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In 1983 – 84 , the duo recorded eleven songs with Orlando , at Unique Studios in New York , " West End Girls " , " Opportunities ( Let 's Make Lots of Money ) " , " One More Chance " , " I Want A Lover " , " A Man Could Get Arrested " , " I Get Excited " , " Two Divided by Zero " , " Rent " , " It 's A Sin " , " Pet S... |
In April 1984 , " West End Girls " was released , becoming a club hit in Los Angeles and San Francisco , and a minor dance hit in Belgium , and France , but was only available in the United Kingdom as a 12 " import . In March 1985 , after long negotiations , Pet Shop Boys cut their contractual ties with Orlando , and ... |
In an interview on BBC4 's Synth Britannia programme ( Video on YouTube at 1h 21m 19s ) , Neil Tennant explains the role of the then new sampling technology on the track and how every single sound came from the newly introduced E @-@ mu Emulator keyboard .
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= = = Music and lyrics = = =
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" West End Girls " is a synthpop song influenced by hip hop music . The song 's socially conscious streak , as well as the propulsive bass line , derives from Grandmaster Flash 's protest rap song " The Message " . Lowe and Hague created a " snaky , obsessive rhythm punch " for the music , replacing the song 's previo... |
Tennant started to write the song when he was staying at his cousin 's house in Nottingham while watching a gangster film . Just when he was going to sleep he came up with the lines : " Sometimes you 're better off dead , there 's a gun in your hand and it 's pointing at your head " . The lyrics were inspired by T.S. ... |
The lyric " From Lake Geneva to the Finland Station " refers to the train route taken by Vladimir Lenin when he was smuggled by the Germans to Russia during World War I , a pivotal event in the Russian Revolution . Indeed , it is highly likely the lyric was inspired by the book To the Finland Station by Edmund Wilson ... |
= = Critical reception = =
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" West End Girls " has been generally well received by music critics . Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic in a review of the album Please called the song " hypnotic " , adding that " it 's not only a classic dance single , it 's a classic pop single " . In a review for the group 's second studio album Actually , Ro... |
Nitsuh Abebe from Pitchfork Media , in a review of their compilation album PopArt : Pet Shop Boys - The Hits commented that in the song " we meet Tennant not as a singer , but as a speaker " , adding that " he mumbles the verses to us not like a star , but like a stranger in a raincoat , slinking alongside you and poi... |
In 1987 , " West End Girls " won for Best Single at The BRIT Awards , and for Best International Hit at the Ivor Novello Awards . In 2005 , the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters gave to West End Girls the Ivor Novello Award for Song of The Decade between the years 1985 and 1994 .
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= = Music video = =
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The video was directed by Andy Morahan and Eric Watson , and consists of shots of the duo around London . At the beginning of the video , noises from the city can be heard , a camera passes Lowe on the street , and focus on two vintage dolls in a shop window . Then appears a sequence of quick cuts with shots of the ci... |
Then the video shows various shots at Waterloo station , as the chorus starts . In slow motion , the camera pans across the WHSmith shop on the station concourse as the duo walk past . It cuts to a brief shot of a No. 42 red double @-@ decker bus , showing the destination as Aldgate , also advertising the stage @-@ sh... |
The camera shows shots of young women , and passes through arcades and cinemas in Leicester Square . The camera now passes South Africa House showing protestors in the Non @-@ Stop Picket , an anti @-@ apartheid vigil . The video cuts to a closeup of Tennant singing the chorus , with a purple neon sign passing across ... |
= = Chart performance = =
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" West End Girls " was first released in April 1984 through writer and producer Bobby Orlando 's label . The song was a club hit in the United States , and in some European countries , such as Belgium , where it debuted at number 24 on the VRT Top 30 chart on 28 July 1984 , peaking at 17 four weeks later . In Canada ,... |
Having signed with EMI , the group released their first major label single " Opportunities ( Let 's Make Lots of Money ) " in mid @-@ 1985 , but it failed to attract attention . The Pet Shop Boys then decided to re @-@ record " West End Girls " , and issue this new version as a single . Producer Stephen Hague helmed t... |
The re @-@ recorded version of " West End Girls " was released in the United Kingdom in October 1985 , debuting on the UK Singles Chart at number 80 , and within eight weeks of its release it had reached the top of the chart . It maintained the number one position for two weeks and received a gold certification by the... |
In Canada , where the original recording of " West End Girls " had already been a minor hit in 1985 , the re @-@ recorded version was issued as a single in early 1986 . The re @-@ recorded song entered the chart in March 1986 , peaking at number one for one week on 17 May 1986 . In the United States , West End Girls d... |
= = Formats and track listings = =
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= = Credits and personnel = =
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Neil Tennant – vocals , lyrics
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Chris Lowe – keyboards , artwork design
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Helena Springs – additional vocals
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Bobby Orlando – producer , ( 1984 release )
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Stephen Hague – producer ( 1985 release )
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Steve Jerome – engineer – 1984 release
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David Jacob – engineer
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Frank Roszak – remixing
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Eric Watson – photography
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= = Charts and certifications = =
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= = = Chart positions = = =
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= = = Year @-@ end charts = = =
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= = = Certifications = = =
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= = East 17 version = =
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In 1993 East 17 covered " West End Girls " for their album Walthamstow , with limited chart success .
