History Music / PetShopBoys

* RefrainFromAssuming: "Opportunities" gets this a lot, and is often referred to by its subtitle, "Let's Make Lots Of Money".

* NiceHat: Chris Lowe. Always. Also, the famous cone hats for the "Can you forgive her?" video, a black version of which were used in the London 2012 closing ceremony.

** "It's a Sin" is also quite upbeat, with lyrics about how Neil's education at a Catholic high school made him believe that anything he did or he was going to do is a sin in some capacity.

* UrbanLegends: A surprising number of people believe that the band got its name from the practice of inserting hamsters and gerbils into bodily cavities. The truth is more prosaic; they simply knew some people who worked at a pet shop. Too many people think they both were lovers or a couple once in the past, but they have denied it several times - just friends and flatmates in London before they started the PSB, and since then workmates and friends.

* FilkSong: "Suburbia", based on ''Film/{{Suburbia}}''.

* ConfusingMultipleNegatives: The song "Tonight Is Forever" has the line "Tonight is forever, tell me now you don't disagree". Justified as it wouldn't fit the meter other wise, and it [[RuleOfCool just sounds better that way.]]

They are also successful producers and collaborators, having produced Dusty Springfield's ''Reputation'' and Liza Minnelli's ''Results'', and having co-written or produced songs for Music/TinaTurner, Music/DavidBowie, Music/RobbieWilliams, Electronic, Music/GirlsAloud, Music/KylieMinogue, and Music/TheKillers. Many other artists are fans and have publicly cited them as influences, including {{Music/Madonna}}, Music/TheKillers, Music/{{Coldplay}}, Creator/GeorgeMichael, Music/BelleAndSebastian, and, curiously enough, [[Music/GunsNRoses Axl Rose]] and [[Music/NineInchNails Trent Reznor]].

* RaisedCatholic: The genesis for many of Neil Tennant's lyrics, most notably "It's a Sin". "This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave" was inspired more specifically by his experience in Catholic school.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Not normally all that relevant for this band (the music they play is mostly electronic), but "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?", with its guitar feedback squalls and hard-edged beat, is a low 5, which is surprisingly hard for them (and proves they have the ability to do harder songs when they desire).

** Music/{{Eminem}}: Due to Mr. Mathers' rampant homophobia, they recorded "The Night I Fell in Love", a sweet AffectionateParody about a college kid having a one-night stand with an Eminem CaptainErsatz. (It could be about any rapper, but the lyrics reference "Stan", a single of his, and Music/DrDre, his producer - Neil always held that the song was not intended to insult Eminem, but inspired by [[KayfabeMusic the contrast between Eminem's belligerent controversy-bait image]] and the [[{{Adorkable}} sweet, sensitive personality he displayed in interviews]].) In response, Eminem dedicated a line to them in his [[SubvertedKidsSong extremely silly]] song "Can I Bitch":

** Music/{{Eminem}}: Due to Mr. Mathers' rampant homophobia, they recorded "The Night I Fell in Love", a sweet AffectionateParody about a college kid having a one-night stand with an Eminem CaptainErsatz. (It could be about any rapper, but the lyrics reference "Stan", a single of his, and Music/DrDre, his producer.) In response, Eminem dedicated a line to them in "Canibitch":

* StraightGay: "The Truck Driver and His Mate". Possibly Chris Lowe himself--he's never confirmed or denied one way or the other.

* ConceptAlbum: A good number of their albums have some unifying theme to it--''Actually'' satirises yuppies and Thatcherism, ''Introspective'' is about, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin introspection]], ''Behaviour'' is about grief, depression, endings of various kinds and AIDS, ''Bilingual'' is the story of a hapless businessman soul-searching in a foreign land, ''Fundamental'' is about life in the mid-2000s, and then there's ''Nightlife'', which is about, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin well...]] ''Elysium'' and ''Electric'' are paired, as songs for both of them were written at the same time: ''Elysium'' is about growing older, while ''Electric'' is about rediscovering one's youth.

* ConfusingMultipleNegatives: The song "Tonight Has Forever" has the line "Tonight is forever, tell me now you don't disagree". Justified as it wouldn't fit the meter other wise, and it [[RuleOfCool just sounds better that way.]]

* CoverVersion: "Always on My Mind" (Music/ElvisPresley), "It's Alright" (Sterling Void), "Where the Streets Have No Name/Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" (mashup of Music/{{U2}} and Music/{{Frankie Valli|AndTheFourSeasons}}), "Go West" (Music/VillagePeople), "Losing My Mind" and "Somewhere" (Music/StephenSondheim), "If Love Were All" and "Sail Away" (Creator/NoelCoward), "Viva La Vida" (Coldplay), and "The Last to Die" (Music/BruceSpringsteen). Some music bits of "Se a vida é" were famously taken from a previous latin song.

