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From: soundoftheatom
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  • I had this!

  • 1984-ROME ITALY, I WAS IN A CLUB BY THE NAME " HYSTERIA " VERY FAMOUS AND ELEGANT AT THIS TIME AND I FIRST LISTEN THIS VERSION AND I WENT CRAZY ,THE DJ BY THE NAME MARCO TRANI PLAYED THAT NIGHT THREE TIMES AND THE NEXT DAY I WAS LOOKING ALL THE DJ-RECORD STORES TO FIND IT .I STILL HAVE IT.IS THE SAME VINYL ON THIS VIDEO.THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.

  • thank you so much i have been looking for this for years!!!

  • Was dancing the clubs in North Jersey back then. This song was one to move to for sure. What a great time for that type of music. Thanks for posting it!

  • sooooooo nice i love my mom for that

  • Can't believe that I've never heard this version before. I like the '85 one better, but this is way more danceable.

  • Perfect!

  • Cowbell is great!

  • Completely different arrangements.... It's great to listen to what the Pet Shop Boys were at the very beginning!

  • I KNEW I'd heard it earlier.. thanks for the explanation

  • Nice piece of work by the PSB

  • Very Good !

  • Ilike both versions,but this versiòn sound older than the second

  • i like this version quite a lot...it seems a little less polished than the popular one.

  • The original hits the heart.

  • i heard this once on the radio back in 1985, never again...and i ran across this upload by accident...thanx for posting...this is great...and i never knew that pet shop boys were once on bobcat records, the same label as Waterfront HOme was on.

  • although i can see the old skool nostalgic feel to this version....at the side of the '85 version its pretty poor!! This sounds like its a demo version and is still waiting for another mixdown in the studio for a tidy up around the edges, it sounds quite messy and amature in parts. I think if West End Girls was left at this then it would have been long forgotten about a loooong time ago!! Love PSB though, thanks for posting this :)

  • love the original, its so raw

  • Anfang der 80iger...die Pet-Shop-Boys-Zeit...GOIL ! 

  • Who the f*** is VEVO?

  • @fluffydanny VEVO = VERY EVIL VIDEO ORGANIZATION

  • @KrissKross97 Thanks for clearing that up.Are u sailing/

  • this version is sooooooooooooooooo bad,it would have never sold a million copies,it's retarded,maybe the kids in today's generation would like something like this,because there music is just has bad as this.

  • I couldn't disagree more..

    First off this is not a HQ upload of the vinyl cut and it is pitched slightly faster than the playback speed of the original pressing.

    The Bobby O. version was targeted for club and not radio play and features a heavy pounding beat with a darker, edgier tone. The latter pop radio release was more atmospheric and thus held more appeal for the mainstream listener market..

  • Totally agree that the actual re-released version has a more polished,refined sound than this version---this 1984 version you posted sounds more like a demo and lacks the rich,mysterious atmosphere of the one released later.It also sounds "rushed"...The tempo is not as smooth as the later version...Also, this version reminds me of a track that would be used for an aerobics exercise class in the 80's. The reworked version had a more sophisticated club sound. This 1984 release sounds very dated.

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  • I agree with Curtis...I walked into my 1st club in 85 and this was the song playing and I say this is the best version...it has the early organic sound of the 80's electronic music dubbed "New Wave"!

  • like the dance version better. love the female vocalist and the trumpets in that version.

  • Isn't life funny..in 1984 I was working in a nightclub in Blackpool,UK with a lad called Tim Lowe...he told me his brother Chris had formed a pop duo and were going to New York to work with Bobby O...this is the result

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  • Awesome.......................­

  • No matter if one prefers Hague's or Orlando's production as they both are talented producers in different genres. Pet Shop Boys' melodic soul still remains.

  • Way better than the re-edited one.

  • can anyone find this version on iTunes?

  • The funk level alone on this track greatly exceeds the radio version. Im sure they would even agree to say that the true genius is in this version and that the other one is just to please a wider market.

  • @KrazeWorld I disagree the final very has the melancholy tone that this version lacks. But I love this version also.:)

  • This first version would work in club these days..well place that place new wave

  • definatly the best version of the song nothing better than the original i dont like the new one much

  • Besides the TR 808 drum machine which you can clearly hear in the cowbell and clap, what else did Bobby O use? That snare is phat!

