My Favourite Pet Shop Boys Tracks (Top 5)

5. Go West(1992)

The 1992 12" version is my favourite mix* as it brings out the Pachelbel's Canon chord progression which is great. I love the high energy of this track, which it guaranteed to get people moving. I know it's a love/hate kind of a track for pet-heads, but for me, as long as it doesn't define the duo (after all, they are more than just one brilliant song), where's the harm?

* I couldn't find this version on YouTube (but check the Spotify playlist at the bottom of this post).

4. In The Night (1985)

Now this one might surprise you as it is not perhaps one of their tracks that gets much play any more (The Clothes Show, of which this and the 95 version was its theme, now no longer shown on the BBC), but I think it's excellent. This is one of their songs, along with ones such as Paninaro, that have got that prominent bouncy bassline that I love.

3. Love etc. (2009)

It was about time I had chosen one of their songs from the past five years (but I do quite like some of their early stuff ;). The chanting is good on this track, and it's got such a modern feel (with help from producer Xenomania), but is still a definite Pet Shop Boys track. It proves, if proof is needed, that they've not lost 'it'; even despite their latest album Elysium which is a bit hit and miss for me (Leaving and Invisible, which I love, would be just outside my top 20 though).

2. It's a Sin (1987)

A true masterpiece of a song, reinvented in most of their live performances, and from that first thunder-clap you can be sure of being treated to an epic 5 minutes of Catholic frustration, orchestral stabs, and even a passage of Latin.

1. Always on My Mind (1987)

OK, it is the second cover in my top 5 (the other being Go West), but when the cover is, in my opinion at least, superior to the original, should it matter? No. It's always exciting to hear a PSB song on the radio, but this one tops them all. It's not only my favourite PSB song, it's also my favourite upbeat song (my favourite slow song, incidentally, is Frankie Goes to Hollywood's The Power of Love).

Here's the whole top 20 as a Spotify playlist (this order will most likely change in the future though).

See the rest of the list: 10-6, 15-11, 20-16.