Dissect DJs - Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls

Episode Date: August 17, 2022

We go to London for Track 3 of 80's Month to dissect the Pet Shop Boys' 1985 classic "West End Girls" in attempt to answer all the questions raised in this synth-laden throwback: Who are these guys? Who are the West End Girls? Why are they Pet Shop Boys? Who? Why? When? What? And of course- How farrrr have you beeeeennn? Pet Shop Boys are NEXT! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Dice Dio DG DG DG Think you mad Too unstable Kicking in chairs and knocking down tables in a restaurant In a West End town Call the police as a madman around

Running down Under West End town In Westin town the dead in world The Eastern boys and Western girl West End girl Still doing 80s month baby We're here with the Pet Shop Boys, West End Girls, and I'm here with my boy, Cass Steezy. What up, Steeze?

What's up, Jag? We got a super London affair right now because this song and the video screams London all over it. And the group is called the Pet Shop Boys, as you just mentioned. Why do you think they're called the Pet Shop boys? They probably met while they all worked at the Pet Shop. That's exactly what happened. She looked it up because I was curious, and I guess, it would be more self-explanatory than you think.

But I wasn't sure if there was like some sort of weird artistic choice. I was going to go deeper, but I was like, you know what? Let's just go with what, you know, it says. And yeah. So that's exactly how they met, huh? They actually met at a pet shop. Kind of a cool story to imagine because, like, you know, there's a bunch of pet shops around where there's like a couple guys that were out there and like, we should start a rock group.

Yeah. I know how to play the synth. But then they would go home to her hamsters and not. Yeah. in the back of my dad's garage. I have to take care of my snake and like some weird, and I guess those cockatoos. I mean, just because we're at a pet shop doesn't mean you have a bunch of weird pets.

That's absolutely what it does. I guarantee anybody that works at, there's nobody at a pet shop that doesn't have a pet. I guarantee they all have at least one. Yeah, maybe a pet. It doesn't mean they all have like a giant boa constrictor and like a gerbil. If anybody's going to have one, if anybody's going to have one,

it's going to be somebody that works at it. It's a good guess. A parrot that's needlessly loud and you think it'd be fun to have. That was pretty good. impression of a parrot. It's annoying an animal. I've known people to have it. They think it's going to be like, oh, it's tropical. Look at how culture it would be out of a parrot.

No, it's just a loud bird. Or you know what it's even worse than that is a parakeet? You do a way better parakeet than I did. I don't know what parakeet, but yeah. They whistle. I love birds. I love pets, and so I'm glad these guys met at a pet shop. However, they're talking about West End girls.

Again, don't know what they're talking about. And that first lyric they get into talking about some guy with a gun. It's super dark. And somebody... I feel like there's a lot. a lot to unpack here because like as I was just kind of skimming along as I was listening to the opening few bars right there. Yeah, it sounded like some dark shit that is like really intense that I was not prepared for by a group called the Pet Shop Boys with a song called West End Girls,

which is by the way what this is because we're continuing along 80s month. And we are the DJs. I like to spin it, mix it, throw it back and dissected the death sick DJs. I'm DJ Castle. with me as always DJ Jag And these are the pet shop boys And let me get into it Sometimes you're better off dead There's a gun in your hand It's pointing at your head

I'm gonna say that doesn't ever happen to me That's not on occasion That I found myself in personally I don't know about you But apparently you're a pet shop boy She gets wild sometimes Depending on what kind of gun it is now If it's a water gun it's hot in the summer

Even then When's last time you help? time you held a water gun. I will put a water gun to my head and squirt myself because I will cool myself down. It actually sounds glorious right now because it is super hot in the Fontana studio. Well, I keep having to turn off the AC and fans to make sure it sounds good. I respect it. I guarantee when this happens, the man that is known as Castle and likes to live in high standards can't handle an extra degree or two.

All I'm saying is a water gun pistol to my face sounds glorious right now. not? Does it not? Sounds, yeah. You think you're mad too unstable, kicking in chairs, knocking down tables. That's a pretty good rhyme right there.

For what they're going after, comes out very smoothly the way he says it to. Go on. What's kicking in chairs, though? You're kicking in chairs. Maybe it's like a chair that is like a folding one.

You're just kicking it down? You kick it in the right way and it just collapses. Okay, kicking it and knocking down. Or it's like a wooden chair and they're like stomping on it and they're crashing right through it, you know? You think you're mad too unstable kicking in chairs? It sounds like he's putting a party away. Kicking?

How do you put away parties? Yeah, you kick the chair down and like you're moving. He started off by talking about how there's a gun to your head. Yeah, because he's tired of working. He doesn't want to fucking work. Oh, that's what all that is. He's having to kick chairs down and put tables. He's like a party just got done party in and he's ready.

Or there was like a pet shop conference. There was like an expo. Okay. And he has to like disassemble all the chairs, put the pets away, you know, clean up the cages. Similar but different. I see what you're going. Okay. Well, let's kidding this in you.