  • This is the best version!!! A little raw! The music is better!! Great club song for mixing!

    L.I. & N.Y.C. clubs Spitz WLIR 92.7 !!!

  • This is the best version!!! A little raw! The music is better!! Great club song for mixing!

  • Can you actually get this version on cd cuz I don't like the 4 minuet version

  • I like this version after being hypnotized with the 2nd version for years!

  • Even though I grew up with this version, I like both versions equally for different reasons. Still an awesome song from an awesome decade!!

  • That sounds very raw, this was pressed?

  • @Alterstateresearcher Best of Bobby "O" volume 2 : )

  • This brings back no memories for me, I'm a 90's child. This just makes me happy and dance ! I wish I could go to the 80's and check out what everything was like. I once believed everything was great until the digital age (to some extent true), but I believe that if you give it time to age, people will be saying "oh those good old days"

  • @soulandmotown

    I absolutely agree with you. The best version of "West End Girls" ever come to be from the Pet Shop Boys. We used to hit the floor as soon as we heard the twang. I liked the (still like) fast spoken Mickey Mouse voice at a stretch.

    This song is still in my heart, brings back so beautiful memories. No doubt it was the best time of my Life

    Long live the 80's. Will never be the same

    Cheers!

  • who do you think you are? Joe Stalin? ,is not in the 1985 re-record with producer Stephen Hague.,this is the version for me-brings back- those 80 s dance club memories

  • yeah,this is the version that started the 80.s dance era for me love it ! 

  • There I was...24 years old, in a club called "The Red Onion" in West Covina,Ca...and all around me,dancing in and out like shadows amongst the strobe lights and fog machines were beautiful latinas with big hair and bright red lip gloss...and this song was playing............oh how I miss it so...

  • @MrSTUKinTHE80s that sounds like a paradise in its own right!!

  • i love this version, the better version. the 80's was the best music and will always live on in vinyl and cd's and video. i remember when this song came on listening to richard blade's flashback lunch on kroq in cali what happened to all that great music

  • Love this morfe than the later release... They shouldve left it at this one, 'cut it to 7 inch' and released it in about the same time in October '85 was it?

  • @soulandmotown

    Good memory! But I have to disagree with you. I think the re-released version is a million times better than this one. And I very much doubt if it would have gone on to sell the millions of copies it did if they'd left it like this.

    But I would say that. The re-released version is my favourite song of all time...

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  • @soundoftheatom

    Have to agree the later version sits much better.

    Guess someone got his first sampler and went haywire. Nice demo of the emulator factory sounds though.

  • @soundoftheatom I agree, I am not really fond of the beat of this.

  • @soulandmotown How did I miss this band in the eighties? this song is sweet, on wait I live in the USA, my only excuse, love this sound

  • @soulandmotown too much analog and presets samples in here, this would not even close to be a hit, but nice post anyway

  • @soulandmotown the first version was cut to a 7 inch edit and released in the UK on an exceptionally rare CBS single, this edit can be found here on a German issued CD compilation - Pop And Wave - New Romantic (Sony 987888 2).

    I've got the 12" on this video above, and the CBS 7" edited down from it.

    Good luck with finding the CD - I've only ever seen my copy.

  • VERY NICE :-)) Good old 80`s

  • Muito ruim kkkk

  • This song sounds way more upbeat than the 1986 version.

  • Not a fan of this version. I mean I appreciate the lo-finess of it but it's just not as choice as the later version. His vocals in this seemed rushed do to the tempo and the third verse suffers, which was later changed. Still good though, just doesn't capture the same greatness as the later version.

  • This song makes me feel like I'm floating.

  • Gotta love the 80's, the birth of MIDI

  • WOW!! FAB 80'S ENCORE...PET SHOP BOYS.

  • then i jizzed in my pants!

  • Real club version..

  • I was deep in the LA music scene when this song came out, and this is the version I grew to love. Nice to hear it again, thanks!

  • I was deep in the LA music scene when this song came out, and this is the version I grew to love. Nice to hear it again, thanks!

  • Thanks muchly for posting this, I love the old english 80's synthetics and this was an interesting alternative version to the main version of West End Girls we know so well. I think they did right to alter it. Slow it down and give it that spaced out London sprawl feel that the signature tune has but you have to love all the old smashing glass noises that accompnay even the most basic casio synthesisers these days lol Anyway cheers

  • Cool. Interesting.

