227-567: Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe , they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music history in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records . Three-time Brit Award winners and six-time Grammy nominees, since 1984 they have achieved 42 top 30 singles, 22 of these being top 10 hits on
454-520: A BRIT Award and Ivor Novello Award for "West End Girls". Later, on 15 June, they released what became their second number one single, " It's a Sin ". The single caused some controversy: Tennant's school, St. Cuthbert's Grammar School , in Newcastle upon Tyne , chastised him in the press , while pop impresario Jonathan King accused them of plagiarising the Cat Stevens song " Wild World ". King recorded
681-406: A charity single . It was released under the artist name 'Absolutely Fabulous'; Tennant and Lowe do not consider it as a Pet Shop Boys single release and it was not included on their next best-of album. The video featured clips from the sitcom, along with newly recorded footage of Tennant and Lowe with the characters of Edina (Saunders) and Patsy (Lumley). On 12 September 1994, Pet Shop Boys released
908-600: A vampire who steals Neil Tennant's wife. Neil Tennant has said that the Pet Shop Boys' " Imperial Phase " ended in September 1988, when their new single, " Domino Dancing ", entered the UK Singles Chart at number nine and only reached number seven. Tennant recalls being disappointed upon hearing the news, and he felt that their peak period was over and that it was going to be a challenge to maintain their level of success in
1135-442: A 103-foot (31 m) tall cross built in 1934. Dominating this area is Sutro Tower , a large red and white radio and television transmission tower reaching 1,811 ft (552 m) above sea level. The nearby San Andreas and Hayward Faults are responsible for much earthquake activity, although neither physically passes through the city itself. The San Andreas Fault caused the earthquakes in 1906 and 1989. Minor earthquakes occur on
1362-651: A Doughnut" in particular was an early techno-pop fusion track, which made early use of a music sequencer . Izitso reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart, while the song "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard" was a top 40 hit. That same month, the Beach Boys released their album Love You , performed almost entirely by bandleader Brian Wilson with Moog and ARP synthesizers, and with arrangements somewhat inspired by Wendy Carlos's Switched-On Bach (1968). Although it
1589-562: A Sin", "I Want a Lover", "I Get Excited", "Two Divided by Zero", "Rent", "Later Tonight", "Pet Shop Boys", "A Man Could Get Arrested" and "One More Chance". In April 1984, the Orlando-produced "West End Girls" was released, becoming a club hit in Los Angeles and San Francisco . On 2 November, it was voted "Screamer of the Week" by listeners of Long Island , New York, radio station WLIR . It
1816-422: A UK television programme, on ITV , commemorating the tenth anniversary of Elvis Presley 's death. They were asked to perform one of their favourite Elvis tracks and they narrowed it down to two options, " Baby Let's Play House " and " Always on My Mind ", eventually settling on the latter. Their Presley cover would later be re-released in a 12" version, consisting of a medley , along with an acid house track by
2043-538: A background in musical theatre, released his own synth-driven re-imagining of Irving Berlin's " Puttin' On the Ritz "; resulting in a subsequent long-play, After Eight , a concept album that takes music of 1930s sensibilities as informed by the soundscape of 1980s technology. The proliferation of acts led to an anti-synth backlash, with groups including Spandau Ballet, Human League, Soft Cell and ABC incorporating more conventional influences and instruments into their sounds. In
2270-611: A common place to live for people employed in Silicon Valley companies such as Apple and Google . The early 2020s featured an exodus of tech companies from Downtown San Francisco in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and struggles with homelessness and public drug use. Although some observers have raised the possibility that office vacancies and declining tax revenues could cause San Francisco to enter an economic doom loop , other sources have refuted this broad-based characterization of
2497-570: A condition, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe were given one disc each, whereas all previous releases in the series consisted of only a single disc per group (see Back to Mine: Pet Shop Boys ). In July 2017, Pet Shop Boys reissued Release as part of their Catalogue: 1985–2012 series. It features the remastered album, plus bonus tracks, demos and Pet Shop Boys' remixes of their tracks. Pet Shop Boys began 2006 remixing Madonna 's single " Sorry ", for release in February. The single reached number one in
