Past PSB Survey Results - 2004 Surveys

This page presents the results of surveys I've conducted in the year 2004. The results of surveys conducted in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 appear on separate pages.

Note: I do vote in my own surveys—and, yes, I vote only once. More often than not, what I vote for doesn't come in first place. In the results below, the symbol ¤ appears after the item(s) that I voted for in each survey.

Of all the songs that the Pet Shop Boys have written for other performers but which they haven't yet officially released in their own renditions, which would you most like for them to release in a "PSB version"?

21.6% - In Private
14.9% - For All of Us
08.1% - Call Me Old-Fashioned
07.4% - Jack and Jill Party
06.1% - Don't Drop Bombs
05.4% - Daydreaming
05.4% - It's Just My Little Tribute to Caligula, Darling
05.4% - Out of My System
04.1% - Run Girl Run!
03.4% - I Can't Say Goodnight
03.4% - I Want You Now
03.4% - If There Was Love ¤
03.4% - Love Life
02.7% - My Night
02.0% - All or Nothing
02.0% - Occupy Your Mind
01.4% - Something Special
00.0% - Nine Out of Ten

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So far the Pet Shop Boys have released only one Christmas song: their own "It Doesn't Often Snow at Christmas." Would you like for them to record and release any other Christmas songs?

32.5% - Only if once again they write an original.
25.4% - Maybe—but first they should finally release "It Doesn't Often Snow at Christmas" into general distribution!
16.8% - No—absolutely not!
15.2% - Yes. In fact, an entire Christmas album would be nice!
08.1% - Only if this time it's a secular "Christmas standard" given the "PSB treatment." ¤
02.0% - Only if it's a religious Christmas hymn given the "PSB treatment."

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In general, what is your favorite type of remix?

39.7% - Radically different arrangement with a change in style, but the basic structure of the song is unchanged.
  Examples: "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously" video mix; "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing" single mix 
20.1% - Subtly but noticeably different arrangement, though in the same general style; despite this, the song itself is essentially the same as the original
  Examples: "A Red Letter Day" and "Flamboyant" single mixes 
17.8% - Basically the same arrangement as the original, but lengthened and perhaps slightly embellished ¤
  Examples: "Being Boring" and "Jealousy" extended mixes 
10.7% - "I don't think I can generalize about this"
08.4% - Radical change in arrangement and style with significant changes in the song itself, including the chord structure and deletion of some lyrics, but the song is still recognizable
  Examples: "Can You Forgive Her?" Rollo Remix; "A Red Letter Day" Basement Jaxx Vocal Mix 
03.3% - Radical change in all aspects of the song, including the melody, to the point that it's a stretch even to call it the same song anymore
  Examples: "Liberation" E-Smoove and Murk remixes; "A Red Letter Day" Trouser Enthusiasts Congo Dongo Dubstramental

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On the average, about how often do you hear music by the Pet Shop Boys played on the radio?*

31.7% - Never—because I seldom if ever listen to the radio
23.4% - Less than once per month—and then it's almost always "West End Girls" ¤
12.7% - About once per month
11.7% - Never, even though I do often listen to the radio
10.2% - Two or three times per month
04.4% - About once per week
04.4% - Several times per week
01.5% - Every day, or close to it

*I purposely chose a time "between singles" to ask this question so that there would be more or less a "level playing field" worldwide. That is, new singles would skew the results in countries in which new PSB singles are much more likely to receive radio airplay. But at a time like this when there are no new PSB singles, every PSB song is, in effect, an "oldie," regardless of where it's played. Seeing as how even a relatively recent song like "Flamboyant" is now an oldie, this question, in a sense, asked the voters how often they hear PSB oldies played on the radio.

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Do you think they'll put you in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame?
          – from "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?"

The Pet Shop Boys will become eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009.* Do you think they will be inducted—if not right away, then eventually?

35.0% - No, although they should be ¤
27.2% - No, and they shouldn't be, either**
20.0% - Yes, within the first year or two of their eligibility
17.8% - Yes, eventually, but not right away

*Artists become eligible 25 years after the release of their first record. The first PSB record (the original "Bobby O version" of "West End Girls") came out in 1984, so they become eligible in 2009. The official Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website describes the induction process as follows: "The Foundation’s nominating committee, composed of rock and roll historians, selects nominees each year in the Performer category. Ballots are then sent to an international voting body of about 1,000 rock experts. Those performers who receive the highest number of votes, and more than 50 percent of the vote, are inducted." Incidentally, it was only after I started this poll that a site visitor brought to my attention the fact that recently the U.K. instituted its own Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But this poll is focusing on the original based in Cleveland, Ohio.

