Suburbia (song)

For the song by the Matthew Good Band, see Beautiful Midnight. For the song by The Wonder Years, see Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing.
"Suburbia"
Single by Pet Shop Boys
from the album Please
B-side "Paninaro", "Jack the Lad"
Released 22 September 1986
Format 7", 12", cassette
Genre Synthpop
Length 5:05 (album version)
4:03 (7" mix)
5:11 (video mix)
8:55 (the full horror)
Label Parlophone / EMI
Writer(s) Neil Tennant, Chris Lowe
Producer(s) Julian Mendelsohn
Pet Shop Boys singles chronology
"Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)"
(second release)
(1986)		 "Suburbia"
(1986)		 "It's a Sin"
(1987)

"Suburbia" is a song by UK synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was remixed and released as the fourth single from the album Please in 1986 and became the band's second UK Top 10 hit, peaking at number 8.[1]

Overview

The song's primary inspiration is the 1984 Penelope Spheeris film Suburbia, and its depiction of violence and squalor in the suburbs of Los Angeles; in addition, the tension of the Brixton riots of 1981 and of 1985 hanging in recent memory led Neil Tennant of the duo to thinking about the boredom of suburbia and the underlying tension among disaffected youth that sparked off the riots at the least provocation.

The various versions of the song are punctuated by sounds of suburban violence, riots and smashing glass, as well as snarling dogs on the re-recorded single version (extended even further on the music video), which were derived from typical scenes in suburbia. The Please version of the song sounds very sparse in comparison. The version used for the video was the song that appeared on the PopArt compilation in 2003.

The video was directed by Eric Watson, and features footage of the duo in a Los Angeles suburb, as they happened to be there for that year's MTV Video Music Awards.

The B-sides to the single were "Jack the Lad" and "Paninaro". "The Full Horror mix" of Suburbia and the Italian Mix of Paninaro, which appeared on the Suburbia 12", both also appeared on the Pet Shop Boys' album Disco, and were later collected on the 2001 2-disc re-release of "Please".

Track listing

7": Parlophone / R 6140 (UK)

  1. "Suburbia" (New version) – 3:59
  2. "Paninaro" – 4:37

2x7": Parlophone / RD 6140 (UK)

  1. Suburbia (New version) – 3:59
  2. Paninaro – 4:37
  3. Love Comes Quickly (Shep Pettibone mastermix – early fade) – 6:20
  4. Jack the lad – 4:30
  5. Suburbia Pt. Two – 2:20

MC: Parlophone / TC R 6140 (UK)

  1. Suburbia (New version) – 3:59
  2. Paninaro – 4:37
  3. Jack the Lad – 4:30
  4. Love Comes Quickly (Shep Pettibone Remix) – 7:34

MC: Parlophone / TR 6140 (UK)

  1. Suburbia (The Full Horror) – 8:55
  2. Paninaro – 4:37
  3. Jack the Lad – 4:30
  4. Love Comes Quickly (Shep Pettibone Remix) – 5:34

12": Parlophone / 12 R 6140 (UK)

  1. Suburbia (The Full Horror) – 8:55
  2. Paninaro – 4:37
  3. Jack the Lad – 4:30

12": EMI Manhattan / V-19226 (US)

  1. Suburbia (The Full Horror) – 8:55
  2. Suburbia (New version) – 3:59
  3. Jack the Lad – 4:30

12": EMI Manhattan / SPRO-9925/9926 (US)

  1. Suburbia (Club Vocal) – 7:10
  2. Suburbia (Arthur Baker Dub) – 7:58

Chart performance

Chart (1986–87) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[2] 9
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[3] 1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[4] 13
France (Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique) 64
Germany (Media Control Charts)[5] 2
Irish Singles Chart[6] 3
Italian Singles Chart[7] 12
Netherlands (MegaCharts)[8] 3
New Zealand (RIANZ)[9] 5
Polish Singles Chart 1
Spain (AFYVE)[10] 2
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[11] 6
Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade)[12] 3
UK Singles Chart[1] 8
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[13] 61
U.S. Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs Chart[14] 36
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales Chart[15] 17

In Australia, "Suburbia" missed the Kent Music Report top 100 singles chart, but was listed as one of the singles receiving significant sales reports beyond the top 100 for one week in November 1986, being ranked tenth on this list.[16]

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Official Charts > Pet Shop Boys". The Official UK Charts Company). Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  2. ↑ "austriancharts.at > Pet Shop Boys - Suburbia" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  3. ↑ "Ultratop Vlaanderen > Pet Shop Boys – Suburbia" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  4. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  5. ↑ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > Pet Shop Boys – Suburbia (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  6. ↑ "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for 'Suburbia' (from irishcharts.ie)". Imgur.com (original source published by Fireball Media). Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  7. ↑ "Hit Parade Italia - Indice per Interprete: P". Hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  8. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl > Pet Shop Boys - Suburbia" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  9. ↑ "charts.org.nz > Pet Shop Boys - Suburbia (song)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  10. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  11. ↑ "swedishcharts.com > Pet Shop Boys - Suburbia (song)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  12. ↑ "hitparade.ch > Pet Shop Boys - Suburbia" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  13. ↑ "Billboard > Artists / Pet Shop Boys > Chart History > The Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  14. ↑ "Billboard > Artists / Pet Shop Boys > Chart History > Dance Club Songs (page 4)". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  15. ↑ Pet Shop Boys (2009-12-21). "Pet Shop Boys - Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  16. ↑ "Kent Music Report No 645 - 24 November 1986 > National Top 100 Singles (66–100) > Singles receiving significant sales reports beyond the top 100". Imgur.com (original document published by Kent Music Report). Retrieved 2016-07-19.

References

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