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#17328474656392724-639: A duet with Tennant. On 10 October 2006, Pet Shop Boys embarked on the North and Central American leg of their world tour, which took them through Canada, the United States and Mexico, concluding on 16 November. A DVD of the show in Mexico City was released on 21 May 2007, titled Cubism . It was recorded on 14 November 2006, in the Auditorio Nacional , and was directed by David Barnard. On 16 October, Catalogue
2951-638: A duo where their partner played all the instrumentation. Although synth-pop in part arose from punk rock , it abandoned punk's emphasis on authenticity and often pursued a deliberate artificiality , drawing on the critically derided forms such as disco and glam rock . It owed relatively little to the foundations of early popular music in jazz , folk music or the blues , and instead of looking to America, in its early stages, it consciously focused on European and particularly Eastern European influences, which were reflected in band names like Spandau Ballet and songs like Ultravox's " Vienna ". Later synth-pop saw
3178-640: A flood of treasure seekers (known as "forty-niners," as in "1849"). With their sourdough bread in tow, prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival Benicia , raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849. The promise of wealth was so strong that crews on arriving vessels deserted and rushed off to the gold fields, leaving behind a forest of masts in San Francisco harbor. Some of these approximately 500 abandoned ships were used at times as storeships , saloons , and hotels; many were left to rot, and some were sunk to establish title to
3405-525: A follow-up single, " Love Comes Quickly ", on 24 February 1986. The single reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart and was followed by their debut album, Please , on 24 March. In June 1986, the band announced a tour of Europe and America; however, their plans for a theatrical extravaganza proved to be too expensive and the tour was cancelled. Please started Pet Shop Boys' penchant for choosing one-word album titles, which Neil Tennant has since stated
3632-452: A fort on Alcatraz Island to secure San Francisco Bay. San Francisco County was one of the state's 18 original counties established at California statehood in 1850. Until 1856, San Francisco's city limits extended west to Divisadero Street and Castro Street, and south to 20th Street. In 1856, the California state government divided the county. A straight line was then drawn across the tip of
3859-477: A gourmet marketplace. San Francisco has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csb , Trewartha : Csll), characteristic of California's coast, with moist winters and dry summers. San Francisco's weather is strongly influenced by the cool currents of the Pacific Ocean on the west side of the city, and the water of San Francisco Bay to the north and east. This moderates temperature swings and produces
4086-445: A hit with their debut single " The Promise ". Several German synth-pop acts of the late 1980s included Camouflage and Celebrate the Nun . Canadian duo Kon Kan had major success with their debut single, " I Beg Your Pardon " in 1989. An American backlash against European synth-pop has been seen as beginning in the mid-1980s with the rise of heartland rock and roots rock . In the UK
4313-554: A large African American population after World War II . The Western Addition is usually divided into smaller neighborhoods including Hayes Valley , the Fillmore , and Japantown , which was once the largest Japantown in North America but suffered when its Japanese American residents were forcibly removed and interned during World War II. The Western Addition survived the 1906 earthquake with its Victorians largely intact, including
4540-430: A large number of acts, a number of them enjoying huge mainstream popularity in the country, like Beograd , Laki Pingvini , Denis & Denis , and Videosex . In the mid-1980s, key artists included solo performer Howard Jones , who S.T. Erlewine has stated to have "merged the technology-intensive sound of new wave with the cheery optimism of hippies and late-'60s pop", (although with notable exceptions including
4767-647: A light rail and bus network , in tandem with the BART and Caltrain systems, connects nearly every part of San Francisco with the wider region. San Francisco, which is Spanish for "Saint Francis," takes its name from Mission San Francisco de Asís , which in turn was named after Saint Francis of Assisi . The mission received its name in 1776, when it was founded by the Spanish under the leadership of Padre Francisco Palóu . The city has officially been known as San Francisco since 1847, when Washington Allon Bartlett , then serving as
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#17328474656394994-438: A list of the fifty greatest cover versions of all time. 1988 started with another collaboration. Pet Shop Boys wrote and produced the song " I'm Not Scared " for Patsy Kensit 's band, Eighth Wonder . The song became her biggest hit single and Pet Shop Boys included their own extended version of the track on their Introspective album. March 1988 saw the duo achieve their fourth UK number one single (and their last to date), with