** TheCoverChangesTheGender: notably averted in "Try it (I'm in love with a married man)", "If love were all" and "In private" (the version they made in 2006 with Elton John), giving the three of them a heaping helping of HoYay.

** ''Behaviour'' ends with the song "Jealousy", a breakup song sung from the point of view of an UnreliableNarrator who's implied obsessive and controlling behaviour likely caused the relationship to break down in the first place. The big orchestrated ending represents the narrator wallowing in self-pity, and is a pretty gloomy way to end a gloomy album.

** ''Fundamental'', already one of their darker efforts, finishes with "Intergral", a song featuring heavy LyricalDissonance and lyrics about a dystopian future that is frequently compared with the political state of the world in the mid-2000s.

* EverythingSoundsSexierInFrench: "In the Night", "Legacy", and the French version of "New York City Boy", retitled "Paris City Boy". A lot of songs on ''Bilingual'' have Spanish or Portuguese.

* TheInvisibleBand: The videos for "Liberation", "Home And Dry", "Miracles", "I'm With Stupid", "Numb", "Integral", "Love, etc"... As they get older, they appear less on their own videos (and record sleeves). For the "Yesterday, when I was mad", Chris was completely replaced for CGI images from him.

** A more minor example in "The Theatre" clearly shows their opinion of Creator/AndrewLloydWebber: "I was only hoping for a bit of cash/From a patron of the arts--[[[MyFriendsAndZoidberg or at least]] ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''..."

** Averted in "The Night I Fell in Love"--for a 48-year-old singing the part of a maybe 19-year old, he sounds incredibly natural.

** "It's a Sin" is also quite upbeat, with lyrics about the repeated sins he has committed (or been taught to believe he has committed) in his life.

* RhymingWithItself: "Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes off You)" when the medley entwines, the last line of the third and repeating verses replace "it's all I can do" with an altered TitleDrop.

* NiceHat: Chris Lowe. Always. See page picture (he's the one with the feathers). Also, the famous cone hats for the "Can you forgive her?" video, a black version of which were used in the London 2012 closing ceremony.

* RhymingwithItself: "Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes off You)" when the medley entwines, the last line of the third and repeating verses replace "it's all I can do" with an altered TitleDrop.

* LongTitle: "Where the Streets Have No Name/Can't Take My Eyes Off of You", "I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore", "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk", "This Must Be The Place I Waited Years to Leave". Inverted with the album titles, which are always one word.

* MoneySong: Subverted in "Rent", "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)," "Shopping". Sadly, for some listeners who didn't get the joke, these songs cemented them falsely as amoral children of the profit-loving 80s.

Since "West End Girls", the duo have released ten studio albums and in 2009 received the "Outstanding Contribution to Music" award at the BRIT Awards.

[[caption-width-right:240:"We were never being boring -- we were never being bored."]]

[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/petshopboys.jpg]]

** ''Yes'' was a much brighter, more optimistic and extroverted album coming after the bleakness of ''Fundamental''

* ConceptAlbum: A good number of their albums have some unifying theme to it--''Actually'' is about yuppies and Thatcherism, ''Introspective'' is about, well, introspection, ''Bilingual'' is the story of a hapless businessman soul-searching in a foreign land, ''Fundamental'' is about life in the Blair years, and then ''Nightlife'', which is about, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin well...]] ''Elysium'' and ''Electric'' are paired, as songs for both of them were written at the same time: ''Elysium'' is about growing older, while ''Electric'' is about rediscovering one's youth.

** "Hit Music" is a really energetic, danceble SynthPop song about the looming dread of AIDS and the fear of your own death at a young age.

Pet Shop Boys are a British pop duo formed in 1981, when Blackpool native Chris Lowe and Newcastle native met by chance in an electronics store. Singer Neil and keyboardist Chris rocketed to fame with their first international hit, "West End Girls", in 1986, and dominated the #1 spot in the pop charts in Britain for another two years.

Pet Shop Boys are a British pop duo formed in 1981, when Blackpool native Chris Lowe and Newcastle native Neil Tennant met by chance in an electronics store. Singer Neil and keyboardist Chris rocketed to fame with their first international hit, "West End Girls", in 1986, and dominated the #1 spot in the pop charts in Britain for another two years.

The two became famous for their unique sound, which they famously described as "Che Guevara and Debussy to a disco beat". Behind the intensely danceable beats lie Chris Lowe's subtly skilful compositions and Neil Tennant's poetic lyrics. Tennant, a former editor and a professed bibliophile, gives a lot of the songs a literary bent.