**Regardless of why these voters thought they shouldn't be inducted—either because they felt the Pet Shop Boys don't deserve it, because they "don't do rock and roll," or because they and/or the Boys themselves dislike the very concept of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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If you could pick only ten albums to have with you on a "desert island" (where you conveniently had a battery-operated CD player and enough batteries to last a very long time), how many of those ten albums would be by the Pet Shop Boys? (A multi-disc set, such as Alternative or PopArt, counts as one album.)

25.2% - 2 albums ¤*
23.3% - 1 album
16.6% - 3 albums
09.2% - 5 albums
08.6% - All 10 albums
06.7% - 4 albums
03.7% - 6 albums
02.5% - 7 albums
01.8% - 0 (none)
01.8% - 9 albums
00.6% - 8 albums

*In case you're wondering, the two PSB albums that I would insist on having with me are Very (my favorite) and PopArt (to have the singles from the other albums). Considering that "2" was also the choice of the plurality of voters, I suspect that many followed a similar pattern—choosing their favorite PSB studio album plus a hits collection. Just for the record, the other artists that I'd want represented on my desert island (with one album each) are the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Bee Gees, Erasure, Madonna, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, and Rufus Wainwright. In each case except for Wainwright it would be a "best of" collection—a multi-disc set if one is available. For example, the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations five-disc boxed set would do very nicely. For Wainwright (who hasn't yet put out such a collection) it would be his marvelous album Want One.

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With their new single "Sunrise," Duran Duran seems on the verge of enjoying their second major U.S. comeback since their eighties heyday (their first being in 1993 with the hits "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone"). What do you think is the primary reason that this sort of U.S. comeback has so far eluded the Pet Shop Boys?

25.4% - Because most Americans don't "get" the Pet Shop Boys and find them confusing, whereas with Duran Duran there's not much to "get" ¤
17.2% - Because Duran Duran isn't thought of as a "gay band"
12.4% - Because Duran Duran is a more guitar-oriented band, which is more appealing to the general U.S. audience
11.5% - Because contemporary pop-music radio in the U.S. is a wasteland of tastelessness
10.5% - Because Duran Duran has always had a much larger fanbase in the U.S. than PSB
09.6% - Because Duran Duran has received much better record label promotion and support in the U.S. than PSB
07.7% - For some other reason not listed here.*
02.4% - Because Duran Duran isn't considered a "dance music" band
01.9% - Because Simon LeBon is a better and/or sexier frontman than Neil
01.0% - Because Duran Duran tours more
00.5% - Because Duran Duran's post-eighties music has been better than PSB's

*Some of those who selected "For some other reason not listed here" provided the following explanations:
• "Duran Duran have basically 'reformed' and have clearly generated an interest to their classic, early 1980s, lineup. Their new single reflects the style of their early hits and so has attracted many of their older fans, but whether this interest will be long-term or is just passing notalgia remains to be seen."
• One voter listed several reasons for the Duran Duran comeback without indicating any one of them as being primary: touring, nostalgia, "build[ing] expectation by waiting extremely long before releasing anything new," and "the activity of the fans."
• Another voter felt that there were already indications that Duran Duran wouldn't be enjoying very much of a comeback this time around, but rather merely a fleeting wave of nostalgia.

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Think ahead to the future, to a time at least a full decade after the end of the Pet Shop Boys' career. In terms of their legacy to popular music, how do you think the Pet Shop Boys will be—rightly or wrongly—most remembered? (Please select up to three choices.)

18.4%/45.9%* - As an "eighties band"
11.4%/28.4% - As a "gay band"
09.0%/22.5% - For their intelligent, sometimes ironic social commentary
08.6%/21.6% - As one of the greatest synthpop bands ¤
08.5%/21.1% - As the most successful duo in U.K. chart history ¤
06.6%/16.5% - As one of the most successful dance-music acts ¤
06.4%/16.1% - As great songwriters
05.9%/14.7% - As an odd "archetypically British" pop act
03.9%/09.6% - For pointy hats and other bizarre costumes
03.5%/08.7% - For their brilliant lyrics
03.3%/08.3% - For their marvelous melodies
02.4%/06.0% - As a "one-hit wonder"
02.2%/05.5% - For their imaginative arrangements and musical "soundscapes"
02.2%/05.5% - For their "melancholic" image
01.8%/04.6% - As terrific producers, including for other artists
01.5%/03.7% - As eclectic risk-takers who pushed the boundaries of pop
01.1%/02.8% - As "anti-rock" inconoclasts who charted their own unique course
00.9%/02.3% - As a superficial pop act
00.7%/01.8% - For the humor in their music
00.7%/01.8% - For their imaginative stageshows
00.6%/01.4% - As prolific hitmakers
00.4%/00.9% - For some other reason not listed here**

*The first figure indicates the percentage of total votes that this choice received. (Each voter could select up to three choices.) The second figure indicates the percentage of voters who selected that choice. For this reason, the first figures for every choice total to 100%, whereas the the second figures for every choice total to far greater than 100%.

