When Liza Met the Pet Shop Boys

[FindingNamo]

It's been 25 years. IT'S BEEN 25 YEARS!
I love you, you pay my rent

[SonofRobbieJ]

Oh...that LOSING MY MIND was everything to my faggoty, fifteen-year-old self. EVERYTHING.

[tazber]

I love that album. Still have it on cd.

[FindingNamo]

I'm totally gay for "Don't Drop Bombs" because I really believe people shouldn't. And the song is twisted.

[EricMontreal22]

This and the half album they did for Dusty Springfield around the same time (Reputation,) are amazing records. I was heartbroken to read a recent interview with Harold Faltermeyer (who produced Behaviour for the Boys when Moroder turned them down--because, you know, he was busy producing masterpieces such as "Like a Yo-Yo" at the time,) where he said they were about to approach Donna Summer to do an album but then were worried they would build their reputation only as producer/writers for aging divas. http://www.daeida.com/DAEIDA_ISSUU_2012_10.html is the interview (it's mostly about Harold's time co-producing for Donna and the interviewer is a hysterical queen, but it's worth a read.)

Anyway, back to Liza--the Don't Drop Bombs and Losing My Mind drag queen videos are camp classics, but the entire album is wonderful--I don't think any other producer has managed to make Liza sound as good, at least not in that era (or since.) In the two disc remastered edition Neil says that So Sorry, I Said was their attempt at a loving Sondheim pastiche. Not sure if I hear it, but it's still one of my favorite slow songs they've done.

[Scripps2]

Three ingredients that don't mix - I hated this version of Losing My Mind as, in attempting to commercialise Sondheim, it just seemed to miss the point of the song. I've never listened to it since, although I've probably still got the vinyl somewhere.

I'm going to need help here PJ - back me up!

[PalJoey]

It was a bitter pill for us Sondheimists-who-also-loved-Liza to swallow, back then in 1989. As you say, she seemed to miss the point of the song entirely, which is the musical question "...OR am I losing my mind" and not the musical statement "...and, YES! I am losing my mind" or even "I've already lost my mind" or whatever it is she's playing.

I didn't see it so much as an attempt to commercialize Sondheim as an attempt to make him relevant, which, as a Sondheimist, I thought was unnecessary.

But the Pet Shop Boys were undeniably cool, and the beat was infectious, and once it took off, well, what was the point in preferring Dorothy Collins?

By the time she performed it live on the Arsenio Hall show, I kinda liked it.

http://youtu.be/jbF7LODCIGQ

[SonofRobbieJ]

You tell the kids to get off your Turtle Bay stoop...don't you?

[HorseTears]

Seeing Liza perform "Losing My Mind" on Top of the Pops was my first exposure to her. I guess that was also my first exposure to Sondheim, though I certainly didn't realize it at the time. Even at that age I remember thinking the song and the beat were at odds. It feels like the song is just fighting the beat the whole way. Such a bizarre choice and such a surprising top 10 single. As I recall, it was much more successful in the UK than in the US.

Much preferred "Don't Drop Bombs" and the rather lovely "So Sorry I Said".

[Borstalboy]

I always thought the remote irony of the Pet Shop Boys fit Liza like a straightjacket. She just doesn't seem comfortable.

[EricMontreal22]

I know that her Losing My Mind is hated amongst the gay showtunes community, but I love it. Of course it will never replace Dorothy Collins' version, and it's forced into a 4/4 beat, but I still love it. I sorta thought the point of the version was that the beat and song lyrics were at odds.

[ArtMan]

Loved everything about Results. Liza's version of Love Pains, to me, tops Yvonne's.

[VeraCharles3]

Thank you FindingNamo for the reminder. 25 years old, wow.

I still love this CD. Love the intro to Losing My Mind. Rent and Tonight is Forever are my two favorite tracks.

"Tonight is forever, tell me now you don't disagree
Tonight is forever, open the door, you hold the key"

Eric - I shall read the link you posted about Donna Summer, what a missed opportunity though, I would have loved for that to have happened. I think I read that they were hoping to work with Petula Clark too but maybe I am just talking rubbish! I would have liked for that to happen too.

[LALALand]

Love this album. I remember seeing an interview with them at the time of release and they were talking to Ann-Margret for a follow up, but she was uncomfortable with the idea of working with them and producing an electronic dance album. What a shame...

[EricMontreal22]

Maybe it was all of the older female artists being suggested to them that scared them away in general (that's the tone Harold's comment implies.) It is too bad.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Was Liza considered an "older artist" back then? I don't know. She was only 43, and still looked and moved as in her prime. Younger than JLo or Kylie today.

[EricMontreal22]

Good point. Still, I think her teaming up with the PSBs was very much seen as a younger/older pairing.

[JoeKv99]

Liza was definitely seen as "past her prime" at the time and a relic of an earlier time. The album blew me away and every time "losing My Mind" blasted across the dance floor I rejoiced. You can hate it but at least it's better than the Disco mix of Sweeney Todd.