In a restaurant in a West End town called the police, there's a mad mad around running down underground to a dive bar in a West End town. Okay. So that completely shoots. They really got into the West End town. It's completely shot around. Our initial story here of this guy working for it. Apparently there's just a lunatic on the loose. For a party company of which they're...

It's a pet shop party. Well, now they're in a restaurant. Oh, yeah. To call the police, there's a madman running around. But the man man's shooting at his own head. In any case, he's too unstable. He's knocking down chairs in the restaurant. They call the police running down underground.

He goes under the bar to a dive bar in the west. So now we're at a dive bar. You know what I think happened? I think they wrote this. You know how when you write a rhyme, you kind of get the words that you want to rhyme right, and then you put those two sentences together, and you're like, all right, I want to make this work,

so these two sentences flow, and it's like a story. So you kind of fit some other stuff in there? Well, then he goes to the next one, and it's just a whole new rhyme, so he just starts from scratch. Like, I don't think the whole story from each one of those lines is cohesive. Only line to line.

Like, sometimes you're better, dead there's a gun of your hand and it's a point of your head boom that all makes sense kicking in chairs and knocking down tables you think you're mad as you're too unstable boom those together work in a restaurant in west end town call the police there's a madman around boom those two work running down underground to a dive bar in a west end town sure that works boom but you put the whole set in the whole like story together and you're like we're all over the place pet shop boys i mean i disagree it seems like there's a guy that feels like he needs to die he has a gun to his own head he's unstable. He's running around in the restaurant, knocking down chairs in a West End town that they're

telling them everybody to call the police because there's a mad mad knocking down chairs and shit. He's running now down underground to a dive bar in West End town. I feel like you put it all together. Now we have a guy that's going a little crazy with a gun in his hand and he just ran into a dive bar. And then we're in a West End town, a Dead End World. The East End Boys and a West End girls. In a West End Town and a dead end bird. world. So now we're talking about like clashing of neighborhoods. But not like the boys and the boys of the neighborhood or the girls. It's strictly the boys of the east into the town and the girls of the west. I don't know. This is like an intermingle mixer where they're like, hey, let's meet

your neighbors from the other side of town at this pet shop expo. Maybe we should stop trying to like over-explain the entire story as we're only like a few lines in and just, let them tell it and then maybe all sometimes all the pieces fall together by the end of we're like oh that's what he's talking about it's all about a madman with a gun and he was a water pistol and everybody was hot because it gets really hot

at the west end of town yeah I don't know that's just a guess let them see it let's let them tell the story tell us Neil the singer's name is Neil Tennant by the way me roo was that part not this most classic part when the guy comes from the backside and just starts yelling

how much do you need Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold up. How much do you need? Like, what, what? What is that whole last line? Too many shadows, whispering voices, faces on posters, too many choices. What are the choices? Too many shadows, the whispering voices.

Win, why, what? A lot of choices. Oh, how much have you got? How much? Do you get it? Have you got it? If so, how often? Man.

Which do you choose, a hard or soft option? I need Neil to come in here. They just switch into, like, hair, Is that what they just went into? Like, is there going to hard drugs? Like hard options, soft, I don't know. I'm kind of lost here. I don't know where they're going.

In the shadows, whispering voices. How much do you got? How much do you need? How often? I just don't understand how they went into a... Oh, the manned man went to the dive bar. Now he's looking for drugs. The line that lost me is faces on posters.

That's just kind of like... It didn't even rhyme with anything, though. Too many shadows whispering voices. faces on posters, too many choices. I guess it kind of, with the way they, in their accent, it kind of rhymes with voices and choices. No, shadows and posters, yeah, I guess. They don't.

That doesn't work at all. And then the choices are, when, why, what? And then the rest of that, yeah, this feels like some sort of like, I'm hoping the third line. This might be one of those castles where the third line's going to bring it home. It just brings it all. And it better because at this point, right now what I have is a madman that ran down to a dive bar and now he's looking for drugs.

Can I just point out of it? out that that little synth breakdown is awesome this song has fantastic 80s synth in it and that's why we're doing it in the fucking how much do you need the synth part though and he's like oh wait where's my where's my synth I'm gonna get some synth I got you oh let me change it to a different one mate go ahead yeah let me try this one wait go ahead I didn't like that as much let me try wait go ahead go ahead Oh We should have done this whole episode in synth

Let's just try it for the next chapter Dio West End voices Why are they shortening us on that little synth keyboard solo that Oh, you did that My mistake That was DJ Jag that lowered it a little early

So the guy Did the guy Was he looking for like a A lady for the night? This one looks like he's sitting there. He's searching for a little bird. Was he looking for a lady for the night? We've got no future.

Got no pass, a heart of glass. Am I still on Echo? A little bit. Keep it. From Lake Geneva to Finland Station. Basically from everywhere, I'm assuming, in every city and every nation. Here's your day, built the last.

I don't know where the fuck this song is talking about it. You've got a heart of glass or a heart of stone. Just wait until I get you home. You've got no future? You've got no pass. How far have you. Yeah. The best part about the song is definitely those little, like, synth drops right there.

