This #1 dance hit from 1993 by the Pet Shop Boys is a remake of the 1979 disco hit by the Village People. The song's title is attributed to the 19th-century quote "Go West, young man" commonly attributed to the American newspaper editor Horace Greeley, a rallying cry for the colonization of the American West, but also an invitation to pursue one's own dreams and individuality. The Village People song was seen as a tribute to the gay mecca in the American West, San Francisco. The Pet Shop Boys took their video in a Soviet vs. The West direction. The Boys weren't afraid of a little camp in their videos. This was released late 1993 when the Soviet Union had just ended in 1991. So I always saw it as a throw back to the Soviet days and friendly jab at Russia to now join the rest of the world with openness and freedom. I just love the early 80s rudimentary computer graphics. Very, the album this song was featured on, was especially popular with PSB fans and this video was all over the gay clubs back in the day. There's a joyfulness in this song that I love. The Pet Shop Boys have been the soundtrack of my adult, gay life. I had to include a PSB song on the list.

@coolhive2941

Ай бұрын

You nailed this comment. Well done, sir.

@Prafik614

Ай бұрын

After the collapsion of Soviet Union was leaning toward west. I think if they would have had a compitent leader right after, things would be very different. But Jeltsin was alcoholic fool. So yes, there was an era when Russia was going toward western ways and as you said I also consider this more like welcoming type of friendly message.

@j.k.1963

28 күн бұрын

At the time I interpreted this song as an invitation towards suppressed gay people in the former USSR, to become liberated.

@NandoDisco

27 күн бұрын

Holy shit! OMG! I’m having a flashback and it makes perfect sense now why my English teacher (because of course the closeted gay kid is gonna be friends with his English teacher) would tell me to ‘go west!’ whenever I mentioned my desire to move to NYC. I never made the connection until just now! Hahahaha! Left for NYC anyway and met my now husband. That just hit me like a brick wall and I’m dying laughing over here!

The original version by The Village People was about gay men going west to San Francisco which was the safest city for their community. That's why there's references to "Life is peaceful there", "We will love the beach" and "Where there's so much space (Without rush) And the pace back east". This video changes the meaning to a more recent theme then of Russia leaning more to democratic/capitalist/western culture.

Pet shop boys have material to react for months!! Greatest pop duo in history of music.

As others have said - yes, they were in Russia and it's a cover of the Village People song...... what I love now is that they are wearing blue & yellow in Moscow.... love to our friends in Ukraine!

Great reaction. This is a fun song, but it's a remake. For true, full-on Pet Shop Boys storytelling of inuendo and the woes of same-sex life try It's a Sin, Can You Forgive Her, So Hard, Opportunities... they have quite a catalogue.

@Malvina-qd4mi

28 күн бұрын

Si, "can your forgive her" amo esa cancion😊.

The male voices on the Go West is a collection of Welsh coal miners male choirs. The PSB performed at the Brit Awards with a huge group of coal miners.

@jonnylumberjack6223

28 күн бұрын

That's phenomenal, I had nae idea. I imagine it would be spectacularly difficult to find a choir of miners these days :(

I cannot tell you how ICONIC "Domino Dancing" is by the PetShopBoys! you must react to this track

All the singles from this album era (Very) are like this. Super visual effects. Songs like Can You Forgive Her and Liberation.

THE song of 1993!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This came out not long after the collapse of the Berlin Wall and when the Soviet Union began to open up to the West - they were there for the launch of Russian MTV and filmed the scenes in front of the Kremlin in Red Square. The song is about finding a "promised land", a kind of paradise - in the original Village People track it's moving from the East to the West Coast. Neil (the singer) is very interested in Russian history, so the idea and the video concept is plays on the East looking to the West, and how it was easier for them to "go West". It slightly backfired as their Eastern fans thought, like you did, that the song was based on the Soviet anthem, which was not intentional.

@robertfraser9873

Ай бұрын

Yes the Wests relationship with Russia was much better in 1993. ❤❤

You guys need a Pet Shop Boys list.

