be released was "Single" and was renamed "Single-Bilingual" because Everything But The Girl had released a different single also called "Single" around the same time. It was also co-produced by Chris Porter with drums by She-Boom. The single also included remixes of "Single-Bilingual". The b-sides were "Confidential (Demo for Tina)" and "The calm before the storm".

[edit] To step aside/Se a vida é (That's the way life is)

  • UK release: not released
  • US release: 28 February 1997, #1 (dance)

Released as a double a-side in the USA, this single featured exclusive remixed of "To step aside" that were unreleased in the UK. The single was also nominated for a Grammy award for best dance single.

[edit] A red letter day

  • UK release: 18 March 1997, #9
  • US release: see below

A new version of "A red letter day" with additional production by Motiv-8 was released as the fourth single from Bilingual. It features Barbara Tucker, Carole Sylvan and Karen Bernod on backing vocals along with the Choral Academy Of Moscow. The b-sides were "The boy who couldn't keep his clothes on" and "Delusions of grandeur".

[edit] Somewhere

  • UK release: 23 June 1997, #9
  • US release: 28 October 1997, #19 (dance)

Released to promote their residency at the Savoy Theatre in London and to promote a repackage of Bilingual. In the USA, it was released as a double a-side with "A red letter day". For the UK release, the b-sides were "Disco potential" and "The view from your balcony".

Pet Shop Boys
Neil Tennant | Chris Lowe
Discography
Albums: Please | Actually | Introspective | Behaviour | Very | Bilingual | Nightlife | Release | Fundamental
Soundtracks and scores: Closer to Heaven (Original Cast Recording) | Battleship Potemkin
Remix albums: Disco | Disco 2 | Disco 3
Compilations: Discography: The Complete Singles Collection | Alternative | PopArt: The Hits
Live: Concrete
Related Articles
Other projects: It Couldn't Happen Here | Results | Spaghetti Records | Closer to Heaven | Back to Mine: Pet Shop Boys
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