Actually

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***Actually*** (stylised as ***Pet Shop Boys, actually.***) is the second studio album by English pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released in 1987 by record labels Parlophone (UK) and EMI Manhattan (US and Canada).

## Release

*Actually* was released on 7 September 1987 by record label Parlophone in the UK and EMI Manhattan in the United States and Canada. In TV commercials (in the UK, at least) for the release, Lowe and Tennant were shown in black tie, blank-faced against a white background. The former seems unimpressed by a radio DJ-style Alan 'Fluff' Freeman voiceover listing their previous hits and the new LP's singles, while the latter eventually 'gets bored' and yawns, with the image then freezing to create, roughly, the album's cover shot.

*Actually* spawned four UK Top 10 singles: the No. 1 lead-off single "It's a Sin", "Rent", "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" – a duet with fellow Parlophone artist Dusty Springfield which peaked at No. 2 in both the UK and US and led to a major resurgence of interest in Springfield's earlier work – and another UK No. 1 in April 1988 with a remixed version of the song "Heart".

During this period the Pet Shop Boys also completed a full-length motion picture called *It Couldn't Happen Here*. Featuring songs by the duo, it was most famous for containing the video for "Always on My Mind" (starring Joss Ackland as a blind priest), which—while not on *Actually*—was released as a single during this period.

*Actually* was re-released in 2001 (as were most of the group's albums up to that point) as *Actually/Further Listening 1987–1988*. The re-released version was not only digitally remastered but came with a second disc of B-sides, remixes done by the Pet Shop Boys and previously unreleased material from around the time of the album's original release. Yet another re-release followed on 9 February 2009 under the title of *Actually: Remastered*. This version contains only the 10 tracks of the original release. With the 2009 re-release, the 2001 2CD re-release
was discontinued.
*Actually* has sold over 4 million copies to date.[*citation needed*]

## Reception

*Actually* has been well received by critics.

Robert Christgau gave the album an A– grade, writing "this is actual pop music with something actual to say—pure commodity, and proud of it."

In his retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that *Actually* is the album "[where] the Pet Shop Boys perfected their melodic, detached dance-pop".

## Legacy

*Actually* is featured in the book *1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die*.

In 2006 *Q* magazine placed the album at No. 22 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s". In 2012 Slant listed the album at No. 88 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".

Although not released as a single, the track *Shopping* is frequently featured as background music in British television news and current affairs programs dealing with retail business issues and as bumper music on home shopping shows. This is despite the fact that the song is actually a critique of privatisation in Britain under Margaret Thatcher, and has little to do with actual shopping. Tennant later remarked:

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> The Eighties Template:Sic very concerned with buying and selling. However I couldn't think of anything particularly interesting to say about shopping so the words are about the government selling off nationalised industries. We were obviously against it. At the time it was oppressive in London – there were these flaming adverts saying "Tell Sid", the campaign for the government gas sell-off. When this album came out many people, including ourselves, took the whole album to be loosely about Thatcherism, because you have this song, about nationalised industries, you have poverty in "King's Cross", you have AIDS in "It Couldn't Happen Here". "Shopping" is also the other song ...
>
>

Furthermore, despite Tennant voting for Labour in the 1987 election, he reflected in 2006 his hope that Thatcher would prevail regardless, so as not to "ruin" an album "about Thatcherism".[*better source needed*]

## Track listing

All tracks are written by Pet Shop Boys (Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe), except as noted.

## Personnel

Pet Shop Boys
* Neil Tennant – production on tracks B1, B3 and B4
* Chris Lowe – production on tracks B1, B3 and B4

Guest musicians
* Andy Richards – Fairlight CMI and keyboard programming on tracks 1, 4, 5, 7 and 9
* Dusty Springfield – guest vocals on track 2
* J.J. Jeczalik – Fairlight CMI programming on track 3
* Gary Maughan – additional programming on track 3
* Angelo Badalamenti – orchestra arrangement on track 6
* Blue Weaver – Fairlight CMI programming on track 6
* Adrian Cook – programming on track 8

Technical
* Julian Mendelsohn – production on tracks A1, A3 to A5 and B2

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "*Actually* – Pet Shop Boys". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
2. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). *The Encyclopedia of Popular Music* (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
3. ↑ Johnson, Connie (20 September 1987). "Pet Shop Pop". *Los Angeles Times*. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
4. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). *The New Rolling Stone Album Guide*. Simon & Schuster. pp. 630–31. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
5. ↑ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). *Spin Alternative Record Guide*. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Christgau, Robert (29 December 1987). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". *The Village Voice*. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
7. ↑ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). *1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition*. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
8. ↑ "40 Best Albums of the 1980s". *Q*. Bauer Media Group (241). August 2006. ISSN 0955-4955. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
9. ↑ "The 100 Best Albums of the 1980s | Feature | Slant Magazine". *Slant*. 5 March 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
10. ↑ Mosler, Tomas. "Between the lines – Actually". *Pet Shop Boys at dead of night*. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
11. ↑ "Explication". *Pet Shop Boys Catalogue*. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
12. ↑ "I'm with stupid". *Absolutely Pet Shop Boys*. No. 30. 2 April 2006. p. 4. Retrieved 3 February 2017. Just like we were terrified Margaret Thatcher was going to lose the 1987 election just before Actually came out, ruining our album about Thatcherism, even while voting Labour.
13. ↑ Kent, David (1993). *Australian Chart Book 1970–1992* (Illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 232. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
 N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between 1983 and 19 June 1988.
14. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys – Actually" (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
15. ↑ "RPM 100 Albums". *RPM*. archived at Library and Archives Canada (Volume 47, No. 7). 21 November 1987. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
16. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys – Actually" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
17. ↑ "Charts-Surfer". charts-surfer.de.
18. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys – Actually". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
19. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys – Actually". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
20. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys – Actually". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
21. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys – Actually" (in German). hitparade.ch. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
22. ↑ "Actually". ChartStats.com. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
23. ↑ "*Actually* > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums" at AllMusic. Retrieved 29 September 2011.

## External links

* Template:Discogs master

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