5221-578: A magnet for America's counterculture movement . Beat Generation writers fueled the San Francisco Renaissance and centered on the North Beach neighborhood in the 1950s. Hippies flocked to Haight-Ashbury in the 1960s, reaching a peak with the 1967 Summer of Love . In 1974, the Zebra murders left at least 16 people dead. In the 1970s, the city became a center of the gay rights movement , with
5448-618: A major influence on subsequent synth rock. In 1971, the British film A Clockwork Orange was released with a synth soundtrack by American Wendy Carlos . It was the first time many in the United Kingdom had heard electronic music . Philip Oakey of the Human League and Richard H. Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire , as well as music journalist Simon Reynolds, have cited the soundtrack as an inspiration. Electronic music made occasional moves into
5675-497: A major influence on the later synth-pop sound. David Bowie 's Berlin Trilogy , comprising the albums Low (1977), "Heroes" (1977), and Lodger (1979), all featuring Brian Eno, would also be highly influential. The Cat Stevens album Izitso , released in April 1977, updated his pop rock style with the extensive use of synthesizers, giving it a more synth-pop style; "Was Dog
5902-470: A matter of time"). The Sun newspaper in the UK subsequently tried to get the track released as a charity single , but Pet Shop Boys did not agree. Towards the end of 1987, Pet Shop Boys started work on an hour-long film that would incorporate the songs from Please and Actually . Working with director Jack Bond , the short film grew into a full-scale movie, It Couldn't Happen Here , starring Barbara Windsor , Joss Ackland and Gareth Hunt . The film
6129-406: A member of the group, found a minimoog left behind in the studio by another band, and started experimenting with it. This led to a change in the album's sound to electronic new wave. Numan later described his work on this album as a guitarist playing keyboards, who turned "punk songs into electronic songs". A single from the second Tubeway Army album Replicas , " Are Friends Electric? ", topped
6356-457: A more conventional drum sound. Lyrics were generally more optimistic, dealing with more traditional subject matter for pop music such as romance, escapism and aspiration. According to music writer Simon Reynolds , the hallmark of 1980s synth-pop was its "emotional, at times operatic singers" such as Marc Almond , Alison Moyet and Annie Lennox . Because synthesizers removed the need for large groups of musicians, these singers were often part of
6583-584: A new version of "Paninaro", the 1986 B-side to " Suburbia ", was released to promote the B-sides collection Alternative . The single, called " Paninaro '95 ", is based on the live version from the Discovery tour. The Pet Shop Boys remix of the David Bowie song " Hallo Spaceboy " featured Tennant on backing vocals and was released in the UK on 19 February 1996. Pet Shop Boys then joined Bowie during his performance of
6810-432: A number of other productions after the 11 September 2001 attacks . After the mixed fortunes of Closer to Heaven , Pet Shop Boys returned to the studio to start work on their eighth album. After toying with genres including hip hop , they went for a stripped back acoustic sound as a complete change from the over-the-top dance music of the musical. In 2002, they released the modestly successful album Release . Most of
7037-440: A port and naval base, post-Conquest San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography. Situated at the tip of a windswept peninsula without water or firewood, San Francisco lacked most of the basic facilities for a 19th-century settlement. These natural disadvantages forced the town's residents to bring water, fuel and food to the site. Its 1847 population was said to be 459. The California gold rush brought
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7264-619: A promotional video was shot by the distinguished photographer Martin Parr and it was serviced to some UK radio stations. Following a live stint on the John Peel show on Radio 1 , Pet Shop Boys released Disco 3 , in February 2003. The album followed their previous Disco albums, but this one also included new songs as well as remixes. In 2003, Pet Shop Boys launched two new labels, Olde English Vinyl and Lucky Kunst, their Spaghetti Records label becoming defunct. The first release on Olde English Vinyl
7491-424: A regular basis. The threat of major earthquakes plays a large role in the city's infrastructure development. The city constructed an auxiliary water supply system and has repeatedly upgraded its building codes, requiring retrofits for older buildings and higher engineering standards for new construction. However, there are still thousands of smaller buildings that remain vulnerable to quake damage. USGS has released
