Bilingual

Bilingual
Studio album by Pet Shop Boys
Released	September 2, 1996 (1996-09-02) (see Release history)
Recorded	1995-1996
Genre	Electropop, house
Length	53:56
Label	Parlophone - PCSD 170 (UK) Atlantic - 82915 (U.S.)
Producer	Pet Shop Boys Chris Porter Danny Tenaglia K-Klass
Professional reviews
Allmusic NME link Robert Christgau (A-) link Rolling Stone link
Pet Shop Boys chronology
Alternative (1995) Bilingual (1996) Nightlife (1999)
Singles from Bilingual
"Before" Released: April 22, 1996 (1996-04-22) "Se a vida é (That’s the way life is)" Released: August 12, 1996 (1996-08-12) (United Kingdom) "Single-Bilingual" Released: November 11, 1996 (1996-11-11) "A red letter day" Released: March 18, 1997 (1997-03-18) "To step aside/Se a vida é (That’s the way life is)" Released: April 1, 1997 (1997-04-01) (United States) "Somewhere" Released: June 23, 1997 (1997-06-23)

Bilingual is the tenth album, the sixth of entirely new music, by the UK electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. It has sold 1.5 million copies globally.

Bilingual continues the heavily instrumented arrangements and backing vocals Pet Shop Boys began making to their music with the album Very. As suggested by the title, the songs on the album have worldwide influences, particularly from Latin America. After the release of their Very album, Pet Shop Boys toured South America and were influenced by the beats and rhythms associated with Latin American music. Three of the songs have bilingual lyrics, mixing the English language with Spanish and Portuguese.

In late 1995, the band had ended their contract with the American branch of EMI, and signed with Atlantic Records. A renewed marketing campaign was launched to promote the band in the U.S. via both radio airplay and club play.^[1]

The singles lifted from the album were all successful, with three of them - "Before", "Se a vida é (That’s the way life is)" and "A red letter day" - reaching the UK Top 10. A fourth, the English/Spanish language composition "Single-Bilingual", peaked within the Top 20.

The single "Se a Vida É (That's the Way Life Is)" peaked at number eight in the UK charts in late August 1996, having already gained a great deal of radio airplay, and secured the band their first appearance on UK music show Top of the Pops in three years. The song soon became the summer party anthem of the year for those people who were not advocates of the UK's ever-growing club culture of the late 1980s and the 1990s, helped by its Portuguese/Brazilian feel, Latino influences and a popular video shot by Bruce Weber set mainly in a water park located in south Florida. "Se a vida é" would spend eight weeks in the Top 40 before eventually dropping out in early November. Numerous dance remixes were also made which helped the track become one of the biggest club hits of the second half of the 1990s. It was eventually released in the US in April 1997 (1997-04) as a double-A side single with "To Step Aside". To promote the package, thirteen mixes of "To Step Aside" were commissioned, most of them released promotionally only.

Earlier in 1996, prior to the album's release, Tennant's vocals were featured on two live recordings by the British group Suede, which were released as b-sides to their single "Filmstar". One track was a cover of the Pet Shop Boys track "Rent", while the second was a duet with Suede singer Brett Anderson on the Suede song 'Saturday Night'. In addition, the Pet Shop Boys collaborated with David Bowie on the song "Hallo Spaceboy," which reached #15 in the UK singles chart in February 1996.

In 1997, Pet Shop Boys decided to perform a series of concerts at the Savoy Theatre in London. To promote the concerts they decided to release a cover version of "Somewhere" from West Side Story and to call the concerts "Pet Shop Boys Somewhere". The single reached the UK top 10, and Bilingual was re-released as a "Special Edition" including the new single and a bonus CD of remixes and B-sides.

In 2001, Pet Shop Boys re-issued their first six studio albums, and Bilingual was re-released as Bilingual/Further Listening 1995-1997. The re-released version was not only digitally remastered but came with a second disc of B-sides and previously unreleased material from around the time of the album's original release.

Yet another re-release followed on 9 February 2009, under the title of Bilingual: Remastered. This version contains only the 12 tracks on the original.^[2]

Track listing

Bilingual

1. "Discoteca" - 4:37
2. "Single" - 3:48
3. "Metamorphosis" - 4:03
4. "Electricity" - 4:58
5. "Se a Vida É (That's the Way Life Is)" - 4:00
6. "It Always Comes as a Surprise" - 6:05
7. "A Red Letter Day" - 5:10
8. "Up Against It" - 4:16
9. "The Survivors" - 4:30
10. "Before" - 4:32
11. "To Step Aside" - 3:48
12. "Saturday Night Forever" - 3:59

Bilingual Special Edition Bonus CD (1997)

1. "Somewhere" (Extended mix) - 10:53
2. "A Red Letter Day" (Trouser Enthusiasts Autoerotic Decapitation mix) - 9:59
3. "To Step Aside" (Brutal Bill mix) - 7:30
4. "Before" (Love to Infinity Classic Paradise mix) - 7:56
5. "The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On" (Danny Tenaglia International Club mix) - 6:06
6. "Se a vida é" (Pink Noise mix) - 5:37
7. "Discoteca" (Trouser Enthusiasts Adventure Beyond the Stellar Empire mix) - 9:30

