Behaviour (Pet Shop Boys album)

Behaviour
Studio album by Pet Shop Boys
Released	22 October 1990
Recorded	May–June 1990 at Red Deer in Munich; Sarm West in London
Genre	Synthpop, dance-pop
Length	49:01
Label	Parlophone
Producer	Pet Shop Boys, Harold Faltermeyer
Pet Shop Boys chronology
Introspective (1988) Behaviour (1990) Discography (1991)
Singles from Behaviour
"So Hard" Released: 24 September 1990 "Being Boring" Released: 12 November 1990 "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?"/"Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes off You)" Released: 11 March 1991 "Jealousy" Released: 28 May 1991

Behaviour (Behavior in the original US pressing) is the fourth studio album by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was first released in 1990. A special edition Japanese release included an additional Mini CD, exclusive artwork and printed lyrics in a white velvet-like box.

History

Harold Faltermeyer produced Behaviour at his "Red Deer" studio in Munich, Germany.^[1] Because they were dissatisfied with the available digital synthesisers and samples, Pet Shop Boys wanted to use analogue synthesisers. Faltermeyer was a good choice for producer as he happened to be an expert on analogue equipment. The result was a Pet Shop Boys album different from both the previous album, Introspective and the 1993 follow-up, Very. In places, the album expands upon the synthpop genre with flavours of guitar pop ballads, as with "This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave" and "My October Symphony" featuring guitarist, Johnny Marr. Later, singer Neil Tennant would reflect on the different style of Behaviour, "It was more reflective and more musical-sounding, and also it probably didn't have irritatingly crass ideas in it, like our songs often do". Tennant later reflected the album was inspired by fellow synthpop group Depeche Mode's album Violator,^[2] which was also released in 1990.

Along with the others of the group's first six studio albums, in 2001, Behaviour was re-released as Behaviour/Further Listening: 1990–1991. The re-released version was digitally remastered, and accompanied with a second disc of b-sides, and some previously unreleased songs, recorded since the year 1990 to the year 1991. Notable songs on the second disc include "Miserablism", "DJ Culture", "Was It Worth It?", and the Ambient Mix of "Music for Boys". "Miserablism", a poignant satire of Morrissey, was intended for inclusion on Behaviour up until the day it was sent for mastering. It later became the b-side for "Was It Worth It?" and was remixed by Moby for the single of 12"; later featured on the limited edition version of the 2003's compilation album, PopArt: Pet Shop Boys – The Hits. "DJ Culture" and "Was It Worth It?" were the two singles recorded for the Pet Shop Boys' 1991's compilation album, Discography: The Complete Singles Collection. "Music for Boys" was originally credited as "Music for Boys Part 2" and was the b-side to "DJ Culture". The original B-side version can also be found on the 1995 compilation album Alternative.

Yet another re-release followed on 9 February 2009, under the title of Behaviour: Remastered. This version contains only the 10 tracks on the original. With the 2009 re-release, the 2001 2CD re-release was discontinued.

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Chicago Tribune	[4]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[6]
Entertainment Weekly	A+[7]
Los Angeles Times	[8]
NME	6/10[9]
Q	[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[11]

Entertainment Weekly rated the album with A+ and commented: "...Heartfelt expressions of romantic distress, plus their best tunes yet...".^[7] Q gave the album 4 stars (of 5), included in Q's 50 best albums of 1990 and commented, "Some of their dance fans may be a trifle disappointed...but the best ballads here are as wry and touching as vintage Broadway. Frank Sinatra should be calling shortly."^[12] Q also included it in its "90 Best Albums of the 1990s".^[13] "Being Boring" won Music Week's Best Video of the Year Award. Ned Raggett ranked the album at number 9 in his 1999 list of "The Top 136 Or So Albums Of The Nineties".^[14] Behaviour is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Charts and sales

Track listing

All the songs were written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe

Original album

1. "Being Boring" – 6:49
2. "This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave" – 5:30
3. "To Face the Truth" – 5:33
4. "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?" – 3:56
5. "Only the Wind" – 4:20
6. "My October Symphony" – 5:18
7. "So Hard" – 3:58
8. "Nervously" – 4:06
9. "The End of the World" – 4:43
10. "Jealousy" – 4:48^[15]

Japanese bonus disc

1. "Miserablism" – 4:11
2. "Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend" – 4:26
3. "This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave (Extended mix)" – 9:30^[15]

Further Listening: 1990–1991

1. "It Must Be Obvious" – 4:26
2. "So Hard" (Extended dance mix) – 6:38
3. "Miserablism" – 4:07
4. "Being Boring" (extended mix) – 10:40
5. "Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend" – 4:30
6. "We All Feel Better in the Dark" (extended mix) – 6:48
7. "Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes off You)" (extended mix) – 6:46
8. "Jealousy" (extended version) – 7:58
9. "Generic Jingle" – 0:14 *
10. "DJ Culture" (Extended mix) – 6:53
11. "Was It Worth It?" (twelve-inch mix) – 7:15
12. "Music for Boys" (part 2) – 6:13 [incorrectly labelled as "Music for Boys" (Ambient mix)]
13. "DJ Culture" (seven-inch mix) – 4:26^[15]

(*) Previously unreleased.