**One voter suggested both the planned but aborted Wotapolava "gay music festival" tour and the Boys' "dis" of Eminem in "The Night I Fell in Love" as likely ways in which they'll be remembered.

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The Pet Shop Boys have often performed live "cover versions" of songs written and previously recorded by others ("Philadelphia," "It's Not Unusual," "Do Anything You Wanna Do," "Homosexuality," "Mr. Vain," etc.) that they haven't yet released in studio versions. Do you think the Pet Shop Boys should record and release a studio album consisting entirely of these and other "cover" songs?

31.7% - Yes, they should definitely do it!
28.4% - No, absolutely not!
25.0% - It would depend on the songs they choose to cover.
14.9% - It would have been a good idea at one time, but now it would seem they were copying Erasure's 2003 album Other People's Songs. ¤

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Have you ever attended a Halloween party, costume party, or other "dress-up" occasion (a PSB concert, perhaps?) wearing a costume inspired by the Pet Shop Boys, such as from one of their videos?

85.6% - "No, never." ¤
07.5% - "Yes, once."*
05.5% - "Not yet, but I plan on doing so soon."
01.4% - "Yes, on more than one occasion."

*One voter, Gilles, told of the time he and his friends created pointy hats like those from the "Can You Forgive Her?" video, took them to the Nightlife tour concert in Brussels, and put them on when the Pet Shop Boys performed that song—an occurrence recorded on the Montage DVD.

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What song do you think the Pet Shop Boys have performed best "live"? Or to put it another way, what song were they performing in what you feel was their very best live performance?

08.1% - "I haven't seen or heard enough PSB live performances to choose one"
07.5% - It's a Sin
06.9% - Can You Forgive Her?
06.9% - Go West
05.6% - Being Boring
05.6% - Young Offender
04.4% - Left to My Own Devices
04.4% - Love Comes Quickly
04.4% - This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave
04.4% - We All Feel Better in the Dark
03.1% - West End Girls
02.5% - Always on My Mind
02.5% - You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk
01.9% - Discoteca
01.9% - Only the Wind
01.9% - Rent
01.9% - The Truck Driver and His Mate
01.9% - What Have I Done to Deserve This?
01.3% - Domino Dancing
01.3% - For Your Own Good
01.3% - Girls and Boys
01.3% - My October Symphony
01.3% - One in a Million
01.3% - Shameless
01.3% - Somewhere
01.3% - Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)
01.3% - Your Funny Uncle
00.6% - Birthday Boy
00.6% - Footsteps
00.6% - Hallo Spaceboy
00.6% - Home and Dry
00.6% - Homosexuality
00.6% - How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?
00.6% - I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More
00.6% - I'm Not Scared
00.6% - It's Alright ¤
00.6% - King's Cross
00.6% - Love Is a Catastrophe
00.6% - Philadelphia
00.6% - Positive Role Model
00.6% - A Red Letter Day
00.6% - Rhythm of the Night
00.6% - Sexy Northerner
00.6% - Shopping
00.6% - So Hard
00.6% - The Theatre
00.6% - To Speak Is a Sin
00.6% - Was It Worth It?

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Which song's staging or "visualization" in Performance is your favorite?

18.1% - "I can't say because I've never seen Performance"
14.2% - We All Feel Better in the Dark*
12.3% - This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave
08.4% - It's a Sin
08.4% - What Have I Done to Deserve This?
07.7% - My October Symphony
04.5% - Always on My Mind
03.9% - So Sorry, I Said
03.9% - How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously? ¤**
03.2% - Suburbia
03.2% - So Hard
02.6% - West End Girls
01.9% - Losing My Mind
01.9% - Your Funny Uncle
01.3% - I'm Not Scared
01.3% - Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)
01.3% - Where the Streets Have No Name…
01.3% - Jealousy
00.6% - Rent

*Considering the popularity of "We All Feel Better in the Dark" in Performance, perhaps Chris should consider stripping down in public more often.