  • Indeed great stuff. Love all the changes and breaking glass sounds.

  • seems faster than the normal playback

  • This has so many sync issues it's untrue...and Neil sounds like he's having problems with the high notes.

  • This was my first PSB record in 1984 and i was 13 years old.

    Unbelievable, thank you Neil Tennant & Chris Lowe for many times of great music !!!

  • Does anyone know if there is a PSB CD or a 80s compilation disc that has this version of West End Girls on it?

    Thanks, much appreciated

  • @dondocooperstein

    This version appears on: THE DEFINITIVE 12" "O" Records Collection. (The best 12" Bobby Orlando ever created :-)) ). Published 1996 Awesome Records, USA

  • The PSB should make it again with Bobby "O". With his new releases (e.g." Forever is not long enough" from Nov. 2010) he´s still THE disco zampano and could bring the PSB back to former glory.

  • this has to be one of the worst songs ive ever heard that was a pop song its horrib,le its jus sound fx over a hook

  • This sounds so crazy. Its like he was messing with his brand new Casio keyboard or something?

  • Ahhhhhhhhhh..........UUUUUUUUU­UUUUU ;)

  • I'm glad they made a better version. The improved version has a cool, mysterious sound. This sounds like Disco fluff, so I'm very, very, very, very, very happy they made it better.

  • @Replayability very well said.. i esp liked the description of 'mysterious sound'

  • I like the later version better than this one. But this one is still good.

  • i like this version better, the other one is too slow

  • great stuff and being a huge PSB fan I love your username ;D

  • @kingofkeyboards

    Thanks! I didn't think anyone was ever going to notice....

  • @soundoftheatom For those of us who know every b-side there is, you knew someone would remember their little experiment in acid house with Trevor Horn. lol

  • @soundoftheatom haha don't worry a lot of people notice... I just got here and noticed right away :)

  • @kingofkeyboards I second!

  • this version is the better i like ! i can t help hearding it !

  • qui a composé la musique ? c est trop la bombe !!!!!!

  • This version had moderate success in Europe, but it fizzled in the US. It took about five different versions before The Pet Shop Boys got it right for American tastes.....and it paid off! It went to #1 on Billboard Hot 100 charts in the summer of 1986, paving the way for more hits to follow.

  • Absolutely mind blowing! I have never heard this version before. It really seems to have a pinch of new order mixed in it but its perfect! Probably a dumb question but how hard is this song to come by on vinyl or cd form? Does it have any legal nonsense tied up with the producer of some sorts?

  • ooooh what a great syntee stuff... and the best song ever from this guys :o)

  • the only song that i like ! but what a song a big big song !!!!!!!

    i love

  • @soundoftheatom

    pet shop boys have produced near enough all of there own bsides read the insert of ALTERNATIVE for that.

    They were also executive producers on YES and FUNDAMENTAL and aprt from the track LONDON they produced evey song on RELEASE. They also Co-producers on VERY and BILINGUAL

  • @sjdgough

    You may be right about the B-sides, but seeing as I'm at work right now and I no longer carry 'Alternative' around in my back pocket any more, it's difficult to check the sleeve notes...

    And since when does being 'Executive Producer' on a record mean anything? Xenomania produced 'Yes' and Trevor Horn produced 'Fundamental'.

    And they definately didn't produce their first two studio albums, 'Please' & 'Actually', which was the period when they enjoyed their biggest chart success.

  • @soundoftheatom

    lol i never said they did produce them albums ! Executive producer means what it says ! EXECUTIVE they over see !

    gotta love been right tho !

  • @sjdgough

    Touché!

  • @soundoftheatom

    there was a 1983 demo version of this song pulled off of yuotube.

  • @The096757

    Oh, I see you're back...

  • @The096757

    Where the FUX IS IT! I?

    I heard it once back in the early 90"s on friggin KXLU and I remember it have a better flow of the vocal versus(IMO) I was floored in comparison to the "more polished" versions

  • This early version is much better than the later one. I bought this (and still have it) on a 12" single when KROQ 106.7 was playing it in the 80s.

