This evening, pop duo Pet Shop Boys perform as special guests on Strictly Come Dancing. Hosted in Blackpool Tower Ballroom, they will perform a medley of their hits, accompanied by the Strictly professional dancers, for a spectacular opening number. With all its glitz and glamour, it feels that Strictly was made for Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe; in hindsight, it seems extraordinary that they haven’t appeared on it before. Blackpool is keyboardist Lowe’s hometown, which will only add to the occasion.

In the 40 years that they have been together, the Pet Shop Boys have never taken themselves seriously (“You live within the headlines, so everyone can see / You’re supporting every new cause and meeting royalty / How can you expect to be taken seriously?”). But that’s not to say that the lyrics to many of their songs are not serious or address serious topics. Their latest release, New London Boy, is a case in point.

Who am I?
and what will I turn out to be?
I know where I have to go
to unlock the secret of me
Won’t be long
till I have to get out of here
and live my invented life
Well already that’s pretty queer

A companion piece to 1990’s Being Boring, it details Tennant’s move to London in the 1970’s and describes the gay scene he found there. With references to both “Roxy and Bowie” and “Plato and Marx”, a haunting medley, and a bonkers rap closely referencing the one in West End Girls, this is classic Pet Shop Boys. All this plus a none-too-shabby cover version of Bowie’s All the Young Dudes. Sublime.

New London Boy

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