Actually (album)
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| Actually | |||||
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| Studio album by Pet Shop Boys | |||||
| Released | September 7, 1987 | ||||
| Recorded | 1987 | ||||
| Genre | Synthpop | ||||
| Length | 48:14 | ||||
| Label | EMI Manhattan | ||||
| Producer | Pet Shop Boys, Stephen Hague, Julian Mendelesohn, Andy Richards, Shep Pettibone, David Jacob | ||||
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Actually is the third album, the second of entirely new music, by the UK electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. It was first released in 1987.
Contents |
Actually is not much different from Pet Shop Boys' first album, Please in terms of musical style, although production values are noticeably higher.
Actually spawned four UK Top 10 singles: the number one 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 #2 in both the UK and US and led to a major resurgence of interest in Springfield's earlier work; and the duo scored another UK number one in April 1988 with a remixed version of the album's fourth and last single, "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.
- "One More Chance" - 5:30
- "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" (with Dusty Springfield) - 4:18
- "Shopping" - 3:37
- "Rent" - 5:08
- "Hit Music" - 4:44
- "It Couldn't Happen Here" - 5:20
- "It's a Sin" - 4:59
- "I Want to Wake Up" - 5:08
- "Heart" - 3:58
- "King's Cross" - 5:10
- "I want to wake up (Breakdown mix)"
- "Heart (Shep Pettibone version)"
- "You know where you went wrong"
- "One more chance (seven-inch mix)"
- "It's a sin (Disco mix)"
- "What have I done to deserve this? (Extended mix)"
- "Heart (Disco mix)"
- "A new life"
- "Always on my mind (Demo version)"
- "Rent (Seven-inch mix)"
- "I want a dog"
- "Always on my mind (Extended dance mix)"
- "Do I have to?"
- "Always on my mind (Dub mix)"
- Neil Tennant
- Chris Lowe
Guest musicians
- Andy Richards - Fairlight and keyboard programming on tracks 1, 4, 5, 7 & 9
- Dusty Springfield - Guest vocals on track 2
- J.J. Jeczalik - Fairlight programming on track 3
- Gary Maughan - Additional programming on track 3
- Angelo Badalamenti - Orchestra arrangement on track 6
- Blue Weaver - Fairlight programming on track 6
- Adrian Cook - Programming on track 8
| Chart (1987) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Germany | 1 |
| Swizerland | 3 |
| Austria | 5 |
| Norway | 3 |
| Sweden | 2 |
| Australia | 16 |
| UK | 2 |
| US | 25 |
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| Neil Tennant · Chris Lowe | |
| Studio albums | Please · Actually · Introspective · Behaviour · Very · Bilingual · Nightlife · Release · Fundamental |
| Compliation albums | Discography: The Complete Singles Collection · Alternative · PopArt: The Hits · Back to Mine: Pet Shop Boys |
| "Disco" albums | Disco · Disco 2 · Disco 3 · Disco 4 |
| Live albums | Concrete |
| Soundtrack and score albums | Closer to Heaven (Original Cast Recording) · Battleship Potemkin |
| Related articles | Discography · Songs · It Couldn't Happen Here · Reputation · Results · Spaghetti Records · Closer to Heaven · Electronic |