7718-415: A remixed edit of " Heart ", different from the album version. This single version would be included on their first and third greatest hits albums , Discography: The Complete Singles Collection and Ultimate , whereas the album version would be used for their second retrospective , the double PopArt: Pet Shop Boys – The Hits . The video to the single, directed by Jack Bond, starred Ian McKellen as
7945-502: A second greatest hits album , PopArt: The Hits , a double compilation with two new singles: " Miracles " and " Flamboyant ". Not chronologically arranged, the tracks were divided into two discs: Pop including the more traditional pop songs and Art containing those works which were considered more experimental. In September 2004, Pet Shop Boys appeared at a free concert in Trafalgar Square in London, where they performed, with
8172-567: A series of concert dates across Europe, mainly at assorted festivals and outdoor venues. These included two dates at the Tower of London on 28 and 29 June and a single show at Thetford Forest , as well as performances of Battleship Potemkin in Germany and Spain. On 1 May 2006, Battleship Potemkin was also performed at the Swan Hunter shipyard, in Newcastle upon Tyne , with Pet Shop Boys accompanied by
8399-428: A series of hit singles, beginning with their debut single " Planet Earth " and the UK top five hit " Girls on Film " in 1981. They would soon be followed into the British charts by a large number of bands utilising synthesizers to create catchy three-minute pop songs. In summer 1981 Depeche Mode had their first chart success with " New Life ", followed by the UK top ten hit " Just Can't Get Enough ". A new line-up for
8626-534: A series of landmark releases within the genre, including the 1980 hit singles " Messages " and " Enola Gay ". OMD became one of the most influential acts of the period, introducing the "synth duo" format to British music. Vince Clarke , who co-founded the popular synth-pop groups Depeche Mode , Erasure , Yazoo and the Assembly , has cited OMD as his inspiration to become an electronic musician. Bandleaders Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys have been described in
8853-629: A shift to a style more influenced by other genres, such as soul music . Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used practically in a recording studio became available in the mid-1960s, around the same time as rock music began to emerge as a distinct musical genre. The Mellotron , an electro-mechanical , polyphonic sample-playback keyboard was overtaken by the Moog synthesizer , created by Robert Moog in 1964, which produced completely electronically generated sounds. The portable Minimoog , which allowed much easier use, particularly in live performance
9080-583: A significant portion of the Comstock Lode 's gold and silver mines, establishing a virtual monopoly. Using his incredible clout, Ralston was able to generate millions of dollars for San Francisco during its heady boom years. He founded the Bank of California , the first bank in the Western United States, and built the opulent Palace Hotel, a symbol of San Francisco's newfound prosperity and the largest hotel in
9307-504: A small studio in Camden Town owned by Ray Roberts. " Jealousy ", written in 1982, was among the first songs they recorded there. They briefly labelled their demo tapes under the band name West End before settling on Pet Shop Boys. They say that their band name was taken from friends who worked in a pet shop in Ealing and were known as the "pet shop boys". They also noted a naming similarity with
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9534-455: A song for inclusion on her eponymous Kylie Minogue album, called " Falling ", which was based on an unreleased remix of " Go West " with new lyrics by Tennant; however, Minogue and her record company did not like the production sound of Pet Shop Boys' demo and asked Farley & Heller to finally produce the track. In 2000 the duo made their debut performance at the Glastonbury festival on
9761-460: A spacious public park, resulting in plans for Golden Gate Park . San Franciscans built schools, churches, theaters, and all the hallmarks of civic life. The Presidio developed into the most important American military installation on the Pacific coast. By 1890, San Francisco's population approached 300,000, making it the eighth-largest city in the United States at the time. Around 1901, San Francisco
9988-575: A strong return to the UK Singles Chart with " Can You Forgive Her? ". Taking its title from the Anthony Trollope novel of the same name , the single reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart, while its iconic music video featured the duo in orange body suits and tall dunce caps , in a world of computer-generated imagery . The theme was continued with the follow-up single, a cover of the Village People song " Go West ", which reached number two in
