Obscure: Four decades of Pet Shop Boys
Exploring around the edges of a forty-year career – deep cuts, b-sides, and non-album tracks, where the best Pet Shop Boys tunes can be found.
Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe have been making music together as Pet Shop Boys for four decades. Neil – intellectual, observant, and articulate, Chris – stoic, deadpan, and enigmatic – their dynamic and witty partnership has yielded many of the greatest pop songs of a generation. Longevity isn’t their most remarkable accomplishment – it’s that after forty years, they continue to release vital and relevant music that reaches millions of listeners around the world.
I was twelve years old when I first heard the street noise and iconic Oberheim DMX hi-hat in the opening strains of “West End Girls.” Neil’s half-spoken vocal, the bassline and the synth-pop sounds in this song transported me to a place I’d never imagined – escapism beyond the myopic scope of my childhood. Over the summer of 1986 I listened to my older brother’s cassette of their debut album Please hundreds of times. It was the first music that expanded my horizons beyond the suburbs of Dallas, Texas – and for this reason alone, Pet Shop Boys are a significant influence in my life. I’ve been a fanatical Pethead ever since.
Pet Shop Boys are the most successful duo in UK music history. Over the past forty years they’ve released 15 studio albums, 5 live albums, 9 compilations, 5 remix albums, 5 soundtracks, and over 70 singles – selling more than 100 million records worldwide. Their singles include 4 number ones, 22 top-10 hits, and another 20 reaching the top 30 on the UK Singles Chart. In May 2022, the duo embarked on a ongoing victory lap around the world with their Dreamworld: The Greatest Hits Live tour, performing to well over a million people across 108 shows in 27 countries. So how does a band at the peak of their success celebrate forty years of overachieving pop dominance? In true Pet Shop Boys fashion, just what you'd least expect – they took a break from their world tour to host seven intimate club shows across London and Berlin, where they intentionally didn't play any of the hits.
Obscure, London, April 6–10, 2026
Obscure Pet Shop Boys was a week-long residency running from April 6–10, 2026, at the Electric Ballroom in Camden Town, London, providing an extraordinary opportunity to see the global icons in an intimate club setting. The shows were promoted with the promise to only play “b-sides, album tracks and fan favourites” – an even more extraordinary reward for the true fans who secured tickets. The Electric Ballroom holds just 1,500 people. To no one’s surprise, all five nights sold out in minutes.
As a diehard fan with a soft spot for their warm and wistful ballads, I’d often fantasized about this type of Pet Shop Boys show – a small, somber affair, Neil and Chris dressed to the nines, perhaps in tuxedos. The closest I’d come to realizing this dream happened in 1998 while living in London and working at Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley’s Westside Studios. I was home in my garden flat on Saturday night, April 11, 1998. Gin and tonic in hand, I retired to the couch to watch the BBC Two broadcast of the Twentieth-Century Blues: The Songs of Noël Coward star-studded charity gala held on January 15, 1998, in the ballroom of the Park Lane Hotel, Green Park, London. Organized by Neil Tennant, the concert and accompanying album released on April 20, 1998, raised funds for the Red Hot AIDS Charitable Trust. Alongside stellar performances that night from Elton John, Suede, Marianne Faithfull, The Divine Comedy (absolutely sublime), Sting, and Robbie Williams – I was deeply moved by Pet Shop Boys’ beautiful renditions of Noël Coward’s “Sail Away” and “If Love Were All.” Chris in his finest Stüssy SS Link cap and black fur coat, and Neil actually wearing a tuxedo, the duo’s performance was as tender and endearing as I’d always imagined. You can watch the entire show hosted by VHS Artifacts on YouTube. I’ve cued up the Pet Shop Boys appearance below.
When the dates for the Obscure Pet Shop Boys shows were announced, to my good fortune, I happened to have holiday travel booked to London with my wife and twelve-year-old son. I was going to be able to catch the first show.
“Tonight, no hits. B-sides. Album tracks. Fan favourites.”
Due to the Electric Ballroom’s 14+ age policy, I did not get to fulfill my standing promise to take my son to his first Pet Shop Boys show (technically he attended the Electric Tour in utero in 2013). With the family tucked away at the hotel in Soho, I set off on a solo voyage to Camden Town. The sun was still up as the taxi let me off near the venue. The scene outside was subdued – only a few concertgoers milling around. Inside, however, was an entirely different world. The ballroom was already packed, and the energy was buzzing. Original Blitz Kids scenester Princess Julia was setting the mood with an energetic DJ set of electro-house, Italo-disco, and Hi-NRG bangers. I took in the pre-show entertainment while queuing for the Pet Shop Boys Lounge – a premium merch experience offering one-off clothing, autographed records, and memorabilia.
