My Involvement with the 2006 Television
Documentary Pet Shop Boys - A Life in Pop

On January 6, 2006, I received an unexpected email from a representative of Isis Productions, a British production company that specializes in television documentaries, often on subjects related to popular music. She asked me whether I might be available sometime during the following month or so to be interviewed on camera for possible inclusion in a documentary that Isis Productions was putting together about the Pet Shop Boys.

Needless to say, I said "Yes!"

On February 19, 2006, I flew to Los Angeles, where I was put up in a very nice hotel, the Sunset Tower (until recently known as the Argyle Hotel), on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. There I met with the documentary's director, George Scott, his assistant Sinead D'Arcy, and several members of their crew. (Incidentally, they had just finished filming an interview with Robbie Williams only an hour or so before at the same hotel. Unfortunately, our paths didn't cross.) After a brief preliminary discussion and a change of venue to a different location nearby, we got down to the business of filming my interview.

For two full hours I spoke on camera with Mr. Scott, responding to his wide range of questions concerning the Pet Shop Boys and their music, lyrics, image, and career. We discussed at length a number of specific songs and albums. We also talked about my website and various other related topics.

After the interview was complete, we all went out to dinner at a delightful "nouveau Asian" restaurant about four blocks away. (It was a Friday evening, so Sunset Boulevard was hoppin'!) There I enjoyed a marvelous chicken-banana curry dish—I know that may sound bizarre, but I assure you, it was delicious—and a round of superb conversation.

Pet Shop Boys - A Life in Pop debuted on U.K. Channel 4 at 11:05 p.m. Wednesday, May 24, 2006. The broadcast version was a little less than 50 minutes in length once the commercials were removed. It didn't make its U.S. broadcast debut (in a very slightly shorter version) until March 15, 2008—nearly two full years later—on the Logo cable channel. In these versions I first appear about halfway through and thereafter make several brief subsequent appearances.

The full-length DVD version, released on October 23, 2006, clocks in at 142 minutes—nearly three times as long! (And that doesn't even include more than 30 minutes of additional bonus materials!) In this longer version I don't show up until nearly an hour into it, but then I start cropping up fairly often. I have to admit that I'm very pleasantly surprised—OK, that's a tremendous understatement—at how often I do appear.

The following list of my appearances in the documentary and the associated "starting times" is for the full-length DVD version. Segments that also appeared in the edited broadcast versions are followed by a red asterisk (*), although in several cases those segments aren't exactly the same as on the DVD, sometimes being a little longer or shorter:

  • 0:52:57 - I first show up during the discussion of "Left to My Own Devices," comparing the Pet Shop Boys' songs to most other dance music.
  • 0:57:38 - My discussion of the "Domino Dancing" video.*
  • 0:59:17 - I state that the Pet Shop Boys are the fourth most successful act in the history of the U.S. dance charts.*
  • 1:13:58 - I discuss Behaviour, particularly regarding the quality of their songwriting.*
  • 1:16:09 - I begin talking about "Being Boring."
  • 1:19:44 - More on "Being Boring."*
  • 1:23:59 - I talk about the Pet Shop Boys' "rock blasphemy," particularly regarding "Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)."
  • 1:25:08 - More on "Where the Streets Have No Name…."
  • 1:26:29 - A discussion of the false dichotomy of "pop" and "rock," bringing the Beatles into it.
  • 1:46:37 - I talk about Bilingual and its Latin influence being "ahead of the curve."
  • 1:47:08 - A very brief discussion of Nightlife.
  • 1:49:44 - On their musical Closer to Heaven.*
  • 1:50:44 - I focus on "My Night" and what a great opening number it is.
  • 1:51:15 - A voiceover-only in which I comment a little more on "My Night."
  • 2:01:31 - The first part of my talk about Release.
  • 2:01:59 - My final appearance: a little more about Release as a demonstration of their musicianship and a likely "stab at cred."

*Interestingly, the shorter broadcast version also included a brief segment that doesn't appear in the DVD version where I spoke about the virtual refusal of American DJs to play PSB on the radio.

I wish to take this opportunity to express my tremendous gratitude to George Scott, Sinead D'Arcy, and their talented colleagues and crew for contacting me and making this such a wonderful experience—one that I will always remember and treasure. And a very special Thank You to Neil and Chris themselves, who, I've been told, recommended to Isis Productions that they get in touch with me. I can't begin to express how much this means to me!

Copyright © 2001-2008 by Wayne Studer. All Rights Reserved. All lyrics and images copyright © their respective dates by their respective owners. Brief quotations and small, low-resolution images are used for identification and critical commentary; it is therefore believed that they constitute Fair Use under U.S. copyright law.