  • This was the superior version of this song. It should never have never been remixed after. I have this on 12" vinyl from 1985 and would not trade this for the toned down album version. Orlando did a great mix with this song. Needs more "cowbell"!!!!

  • This is the ONLY version of this song!!

  • that version is a little weird...but cool :D

  • I like this version better than the Oct '85 release. More funky and electro

  • I heard this out in L.A back in the 1984, moved back to Michigan it took 2 years to get there. love the song

  • boy, were our parents lucky to grow up with such amazing artists/bands such as this. i'll always cherish 80's music and anything 80's <3

  • I read elsewhere that, in fact, this was recorded in 1983 and released in the following year on Bobby O label.

  • This is awesome. I have this 12" somewhere (or was a 10"?) and hadn't heard it in many years. I remember it being an awesome song in the winter of '84 and was very disappointed when the album version came out in '85.

  • nice soundtrack i sub you

  • What! Never heard this version before. We went nuts in the 80's over the shorter version. This is absolutely sick! They know they're fass. Thanks for uploading.

  • Oh Mann, jetzt weiss ich endlich, dass ich alt bin.

    Aber das Original ist die einzig wahre Version.

    Thx 4 sharing

  • Das einzig Wahre.

  • You can definately tell the Pet Shop Boys were inspired by New Order. PSO RULE!!

  • In October 1985 the Pet Shop Boys return to record a new version of West End Girls with Stephen Hague in production. The single in January 1986 is number one in the British charts for two weeks, selling nearly 1 million copies. In the United States and May 86 the group gets the number 1 on the Billboard charts with West End Girls. In Brits in February 1987, West End Girls is voted song of the year. In Ivor Novello, won the prize for international song of the year 1987.

  • '84? Wow. I first heard the re-released version of the song here in the U.S. back in the summer of '86. I did not know there was a MUCH earlier version of this song.

  • PSB's music always makes me feel like I'm on holiday in Europe.

  • Immernoch hammergeiles Stück!!! Vielen Dank 

  • The Bobby O produced tracks did´nt really work, did they? - to much 80´s "Italo-pop" and unnessecary effects.... fortunately Stephen Hague, Shep Pettibone etc. came on board! Otherwise I probably would´nt be looking forward to the PSB concert in Munich this weekend 2010.

  • Does anyone know where I can get this on mp3?

  • This version sounds so mechanical...the first time i heard the pet shop boys, my friend told me, "I got this song i recorded on cassette called West end Girls, from the Pet Shop Boys, you are going to love it" He played me the song and I fell in love with it, but it was the 2nd version produced by Stephen Hague. I went and bought the cd and fell in love with all the songs...The 2nd Album was even better and the 3rd, 4th, 5th were amassing, but best of all was when I met them in person...

  • Thank you for this AMAZING version I have not heard before !!

  • the best version of that song.Bobby O rules

  • Oh hell yeah !!! may the funk be with you 

  • i like this version better

  • This is not the original that I remember. This sounds like a remix. The original I remember which is the music visual version. Does anyone know how to get the original music visual version or even the 5 + min version of the music visual version ? The songs I have are remixes, which is not as good as the music visual version.

  • @JediKnightDiscoMike

    No, this IS the original. You are thinking of the re-released version.

  • @Rainb0wSeven

    So are you saying that the music visual version, which is the same version that is performed as their live version are remixes ? They sound more natural than this version. This version sounds like there are so many additives that it has to be a remix. That may be an oppinion, but experience tells me otherwise.

    The release here in the USA for this song was in May 1986. Does anyone know the Record Label and catalogue number of the version I am looking for ?

  • This is the original that I remember. I first heard this song at a small night club where many teens at the time hung out. Everything they played was original , new, or obscure. It drove me mad when they changed the original version just so it could be played on the radio and become more popularized. I think the original song would have been just as popular.

  • Inner city life, inner city pressure, the concrete world is starting to get you.

  • This is like the "mini version" of the real thing

  • this is my favorite version of the extended version of west end girls this is one of the better versions

  • is this the early version ?

    sounds diferrent

  • @ffm20zaheri

    Yes. This is the original 1984 release which was produced by Bobby Orlando. It has a much more 'electro' sound than the re-worked version which appeared the following year.

  • @soundoftheatom I thought pet shop produced their own songs, did he produce a lot of stuff for them?