I soon settled into the crowd about halfway back, in direct view of Chris Lowe’s keyboard setup, just as Princess Julia wrapped up her set. While the DJ equipment was whisked off stage, I made friends with a few adjacent fans who had also traveled from North America for the show. Before we could properly share our experience so far, the pre-show music “Music for Boys” erupted from the speakers and before we knew it, the show was beginning. The audience was gripped by intense excitement and anticipation as the band walked on stage. Neil stood center stage near a seated music lectern he’d use later to read lyrics during the night’s live debuts, Chris on stage left behind two synthesizers and a computer screen. The duo were joined by touring stalwart Clare Uchima, a deeply talented multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, “new drummer” Max Blunos, and longtime programmer and music director Pete Gleadall with his playback technician Alan Pollard, lurking behind screens and racks of computer equipment. We all had songs we wanted to hear and knew we wouldn’t get, songs we didn’t know we wanted that we might get, and songs we’d completely forgotten about that would deliver sheer surprise during the show. All of our wondering about the obscure possibilities would soon come to an end.
Much will be shared later in this story about the music actually played on this and subsequent nights, but let’s say Pet Shop Boys delivered the goods. I was so satisfied by the seventh song, I could have gone home completely fulfilled. The opening run included Please fan favorite “Two Divided by Zero” and the first-ever performance of “Jack the Lad,” a b-side from the same era. Then came “To Face the Truth,” one of my favorite ballads from Behaviour, followed by three more live debuts in a row – including Bilingual-era b-side “Hit and Miss” and a song I’d completely forgotten about, the one that delivered my sheer surprise: “Always,” a b-side from the Release era.
Throughout the show, Neil and Chris were incredibly relaxed – relishing an evening of low stakes and high expectations, with no pressure to meet them. Neil provided levity and banter between songs, introducing many of them and probably making it up as he went along. The sound in the venue was exceptional. With no amplifiers on stage, the volume stayed at a comfortable level without losing any energy from the performance. Every detail in the music was perfectly in place – the mix balanced, each synth sound and riff immediate and recognizable. It was a feast for the ears. Rarely have I heard a band sound this good in a room this small.
On the opening night of Obscure, the night I attended – Pet Shop Boys played 10 songs live for the first time ever, including a new song “I Dream of a Better Tomorrow” that is yet to be released, with many others performed for the first time in over 30 years. Across all 5 sold-out London shows, they played 34 unique songs (22 to 23 each night), including 17 live debuts.
Obskur, Berlin, July 12–13, 2026
The duo continued their fortieth anniversary celebration, bringing the acclaimed Obscure concept to Berlin’s historic Huxleys Neue Welt for two exclusive Obskur Pet Shop Boys shows on July 12–13, 2026. As in London, both shows at the 1,600-person venue sold out within minutes.
Over the two Berlin Obskur shows, the duo performed 28 unique songs, including 2 live debuts – “Party in the Blitz” and “The Resurrectionist,” neither of which was performed in London. In total, Pet Shop Boys performed 36 unique songs and 19 live debuts, with 6 songs played just once across the entire run.
The table below compares the setlists from all seven nights, highlighting live debuts, one-night-only performances, and special guest appearances.
What they played
The first of two Obscure playlists presents every song from the entire run of concerts, in the relative order they were performed across all seven shows – with the exception of “I Dream of a Better Tomorrow,” which has never been commercially released.
Save the playlist and follow Collected Music on Spotify.
Liner Notes
Highlights from what they played.
“Jack the Lad”
B-side to “Suburbia” – released on September 22, 1986, as the fourth and final single from their debut album, Please. From Chris Lowe’s evocative piano playing – echoing Erik Satie’s “Gymnopédie No. 1” – to the sounds, melodies, and arrangement, this song captures the sonics and mood of the entire Please era.
“Always”
B-side to “Home and Dry” – released on March 18, 2002, as the lead single from their eighth studio album, Release. Hauntingly beautiful, astonishingly chill, and incredibly simple – this song is in my Pet Shop Boys top 10.
“Do I Have To?”
B-side to “Always on My Mind” – non-album single, released on November 30, 1987. A far superior song to its a-side, which reached the coveted Christmas number-one chart position in 1987. The deeply emotional production and complex arrangement would not have been out of place on the album Actually.
“The Theatre”
Album track from their fifth studio album Very – released on September 27, 1993. From the energetic intro giving way to such a sweet melody, to the drama of the chorus, this song always evokes mental images of London – Regent Street, Soho, Regent’s Park. I loved it from the first time I heard it.
“It Couldn’t Happen Here”
Album track from their second studio album Actually – released on September 7, 1987. This mournful, cinematic song is an unlikely collaboration with legendary Italian composer Ennio Morricone. The underlying music was composed by Morricone for the 1983 French film Le Marginal but left out of the final cut. Pet Shop Boys kept the chorus and built the song around it. Morricone’s original remained unreleased until 1999. Have a listen:
“Miserablism”
B-side to “Was It Worth It?” – non-album single, released on December 9, 1991 – one of two singles released to promote their first greatest hits album, Discography: The Complete Singles Collection. My first exposure to this highly arpeggiated, upbeat pop song was a year before the single was released, having acquired it on the mini-CD single included in the Japanese special edition box set of Behaviour, which I purchased from RPM Records on Centerville Road, Garland, Texas, November 1990.