**Personally, I was quite torn between "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?" and "So Hard." But forced to choose, I settled on the former. Not only is it the more "serious" of the two ("So Hard" is hilariously bizarre — the hair! … the hand gestures! — but "Seriously" gets downright creepy there at the end when the "corporate pigs" start dining on the Boys, and creepy beats hilarious for profundity), but it also won the coin toss.

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Which Pet Shop Boys album works best as a "concept album"—that is, one with an overall theme or story?*

24.9% - Nightlife
17.7% - Bilingual ¤
13.3% - Behaviour
12.7% - Very
06.6% - "I don't think any of them work as a concept album"
06.1% - Introspective
04.4% - Release
03.9% - Please
02.8% - Alternative
02.2% - Relentless
01.7% - Disco
01.7% - Actually
01.7% - Disco 3
00.6% - Disco 2

*I disqualified the Closer to Heaven original cast album and the compilations Discography, Essential, and PopArt from the running.

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What religion (if any) do you practice or adhere to?

22.9% - "No religion—I'm an atheist"
16.4% - Christianity: Catholicism
15.4% - Christianity: Protestantism ¤
15.2% - "No religion—I'm an agnostic"
14.9% - "No formal religion, but I'm not an atheist or agnostic (I do believe in God or a 'higher power')"
03.5% - Christianity: Some form other than Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, or Protestantism*
02.5% - Some other religion not listed here*
02.0% - "I prefer not to answer this question"
01.5% - Buddhism
01.5% - Christianity: Eastern Orthodoxy
01.0% - Islam: Sunni
01.0% - Judaism
00.5% - Confucianism
00.5% - Islam: Shiia
00.5% - "New Age" spirituality
00.5% - Wicca
00.5% - "I'm not sure"

*Two voters (1.0%) reported being Unitarian/Universalists. The others who chose the "Some other religion" or "Some other form of Christianity" categories didn't identify their particular faiths. The religions listed in this survey that weren't selected by any voters were Animism, Baha'i, Hinduism, "Some other form of Islam," Jainism, Shinto, Sikhism, Taoism, "Traditional" or "folk" religion, and Zoroastrianism.

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Which of the following best describes your socio-economic-political philosophy?

39.5% - liberal/progressive
13.5% - socialist
08.1% - moderate/centrist ¤
07.6% - "I'm not sure"
06.5% - conservative
04.9% - libertarian
04.3% - "Some other socio-economic-political philosophy not listed here"*
03.8% - "I prefer not to answer this question"
02.7% - apolitical
02.2% - anarchist
02.2% - internationalist
01.6% - Marxist/communist
01.1% - monarchist
01.1% - religionist/theocrat
00.5% - fascist
00.5% - oligarchist

*One of the voters who chose this option wrote to tell me that he considers himself a "Europeanist"—akin to an internationalist but focusing on Europe. The additional choices that I had provided but were not selected by any of the voters were "autocrat," "corporatist," and "militarist."

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Have you ever hosted a party or other private social gathering of four or more people (yourself included) in which the "main attraction" was the music and/or video recordings of the Pet Shop Boys? (In other words, the chief entertainment or the main reason that your guests attended was to listen to and/or watch PSB.)

78.4% - No, I've never hosted nor attended such a party.
08.8% - Yes, I've hosted more than one such party.
07.4% - Yes, I've hosted one such party. ¤
05.4% - No, I've never hosted such a party, but I have attended one or more.

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What, in your opinion, is the most disturbing Pet Shop Boys song? (How you define "disturbing" is completely up to you.)

31.1% - The Sound of the Atom Splitting
07.9% - Love Is a Catastrophe
04.5% - Screaming
04.0% - The Theatre
03.4% - Being Boring
03.4% - It Couldn't Happen Here
02.8% - It's a Sin
02.8% - Rent
02.3% - DJ Culture
02.3% - Don Juan
02.3% - King's Cross
02.3% - Vampires
01.7% - Birthday Boy ¤
01.7% - Can You Forgive Her?
01.7% - Electricity
01.7% - Postscript
01.7% - To Speak Is a Sin
01.7% - Yesterday, When I Was Mad
01.1% - Dreaming of the Queen
01.1% - For All of Us
01.1% - Later Tonight
01.1% - Lies
01.1% - Some Speculation
01.1% - To Step Aside
00.6% - Betrayed
00.6% - Boy Strange
00.6% - Friendly Fire
00.6% - Hit and Miss
00.6% - If There Was Love
00.6% - In the Night
00.6% - Jealousy
00.6% - Only the Wind
00.6% - Silver Age
00.6% - Somebody Else's Business
00.6% - This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave
00.6% - Up Against It
00.6% - Violence
06.2% - Some other song not listed here (email it to me)*:
    00.6% - Absolutely Fabulous
    00.6% - Metamorphosis
    00.6% - Tall Thin Men
    00.6% - Try It (I'm in Love with a Married Man)
    00.6% - We Came from Outer Space
    00.6% - You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk

*Unfortunately, only about half of those who chose the "Some other song" option emailed me their own choices.