  • @jhalton

    As far as I'm aware, he produced this version of West End Girls and the original release of One More Chance (which he also co-wrote). I don't think he did much else with them. I think their relationship ended quite bitterly in a row over the rights, and money (as usual).

    Also, generally speaking, Neil and Chris don't produce their own records (they have done some B-sides though) but in the past they've worked with the likes of Trevor Horn; Stephen Hague & more recenttly, xenomania

  • ???

  • In Germany it was first played in may, june 84 I'm tempted to say there is no '83 version but still if anybody has one please post it! I just love this song

  • @soundoftheatom

    why don't you just put up the 1983 version if you are such a good little PSB fan!

  • @The096757

    There wasn't a version RELEASED in 1983! That's the whole point.

  • @soundoftheatom

    well lead me to where the falsely-labeled 1983 version is.

    where is it on youtube? what is it called?

  • @The096757

    YOU'RE the one who said there was an '83 version, not me. YOU show ME where this mysterious version is.

  • @soundoftheatom

    i told you before it was taken off of you youtube. maybe it was put back up but i can't find it.

    it said it was from 1983 or was a demo from 1983 and it was good unlike the pre-1986 versions i am seeing now

  • @The096757

    If it said 1983 and the person who uploaded had their facts right, it must have been a demo.

    And the main version that everyone knows that was a world wide smash, was released in 1985, not 1986.

  • @soundoftheatom- The hit version was released late '85 but wasn't a hit until well into 1986. West End Girls is more of a 1986 sound anyways if you know what I mean

  • @weirdscience85

    It also depends where you live in the world I suppose. Here in the UK, it was number one, late in 1985. I assume it was 1986 in the US then?

    Not that it really matters. It's still one of the best songs ever.

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  • @weirdscience85

    Actually, you were right. I checked last night and it didn't hit the top spot here in the UK until mid January '86 (which did surprise me). I always assumed it was late '85 cos that's when i bought it. You live and learn...

    And I'd much rather live in Canada than the dump that is England at the moment. Consider yourself lucky mate.

  • @weirdscience85 this was a good one

  • @me33848- Ya this one is more funky and electric(which I love) so ya you're not wrong.. I love both now hehe

  • @soundoftheatom- Oh ya I forgot you euro's get all the good stuff first haha.. envy.. but yes, this was 1986 in Canada & U.S

  • there was a 1983 version that was yanked off of youtube that was way better than this supposed original. this sucks.

  • @The096757

    Supposed original? Idiot. This version WAS recorded in 1983 when the Boys visited the USA (if memory serves, Neil was there to interview Sting for Smash Hits! magazine), but it wasn't RELEASED as a single until 1984 where it went on to become a minor hit in certain US cities and parts of Europe.

    That's the good thing about facts. They're facts.

  • @soundoftheatom

    bitch, sorry your shitty 1984 spanic version of this sucks. the 1983 and 1986 version are both good, this sucks.

    was the 1983 version pulled off youtube so this version is veiwed as the original? i don't make the dates bitch the people who post the songs do.

  • @The096757

    I am so sorry. If I'd have known you were mentally retarded I wouldn't have corrected you. It's not in my nature to argue with the feeble minded.

    Please tell your carer I am sorry for upsetting you.

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  • @The096757

    Well done. You spelt 'knew' with a 'k'. Your grasp of English is almost at the level of my 3 year old daughter. Have you been reading the dictionary again? Little steps... But you really shouldn't read it before bedtime. You know how grumpy reading makes you.

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  • @The096757

    I'm starting to admire you now. I mean it must be really difficult for you to type while wearing the straight-jacket. And you must get a lot of headaches, constantly banging your head against the keyboard and screaming at yourself in the mirror.

    Maybe if you stopped drooling for a few minutes, the Wardens might slacken the straps a little. And if you try really hard, who knows, in a couple of years they might even let you loose with a crayon. Fingers crossed eh?

  • @soundoftheatom

    why don't you just put up the 1983 version if you are such a good little PSB fan!

  • @The096757 1983 version? you got that wrong mate. west end girls didn't exist until 84

  • Good cow bell

  • fuck all of you guys who hates them there the best band ever

  • I like every version...because I love PSB....everything they do, they do it great