Happy 30th: Pet Shop Boys, INTROSPECTIVE

30 years ago today, the Pet Shop Boys released their third studio album, an LP which provided them with four hit singles and gave them the best-selling album of their career up to that point.

Recorded in London at two different studios (Advision and Sarm West), INTROSPECTIVE was co-produced by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, a.k.a. the Pet Shop Boys, but what’s particularly interesting is that the album only contained six songs but featured seven different producers working with the guys:

• “Left to My Own Devices” – co-produced by Trevor Horn and Stephen Lipson
• “I Want a Dog” – produced by Pet Shop Boys
• “Domino Dancing” – co-produced by Pet Shop Boys and Lewis A. Martinee>
• “I’m Not Scared” – co-produced by Pet Shop Boys and David Jacob
• “Always on My Mind / In My House” – co-produced by Pet Shop Boys, David Jacob, Phil Harding & Ian Curnow, and Julian Mendelsohn
• “It’s Alright” – co-produced by Trevor Horn and Stephen Lipson

INTROSPECTIVE is a unique album, not just because it only contains six songs, but also because only two of those six songs were actually penned specifically for the album. Of the remaining four tracks, two were cover songs (“Always on My Mind” is one, of course, but so is “It’s Alright”), one had been released as a B-side to one of the singles from their previous album (“I Want a Dog” had been the flip side of “Rent”), and one was written for another group…and, yes, we’re referring to “I’m Not Scared,” which proved to be a substantial hit for Eighth Wonder.

As it turned out, it didn’t really matter how Tennant and Lowe had come by the material, nor did it matter for whom it had originally been intended: listeners loved the songs across the board: “Always on My Mind” topped the UK chart and climbed to #4 in the US, while “Domino Dancing,” “Left to My Own Devices,” and “It’s Alright” hit #7, #4, and #5 in the UK, respectively.