Chart performance

Personnel

Behaviour

Pet Shop Boys

• Neil Tennant – vocals, guitar on tracks 2, 4 & 9
• Chris Lowe – keyboards, programming, vocoder

Guest musicians

• Dominic Clarke – plastic tube on track 1
• J.J. Belle – Guitar on track 1
• Johnny Marr – Guitar on tracks 2 & 6
• Angelo Badalamenti – Orchestra arrangement and conduction on tracks 2 & 5
• Alexander Bălănescu – String quartet arrangement on track 6
• The Balanescu Quartet – Strings on track 6
• Jay Henry – Additional vocals on track 6

Production

• Artwork by [design] – Mark Farrow/3a, Pet Shop Boys
• Engineer – Bob Kraushaar, Brian Reeves
• Mixed by – Julian Mendelsohn
• Photography – Eric Watson
• Producer – Harold Faltermeyer, Pet Shop Boys
• Programmed by [additional programming] – Dominic Clarke
• Recorded by [orchestra and strings] – Haydn Bendall (tracks: 2, 5, 6)
• Recorded by [vocals] – Bob Kraushaar (tracks: 1, 4, 6, 10)

Further Listening 1990–1991

• Neil Tennant
• Chris Lowe
• Compiled by – Chris Heath, Pet Shop Boys

Guest musicians

• Vocals [additional] – Juliet Roberts (track: 6)
• Vocals [additional] – Tessa Niles (tracks: 7, 11, 13)
• Vocals [additional] – Carol Kenyon, Guida De Palma (track: 11)
• Guitar – J.J. Belle (track: 7)
• Guitar – Greg Bone (tracks: 10, 11, 13)
• Percussion – Andy Duncan (track: 11)
• Keyboards [additional] – Gary Maughan (track: 5)

Production

• Engineer – Pete Schwier (tracks: 1, 5), Brian Reeves (tracks: 2, 3, 4), Bob Kraushaar (tracks: 5, 6), Paul Wright (tracks: 6, 10, 11, 13), Ren Swan (track: 7)
• Mixed by – Pete Schwier (track: 1), Julian Mendelsohn (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 5), Brothers In Rhythm (track: 10), Pet Shop Boys (track: 8)
• Remixed by – Pet Shop Boys (tracks: 6, 11), David Jacob (track: 6), Stephen Hague (track: 13)
• Producer – Pet Shop Boys, Harold Faltermeyer (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 8), Brothers in Rhythm (tracks: 10, 11, 13)
• Programmed by [additional programming] – Dominic Clarke (tracks: 1, 2, 3)
• Programmed by – Scott Davidson (tracks: 10, 11, 13), Pete Gleadall (track: 11)
• Programmed By [sequencing] – Dominic Clarke (track: 7)
• Arranged by [orchestral arrangement] – Harold Faltermeyer (track: 8)
• Recorded by [orchestra] – Mike Jarrett (track: 8)
• Mastered by [remastered] – Tim Young^[25]

Singles

• "So Hard" (R 6269 – September 1990)

The video was directed by Eric Watson. The b-side was "It Must Be Obvious", with the USA release also featuring the Italian Mix of "Paninaro", which was originally released on Disco. Remixes were by the Pet Shop Boys themselves, the KLF and David Morales. The KLF also remixed "It Must Be Obvious", which was only available on The KLF versus Pet Shop Boys CD and 12" of the single.

• "Being Boring" (R 6275 – November 1990)

The video was directed by Bruce Weber. The b-side was "We All Feel Better in the Dark". There were Pet Shop Boys Extended Mixes of both a-side and b-side, and there was a remix of "Being Boring" by Marshall Jefferson and two remixes of the b-side by Brothers in Rhythm on a limited edition 12" and CD of the single.

• "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?" (E2-56205 – 1991) [US only]

The video was directed by Liam Kan. The single was radically remixed from the album version by Brothers in Rhythm, and this become the version on the double a-side released in the UK with "Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes off You)". This US release featured the Techno Funk mix of "I Want a Dog", the Marshall Jefferson remix of "Being Boring" and the Trevor Horn 7" mix of "It's Alright". There were also remixes by David Morales, which were released on a limited edition 12" and CD. The single mix was not featured on either of the Pet Shop Boys' greatest hits albums (Discography: The Complete Singles Collection and Pop Art: Pet Shop Boys – The Hits), although the video was featured on the Pop Art DVD and Videography.

• "Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes off You)" / "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?" (R 6285 – 11 March 1991)

The videos for both songs were directed by Liam Kan, which drew on iconography from the Pet Shop Boys' then current tour and featured Neil Tennant spoofing several 'rock' stars including U2, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Presley and George Michael. There was an additional b-side, "Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend", and in addition to some extended mixes of both singles, there were additional remixes of both songs by David Morales.

• "Jealousy" (R 6283 – 28 May 1991)

The video was directed by Eric Watson. The b-side was the Pet Shop Boys' tidied up demo version of "Losing My Mind", which they produced for Liza Minnelli in 1989 for her album Results. The single mix was more electronic than the version on the album, and there was an extended mix of Jealousy which featured Neil Tennant reading excerpts of Shakespeare's Othello, which is a play about jealousy. There was also a Disco Mix of "Losing My Mind". On the limited edition CD, an edit of the Extended Mix of "This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave" (which was originally available with the Japanese version of Behaviour) was included along with David Morales' Red Zone mix of "So Hard". Jealousy was later covered by Dubstar. It is known to be one of Robbie Williams' favourite Pet Shop Boys song, and he sang it with the band for their 2006 Radio 2 concert, which was later released on the 2006 Pet Shop Boys' live album Concrete.

References

External links

• Behaviour (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)
• Behaviour (Adobe Flash) at Myspace (streamed copy where licensed)