10215-488: A style of electronic dance music influenced by synth-pop and funk that led to the emergence of Detroit techno in the mid-1980s. The continued influence of 1980s synth-pop could be seen in various incarnations of 1990s dance music, including trance . Hip hop artists such as Mobb Deep have sampled 1980s synth-pop songs. Popular artists such as Rihanna , UK stars Jay Sean and Taio Cruz , as well as British pop star Lily Allen on her second album, have also embraced
10442-618: A style that was highly successful on the US dance charts, but by the end of the decade, the synth-pop of bands such as A-ha and Alphaville was giving way to house music and techno . Interest in synth-pop began to revive in the indietronica and electroclash movements in the late 1990s, and in the 2000s synth-pop enjoyed a widespread revival and commercial success. The genre has received criticism for alleged lack of emotion and musicianship; prominent artists have spoken out against detractors who believed that synthesizers themselves composed and played
10669-589: A synthesizer, I’m going to have you. Video Killed the Radio Star is putting musicians out of business." 1980 also saw the release of where "Video Killed the Radio Star" came from, the Buggles' debut album The Age of Plastic , which some writers have labeled as the first landmark of another electropop era, as well as what for many is the defining album of Devo's career, the overtly synth-pop Freedom of Choice . The emergence of synth-pop has been described as "perhaps
10896-604: A synthwave song by the Weeknd, peaked at number one in 29 countries, including the United States, in early 2020; and later became the Billboard number-one greatest song of all time in November 2021. This wave of revival not only popularized established acts but also enabled new artists like Dua Lipa , whose retro-influenced album Future Nostalgia won multiple awards and was hailed for its energetic embrace of vintage pop sounds. Meanwhile, indie artists such as M83 continued to explore
11123-531: A total of 21.9 million visitors. It is known for its steep rolling hills and eclectic mix of architecture across varied neighborhoods , its Chinatown and Mission districts, its cooling summers, fog , and landmarks including the Golden Gate Bridge , cable cars , and Alcatraz . The city is home to a number of educational and cultural institutions, such as the University of California, San Francisco ,
11350-514: A version of "Wild World" in the style of Pet Shop Boys to prove his point. The group later sued King and won damages, which were donated to Jefferiss Research Trust, supporting the study of sexually transmitted diseases. The video for "It's a Sin" also saw their first collaboration with director Derek Jarman . The success of "It's a Sin" was followed up with the release of " What Have I Done to Deserve This? " on 10 August. Co-written with Allee Willis and also featuring Dusty Springfield on vocals,
11577-625: A vida é (That's the Way Life Is) ", a Latin American music -inspired track, featuring a drum sample from a track called "Estrada da paixão" by Brazilian act Olodum . This preceded the sixth Pet Shop Boys album Bilingual , which was released in September. Pet Shop Boys were the first band to have a residency at a West End theatre , playing for two weeks at the Savoy Theatre in June 1997. Lowe selected
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#173284746563911804-479: A wave of " Manhattanization " that lasted until the late 1980s, a period of extensive high-rise development downtown. The 1980s also saw a dramatic increase in the number of homeless people in the city, an issue that remains today, despite many attempts to address it. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake caused destruction and loss of life throughout the Bay Area. In San Francisco, the quake severely damaged structures in
12031-518: Is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock , electronic , art rock , disco , and particularly the Krautrock of bands like Kraftwerk . It arose as a distinct genre in Japan and the United Kingdom in the post-punk era as part of
12258-483: Is essentially their original form, but most of the city's natural watercourses, such as Islais Creek and Mission Creek , have been partially or completely culverted and built over. Since the 1990s, however, the Public Utilities Commission has been studying proposals to daylight or restore some creeks. An Historical Center of San Francisco monument, where the 1899–1906 City Hall was once located,
12485-408: Is gone." Rebuilding was rapid and performed on a grand scale. Rejecting calls to completely remake the street grid, San Franciscans opted for speed. Amadeo Giannini 's Bank of Italy , later to become Bank of America , provided loans for many of those whose livelihoods had been devastated. The influential San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association or SPUR was founded in 1910 to address
12712-566: Is in United Nations Plaza , at 37°46′48″N 122°24′49″W / 37.7800397°N 122.4135943°W / 37.7800397; -122.4135943 The earliest center of San Francisco is Portsmouth Square , in the northeast quadrant of the city anchored by Market Street and the waterfront. Here in the northeast quadrant, the Financial District is centered, with Union Square , the principal shopping and hotel district, and
