| "Vocal" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Pet Shop Boys | ||||
| from the album Electric | ||||
| Released | 3 June 2013 (digital download) 29 July 2013 (CD single) | |||
| Recorded | April 2013 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 6:34 | |||
| Label | x2 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Stuart Price | |||
| Pet Shop Boys singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Vocal" on YouTube | ||||
"Vocal" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their twelfth studio album, Electric (2013). It was released as a single on 3 June 2013.
"Vocal" was originally intended for Elysium (2012), and it was composed early in the writing sessions for that album in Berlin in 2011. Pet Shop Boys worked on the track with Andrew Dawson, but they ran out of time and ultimately decided it did not fit the reflective mood of Elysium. The demo version of "Vocal" is included on the 2017 reissue Elysium: Further Listening 2011–2012. [1]
Pet Shop Boys' next album, Electric, was a dance record, and "Vocal" fit the theme musically and lyrically. Neil Tennant said the song is about "the sense of community on the dancefloor", [1] recalling in particular being at a nightclub in Brazil with Chris Lowe and other members of the Discovery Tour in 1994. The line "every track has a vocal, and that makes a change" is a reference to the prevalence of instrumental dance tracks. [2]
Producer Stuart Price changed the song significantly from the demo, removing the brass line and making it "probably the most euphoric thing we've ever put out", according to Lowe. [1] The track was finished in April 2013, on the day the album was scheduled to be completed. It is the last track on Electric and ends the album on an optimistic note. [3]
"Vocal" premiered on 1 June 2013 on DJ Dave Pearce's BBC Radio 2 show Dance Years. [4] The song was released as a digital download on 3 June. [5] On 29 July, "Vocal" was released as a CD single and a digital bundle, both containing the album version and eight original remixes. [6] The 12-inch vinyl single was released on 9 December 2013. [7] It was the first physical single release by Pet Shop Boys that did not contain any new B-side songs.
The single reached number three on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart [8] and number nine on the Music Week Upfront Club Chart in the UK. [9] "Vocal" did not place on the UK Singles Chart. The CD single and digital bundle were not eligible according to the chart rules because they had more than four tracks and were longer than 25 minutes. [10]
The music video for "Vocal" was directed by Joost Vandebrug. It is a tribute to rave culture and electronic music, consisting of a compilation of various amateur videos recorded circa the Summer of Rave in 1989. [11] [12]
The song was performed as the final encore on the Electric Tour. [13] The decision was made to replace "Go West" with "Vocal" at the dress rehearsal before the first show in Santiago, Chile, and the new song was enthusiastically received. [2] [3] "Vocal" was also performed on the Super Tour [14] [15] and the Dreamworld Tour. [16] [17]
"Vocal" replaced the original closing number "Positive Role Model" in the 2015 revival of Pet Shop Boys' stage musical Closer to Heaven at London's Union Theatre [18] and the 2019 off West End production at Above the Stag Theatre. [19]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Vocal" (album version) | 6:35 |
| 2. | "Vocal" (Rektchordz dub) | 6:37 |
| 3. | "Vocal" (Armageddon Turk Teargas mix) | 6:44 |
| 4. | "Vocal" (The Cucarachas mix) | 8:06 |
| 5. | "Vocal" (JRMX Club mix) | 7:59 |
| 6. | "Vocal" (Ivan Gomez & Nacho Chapado mix) | 7:49 |
| 7. | "Vocal" (Rektchordz mix) | 6:40 |
| 8. | "Vocal" (WAWA extended mix) | 6:57 |
| 9. | "Vocal" (The Cucarachas dub) | 7:53 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Vocal" (album version) | 6:35 |
| 2. | "Vocal" (Rektchordz dub) | 6:37 |
| 3. | "Vocal" (Armageddon Turk Teargas mix) | 6:44 |
| 4. | "Vocal" (The Cucarachas mix) | 8:06 |
| 5. | "Vocal" (JRMX Club mix) | 7:59 |
| 6. | "Vocal" (Nacho Chapado & Ivan Gomez mix) | 7:49 |
| 7. | "Vocal" (Rektchordz mix) | 6:40 |
| 8. | "Vocal" (WAWA extended mix) | 6:57 |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music history in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records.
Neil Francis Tennant is an English singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo the Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for Smash Hits, and assistant editor for the magazine in the mid-1980s.
English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys have released 15 studio albums, five live albums, nine compilation albums, four remix albums, five soundtrack albums, four extended plays and over seventy singles. The duo's debut single, "West End Girls", was first released in 1984 but failed to chart in most regions. However, the song was entirely re-recorded in late 1985, and this newly recorded version became their first number-one single, topping the UK Singles Chart, Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Singles Chart. Parlophone released the duo's debut album, Please, in the United Kingdom in March 1986. It peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). It also peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200 in the United States and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The following summer they released "It's a Sin", the lead single from their second album, Actually. The single became another UK number one and also reached number nine in the US. This was followed by "What Have I Done to Deserve This?", with Dusty Springfield, which peaked at number two in both the UK and US. In the summer of 1987, the Pet Shop Boys recorded a cover of Brenda Lee's song "Always on My Mind", which became their third UK number-one single over Christmas 1987. This was followed by another UK number one, "Heart", in spring 1988. The album Actually was released in September 1987, peaked at number two in the UK and was certified three-times platinum by the BPI.
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"Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their debut studio album, Please (1986). It was released as a single in 1985 and re-recorded and reissued in 1986, gaining greater popularity in both the United Kingdom and United States with its second release, reaching number 11 on the UK Singles Chart and number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100. After the song was featured in a Super Bowl ad in February 2021, it re-entered the charts, claiming the number one spot on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales.
"Paninaro" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, originally a B-side to the 1986 single "Suburbia". In 1995, a re-recording titled "Paninaro '95" was released to a wider market, to promote the duo's B-side compilation album Alternative, though only the original version was included on the compilation.
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The Electric Tour was synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys' 2013–15 world tour in support of their two albums Elysium and Electric. The first leg started on 22 March and ended in October in Mexico. The second leg of the tour was announced in January 2014, starting at the Coachella festival in California in April. A third leg of the tour was announced in February 2015, starting at the Festival Contempopranea in Badajoz, Spain. Notably, the tour was announced on 5 December 2012 even before the announcement of Electric, the album bearing the same name with the tour.
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