46. “London”
45. "Together"
44. "Numb"
43. "Beautiful People"
42. "Integral"
41. "Did You See Me Coming?"
40. "Absolutely Fabulous"
39. "Minimal"
38. "Was It Worth It?"
37. "Home and Dry"
36. "Yesterday, When I Was Mad"
35. "Miracles"
34. "Single-bilingual"
33. "I Get Along"
32. "Jealousy"
31. "I'm With Stupid"
30. "Somewhere"
29. "Before"
28. "I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore"
27. "Suburbia"
26. "Love Etc."
25. "DJ Culture"
24. "Love Comes Quickly"
23. "Liberation"
22. "New York City Boy"
21. "Heart"
20. "Flamboyant"
19. "It's Alright"
18. "It's a Sin"
17. "Se a Vida E"
16. "Paninaro '95"
15. "West End Girls"
14. "A Red Letter Day"
13. "Where the Streets Have No Name / I Can't Take My Eyes Off You"
12. "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing"
11. "So Hard"
10. "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk"
9. "Domino Dancing"
8. "Can You Forgive Her?"
7. "Go West"
6. "Opportunities"
5. "Left to My Own Devices"
4. "Being Boring"
3. "Rent"
2. "Always On My Mind"
1. "What Have I Done to Deserve This?"
Chris Randle is a writer from Toronto and a member of the group blog Back to the World. He recently sang "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" at karaoke with a friend dressed up as Dusty Springfield.
Andrew Sullivan bait
@Miles Klee Andrew's the only person who has ever made me feel slightly embarrassed by my PSB obsession.
You nailed #1 and #2, so carry on!
@Clarence Rosario: Yes, but "It's a Sin" needs to be in the top 10.
@Clarence Rosario Oh c'mon give him the top four. Spot. On.
@Bittersweet Agreed. I'd also like to see New York City Boy and Yesterday, When I Was Mad higher. But the 1-2 finish forgives a lot of sins.
@Clarence Rosario : So thoughtful and supportive! So agreable with the proffered list of Important Songs Of One's Youth! Where is the rancorous commentary of yesteryear? Whence the "HOW THE F... no WAY is that NUMBER FIVE" and the "oh WHAT THE HELL EVER" of listicles past? Ou sont les angrily-commented listicles d'antan?
Wake me when you do "Walk Among Us, In Order". Actually, the shattering crockery and shrieks of rage will probably do that anyway.
@Gef the Talking Mongoose The Pet Shop Boys always brings out the softer side of me, what can I say?
"Out Of Step, In Order": go!
Not a single, but the ballsiest and funniest Pet Shop Boys song might well be their Eminem-is-gay track, "The Night I Fell in Love."
Why is the fey assistant from Ugly Betty in this picture?
Where is "King's Cross"? Otherwise, very good.
Good list. But: How can "West End Girls" not be #1? And I say that not as as PSB dilettante, but a hardcore fan. It totally defined the PSB image and mystique, and epitomized pretentious New Wave Euro-cool to me back in 1985... and still does.
But I don't really think of them in singles terms. So many of my favorites of theirs are album cuts or B-sides. "Two Divided by Zero", "Dreaming of the Queen", "Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend", etc., etc.
And does anyone remember that they did a whole techno EP in the early '90s? It was really pretty good!
@Max Clarke: Sigh. I love "Dreaming of the Queen" - I'm going to listen to that right now. And probably cry.
@Max Clarke It was a brilliant beginning, but they really did get much better, did they not?
I am ashamed to admit until today I have never owned any PSB. (What? They were always on my mind -- and the PA.) Fixing this now.
Another 'Dreaming Of The Queen' fan here too. Also 'Up Against It' and 'I Want A Dog' and too many others to list.
Can't quibble too much with #1 - Dusty! - but Can You Forgive Her? (especially after seeing them do it live and the hearing the massed gay voices heartily shout "you dance to disco and you don't like rock") Heart, Suburbia, It's a Sin, and - yes - West End Girls should all be higher.
@dntsqzthchrmn I'll admit that the lyrics of "West End Girls" are mostly clever nonsense. But so very clever.
Neil's songwriting prowess has definitely grown (with occasional lapses).
Not entirely nonsense. There is (or was, it closed a few years ago) a place called the Dive Bar in London, I used to drink there a lot. Little bar under a pub in Chinatown with a very camp bar staff.
There's really abundance of riches when it comes to the back catalog of the PSB. I tend to prefer their 90's output to their high-voltage 80's singles. But "Tonight Is Forever" is definitely a desert island disc for me. (Technically not a single but Liza did a cover version!)
@SeaBassTian Speaking of PSB + Liza -- have you seen this gem? I just discovered it last week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDK3gjluHxo
I admit it -- that image made me yawn.
"King's Cross" is one of my very favourite PSB songs, but they never released it as a single. There's a bunch of album cuts that would have ended up in the higher reaches here, actually - "Dreaming of the Queen," "Up Against It," "This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave," even some of the great B-sides like "The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On."
@Chris Randle@twitter Really??! How could that not have been a single? Okay, I forgive. p.s. I agree with others about "It's a Sin" being higher up tho'.
Numb should be much higher than 44. It might be one of the best songs ever written.
@Aatom And the AbFab song is total shite, and doesn't even belong on this list, honestly.
The End of the World.
@Craig Brownson Oops, not a single, just my favorite. I'll show myself out.
Please compare and contrast with:
http://www.popjustice.com/forum/index.php?topic=29408.210
I love the album version of It's Alright. I've always been baffled as to why Neil apparently prefers the single edit on Discography. It's all flattened out and assy.
And I also love Can You Forgive Her?, if you couldn't already tell....
I'm saddened that nobody seems to love "Jealousy" the way I love "Jealousy."
"Go West" still makes me cry. Why do I always "Go East? "
I'm okay with "Being Boring" being number 4. Cheers and thanks for this list!
thank... great
I hope you thought long and hard before placing Suburbia so low down.