Disco (Pet Shop Boys album)

Disco
Remix album by Pet Shop Boys
Released	17 November 1986 (1986-11-17)
Recorded	1985–1986
Genre	Synth-pop dance-pop disco
Length	46:02
Label	Parlophone
Producer	Pet Shop Boys Phil Harding Julian Mendelsohn J. J. Jeczalik Nicholas Froome Stephen Hague
Pet Shop Boys chronology
Please (1986) Disco (1986) Actually (1987)

Disco is the first remix album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 17 November 1986 ^[1] by Parlophone in the United Kingdom and by EMI America Records in the United States. Disco consists of remixes of tracks from the band's debut album Please and its respective B-sides. The album includes remixes by Arthur Baker, Shep Pettibone and Pet Shop Boys themselves.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Q	[3]
Record Mirror	[4]
Robert Christgau	B [5]
Sounds	[6]

Roger Holland of Sounds observed: "...you really can't blame the quite excellent synthetic pop combo Pet Shop Boys for taking six tracks off their 'Please' album and selling us a disco remix set of both quality and distinction just in time for Xmas. However, you can wonder whether it was wise? Despite the instant pop insistency of tracks like 'Opportunities' and 'Suburbia' — and despite the fact that these pleasurably long dance treatments will delight anyone who loved early Soft Cell — you can't help but thinking that perhaps this follow up to a chart topping debut album should have contained at least a couple of new songs. But suspend your cynicism for three quarters of an hour and accept 'DISCO' on its own terms". ^[6]

Ira Robbins of Trouser Press commented on "the crassness of their motives" and critiqued several tracks: "the dreamy "Love Comes Quickly" (botched by the incongruous ticking sequencers) and the sarcastic "Suburbia," subtitled here "The Full Horror" and loaded with barking dogs and other ambient ephemera. A crackling snare drum on "West End Girls" is likewise an extraneous annoyance". ^[7]

Danny Van Emden of Music Week felt that the "West End Girls" remix "actually improves on their debut number one version" and said of Disco: "... this is not your average remix cash-in after a few hits. This specially priced 45-minute six-tracker is definitely a cut above the rest with inventive play-loud remixes by Shep Pettibone, Arthur Baker and others". He concluded, it "neatly reveals how the PSB have grown into something bigger than you dared to hope". ^[8] Eleanor Levy of Record Mirror wrote: "This opportunist LP of remixes of six of the tracks from the 'Please' album is slick, lively and impeccably classy. You smile, you tap your foot — you grudgingly admit that these Pet Shop Boys are probably the best top drawer pop group of the moment". ^[4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, except where noted.

Side one

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"In the Night"	Pet Shop Boys Phil Harding Baker [a]	6:25
2.	"Suburbia"	Mendelsohn	8:55
3.	"Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)"	J. J. Jeczalik Nicholas Froome Miller [a] Latin Rascals [a]	5:29

Side two

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Paninaro"	Pet Shop Boys David Jacob [a]	8:35
2.	"Love Comes Quickly" (Tennant, Lowe, Stephen Hague)	Hague Pettibone [a]	7:35
3.	"West End Girls"	Hague Pettibone [a]	9:03
Total length:			46:02

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies the remix producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from CD liner notes. ^[9]

• Arthur Baker – remixing (1)
• Julian Mendelsohn – mixing (2), producer (2)
• Ron Dean Miller – remixing (3)
• Latin Rascals – remixing (3)
• Pet Shop Boys – remixing (4), producers (1, 4)
• David Jacob – remixing (4), engineer (4)
• Shep Pettibone – remixing (5–6)
• Phil Harding – producer (1), engineer (1)
• Andy Richards – Fairlight (2)
• Gary Barnacle – saxophone (2)
• J. J. Jeczalik – producer (3)
• Nicholas Froome – producer (3)
• Blue Weaver – additional keyboards (3)
• Khris Kallis – additional keyboards (3)
• Adrien Cook – Fairlight (4)
• Stephen Hague – producer (5, 6)
• Andy Mackay – saxophone (5)
• Mark Farrow – sleeve

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Disco Chart (1986–1987) Peak position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [10] 17 Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [11] 83 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [12] 16 European Albums ( Music & Media ) [13] 16 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [14] 10 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [15] 19 Spanish Albums (AFYVE) [16] 10 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [17] 33 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [18] 18 UK Albums (OCC) [19] 15 US Billboard 200 [20] 95 US Dance Club Songs ( Billboard ) [21] 12 US Dance Singles Sales ( Billboard ) [22] 36

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Disco Chart (1987) Position European Albums (Music & Media) [23] 59 UK Albums (Gallup) [24] 91

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for Disco

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Brazil	—	110,000 [25]
Germany (BVMI) [26]	Gold	250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [27]	Platinum	300,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Smith, Robin (15 November 1986). "News Digest". Record Mirror . p. 24. ISSN   0144-5804.
2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Disco – Pet Shop Boys". AllMusic . Retrieved 19 February 2020.
3. Noyer, Paul Du (December 1986). "Pet Shop Boys: Disco One". Q . No. 3. pp. 108–109.
4. Levy, Eleanor (29 November 1986). "Albums" (PDF). Record Mirror . p. 12. ISSN   0144-5804 – via World Radio History.
5. Christgau, Robert. "Pet Shop Boys". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
6. Holland, Roger (29 November 1986). "Albums" (PDF). Sounds . p. 26. ISSN   0144-5774 – via World Radio History.
7. Robbins, Ira, ed. (1991). Trouser Press Record Guide (4th ed.). New York: Collier Books. p. 497. ISBN   0020363613.
8. Van Emden, Danny (29 November 1986). "LP Reviews" (PDF). Music Week. London. p. 22. Retrieved 21 December 2025– via World Radio History.
9. Pet Shop Boys (1986). Disco (CD liner notes). Parlophone. CDP 7 46450 2.
10. "Austriancharts.at – Pet Shop Boys – Disco" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
11. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0780". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
12. "Dutchcharts.nl – Pet Shop Boys – Disco" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
13. "European Hot 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 4, no. 4. 31 January 1987. p. 23. OCLC   29800226 – via World Radio History.
14. "Offiziellecharts.de – Pet Shop Boys – Disco" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
15. "Charts.nz – Pet Shop Boys – Disco". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
16. Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. ISBN   84-8048-639-2.
17. "Swedishcharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Disco". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
18. "Swisscharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Disco". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
19. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
20. "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
21. "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
22. "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
23. "European Charts of the Year 1987 – Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 4, no. 51/52. 26 December 1987. p. 35. OCLC   29800226 – via World Radio History.
24. "Gallup Year End Charts 1987 – Albums" (PDF). Record Mirror . 23 January 1988. p. 37. ISSN   0144-5804 – via World Radio History.
25. Fucuta, Brenda (9 December 1994). "Discografia marcada pela 'dance music'". Jornal do Brasil (in Portuguese). No. 245. p. 38. Retrieved 26 April 2020– via Hemeroteca Digital Brasileira.
26. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Pet Shop Boys; 'Disco')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie . Retrieved 26 April 2020.
27. "British album certifications – Pet Shop Boys – Disco". British Phonographic Industry. 15 January 1988. Retrieved 20 January 2022.