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Early in their career, the Pet Shop Boys generally avoided smiling in photographs and were often referred to as an "unsmiling" duo. Of course, they later abandoned that aspect of their image and started smiling more often in photos. Are you glad that they did?

39.5% - "Yes. It was terrific in the early years, but it's good that they later moved beyond it." ¤
20.9% - "This is one of your dumbest polls yet, Studer!"
16.3% - "No. I loved that early image, and I'm sorry that they dropped it."
14.0% - "I have no opinion about it one way or the other."
04.7% - "I really don't think they had much of an 'unsmiling image' to begin with."
02.9% - "Yes. I never much cared for the 'unsmiling image,' anyway."
00.6% - "No. I didn't like it at the time but, looking back, I really appreciate it now."

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Are you planning on attending the Pet Shop Boys' live September 12, 2004, performance of their Battleship Potemkin film score at London's Trafalgar Square?

60.5% - "No—and I don't live in the U.K." ¤
13.0% - "Yes—I live in the U.K., so it's not too far to travel!"
10.5% - "Yes—I don't live in the U.K., but I'm going to travel there to attend!"
08.6% - "No—even though I do live in the U.K."
07.4% - "I'm still undecided."

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Should Chris and Neil take part in more "solo" musical projects—that is, making music that doesn't involve the "other Boy"?

31.4% - "It doesn't matter to me one way or the other."
27.1% - "Yes, they both should. I don't think it would threaten their partnership." ¤
12.1% - "No, they shouldn't. It might threaten their partnership."
11.4% - "No, they shouldn't, for some other reason."**
07.1% - "No, they shouldn't. I haven't cared for their past solo projects."
06.4% - "Yes, they both should, regardless of the possible consequences."
02.9% - "Neil should, but Chris shouldn't."
01.4% - "Chris should, but Neil shouldn't."

*The voter turnout may have been lower than it would have otherwise because my entire website was down (on account of technical problems on the part of my webhost, Earthlink) for more than 12 hours on Friday, August 20—right after I made my usual weekly reminder annoucements. Some would-be voters may have tried to reach my website, found it unavailable, and gave up. I guess we're all both exploiters and victims of technology.

**One voter offered an additional "No" reason: "the stuff they'll come up with on their own can't be as good as when they work together." (A debatable point, I suppose.) Another good reason that I thought of—regretfully only after launching the poll—was that solo projects would almost necessarily detract from the time they could be spending working on new music together. I would have liked to have included that one among the "No" choices, but that's life!

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The Pet Shop Boys' Performance concert video will reportedly be released soon on DVD with some "extras." If you could choose only one, which type of extra would you most like to be included on the DVD?*

34.2% - Commentary by Chris and Neil on each song
34.2% - A "making of" or "behind the scenes" documentary ¤
09.3% - Alternate "takes" of certain songs
07.3% - Alternate audio formats (stereo, Dolby 5.1, DTS, etc.)
06.2% - "I really don't care"
03.1% - Commentary by the director, designer, and/or other personnel
03.1% - Something else not listed here
01.6% - Alternate camera angles of all (or at least some) songs
01.0% - Interviews with support personnel (singers, dancers, etc.)
00.0% - A photo gallery


*I launched this poll shortly before I learned that the actual list of extras on the soon-to-be-released Performance DVD had just been announced. But I went ahead and asked respondents to express their preference nevertheless. The announced extras include commentary from Neil And Chris in conversation with Chris Heath (much like the PopArt DVD), a documentary, and a photo gallery, along with liner notes and a booklet (the latter two of which don't personally strike me as "extras").

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About how many unique PSB tracks do you own in mp3, m4p, or other digital format that can be stored on your computer or portable solid-state player (such as an Apple iPod)?*

20.4% - More than 300 ¤
15.6% - None
13.6% - 101-200
12.2% - 3-10
12.2% - 21-50
08.2% - 201-300
07.5% - 51-100
06.1% - 11-20
04.1% - Just 1 or 2

*The m4p format is used for iTunes^®. iTunes and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.

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Please rate the song that the Pet Shop Boys wrote and produced for Pete Burns, "Jack and Jill Party," on a scale of 0 to 10 as it compares with other PSB songs (0 = "one of the worst PSB songs ever"; 10 = "one of the very best PSB songs ever"):

This outcome places "Jack and Jill Party" in the lower reaches, so to speak, of my overall Rating Project.

