I thought very long and hard about whether to include Undertow in the series.
Technically, the eighth track on Super was never released as a single, but it is out there on Discogs, on CD, with an asking price of over £100.
It came as part of Pet Shop Boys Annually, a hardback book that was released via the official online store on 12 April 2017.
Annually has now become something of a tradition – it wasn’t something I was aware of until a few years later (and which I’ll expand upon in a later entry in this series) – with a number of the books coming with CDs containing otherwise unavailable bits of music, more often than not, but not always, in remix form of songs from the back catalogue.
mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Undertow (Tuff City Kids remix)
The other two tracks on the CD were also remixes, one being a very old favourite and the other being another of the most popular tunes on Super:-
mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Left To My Own Devices (Super Version)
mp3: Pet Shop Boys – Burn (Baba Stiltz remix)
The former involved Stuart Price, the producer of the two most recent albums, visiting the much-loved tune from the 80s and giving it a contemporary twist. Given that the original is up there with my all-time favourite PSB tunes, you’d imagine I’d dislike this take on it……but I’m happy to give it pass marks.
The latter is more than ten minutes long, and while it will have its fans among you, it does illustrate why, for the most part, I’ve shied away from featuring remixes throughout this series.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 