Bilingual is the sixth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released in the United Kingdom on 2 September 1996 by Parlophone and in the United States on 10 September 1996 by Atlantic Records. The album reached number four on the UK Albums Chart, lower than their previous five studio albums which had all reached the top three. It yielded five successful singles, with three of them—"Before", "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)" and "A Red Letter Day"—reaching the UK top 10; the fourth one, the English/Spanish-language composition "Single-Bilingual", peaked within the top 20.
Background and recording
Bilingual continues the heavily instrumented arrangements and backing vocals Pet Shop Boys began adding to their music with the album Very. As the title suggests, 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 on the album have bilingual lyrics, mixing the English language with Spanish and Portuguese.
Bilingual was recorded in 1995-1996 at Bunk Junk & Genius, Sarm West and Sarm Hook End in London, at Axis and Bass Hit in New York City, and at the State House of Broadcasting and Sound Recording in Moscow. The album was produced by Pet Shop Boys, Chris Porter, Danny Tenaglia and K-Klass.[12]
Release and promotion
Early in 1996, prior to the album's release, the Pet Shop Boys collaborated with David Bowie on the song "Hallo Spaceboy", which reached #12 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1996.
In late 1995, the band ended their contract with the American branch of EMI and signed with Atlantic Records. A renewed marketing campaign was launched to promote the band in the United States via both radio airplay and club play.[13] Already in May 1996, Atlantic supplied 200 clubs with import copies of "Before" ahead of the single's stateside release on 17 June.
In late 1996 the song "Up Against It" became a radio hit in Sweden and some other countries but never had a release as a CD single.[citation needed]
On 15 December 1996, Tennant appeared with Suede at the Roundhouse in London, singing "Saturday Night" as a duet with Suede's lead singer Brett Anderson. The live recording, together with "Rent" Tennant performed on the same evening accompanied by Suede, would later be released as B-sides to Suede's single "Filmstar".
By February 1997, the album is said to have sold 1.5 million copies worldwide. [14]
In 1997, Pet Shop Boys decided to perform a series of concerts at the Savoy Theatre in London. To promote the concerts they released a cover version of "Somewhere" from West Side Story and called their residency "Pet Shop Boys Somewhere". The single reached the UK top 10 and Bilingual was re-released in a "Special Edition", including the new single and a bonus CD of remixes and B-sides.
In 2001, Pet Shop Boys reissued their first six studio albums; Bilingual was re-released as Bilingual/Further Listening 1995–1997. The reissue was not only digitally remastered, but included a second disc of B-sides and previously unreleased material from around the time of the album's original release.
Yet another re-release followed on 9 February 2009, under the title of Bilingual: Remastered. This version contains only the 12 tracks of the original.[15] With the 2009 re-release, the 2001 double-disc re-release was discontinued.
Singles
"Before" was released on 22 April 1996 as the lead single from Bilingual and reached number #7 in the UK top 40. 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", "The Truck Driver and His Mate" and the 1995 version of "In the Night".
In the United States, Atlantic's gay marketing division promoted "Before" with a series of parties at gay nightclubs in cities where the band had previous commercial success. Several hundred clubs received import promotional 12" singles and the subsequent domestic 12" and CD maxi-single releases were focused entirely on remixes. Promotion was also targeted at Top 40, alternative, and college radio formats.[13]
The album's second single, "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)", was co-produced with Chris Porter and featured drums by Glasgow group SheBoom. 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". The video for the song was shot by Bruce Weber and set mainly in a water park located in South Florida featuring youthful models frolicking in the water, evoking imagery of the 1990 single "Being Boring".[citation needed] The single had a great deal of radio play on release, and during the summer of 1996 spent five weeks in the UK top 40 peaking at #8 making it the last legit UK hit single in the duos discography. It was eventually released in the US in April 1997 as a double A-side single with "To Step Aside". To promote the package, thirteen mixes of "To Step Aside" were commissioned, most of them released promotionally only and unreleased in the UK. "To Step Aside" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in 1998.
The third single to be released was "Single". It was renamed "Single-Bilingual" as Everything but the Girl had recently released a different song also called "Single". Produced by Pet Shop Boys with drums by SheBoom, the single included remixes of "Single-Bilingual" and a new mix of "Discoteca". The B-sides were "Confidential" (a demo for Tina Turner) and "The Calm Before the Storm". It peaked at #14 in the UK top 40 on November 1996 and was performed live alongside "Se a Vida e" with "SheBoom" in the UK on popular "Channel 4" Show "TFI Friday" hosted by Chris Evans.
A new version of "A Red Letter Day", featuring additional production by Steve Rodway, 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". It was also the only Top of the Pops studio performance of any single released from Bilingual. The previous singles had been promoted on the hit music show by the official promotional videos. The performance of "A Red Letter Day" in March 1997 was the first TOTP studio performance by Neil and Chris as a duo since a July 1995 episode in which they performed "Paninaro 95" and since appearing as a trio alongside David Bowie for "Hallo Spaceboy" in February 1996. A Red Letter Day entered the UK top 40 at #9 only to crash out of the top 40 after only one week.
During this era, an additional single not part of the original Bilingual package, "Somewhere", was released to promote the duo's residency at the Savoy Theatre in London and a reissue of Bilingual. A performance of "Somewhere" was recorded at the Savoy Theatre for Top of the Pops. In the UK The single charted at #9. In the US, 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".
"The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On" (Danny Tenaglia international club mix)
6:09
12.
"A Red Letter Day" (expanded single version)
5:36
13.
"The View from Your Balcony"
3:44
14.
"Disco Potential"
4:07
15.
"Somewhere" (extended mix)
Bernstein
Sondheim
10:55
Notes:
"Discoteca" (single version) and "A Red Letter Day" (expanded single version) were previously unreleased.
"The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On" (Danny Tenaglia international club mix) and "Somewhere" (extended mix) are identical to the versions featured on the 1997 reissue.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Bilingual.[12]
Throusers Enthusiasts – additional production (track 15)
Steve Price – orchestra recording (track 15)
Claire Tonkinson – recording assistance
Andrew Green – recording assistance
Tom Elmhirst – recording assistance
Tim Young – remastering
The sampled lines in "Electricity" were taken from the 1942 film My Gal Sal and were spoken by Rita Hayworth. The film happened to be playing on television while the track was being recorded, and was not publicly identified until 2019.[18]
^Bilingual/Further Listening 1995–1997 (liner notes). Pet Shop Boys. Parlophone. 2001. 530 5122.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Studer, Wayne. "Electricity". Pet Shop Boys Commentary. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
^"Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 3 June 2022. Select "Album" in the "Tipo" field, type "Pet Shop Boys" in the "Artista" field and press "cerca".
^Rocha, Daniela (6 November 1996). "Banco de Dados Folha - Acervo de Jornais". Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). Brazil: UOL HOST. Archived from the original on 17 January 2006. Retrieved 1 May 2023. " (...)também vencem de goleada o registro de 60 mil cópias vendidas no Brasil do último disco do duo britânico Pet Shop Boys". English translation: "(...) the record of 60,000 copies sold in Brazil of the latest album by the British duo Pet Shop Boys also wins.