This question is directly primarily to my site visitors who live in Europe: In which European country do you live?

34.2% - I don't live in Europe ¤
19.3% (29.3% of European vote) - United Kingdom
06.9% (10.5% of European vote) - Spain
05.4% (8.3% of European vote) - Sweden
04.5% (6.8% of European vote) - Belgium
04.0% (6.0% of European vote) - Germany
03.5% (5.3% of European vote) - Italy
03.5% (5.3% of European vote) - Netherlands
03.5% (5.3% of European vote) - Russia
03.0% (4.5% of European vote) - France
02.8% (3.8% of European vote) - Finland
01.5% (2.3% of European vote) - Denmark
01.5% (2.3% of European vote) - Hungary
01.5% (2.3% of European vote) - Poland

… plus two voters each (1.0%, or 1.5% of European vote) in:
• Greece
• Ireland
  
  

… and one voter each (0.5%, or 0.8% of European vote) in:

• Austria
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Estonia
• Switzerland
• Turkey
• Ukraine
  

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Although Pet Shop Boys fans living in the United States apparently make up only about a third of my regular site visitors, I've often wondered about their geographic distribution. So in which U.S. state or territory do you live?*

53.0% - I don't live in the United States
12.0% (25.5% of U.S. vote) - California**
05.0% (10.6% of U.S. vote) - New York
04.0% (8.5% of U.S. vote) - Pennsylvania
03.0% (6.4% of U.S. vote) - Texas
02.0% (4.3% of U.S. vote) - Arizona
02.0% (4.3% of U.S. vote) - Massachusetts
02.0% (4.3% of U.S. vote) - Ohio
02.0% (4.3% of U.S. vote) - Virginia
01.5% (3.2% of U.S. vote) - Florida

… plus two voters each (01.0%, or 2.1% of U.S. vote) in:
• Georgia
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• New Jersey
• Oregon
• Washington
• Wisconsin
  
  

… and one voter each (00.5%, or 1.1% of U.S. vote) in:

• Colorado
• District of Columbia
• Kansas
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• New Hampshire
• Oklahoma
• Tennessee
• Utah
  

*I asked about the worldwide distribution of my site visitors some time ago. If you like you can check out the results of that previous survey. It may also be worth noting that I didn't include my usual ¤ symbol to indicate how I voted in this survey. Yes, I did vote, but for personal reasons I prefer to try to maintain my "geographic anonymity" within the United States.

**Considering that California is the most populous U.S. state, its "first-place" ranking shouldn't be surprising. On the other hand, since California accounts for about 12% of the overall U.S. population, the "California vote" is about twice as high as one would expect from a purely random poll. So that suggests that Californians have greater than average Internet usage (perhaps so) and/or that the Pet Shop Boys are unusually popular in California (again, perhaps so).

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What do you think of the recent news that the Pet Shop Boys have written, will perform live, and will record a new score for the silent film classic Battleship Potemkin?

48.1% - It's a brilliant idea! I can't wait to hear it!
37.0% - It sounds interesting, and I look forward to it. ¤
07.4% - I prefer to withhold judgment until I hear it.
04.3% - I have very mixed feelings about it.
01.2% - I'm not keen on it, but if it makes them happy….
00.6% - A score to an old silent film is not a very good idea.
00.6% - It's terrible news—a distraction from what they do best.
00.6% - I have some other attitude not expressed here.

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Little by little, classic albums by various artists are being re-released in "enhanced audio" formats, such as DVD Audio or SACD (Super Audio Compact Disc). If the Pet Shop Boys were to release one or more of their albums in enhanced audio format sometime in the near future, which of the following statements do you think would most closely reflect your purchasing decision?

27.8% - No, I wouldn't buy any because enhanced audio isn't a good enough reason to buy the same albums again—especially at a higher price.
21.9% - I would definitely buy every PSB album released in enhanced audio format. ¤
15.9% - It depends on whether there are any bonus features (lyrics, photo galleries, commentary, etc.).
09.9% - No, I wouldn't buy any because I don't have a compatible audio system (one that will play any enhanced audio format).
08.6% - I might buy one to try it out, and then decide about any others.
07.9% - It depends on which enhanced audio format: DVD Audio, SACD, or something else.
04.6% - I would buy any albums that I don't already own, but not any others.
02.0% - I would buy my favorite PSB albums, but not all of them.
00.7% - I would buy the albums that I think would benefit the most from enhanced audio, but not all of them.
00.7% - Write-in vote:

• "I'd probably disagree with the 'remaking' of any of their albums because I feel that the original stereo mix is what the album was intended to be heard on, and the album's original 'spirit' would be lost if the mixes were to be altered in this way. Furthermore, I don't think it's possible to improve in this case upon the original vinyl mixes, anyway."