I went to the GoWest concert in the 90s. There was alot of politically hidden imagery and props but was fun!

Thank you both for the Pride week reactions!

Love this song and group. They are british just like Erasure and Bronski Beat that you heard this week. I think it's from 1993. It's a cover of a Village People song.

@Tsuliwaensis

Ай бұрын

thoroughly '93, we definitely did not have graphics like that in the 80s! 😄

@terrykemp1876

Ай бұрын

The Brits did, and still do, gay pop better than anyone.

i flied to london a few years ago, and while walking on the mane squer heard someone perrfforming and were them! haha free show that was nice :)

This is the gays’ version of “make America great again”. 😂 if only Fox could be half as fun as this. 😂

Football casuals loved and still love The Pet Shop Boys - dressers as well as musicians.

Soft Cell were amazing too.

statue of man with hands down and backward is a statue of Yuri Gagarin in Moscow. And rocket standing on the trace of its , hmmmm, smoke? also a statue for cosmos pioneers in Moscow. Both of them are made of titan

YESSS! The best music video ever made!!! so happy you did this one!

Disco (and especially The Pet Shop Boys) is folk music for queer people. The Soviet imagery is frankly not that important. I’ve always loved the ironic melancholy of this song. The Village People were optimistically telling gay men to go to San Fransico. TPSB otoh are singing this in the midst of the AIDS crisis.

please guys react on Pet Shop Boys cover of Always on my mind, i think you would love it too🥰❤️

In honour of Pride month, check out the version of this by the London Gay Men's Chorus.

This is a genius example of how a video can change the meaning of a song. Yes, the original lyrics harken back to colonising the American west, but these quirky visuals make it all about the westernisation of the Soviet Union. Great reaction, fellas! If you wanna see another video that completely reinterprets the song, check out "Stay" by Shakespeare's Sister.

Guys, you have to react to Pet Shop's new single, Dancing Star, a tribute to Rudolf Nureyev, the ballet dancer👌🏼🇷🇺🩰

PLEASE check out the official video of the Village People's original version. Perfect 70s gay disco anthem.

Hey guys, so I was hoping y'all would do a week 2 for MJB. These videos listed are a bit more storytelling/cinematic. I think you two would enjoy. 1. All That I Can Say 2. Deep Inside 3. Take Me As I Am 4. One ft. U2. 5. Whole Damn Year. All of em are dope. Love the channel btw, been on board with you guys a little over a year now. I always look forward to your reactions to some of our favorite artists. Also, I admire you guys examining of music videos-from fashion, jewelry, locations, etc. Not to mention, y'all are hilarious af frfr. But I hope you guys get around to checking out the list for week 2. Much love & God bless 🙏🏾 🫶🏾🤍 ..

Banger. I thought it was a rally cry to head west to San Francisco, the Gay Mecca.

That song was released in 1993. I think Soviet Union had collapsed at that point. It might be about the persecution of the gay community at that time, which is still going on today.

I never realized, but ya know, the Ukraine Flag is Yellow and Blue.....sort of makes you think.

The 90s had this nice little window where Russia was joining in with the rest of Europe and liberalising (which the Pet Shop Boys are nodding to) and it was a popular destination. Whilst less fun under a dictatorship, you could still visit right up until they invaded Ukraine. St Petersburg is stunning.

@user-mz6jh6gb9f

4 күн бұрын

только жрать нам было нечего и вымирали мы когда было открыто это маленькое милое окно. почему-то когда россия была голодная и слабая то нас европа и америка любили. а как россия сил набралась так нас америка и европа ненавидеть начали.

@user-mz6jh6gb9f

4 күн бұрын

не ври. в россию можно ездить свободно. из любой страны.это для россиян создали проблемы. а приехать в россию ни для кого нет никаких проблем. границы россии отрыты в обе стороны.