“King of Rome”
Album track from their tenth studio album Yes – released on March 23, 2009. Neil wrote this song using Napoleon’s son as a symbol of exile and tragic loneliness – a theme completely upheld in its lush synths and airy production. It’s my favorite song from Yes, and I was stunned to hear Pet Shop Boys perform it live for the very first time in London.
“Requiem in Denim and Leopardskin”
Album track from their eleventh studio album Elysium – released on September 10, 2012. Neil wrote this elegy about the December 2005 funeral of famed makeup artist Lynne Easton, who helped Boy George refine his look in the 1980s. She also handled makeup for Pet Shop Boys’ publicity and video shoots, the Performance (1991) and Discovery (1994) tours, and the Somewhere residency at London’s Savoy Theatre (1997). It’s a glittering tribute to the excess of the 1970s and ’80s London scene.
What they didn’t
Very few bands are as prolific or generous as Pet Shop Boys. For every single they’ve released over the decades, there are two or three times as many excellent b-sides. These aren’t throwaway tracks recorded to satisfy a record label. They’re songs written and demoed with the same intention, production value, and attention to detail as anything that made the albums. There were a hundred songs I would have loved to hear in person in London. This companion playlist collects my absolute favorites among the “b-sides, album tracks and fan favourites” that didn’t get played – presented in chronological order.
Save the playlist and follow Collected Music on Spotify.
Liner Notes
Highlights from what they left out.
“My October Symphony”
Album track from their fourth studio album Behaviour – released on October 22, 1990. This song is a mini pop masterpiece written about the Bolshevik October Revolution. Every element is perfectly in place, from the percussive beat and bouncing bassline to the wah-wah guitar, incredible backing vocals, and exquisite string arrangement by Richard Niles. It’s the sound of autumn.
“Hey, Headmaster”
B-side to “Can You Forgive Her?” – released on June 1, 1993, as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Very. The sampled drums and bassline groove elevate this melancholic gem to varsity-level greatness. It’s a reflective song in which Neil takes an empathetic tone toward an uptight school headmaster, then offers great advice in the bridge – “There’s an invitation in the post / to a reading party on the coast.”
“It Always Comes as a Surprise”
Album track from their sixth studio album Bilingual – released on September 2, 1996. This bossa-nova-inspired song opens with a mysteriously edited, backward sample of “Corcovado” by Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and features a heavily Getz-inspired saxophone solo after the bridge. It’s not only Pet Shop Boys’ most beautiful and tender love song, but it contains Neil Tennant’s most direct and poetic lyrics:
I don’t know why
it always comes as a surprise
to find I’m here with you
You smile and I am rubbing my eyes
at a dream come true
“The View From Your Balcony”
B-side to “Somewhere” – non-album single, released on June 23, 1997. The a-side is a cover of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s hit from West Side Story. The b-side is probably my favorite Pet Shop Boys non-album track – another gorgeous love song about the irony of the breathtaking panoramic London view from a lover’s tower-block apartment.
“Sail Away”
Cover song featured on the tribute album Twentieth-Century Blues: The Songs of Noël Coward – released on April 20, 1998. The production of this song perfectly captures the feelings of freedom and ascension – two essential themes from Noël Coward’s romantic ballad about escaping heartbreak by taking an ocean voyage. “Sail Away” has navigated me through many tough times.
“Silver Age”
B-side to “I Don’t Know What You Want but I Can’t Give It Any More” – released on July 19, 1999, as the lead single from their seventh studio album, Nightlife. This is one of Pet Shop Boys’ most compelling soundscapes. Driven by a lumbering rhythm, strings, and ethereal guitar stabs, the song shines and fades at the same time.
“Burning the Heather (radio edit)”
Album track from their fourteenth studio album Hotspot – also released as a 7-inch single on December 13, 2019. This radio edit cuts out an entire verse and flows much better than the album version. It’s a beautiful, sweeping, autumnal reflection on loss and personal rebirth, and features Bernard Butler on acoustic guitar. The b-side “Decide” is also on the playlist – a driving dance track containing a rare and fantastic vocal from Chris Lowe, who sings:
Do we want to fight
or do we want to love?
Can’t we just live together?
Do we want to stay
or do we want to run?
Could this dream not last forever?
“The Lost Room”
Track on the Lost EP – released on April 14, 2023. The brooding music, electronic textures, and bright percussion counter Neil’s dark lyrics about Austro-Hungarian military school bullying, based on the 1906 Robert Musil novel The Confusions of Young Törless.
Special thanks to Wayne Studer, Ph.D., whose website Commentary – interpretation and analysis of every song by Pet Shop Boys – helped me find the story within the story for this edition of Liner Notes.
I still want that cassette back when you're done listening. Love this review; it was just what I most expected. "October Symphony" is my PSB GOAT from this list.
I was there on the 7th April and because there were so many great choices of songs, I sort of remember the evening as being all my favourite 'obscure songs' - so when my car car plays something random from the full discography, I assume 'oh, they did this one as well'!