80s Synthpop Classics: "West End Girls" Pet Shop Boys (1984)

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The Pet Shop Boys are among the greatest and most influential of synthpop new wave groups. The duo of Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant (the best selling duo in UK history) were alternative radio staples throughout the decade with a string of hits. Their most acclaimed and successful effort has to be the epic “West End Girls.” The original version floundered on the UK charts so Lowe and Tennant tinkered with the song. In 1985, the re-mix garnered critical applause and shot to #1 in the UK, US and Canada. “West End Girls” is often interpreted as about prostitutes. Not entirely. Inspired by T.S. Eliott’s “The Wasteland,” the song is concerns class struggle and is a portrait of grim despair and poverty in the inner city. “West End Girls” is the closest thing to operatic in synthpop.