So Hard

"So Hard"
Single by Pet Shop Boys
from the album Behaviour
B-side "It Must Be Obvious"
Released 24 September 1990[1]
Format 7", 12", cassette, CD
Recorded Munich, 1990
Genre Dance, synthpop
Length 3:56 (7" edit)
Label Parlophone – R 6269
Writer(s) Neil Tennant, Chris Lowe
Producer(s) Pet Shop Boys, Harold Faltermeyer
Pet Shop Boys singles chronology
"It's Alright"
(1989)		 "So Hard"
(1990)		 "Being Boring"
(1990)

"So Hard" is a song by the British pop group Pet Shop Boys and was the first single lifted from the 1990 album Behaviour. It peaked at #4 in the UK. The song is about "two people living together; they are totally unfaithful to each other but they both pretend they are faithful and then catch each other out".[1]

"The original was harping back to Giorgio Moroder with loads of all these retro instruments," recalled Chris Lowe. "Then David Morales took the chord progression from the middle section and made this classic pumping house track. It's quite funny, because we did this gig in Los Angeles and Frankie Knuckles played this track at the party afterwards. Neil came over and said, 'Why don't we make records like this?' I said, 'Neil, it is us.' So that's how much we know about dance music!"[2]

The video was directed by Eric Watson and filmed in Newcastle and North Tyneside. Filming locations included the Bigg Market, Newcastle Quayside, Railway Terrace in Wallsend, Byker, Whitley Bay and the Tyne and Wear Metro. The black and white video co-stars Paul Gascoigne's sister Anna Gascoigne.[1]

The single's B-side was "It Must Be Obvious", with the USA release also featuring the remix of "Paninaro", which was originally released on Disco. Remixes were done by Julian Mendelsohn, The KLF and David Morales. The KLF remixed "So hard" and "It must be obvious", available on The KLF versus Pet Shop Boys single.

Track listing

7": Parlophone / R 6269 (UK)

1. "So Hard" – 3:56

  • Produced by Pet Shop Boys, Harold Faltermeyer
  • Mixed by Julian Mendelsohn
  • Engineered by Brian Reeves
  • Additional programming by Dominic Clarke

2. "It must be obvious" – 4:21

  • Produced by Pet Shop Boys
  • Mixed and engineered by Pete Schwier
  • Additional programming by Dominic Clarke

Personnel

12": Parlophone / 12R 6269 (UK)

  1. "So Hard" (Extended Dance Mix) – 6:30
  2. "It must be obvious" – 4:21
  3. "So Hard" (Dub Mix) – 7:30
  • Mix by Julian Mendelsohn[3]

12": Parlophone / 12RX 6269 (UK)

  1. "So Hard" (KLF vs. Pet Shop Boys) – 5:27
  2. "It must be obvious" (UFO mix) – 9:22

12": EMI / V-56194

  1. "So Hard" (Extended Dance Mix) – 6:30
  2. "So Hard" (single) – 3:56
  3. "So Hard" (dub) – 7:30
  4. "It must be obvious" – 4:21

CD: Parlophone / CDR 6269 (UK)

  1. "So Hard" – 3:56
  2. "It must be obvious" – 4:21
  3. "So Hard" (Extended Dance Mix) – 6:30
  • Produced by Pet Shop Boys, Harold Faltermeyer
  • Edited by Danton Supple
  • Engineered by Brian Reeves
  • Mixed by Julian Mendelsohn[4]

CD: EMI / 560 204177-2 (Germany)

  1. "So Hard" (12" remix) – 6:20
  2. "So Hard" (Radio mix) – 3:25
  3. "So Hard" (Red Zone Mix) – 7:42
  4. "So Hard" (Eclipse mix) – 4:00

CD: EMI / E2-56195 (US)

  1. "So Hard" (Extended Dance Mix) – 6:30
  2. "So Hard" (single) – 3:56
  3. "So Hard" (dub) – 7:30
  4. "It must be obvious" – 4:21
  5. "Paninaro" (Italian Remix) ["12-inch remix"] – 8:40
  • Remix – David Jacob, Pet Shop Boys

Mixes

Mixes by Julian Mendelsohn
  • Available on the Further Listening bonus disc with the Behaviour reissue
Mixes by David Morales
  • An abbreviated (2:48) version of this mix appears on Disco 2
Mix by The KLF

Chart performance

Chart (1990) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[5] 27
Austrian Singles Chart[6] 14
Belgian Singles Chart 5
Canadian Singles Chart[7] 76
Dutch Singles Chart[8] 11
Finland Singles Chart (Suomen virallinen lista)[9] 1
French Singles Chart[10] 72
German Singles Chart[11] 3
Irish Singles Chart[12] 3
Italian Singles Chart[13] 2
Japanese Singles Chart (Tokyo) 5
New Zealand Singles Chart[14] 24
Norwegian Singles Chart[15] 9
Polish Singles Chart 9
Spain (AFYVE)[16] 2
Swedish Singles Chart[17] 3
Swiss Singles Chart[18] 2
UK Singles Chart[19] 4
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[20] 62
U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs Chart[21] 17
U.S. Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs Chart[20] 4
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales Chart[20] 2

Cover versions

A cover version by Scottish music artist/songwriter Momus was included on the 2001 compilation Very Introspective, Actually: A Tribute to the Pet Shop Boys.

Resources

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 petshopboys.co.uk Singles - So Hard
  2. ↑ Q, May 2001
  3. ↑ discogs.com - 12"
  4. ↑ discogs.com - CDR 6269
  5. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Pet Shop Boys - So Hard". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  6. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Pet Shop Boys - So Hard". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  7. ↑ "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  8. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Pet Shop Boys - So Hard". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  9. ↑ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  10. ↑ "InfoDisc : Tout les Titres par Artiste". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  11. ↑ "charts.de". charts.de. 2006-11-14. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  12. ↑ Jaclyn Ward - Fireball Media Group - http://www.fireballmedia.ie. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  13. ↑ "Hit Parade Italia - Indice per Interprete: P". Hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  14. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Pet Shop Boys - So Hard". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  15. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Pet Shop Boys - So Hard". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  16. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  17. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Pet Shop Boys - So Hard". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  18. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Pet Shop Boys - So Hard". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  19. ↑ "ChartArchive - Pet Shop Boys - So Hard". Chartstats.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-30. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Pet Shop Boys (2009-12-21). "Pet Shop Boys - Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  21. ↑ "Eurythmics Music News & Info". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2012-06-23.

External links