From psbfan at geowayne.com Thu Mar 5 22:07:00 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Thu, 5 Mar 2015 22:07:00 -0800 Subject: [Introspective] Poll ends soon on whether a PSB political endorsement would influence your vote Message-ID: <62FAE1A0C7DE41E7980A4E70B967B04E@COMP8> Hey there! Tomorrow (Saturday) is the last full day of my current poll, which asks whether an explicit political endorsement by one or both of the Pet Shop Boys would influence how you would vote in an election. If you haven't voted yet, please take a moment to visit my "Commentary" site at http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm and make your choice from the options provided there on my home page. On Sunday I will end this poll, post the final results, and kick off a new survey for the week ahead. Thanks to everyone who has already voted! And I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Wayne http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm From psbfan at geowayne.com Sat Mar 7 22:06:02 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2015 22:06:02 -0800 Subject: [Introspective] Final results of poll on influence of a PSB political endorsement Message-ID: <340FEEEF35BB4E628995D0D1AC83874C@COMP8> The final results are in for my poll this past week, in which I asked my site visitors whether an explicit political endorsement by one or both of the Pet Shop Boys would influence how they would vote in an election. And the response that received the largest number of votes was: * "It would have no effect whatsoever, either positive or negative, on how I would vote," chosen by a whopping 68.2% of the voters. To see the complete results, please visit my "Commentary" site at http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm and choose one of the "Past Survey Results" options in the top navigation bar or click the appropriate link on my "What's New?" page. My new poll for the week ahead -- which happens to be my 700th PSB survey! -- was inspired by an old review by a music critic of a Pet Shop Boys' album that I read recently, in which he described the album in question as "disappointing." That made me wonder whether any of you have ever been disappointed in a PSB album and, if so, which one(s). So that's what I'm asking this week! Please mull this over and, when you're ready, make your choices from the options provided there on my home page. In the meantime, thanks to everyone who voted in last week's survey! And I certainly hope for all of you that the week ahead does *not* prove disappointing! Wayne http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm From psbfan at geowayne.com Thu Mar 12 22:02:54 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2015 22:02:54 -0700 Subject: [Introspective] Poll ends soon on whether you have ever been disappointed in a PSB album Message-ID: <3937C26EFA8D4E819F3177026B22F2EF@COMP8> Hey there! Tomorrow (Saturday) is the last full day of my current poll, which asks whether you have ever been disappointed in a Pet Shop Boys album and, if so, which one(s). If you haven't voted yet, please take a moment to visit my "Commentary" site at http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm and make your choices right there on my home page. On Sunday I will end this poll, post the final results, and launch a new survey for the week ahead. Thanks to everyone who has already voted! And I hope you all have a great weekend! Wayne http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm From psbfan at geowayne.com Sat Mar 14 22:11:37 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2015 22:11:37 -0700 Subject: [Introspective] Final results of poll on "disappointing" PSB albums Message-ID: <6DBD160ED5714317B1721235E91096C1@COMP8> The final results are in for my poll this past week, in which I asked my site visitors whether they had ever been disappointed in a Pet Shop Boys album and, if so, which one(s). And, perhaps not surprisingly, the album that received the most votes was: * "Disco 2," chosen as a "disappointment" by 38.2% of the voters. Incidentally, 17.5% of the voters said that they had *never* been disappointed in a PSB album. To see the complete results, please visit my "Commentary" site at http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm and select one of the "Past Survey Results" options in the top navigation bar or click the appropriate link on my "What's New?" page. My new poll for the week ahead goes from disappointment to anything but. I'm asking you to pick what you consider to be the two consecutive Pet Shop Boys studio albums that together constitute their strongest "knock-out punch" -- the pair of back-to-back albums that would be most likely to convince someone who is completely unfamiliar with the Boys that they're real "championship contenders," to so speak. So please mull this over and, when you're ready, make your choice right there on my home