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Which of the following types of Pet Shop Boys artifacts or memorabilia (other than recordings, videos, and album and single sleeves) do you own one or more copies or examples of? (Please select all that apply.)

64.3% - PSB tour/concert program booklets ¤
64.3% - Full-length books about PSB ¤
62.3% - PSB t-shirts (or some other type of shirt) ¤
62.3% - Saved PSB concert ticket stubs ¤
50.0% - PSB posters ¤
44.2% - Copies of their fan club magazine, Literally ¤
40.1% - PSB Christmas cards ¤
39.6% - Saved magazines with PSB pictured on the cover ¤
37.7% - PSB postcards
33.8% - Actual (non-reproduced) autographs (Neil's, Chris's, or both)
22.1% - Photos of one or both of them that you yourself took
15.6% - Some other kind of "PSB clothing"
14.9% - PSB caps
11.7% - None ("I don't own any PSB artifacts/memorabilia")
18.8% - Some other kind of artifact:*

• PSB mugs
• PSB badges
• PSB concert pins
• Neil's plectra (or plectrums, i.e. guitar picks) from the Nightlife and Release tours
• PSB songbooks/sheet music
• Saved magazine/newspaper articles and reviews ¤
• Pictures (including publicity photos) ¤
• Nightlife tour computer "minidisc" ¤
• "shock hair" giveaway from the London Nightlife concert
• multi-CD single slipcases
• CD holders/longboxes
• PSB computer desktop and screen-saver

*Additional items submitted by voters are listed here. But not everyone who selected this option submitted their own additions to the list. I've used my usual ¤ symbol to indicate those additional items that I own examples of as well.

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Think about last week, June 6-12. Try to think of all the music you listened to during that period. About how many different Pet Shop Boys songs did you listen to (in their entirety or close to it) last week?

16.3% - 2-5 ¤
15.0% - 6-10
11.6% - 16-20
11.6% - None
09.5% - 11-15
08.8% - 21-30
06.8% - 31-40
05.4% - 51-75
04.8% - Just one
04.1% - 41-50
04.1% - More than 100
02.0% - 76-100


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Generally, about how often do you visit the Pet Shop Boys' official website at http://www.petshopboys.co.uk?

22.9% - Several times per week
21.8% - About once per week
19.0% - About once per day, every day (or close to it) ¤
17.3% - Two or three times per month
11.7% - Occasionally—no more than once per month
05.0% - Never, or hardly ever
02.2% - Several times per day

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What is your favorite Pet Shop Boys fansite?*

25.6% - Pet Shop Boys OnPage
15.0% - Pet Shop Boys Online
12.8% - Lazlo's Pet Shop Boys Discography ¤
08.3% - 10 Years of Being Boring
04.4% - Pet Shop Boys in Paris
03.9% - petshopboys.tv
03.3% - So Pet Shop Boys
03.3% - Pet Shop Boys Radiophonic
02.8% - At Dead of Night
02.2% - The Pets Files
02.2% - Euphoric
02.2% - Pet Shop Boys Search
01.1% - Pet Shop Boys … Funnily Enough
01.1% - Pet Shop Boys, actually
01.1% - Absolutely Pet Shop Boys
01.1% - Pet Shop Boys Confidential
01.1% - Pet Shop Boys - Poetically
01.1% - Pet Shop Boys Covers and Quotations
07.2% - Some other fansite not listed here:**
    Community***
    Pet Shop Boys - Bilingually
    So Pet Shop Boys (not the like-titled one above—this one's in French)

*I disqualified my own site from consideration because the very fact that this poll was conducted here risked skewing the outcome in its favor. And if by chance it were to have placed first in the voting, it would have looked rather suspicious. So I figured it was better not to chance it. By the way, thank you to those who wrote to me saying that you would have voted for my site if I hadn't disqualified it. I'm very grateful for those "votes of confidence."

**The sites that follow are those identified by some of the voters who selected "Some other fansite not listed here." Unfortunately, not everyone who selected this option submitted their own choice. Then again, perhaps their choice matched one of those that had already been submitted and they didn't feel the need to note it again themselves.

***I purposely left fan forums like Community off my list because I don't consider them "fansites" in the same sense as the ones that I did list. But voters were certainly free to offer them as "write-in" votes, as one did for Community.