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= = = Track listings = = =
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7 "
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. West End Girls ( Faces on Posters Mix )
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. West End Girls ( Kicking in Chairs )
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= = = Charts = = =
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= Wrapped in Red =
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Wrapped in Red is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Kelly Clarkson , released on October 25 , 2013 , by RCA Records . The album is a follow @-@ up to her first greatest hits album , Greatest Hits – Chapter One , and its companion extended play , The Smoakstack Sessions Vol . 2 . Produced by Greg Kurs... |
Weary of constantly being asked for her primary genre , Clarkson had long @-@ desired to record a Christmas album as a means to defy genre limitations . She commissioned Kurstin , who had studied jazz music under the tutelage of Jaki Byard , to produce the entire album . Drawing inspirations from the soundtracks to th... |
Wrapped in Red debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number 3 and topped the Billboard Top Holiday Albums chart with 70 @,@ 000 copies sold in its first week of release . For nine consecutive weeks , Wrapped in Red stayed on the top ten of both charts and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of... |
= = Background = =
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Clarkson had expressed interest in recording a Christmas album for years , having recorded various Christmas songs such as " Oh Holy Night " and " My Grown Up Christmas List " on the American Idol : The Great Holiday Classics ( 2003 ) , " I 'll Be Home for Christmas " on iTunes Session ( 2011 ) , and being featured on... |
Discussions about making her sixth studio album being a Christmas record began on December 2012 , a month after releasing her first greatest hits album , Greatest Hits – Chapter One . Having found the opportunity to do so , Clarkson commissioned producer and multi @-@ instrumentalist Greg Kurstin , whom she had previo... |
= = Recording = =
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Recording sessions of the basic instrumental tracks for Wrapped in Red took place in Kurstin 's Echo Studio in Los Angeles while orchestral sessions were recorded at EastWest Studios in Hollywood and featured vocals recorded in The Barn studio in Nashville . In recording tracks for the album , Clarkson and Kurstin wan... |
In providing instrumentation for the record , Kurstin used all of his instruments such as a Mellotron and a Chamberlin , taping them from a distance to stimulate the Wall of Sound , a recording technique originally developed by Phil Spector that was popular in the early 1960s . He enlisted Clarkson to provide all the ... |
= = Composition = =
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= = = Theme and influences = = =
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Clarkson has cited the color red as the album 's only theme . A color traditionally associated with Christmas , she affiliated the color to various emotions in the holidays . Wanting to stray away from her usual pop sound , she described Wrapped in Red 's music as a representation to explore different genres such as j... |
In gathering inspirations for Wrapped in Red , Clarkson started by listening to Bing Crosby 's and Rosemary Clooney 's soundtracks from the 1954 feature film White Christmas as well as Mariah Carey 's Merry Christmas ( 1994 ) and Merry Christmas to You ( 1997 ) by Reba McEntire . While Kurstin , who used to play in a ... |
= = = Song analysis = = =
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Clarkson shares writing credits on all five original songs on Wrapped in Red , some of which were written in December 2012 to avoid writing Christmas tunes during the 2013 summer season . She co @-@ wrote the opening and the title track , " Wrapped in Red " , with Ashley Arrison , Aben Eubanks , and Shane McAnally . A... |
Clarkson favored " Run Run Rudolph " as her favorite classic , saying " Just because it got to be a little more rock and roll . " She also remarked that " Please Come Home for Christmas ( Bells Will Be Ringing ) " , was the first song selected for inclusion after her mother 's recommendation and the song 's melancholi... |
The tenth track , " White Christmas " , was the first song to be recorded for Wrapped in Red . A cover of Rodgers and Hammerstein 's " My Favorite Things " follows up as the eleventh track . Clarkson opted for the Broadway performance of the song to stray away from Julie Andrews 's version , citing " I think you shoul... |
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