@moononastick8628

4 күн бұрын

@@user-mz6jh6gb9fwe don’t hate you, we’ve never hated you. I don’t know enough to comment on the economy in the 90s I’m afraid. As for travel, yes maybe neighbours can come over on land but all flights direct from Europe have stopped so for most of us.. we can’t visit anymore. It’s sad - a fascinating and beautiful country, hope to come again one day.

Just for fun watch, the "Pet Shop Boys - Go West (Hyde Park 2019)" version, love this version, they are of course much older, the stage show is fun, the bass if fantastic, the audience is very much engaged, and huge.....I would have loved to been at that concert. See this at: kzread.info/dash/bejne/k32H0dJxgdO4XaQ.html

You definitely need to react to more PSBs!!

This track, in my mind, being alive at the time was a *huge* FY to the Soviets. And in a funny and very poppy way.

@johankaewberg8162

Ай бұрын

A horrible foreshadowing would be that the blue and yellow prominently showed represent Ukraine, which is sort of west.

the older gays loved this in the 90's. It kicked back to proper kitsch and fab sounds, while sniffing poppers and dancing to donner summers...... Im the gen after this and was more rave, house and a good 'E' down me throat. But of the Pet Shop Boys songs one of my favorite was Domino Dancing.......

Finland can accommodate their entire population in bomb shelters , but they've been at war with the Soviet Union in 1939 and won. They're not taking any chances with Putin this time round.

So you don't know about Billy Joel's Russian concert tour... good

There's hidden politics in this. Obvious to the queer community but not so for the str8 community. Also notice the pink triangles are red...

Realmente estuvieron en Rusia para filmar el video, hay varios detras de escenas de este video en youtube y estan ahi😅.

The song is actually about AIDS. It speaks about how in America it was safer and more acceptable for gay men to move to San Francisco. The Russian iconography is included only because Tennant did a master's degree in Russian history.

You should check out Blondie (without Debbie Harry would there have been Madonna? still going at nearly 79 years of age!) they were massive 1978-1982 came back in 1999 6UK Number One Singles 4 US Number Ones including the first number one to have Rap!!!! Lyrics in US Rapture! The Usual Start is Heart of Glass!

I love this song for sure...but I might have gone with Domino Dancing for the homoerotic stuff going on.

Idea aespa songs to listen to drama Armageddon salty and sweet and thirsty or live my life

that wasn't the soviet national anthem

Although I truly love a lot of their songs.. this song never did it for me

@spruce381

Ай бұрын

Suburbia is my favourite - I’m a reformed hooligan.

Aparte de que si filmaron parte del video en Rusia, aquí estuvieron hace unos años en una radio de ahi cantando esa canción. 😂kzread.info/dash/bejne/l4yCyZeaqpfPgpM.htmlsi=FK35JJ-a9mp47eeR Los pet shop boys no fueron famosos sino que lo siguen siendo y sacando nuevo material cada 3 o 4 años. Jamás se detuvieron. Son unos genios y los amo❤.

yeah this was made in the death throes of the Soviet Union. At the time (just like today) things were not really great for LGBTQ people in the SU. Pet Shop Boys music was never ever in the closet but in the US, record companies and radio stations and promotion companies conveniently avoided the subject.

🟡🟥🔳

No one uses a male chorus like Pet Shop Boys

Wee bit disappointed, the original is much better. I adore the PSB but I guess because they sampled the original Go West clip it’s tolerable… you should definitely go do a Villsge People top 5 .

@stevenmarker8327

Ай бұрын

Agreed!

Hi, guys! Great week! I’m doubling down on @lonnylonso’s suggestion for an En Vogue week! 5. Giving Him Something He Can Feel 4. Free Your Mind 3. Hold On 2. My Lovin (You’re Never Gonna Get It) 1. Don’t Let Go So you’ll know names ahead of the game, in GHSHCF from left to right: Maxine, Terri, Dawn, Cindy (Dawn is lead for this song) EVERY girl in this group is a lead singer which I think @lonnylonso did a good job showcasing with this list.

Those are the colors of the Ukrainian flag. A coincidence.