From psbfan at geowayne.com Thu Nov 5 20:46:17 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2015 20:46:17 -0800 Subject: [Introspective] Poll ends soon on how "campy" the Pet Shop Boys are Message-ID: <8E6FE6A1ADF0404995BE70B6D740303D@COMP8> Hey there! Tomorrow (Saturday) is the last full day of my current poll, which asks about the extent to which you believe the element of "camp" plays in the work and career of the Pet Shop Boys. 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 right there on my home page. On Sunday I will end this poll, post the final results, and start a new survey for the week ahead. Thanks to everyone who has already voted! And I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! (Or is "fabulous" a little too campy? ;-) ) Wayne http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm From psbfan at geowayne.com Sat Nov 7 22:13:52 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Sat, 7 Nov 2015 22:13:52 -0800 Subject: [Introspective] Final results of poll on "camp" in the work and career of the Pet Shop Boys Message-ID: The final results are in for my poll this past week, in which I asked my site visitors about the extent to which they believe "camp" has played a role in the Pet Shop Boys' work and career. And the response that received the most votes was: * "Noticeable, but minor. There's been some camp from time to time, but not nearly as much or as often as some people seem to believe," chosen by 55.0% 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" option in the top navigation bar or click the appropriate link on my "What's New?" page. My new poll this week is somewhat more complex than most, so I hope it doesn't put you off. I happened to notice a few weeks ago that the three consecutive studio albums that I regard as the core of the Pet Shop Boys' "middle period" -- Very, Bilingual, and Nightlife -- each have 12 tracks (at least if you count the conclusion of Very with "Go West" and "Postscript" as a single track, which is indeed how they were officially tracked on the album). This got me to thinking about comparing them on a track-by-track basis. In other words, of those three albums, which one's first track is your favorite? And which second track? And so on, right on through to their respective final tracks. So you get to make 12 choices. But, if that weren't enough, when I found that I had a relatively difficult time making one of those choices myself -- that is, I found myself somewhat "pained" to be forced to choose for one of the tracks -- I realized that would make a terrific "bonus" question! So I'm also asking you that: which of those 12 choices was the most difficult for you to make? (And in case none of them were difficult, I offer an option for that, too.) So please take a few moments to make your choices right there on my home page. In the meantime, thanks to everyone who voted in last week's survey! And I hope you all have a great week ahead! Wayne http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm From psbfan at geowayne.com Thu Nov 12 21:44:18 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2015 21:44:18 -0800 Subject: [Introspective] Poll ends soon on comparing three PSB albums track-by-track Message-ID: <90BEBDFEC86241E0B06B06ADC6A227BF@COMP8> Hey there! Tomorrow (Saturday) is the last full day of my current poll, which asks you to compare, on a track-by-track basis, three consecutive Pet Shop Boys albums, Very, Bilingual, and Nightlife, choosing your favorite track in each position (Track 1, Track 2, and so on) -- and also which of those track choices proved the most difficult or "painful" for you. If you haven't voted yet, please take a few moments 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 kick off a new survey for the week ahead. Thanks to everyone who has already voted! And I hope you all have a terrific weekend! Wayne http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm From psbfan at geowayne.com Sat Nov 14 22:11:36 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Sat, 14 Nov 2015 22:11:36 -0800 Subject: [Introspective] Final results of poll comparing tracks on three PSB albums Message-ID: <984E3C7AEB97488AB655E2924D0864ED@COMP8> The final results are in for my poll this past week, in which I asked my site visitors to compare, track-by-track, each of the songs on three consecutive Pet Shop Boys studio albums of the 1990s -- Very, Bilingual, and Nightlife -- choosing their favorite song in each track position. But rather than list all the results here in lengthy detail, please allow me to summarize them as follows: * Songs from Very came out on top for 8 out of the 12 tracks, with "Go West"/"Postscript" being selected by the largest margin of all, earning 73.9% of the votes as the "Track 12" selection. * The exceptions to the dominance of Very were three victorious tracks from Bilingual -- "A Red Letter Day," "Up Against It," and "To Step Aside" -- and just one from Nightlife, "I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More." * A plurality of voters (14.5%) indicated that Track 5 -- the choice between "Dreaming of the Queen" (which was the preferred choice), "Se A Vida E," and "You Only Tell Me You Love When When You're Drunk" -- was the most difficult or "painful" choice. To see the complete, detailed 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. As penance for imposing upon you such a lengthy poll and forcing you to make so many choices last week, my new survey for the week ahead very unusually offers just two choices. If you could choose between the Pet Shop Boys' final years of making new music being relatively short in length and offering fewer new songs, but those mostly being of high quality, and their final years stretching out longer and offering a significantly larger number of new songs, but most of those being of lower quality, with maybe only one or two real "gems" per new album, which would you prefer? Please mull this over and make your choice from those two options right there on my home page. In the meantime, thanks to everyone