Retro Video of the Week: "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys

Today is the 35th anniversary of the release of English duo Pet Shop Boys' debut album Please.  The album was a big success, going platinum in both the U.S. and UK, and reaching #7 on the Billboard album chart and #3 on the UK album chart.  Much of the album's success is thanks to their huge international hit "West End Girls."

The song was originally released as a single in 1984 but was re-recorded for the Please album.  I remember hearing the song as a mere 8-year-old and thinking how foreign and urbane it sounded.  There were a lot of British singers who sang with more of an American accent.  For instance, I remember being blown away the first time I heard Phil Collins in an interview and he had a British accent.  On the other hand, there was no doubt where Pet Shop Boys were from.  Neil Tennant's vocals sounded so British, and I had no idea what the difference between the West End of London and the East End of London was.  And I certainly didn't understand what it meant to be a West End girl or an East End boy, or why it would be strange if they mingled.  Now, I understand that it was about mixing of classes, with the East End boys getting a little taste of the higher class West End with their girls.

"West End Girls" is a synth pop gem, and it was a massive hit, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the UK pop chart, and the pop charts in Canada, Finland, New Zealand, and Norway, as well as the Top 10 on the pop charts in ten other countries.  I frankly don't remember the video all that much, but here it is.