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Imagine the Pet Shop Boys have announced a farewell tour (heaven forbid, at least anytime soon!), and it's coming to your town or close by. You don't know anything else about the show. Be honest now: What's the most you would realistically be willing and/or able to pay for a ticket?

19.6% - Between $81-100 (€67-83 or £45-55)
17.4% - Between $41-60 (€33-50 or £23-32)
14.7% - Between $61-80 (€51-66 or £32-44)
13.6% - More than $300 (more than €250 or £168)
12.5% - Between $101-150 (€84-125 or £56-83)
11.4% - Between $151-200 (€126-166 or £84-111) ¤*
05.4% - No more than $40 (approx. €33 or £22)
03.8% - Between $201-300 (€167-250 or £112-168)
01.6% - Nothing—I wouldn't want to go

An admittedly very crude calculation based on these results suggests that the maximum ticket price that the voters would pay on the average is approximately $125 (roughly €105 or £70 at the time of the vote).

*If I had never before seen the Boys live in concert, I would be willing to pay more than $300 per ticket for my last chance to do so. But since I have already seen them perform live, I have to scale back on how much I'd be willing to spend.

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Are you a current member of the official Pet Shop Boys Fan Club and, if not, why not?*

37.5% - Yes, I am a current member ¤
22.2% - No, I just haven't gotten around to joining
11.9% - No, I think fan clubs are silly, even for fans
11.9% - No, for some other reason
04.5% - No, it's too expensive
03.4% - No, I'm not that big a fan
03.4% - No, because they won't take checks (cheques) from outside the U.K.
02.8% - No, it's not a good value
02.3% - No, I'm displeased with the service

*This question is similar yet sufficiently different from a question I asked nearly two years before. In that previous poll (during the week of June 23, 2002), I asked my site visitors if they are or had ever been members of the official Fan Club. But I didn't ask reasons for not being a member, which is the focus of this survey.

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Please rate the new songs on the Pet Shop Boys' album PopArt and its associated singles on a scale of 0 to 10 as they compare with other PSB songs (0 = "one of the worst PSB songs ever"; 5 = "an average PSB song"; 10 = "one of the very best PSB songs ever"):

Imagine, twenty or thirty years from now, if Neil and/or Chris (in retirement or semi-retirement) were to write a tell-all "Pet Shop Boys autobiography." Which of their song titles—just the title, not the song itself—do you think would probably be the most accurate description of the book's contents, even if it's not the actual title of the book itself?

15.3% - Was It Worth It?
11.1% - Being Boring
09.5% - The Survivors
06.8% - Hit and Miss
06.8% - How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?
05.8% - What Have I Done to Deserve This?
04.7% - It Always Comes as a Surprise ¤
04.2% - Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)
03.7% - Delusions of Grandeur
03.7% - Shameless
02.6% - In Private
02.6% - Lies
02.6% - Love Is a Catastrophe
02.6% - Miserablism
02.6% - Positive Role Model
02.1% - Decadence
02.1% - Saturday Night Forever
02.1% - Up Against It
01.6% - Heart
01.6% - It's a Sin
01.1% - Transparent
00.5% - The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On
00.5% - Nightlife
"Some other song not mentioned here" (one write-in vote each):
   00.5% - Absolutely Fabulous
   00.5% - Before
   00.5% - I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More
   00.5% - Left to My Own Devices
   00.5% - Somebody Else's Business
   00.5% - This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave
   00.5% - Actually*

*One voter wrote to say that he thought the album title Actually would be a more apt description than any particular song title.

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Rank the Pet Shop Boys' three Disco albums from 1 to 3, with 1 being your favorite and 3 your least favorite.

In the following results, please note that the lower the figure, the higher the ranking.

*Discrepancies among the totals are explained by the fact that some voters didn't rank every album. Early on, two voters apparently disliked Disco 3 so much that they gave it a ranking of "4"—which surprised me until I noticed that an error in my initial coding allowed ranks worse than 3. So I immediately corrected that error, and I recorded those "4" rankings of Disco 3 as 3's. Incidentally, the most common voting pattern precisely matched the cumulative rankings above: #1 Disco 3, #2 Disco, and #3 Disco 2. The least common voting pattern was exactly the opposite: #1 Disco 2, #2 Disco, and #3 Disco 3.

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Rank the Pet Shop Boys' eight "studio" albums to date (that is, the albums other than the compilations, Alternative, the Disco albums, and the "special case" of Relentless) from 1 to 8, with 1 being your favorite and 8 your least favorite.

In the following results, please note that the lower the figure, the higher the ranking.