Bilingual (album)

Bilingual continues the heavily instrumented arrangements and backing vocals Pet Shop Boys began adding to their music with the album Very (1993). As the title suggests, many of the songs on the album have worldwide influences, particularly from Latin America. After the release of Very, Pet Shop Boys toured South America and were influenced by the beats and rhythms associated with Latin American music. Three of the songs on the album have bilingual lyrics, mixing the English language with Spanish and Portuguese.

Bilingual was recorded between 1995 and 1996 at Bunk Junk & Genius and Sarm West in London; Sarm Hook End near Henley-on-Thames; Axis and Bass Hit in New York City; and the State House of Broadcasting and Sound Recording in Moscow. The album was produced by Pet Shop Boys, Chris Porter, Danny Tenaglia, and K-Klass.^[12]

Early in 1996, prior to the album's release, the Pet Shop Boys collaborated with David Bowie on the song "Hallo Spaceboy", which reached number 12 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1996.

In late 1995, the band 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 United States via both radio airplay and club play. In May 1996, Atlantic supplied 200 clubs with import copies of "Before" ahead of the single's stateside release on 17 June.^[13]

In late 1996 the song "Up Against It" became a radio hit in Sweden and some other countries but never had a release as a CD single.^{[citation needed]}

On 15 December 1996, Neil Tennant appeared with Suede at the Roundhouse in London, singing "Saturday Night" as a duet with lead singer Brett Anderson. A live recording, together with "Rent" which was performed on the same evening, would later be released as B-sides to Suede's single "Filmstar".

By February 1997, the album had sold 1.5 million copies worldwide.^[14]

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

In 2001, Pet Shop Boys reissued their first six studio albums; Bilingual was re-released as Bilingual: Further Listening 1995–1997. It was digitally remastered and included a second disc of B-sides and previously unreleased material from around the time of the album's original release. A remastered single-disc edition followed on 9 February 2009, under the title of Bilingual: Remastered, containing only the 12 tracks of the original.^[15] In 2018, a newly remastered edition of Bilingual: Further Listening 1995–1997 was released, with the same contents as the 2001 edition.^[16]

"Before" was released on 22 April 1996 as the lead single from Bilingual and reached number seven in the UK. 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", "The Truck Driver and His Mate" and the 1995 version of "In the Night".

In the United States, Atlantic's gay marketing division promoted "Before" 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.^[13]

The album's second single, "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)", was co-produced with Chris Porter and featured drums by Glasgow group SheBoom. 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". The video for the song featured youthful models frolicking at a water park located in South Florida and was shot by Bruce Weber, who had also directed the music video for the duo's 1990 single "Being Boring".^[17] The single had a great deal of radio play on release, and during the summer of 1996 it spent five weeks in the UK top 40 peaking at number eight, making it the last legitimate UK hit single in the duo's discography.^{[further explanation needed]} It was released in the US in April 1997 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 and unreleased in the UK. "To Step Aside" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in 1998.

The third single to be released was "Single" in November 1996. It was renamed "Single-Bilingual" as Everything but the Girl had recently released a different song also called "Single". Produced by Pet Shop Boys with drums by SheBoom, the single included remixes of "Single-Bilingual" and a new mix of "Discoteca". The B-sides were "Confidential" (a demo for Tina Turner) and "The Calm Before the Storm". It peaked at number 14 in the UK and was performed semi-live alongside "Se a Vida é" with SheBoom on the popular Channel 4 show TFI Friday hosted by Chris Evans.^[18]

A new version of "A Red Letter Day", featuring additional production by Steve Rodway, was released as the fourth single from Bilingual in March 1997. 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". Pet Shop Boys promoted "A Red Letter Day" with the only Top of the Pops studio performance of any single released from Bilingual; the previous singles had been promoted on the hit music show with their music videos. "A Red Letter Day" entered the UK Singles Chart at number nine only to crash out of the top 40 after only one week.

During this era, an additional single not part of the original Bilingual package, "Somewhere", was released to promote the duo's residency at the Savoy Theatre in London and a reissue of Bilingual. A performance of "Somewhere" was recorded at the Savoy Theatre for Top of the Pops. In the UK, the single charted at number nine. In the US, 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".

Notes:

• "It Always Comes as a Surprise" contains a sample of "Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)", performed by Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto.
• "Metamorphosis" contains the lyric "somebody spoke and I went into a dream", which is taken from The Beatles' song "A Day in the Life".

Notes:

• "Discoteca" (single version) and "A Red Letter Day" (expanded single version) were previously unreleased.
• "The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On" (Danny Tenaglia international club mix) and "Somewhere" (extended mix) are identical to the versions featured on the 1997 reissue.

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Bilingual.^[12]

Pet Shop Boys

• Neil Tennant
• Chris Lowe

Additional musicians

Technical

Artwork

• Mark Farrow Design – sleeve
• Pet Shop Boys – sleeve
• Chris Heath – photography
• José Cea – photography

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Bilingual: Further Listening 1995–1997.^[20]

The sampled lines in "Electricity" were taken from the 1942 film My Gal Sal and were spoken by Rita Hayworth. The film happened to be playing on television while the track was being recorded, and was not publicly identified until 2019.^[21]