who voted in last week's survey! And I hope you all have a splendid week ahead! Wayne http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm From psbfan at geowayne.com Thu Nov 19 20:42:03 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2015 20:42:03 -0800 Subject: [Introspective] Poll ends soon between two hypothetical PSB "career remainders" Message-ID: Hey there! Tomorrow (Saturday) is the last full day of my current PSB poll ? an unusually simple one with just two choices. If you had to choose between the Pet Shop Boys' remaining career lasting longer, resulting in a lot more music, but it was of declining quality so that there are maybe only a few real "gems" per album, or their remaining career lasting a shorter length of time, producing less music, but most of it of high quality, which would you prefer? (And, yes, I know that we all have every hope and expectation that they still have a long career ahead of them and it will be of consistently high quality, but I'm just asking here about a hypothetical choice between those two options.) 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 marvelous weekend! Wayne http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm From psbfan at geowayne.com Sat Nov 21 22:03:12 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2015 22:03:12 -0800 Subject: [Introspective] Final results of poll on preference regarding remaining PSB career Message-ID: <26434456605644E58523C0B9753DA5A8@COMP8> The final results are in for my poll this past week, in which I asked my site visitors whether they, if they had to choose between the Pet Shop Boys' remaining career being relatively short, with less music, but it being mostly of high quality, or it being somewhat longer, with more music, but it being of lower quality overall (with perhaps only one or two real "gems" per album), which they would prefer. And the option picked by the majority of voters was: * "Less music, ending sooner, but mostly of high quality," chosen by 65.1% of the voters. To see the complete results (although since there were just two choices this time, it's pretty obvious), 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 comes in the wake of the news this past week that Adele's new album, 25, would not be made available on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. So I'm asking whether you believe the Pet Shop Boys' next studio album, scheduled for release in the spring, should be similarly withheld from streaming services. But unlike last week's poll, I'm not forcing you to choose between just two opposite options. I'm offering several, ranging from "No, never" to "Yes, on the day of release" with two alternatives for the rationale, with a couple other choices in between. Thanks so much to the long-time regular site visitor (who shall in this case remain nameless) who suggested this question! And thanks as well to everyone who voted in last week's survey! I hope you all have a terrific week ahead -- and a very happy and safe Thanksgiving to my fellow U.S fans and anyone else who observes the holiday at this time! Wayne http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm From psbfan at geowayne.com Thu Nov 26 21:50:04 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Thu, 26 Nov 2015 21:50:04 -0800 Subject: [Introspective] Poll ends soon on whether PSB should stream their next album Message-ID: <97BF4B952D3649D996810D34FDC926DF@COMP8> Hey there! Tomorrow (Saturday) is the last full day of my current poll, which asks whether you believe the Pet Shop Boys should make their next album (scheduled for release in Spring 2016) available to streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Music -- and, if so, when. If you haven't voted yet, please take a moment to visit my "Commentary" website at http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm and make your choice from the options provided 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 superb weekend! Wayne http://www.geowayne.com/psbhtml.htm From psbfan at geowayne.com Sat Nov 28 22:07:55 2015 From: psbfan at geowayne.com (Wayne Studer) Date: Sat, 28 Nov 2015 22:07:55 -0800 Subject: [Introspective] Final results of poll on PSB streaming their next album Message-ID: <0E758E1EC4DD4B53A24392776BB77F94@COMP8> The final results are in for my poll this past week, in which I asked my site visitors whether the Pet Shop Boys should allow their next album to be "streamed" and, if so, when. And the choice that received the most votes was: * "Yes, they should make it available on streaming services, but not until a month or so after its release (since releasing in that way sooner may hurt physical and digital sales)," picked by 20.8% of the voters. But it would be remiss of me not to point out that the second- and third-place choices were both "stream on the day of release" options, differing only in the rationale for streaming on the day of release. Together (20.5% and 17.7%) they totaled 38.2%, thereby showing that a plurality of the voters actually believe the Boys should stream the album on the day of release. 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 lists the Pet Shop Boys' six biggest hit singles (at least as determined by U.K. peak chart position, these being the six that reached either #1 or #2) and asks you to rank them according to your own fondness for them. That is, I'm asking you to designate your personal favorite as #1, your second-favorite as #2, and so on, down to your least favorite as #6. Now, as I often -- yes, very often -- have to remind people when faced with such decisions, naming a song as your "least favorite" does *not* necessarily mean you don't like it. It merely means you don't like it as much as the others. I, for one, love all six of the songs under consideration of this poll, but I nevertheless have no problem designating one of them as my *least* favorite, the one I love less than all the others. So please take a few moments to make your own choices right there on my home page. 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