page. In the meantime, thanks to everyone who voted in last week's survey! And I hope for you the week ahead is a real knockout -- in a *good* way, of course! Wayne http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm From psbfan at geowayne.com Thu Mar 19 22:11:02 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2015 22:11:02 -0700 Subject: [Introspective] Poll ends soon on the two best consecutive PSB studio albums Message-ID: <67EE9346EDF3477BA9356D0BD961D429@COMP8> Hey there! Tomorrow (Saturday) is the last full day of my current poll, which asks you to choose the back-to-back Pet Shop Boys studio albums that constitute what you consider to be their strongest "one-two knockout punch." Or, to drop all the metaphors, what are two best *consecutive* PSB studio albums, the ones that would be most likely to convince people who aren't familiar with them of their greatness? If you haven't voted yet, please take a moment to visit my "Commentary" site at http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm and make your choice right there on my home page. On Sunday I will end this poll, post the final results, and kick off a new survey for the week ahead. Thanks to everyone who has already voted! And I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Wayne http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm From psbfan at geowayne.com Sat Mar 21 22:09:48 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2015 22:09:48 -0700 Subject: [Introspective] Final results of poll on strongest consecutive PSB albums Message-ID: The final results are in for my poll this past week, in which I asked my site visitors to choose what they consider to be the two back-to-back studio albums that are, in effect, the Pet Shop Boys' "strongest one-two knockout punch" -- the best pair of consecutive albums. And the albums chosen by the largest number of voters were: * Behaviour & Very, picked by 40.4% of the voters. To see the complete results, please visit my "Commentary" site at http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm and select one of the "Past Survey Results" options from the top navigation bar or click the appropriate link on my "What's New?" page. My new poll for the week ahead in a spin-off of sorts from the sporadic "Rating Project" polls I've run through the years, asking my site visitors to rate all of the Pet Shop Boys' songs. What I've done is list the songs (after throwing out a few "anomalous" tracks) that received the lowest rating from their studio albums (plus their two b-sides collections), and I'm asking you to pick, from these relatively unpopular PSB tracks, the one that's your own personal favorite -- the one that you like the most, or at least dislike the least. So please check them out right there on my home page and, when you're ready, make your choice. In the meantime, thanks to everyone who voted in last week's survey! And I hope you all have a marvelous week ahead! Wayne http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm From psbfan at geowayne.com Thu Mar 26 21:45:33 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2015 21:45:33 -0700 Subject: [Introspective] Poll ends soon on your favorite "least favorite" PSB song Message-ID: <2A6A788CB3954BF89DFDF19E54281BE2@COMP8> Hey there! Tomorrow (Saturday) is the last full day of my current poll, which asks you to pick your favorite "least favorite" Pet Shop Boys song. What do I mean by that? Through the years I've run various "ratings polls" in which I asked my site visitors to rate the songs on each PSB album on a scale of 0 to 10. So I've listed the songs with the lowest average ratings on each studio album (plus the b-sides collections) and I'm asking you to pick your personal favorite from the bunch. If you haven't voted yet, please take a moment to visit my "Commentary" site at http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm and make your choice right there on my home page. On Sunday I will end this poll, post the final results, and launch a new survey for the week ahead. Thanks to everyone who has already voted! And I hope you all have a superb weekend! Wayne http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm From psbfan at geowayne.com Sat Mar 28 22:06:31 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2015 22:06:31 -0700 Subject: [Introspective] Final results of poll on favorite "least favorite" PSB song Message-ID: <50CE05B6581E4513AE42F8F2B38A4A5E@COMP8> The final results are in for my poll this past week, in which I asked my site visitors to pick their favorite "least favorite" Pet Shop Boys song -- that is, the song they like the most from among those that received the lowest average rating per album in my various rating polls through the years. And the song that received the most votes was: * "To Face the Truth," chosen as their favorite of the bunch by 17.0% of the voters. To see the complete results, please