They just turn the reverb on there. How far have you? Yeah. The whole song literally could have just been that, you know, and I would have been happy with it. Although, I got to say, like, his little London rap, sort of. This is a precursor to, I think, if this had been done later, they would have tried to hit the rap a little harder in, like, rap style. And I think it's done just in right now.

Am I chirping, or does it sound like she's hard of glass rap? Of Heart of Glass. We did that song. I don't think so. No, no, we did Rapture. Doesn't it sound like that? Oh, the Rapture, yeah. This song got some rapture vibes.

Let me check out. I don't think I've said what year this is, and I know I haven't, because I haven't looked it up. It is from 19. Oh, my God. This song was released like the same week I was born. Dare I age myself? Oh, fun.

It was released October 28th, 1985. I was only... 10 days... October 18, 1985. There you know. It was a special day for the world. Because it... Grace, too,

is one half of the Diasic Dienes. How old are you, Jag? Huh? How old are you? Yeah, dude. So I like this song. It's, uh... Actually, I don't like this song.

It's fucking sucks. I don't know what the fuck is talking about. I don't know. I think the synth carries it. Kind of has a good synth, a weird little tap in the back. Do do, do, do, do. And then, West End girls.

I don't know what that means, but it's kind of cool when you're, West End Girls. You know, whatever, dude, I guess it's a pretty cool song. It's super 80s. You could feel the 80s. That's why. Bleeding from it, for sure. It's track 3. In 80s month.

Oh, Alfa! Yeah, we've been like 30 plus years since the 80s, right? Yeah, dude. So, we've come up. a long way since the West End girls. It feels that, you know what this song probably was? Is these guys working at their

little pet shop in London were probably like, let's make a song and dedicated to the girls of West End of town. And we're the East Side boys and we're coming on in. We want to know if they got a heart of glass

or a heart of stone and let them know, just can't wait until I get you home. Boom. And they're all going to go. And then we saw that video where that girl, as they're like walking, half this video is these guys just marching around London

with like their long, like little trench coat action going on. And there's some girl with like an ice cream cone and she's staring at them like, where are these guys going? And I feel like that, it's kind of one of those things where you create a track, you plan with your buddy for years in the back of the pet shop, and you're like, we're going to put together a track and it's going to be about the West End girls.

And we're going to make them all wish that we could take them home, whether they have a heart of glass or a heart of stone. And those are both bad, by the way, right? Which one's good? Which is the good version of that? You feel like you don't want to grow with a heart of either. Maybe the pet shop always do, I know. Yeah, that's a good debate.

What, heart of glass, heart of stone? Yeah. I guess one breaks really easily, right? And the other one is like, I'm a cold ass bitch. Yeah, I guess the glass one I only want to deal with because I barely fucking send anything. You're getting mad at that, get out of here. But then the heart of stone is like, I bought you fucking flowers.

I cooked for you. I did everything. I paid for everything. What else do you want for me? And she's like, you're not doing a fucking up. Do more bitch. And I'm like, fuck, dude. So which one would I rather have?

Oh, dude, that's a hard one. It is. I'm going hard of stone. The heart of stone, whatever you're just like, did you just sleep with the other pet shop boy? Yeah. And she's like, yeah, what is it? Yeah. What it is?

Got a heart of stone. You knew this when you brought me home. He has a bigger monkey. You knew that when I asked you... What's the words? I've heard this song many a time. I've never realized the thing says the back. So I'm sorry you've had to hear that about ten times at this point.

It's fun. Look, if you were playing with a reverb... If you had reverb, I'm telling you people, it sounds... How far have you been? Challenge for you, I think, track four of 80's month, we should just do the whole episode on synth. I could do that. We love reverb action.

But before we do that, dude, let's slap and see it. Snap this one out. All right. What do you got? So I give it. I feel like I've been doing a lot of three slappers lately, but we've been playing a lot of three slappers. I don't veer off of my feeling about my rating for a song.

As you shouldn't. That's right. I'm a true dissect DJ. I agree. What do I give it? Wait a minute. What you get? Yeah, okay, so you know you do it.

I've asked Justin to stop bitching in the microphone for anybody. I scratch when I'm going to the mic. What do you want? I want you to not do that. I'm half naked. You know? I also asked you to not do that. I did not.

Even that's fucking hot. And you know, I had to, How far have you been? What does that even mean? How far have you been? I have no idea. I have no idea what the song means. Yeah, I don't really know what we got out of West End girls.

Started with a guy with a gun in his hand, talk about kicking in tables. And he went to a dive bar. Yeah. And then he tried to look for drugs, I think. And then he tried to look for... And then it seems like he got it with a lady. Some birds about ten.

Try to get that, but it was obviously West End Girls, specifically. They're trying to get with the girls in the other side of town, and they thought a good way to do that would be to create a little jam that everybody could party to in London. I think they did it. And then they were like, you know what we could do once we make a rock song? We do a dope video. We walk all over London with their hard-ass long jackets.

And that's it. Or the West End Girls with the ice cream cones, they're all going to want to take us home. We're not very good at this. Next! Next!