Electronic - "Getting Away With It"

Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr decided to do a side project together called Electronic. They got Neil Tennant to co-write and sing on "Getting Away With It." It was a delight.

Pet Shop Boys - "Suburbia"

Today, Andrew Sullivan closes down The Dish, a decision he has agonized over. It's no less difficult for all of us who loved reading his site. Between the loss of The Dish and The Colbert Report, I can't imagine how I'm going to get through the 2016 presidential election.

In honor of Sullivan, I decided I'd dedicate this week's Friday Video to him by choosing a track from his all-time favorite band.

pet shop boys - rent

John Hughes died yesterday, so consequently the radio has been full of '80s songs from his movies. They're all perfectly fine (albeit dated) tunes, but as a whole they represent the shallow, dopey, melodramatic excesses of the era -- which I know will be heresy to those who came of age during that time. But, listen, I did come of age during that time, and hearing those songs makes me cringe. For me, they're iconic songs, but they're not, y'know, good songs. So as a remedy, how about some smart '80s music that flaunted its shallow surfaces while slowly revealing its emotion and wit underneath? Yes, it's time for some Pet Shop Boys.

neil tennant agrees with me about home and dry

From a very good interview at Idolator with Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant:

Actually, “Home and Dry” is one of my favorite songs of ours. I really love it. You know Brandon Flowers from the Killers told us that when he comes home from tour, his wife plays that song ..... I like it, I think it’s sort of beautiful, but at the time, seven years ago, it was a new Pet Shop Boys that some people had a quite a hard time dealing with. I just think it’s a beautiful song.

It's off Release, which I think is a very underrated record in their canon. (It's definitely their most romantic album.) "Home and Dry" came around at a time when I was single, and the song was the best advertisement for a happy, stable long-term relationship I could imagine. Here's the video...

los angeles loves pet shop boys

Neil Tennant, on the fact that Pet Shop Boys still have a large following in Los Angeles:

"Years ago I met Monica Lewinsky. I introduced myself and she said 'oh yeah, I know who you are, I grew up in LA in the '80s.'"

I take it, then, that she's also familiar with Depeche Mode, Jane's Addiction, Oingo Boingo, and the Cure.