visit my "Commentary" site at http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm and select one of the "Past Survey Results" options from the top navigation area or click the appropriate link on my "What's New?" page. My new poll for the week ahead is the "flipside," so to speak, of the one that just ended. This time I've listed the songs that received the *highest* rating for each PSB studio album (plus the b-sides collections), and I'm asking you to choose your *least* favorite of the batch. So please check out the list right there on my home page and chose the one you like the least. In the meantime, thanks again to everyone who voted in last week's survey! And I hope you all have a marvelous week ahead! Wayne http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm From the.ackermans at juno.com Tue Mar 31 19:07:15 2015 From: the.ackermans at juno.com (Don Ackerman) Date: Wed, 1 Apr 2015 02:07:15 GMT Subject: [Introspective] Neil Tennant & Brandon Flowers Message-ID: <20150331.210715.23228.0@webmail13.vgs.untd.com> Brandon Flowers Used a Voicemail Message from Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant on a New Song ARTICLESCOLUMNSPOP-SHOP By Jason Lipshutz, New York | March 26, 2015 2:51 PM EDT http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/6516501/brandon-flowers-desired-effect-interview The Killers frontman also discusses reaching out to producer Ariel Rechtshaid after hearing Vampire Weekend's latest songs. Brandon Flowers is forging a bold new path on his second solo effort, The Desired Effect, which follows 2010's Flamingo but sounds like a total departure for the Killers frontman. Previewed earlier this week by the kinetic lead single "Can't Deny My Love," The Desired Effect (due out May 19 on Island Records) represents the most playful project Flowers has ever been a part of, embracing a blissful dance-pop vibe thanks in part to producer Ariel Rechtshaid (Vampire Weekend, Charli XCX, Haim), who worked closely with Flowers on the new full-length. "I knew what we were getting into when we reached out to Ariel -- he's the funkiest white dude out there, and I needed a little of that in my life," Flowers told Billboard earlier this week. "[The Killers] were on tour in Australia, doing a festival, and we were playing next to Vampire Weekend and hearing some of their new songs. You knew there was something going on, and that this guy was a part of it. It just all came full circle, I got him on the phone and we just hit it off." Flowers worked with producers like Brendan O'Brien, Stuart Price and Daniel Lanois on Flamingo, and The Desired Effect boasts an even more diverse group of collaborators, including Bruce Hornsby, Ethan Farmer and The Dirty Projectors' Angel Deradoorian. "The older I get, the more willing I am to use other people and their talents, and I'm thankful for them," says Flowers. "I can't do it by myself, and I think that's something that came with age. If I could talk to myself when I was younger, that's one of the bits of advice I would definitely give myself -- be open to other people. That definitely helped me with this record." Pop Shop Podcast: Brandon Flowers Interview, Zayn Malik Leaves One Direction & More One of the most surprising collaborations on the album -- although it only lasts for a few seconds -- comes on "I Can Change," an sleek house track that samples Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy" and received a spoken word interjection from Pet Shop Boys leader Neil Tennant. Flowers and Tennant didn't share any studio time, however -- the Killers leader found a more unorthodox way to get the synth-pop legend on the record. "I'm a big Pet Shop Boys fan, and Ariel's a big Pet Shop Boys fan," Flowers explains. "We just talked about it, and we just had this gap in a verse and we needed to stick something in there. We were talking about it being a speaking part, and the greatest musical 'speaker' is Neil Tennant! His voice is like no other. I texted him if he would -- he didn't even hear the song or the tempo or anything, I just texted him this line. I asked, will you send us a voicemail of yourself saying, 'When you're looking for a change'? And that was it. He sent us a voice memo, and we stuck it onto the track, from the phone. It was done within 20 seconds." For much more with Flowers, click here to listen to the Killers frontman discuss The Desired Effect and his decision to return to his solo music on the new episode of the Pop Shop Podcast. Click here to get the new episode on iTunes. Thanks, Don Don Ackerman Writing, Analysis, & Knowledge Management The.Ackermans at juno.com home 952-432-2477 / mobile 952-201-6513 The Ackermans: Don, Marsha, Sam, & Abby ____________________________________________________________ Want to place your ad here? Advertise on United Online http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/551b53312f00153313160st03vuc