Further Listening 1995-1997

1. "Paninaro '95" – 4:11
2. "In the Night" (1995) – 4:18
3. "The Truck-driver and His Mate" – 3:33
4. "Hit and Miss" – 4:07
5. "How I Learned to Hate Rock 'n' Roll" – 4:38
6. "Betrayed" – 5:20
7. "Delusions of Grandeur" – 5:04
8. "Discoteca" (single version) – 5:14
9. "The Calm Before the Storm" – 2:48
10. "Discoteca" (new version) – 3:47
11. "The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On" – 6:09
12. "A Red Letter Day" (expanded single version) – 5:36
13. "The View from Your Balcony" – 3:44
14. "Disco Potential" – 4:07
15. "Somewhere" (extended mix) – 10:55^[3]

Personnel

• Neil Tennant
• Chris Lowe

Guest musicians

• Pete Gleadall - Programming on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11 & 12
• SheBoom - Drums and percussion on tracks 1 & 2. Additional drums and percussion on track 5
• Robin Jones - Percussion on track 6. Additional percussion on track 1
• Davide Giovanni, Joseph De Jesus, Weston Foster & Lino Rocha - Additional vocals on track 1
• Sylvia Mason-James - Vocals on track 3
• Ritchie Birkett - Keyboards on track 3
• Simon Cotsworth - Programming on track 3
• Trevor Henry/The Ignorants - Scratching and additional keyboards on track 3
• Kevin Robinson, Bud Beadle & Fayyaz Virji - Brass on track 3
• J.J. Belle - Guitar on track 5
• Mike Innes, Noel Langley, Richard Sidell & Andy Hamilton - Brass on track 5
• Chris Cameron - Additional keyboards on track 6 & 9. String arrangement and conduction on track 9
• Hugh Burns - Guitar on track 6
• Andy Hamilton - Saxophone on tracks 6 & 9
• Katie Kissoon - Additional vocals on tracks 6 & 9
• Alyosha Zolotukhin - Choir arrangement on track 7
• Graeme Perkins - Choir co-ordinator on track 7
• Victor Popov - Choir director on track 7
• The Choral Academy of Moscow - Choir on track 7
• Barbara Tucker, Karen Bernod & Carole Sylvan - Additional vocals on track 7 & 10
• Johnny Marr - Guitar and additional vocals on track 8
• Greg Bone - Guitar on track 9
• Andy Duncan - Drums and percussion on track 9
• Danny Tenaglia and Louie 'Balo' Guzman - Drum programming on track 10
• Pete Dao - Keyboards on track 10
• Phil Pagano - Programming on track 10
• Eddie Montilla - Additional keyboards on track 12

Release history

Singles

Before

• UK release: 22 April 1996, #7
• US release: 28 June 1996, #1 (Dance)

The first single to be released from Bilingual was "Before" on April 22, 1996. It was co-produced with Danny Tenaglia and featured Barbara Tucker, Carole Sylvan and Karen Bernod on backing vocals. The B-sides were "Hit and miss" and "The truck-driver and his mate".

In the U.S., Atlantic's gay marketing division launched the single with a series of parties at gay nightclubs in cities where the band had previous commercial success. Several hundred clubs received import promotional 12" singles, and the subsequent domestic 12" and CD maxi-single releases were focused entirely on remixes. Promotion was also targeted at Top 40, alternative, and college radio formats.^[1]

Se a Vida É (That's the Way Life Is)

• UK release: 12 August 1996, #8
• US release: see below

The second single from Bilingual was "Se a Vida É (That's the Way Life Is)". It was co-produced with Chris Porter and featured drums by Glasgow group She-Boom. Remixes were done by Mark Picchiotti, Deep Dish and Pink Noise. The b-sides were "Betrayed" and "How I learned to hate rock'n'roll".

Single-Bilingual

• UK release: 11 November 1996, #14
• US release: not released

The third single to be released was "Single" and was renamed "Single-Bilingual" because Everything but the Girl had released a different single also called "Single" around the same time. Produced by Pet Shop Boys with drums by She-Boom. The single also included remixes of "Single-Bilingual" and a new mix of "Discoteca". The b-sides were "Confidential (Demo for Tina)" and "The Calm before the Storm".

To Step Aside/Se a Vida É (That's the Way Life Is)

• UK release: not released
• US release: 28 February 1997, #1 (dance)

Released as a double A-side in the USA, this single featured exclusive remixed of "To Step Aside" that were unreleased in the UK. The single was also nominated for a Grammy award for best dance single.

A red letter day

• UK release: 18 March 1997, #9
• US release: see below

A new version of "A red letter day" with additional production by Motiv-8 was released as the fourth single from Bilingual. It features Barbara Tucker, Carole Sylvan and Karen Bernod on backing vocals along with the Choral Academy of Moscow. The B-sides were "The boy who couldn't keep his clothes on" and "Delusions of grandeur".

Somewhere

• UK release: 23 June 1997, #9
• US release: 28 October 1997, #19 (dance)

Released to promote their residency at the Savoy Theatre in London and to promote a repackage of Bilingual. In the USA, it was released as a double A-side with "A red letter day". For the UK release, the B-sides were "Disco potential" and "The view from your balcony".

References