12939-463: Is now a Pet Shop Boys "signature thing", akin to e. e. cummings ' use of exclusively lower case letters. New versions of their second single, " Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) ", and the album track " Suburbia " were also released in 1986, followed by Disco . In September 1986, Pet Shop Boys performed "Love Comes Quickly" and "West End Girls" at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles. 1987 started with Pet Shop Boys receiving both
13166-581: The Billboard Hot 100 for nine weeks in 2010. She also used the genre on her comeback single " Die Young ". Mainstream female recording artists who have dabbled in the genre in the 2010s include Madonna , Taylor Swift , Katy Perry , Jessie J , Christina Aguilera , and Beyoncé . In Japan, girl group Perfume , along with producer Yasutaka Nakata of Capsule , produced technopop music combining 1980s synth-pop with chiptunes and electro house from 2003. Their breakthrough came in 2008 with
13393-537: The 13th most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States , with almost 4.6 million residents in 2023. The larger San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area , the fifth-largest urban region in the U.S., had a 2023 estimated population of over 9 million. Prior to European settlement , the modern city proper was inhabited by the Yelamu , who spoke a language now referred to as Ramaytush Ohlone . On June 29, 1776, settlers from New Spain established
13620-563: The Bear Flag Revolt in Sonoma and the beginning of the U.S. Conquest of California , American forces from the USS Portsmouth under the command of John B. Montgomery captured Yerba Buena on July 9, 1846, with little resistance from the local Californio population, raising the American flag over Yerba Buena plaza (later renamed Portsmouth Square in commemoration of this event). Following
13847-562: The California earthquake forecast which models earthquake occurrence in California. San Francisco's shoreline has grown beyond its natural limits. Entire neighborhoods such as the Marina , Mission Bay , and Hunters Point , as well as large sections of the Embarcadero , sit on areas of landfill . Treasure Island was constructed from material dredged from the bay as well as material resulting from
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#173284746563914074-462: The Japanese Albums chart. Much like Japan, Korean pop music has also become dominated by synth-pop, particularly with girl groups such as f(x) , Girls' Generation and Wonder Girls . In 2020, the genre experienced a resurgence in popularity as 1980s-style synth-pop and synthwave songs from singers such as the Weeknd who gained success on international music charts. " Blinding Lights ",
14301-495: The Marina and South of Market districts and precipitated the demolition of the damaged Embarcadero Freeway and much of the damaged Central Freeway , allowing the city to reclaim The Embarcadero as its historic downtown waterfront and revitalizing the Hayes Valley neighborhood. The two recent decades have seen booms driven by the internet industry. During the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, startup companies invigorated
14528-525: The New Romantic movement. Despite synth-pop's origins in the late 1970s among new wave bands like Tubeway Army and Devo, British journalists and music critics largely abandoned the term "new wave" in the early 1980s. This was in part due to the rise of new artists unaffiliated with the preceding punk/new wave era, as well as aesthetic changes associated with synth-pop's movement into the pop mainstream. According to authors Stuart Borthwick and Ron Moy, "After
14755-512: The Northern Sinfonia orchestra. On 3 October 2006, the long-delayed U.S. release of their PopArt hits package was issued by Capitol Records . During 2006, Pet Shop Boys worked with Robbie Williams on his album Rudebox , producing two tracks: a cover version of "We're the Pet Shop Boys", written by My Robot Friend (which Pet Shop Boys had also recorded themselves and released as a B-side to " Miracles " in 2003), and " She's Madonna ",
14982-623: The Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate , and the Mission San Francisco de Asís a few miles away, both named for Francis of Assisi . The California gold rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, transforming an unimportant hamlet into a busy port, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time; between 1870 and 1900, approximately one quarter of California's population resided in
15209-516: The TR-808 rhythm machine to popular music, and the band would be a major influence on early British synth-pop acts. The development of inexpensive polyphonic synthesizers, the definition of MIDI and the use of dance beats, led to a more commercial and accessible sound for synth-pop. This, its adoption by the style-conscious acts from the New Romantic movement, together with the rise of MTV , led to success for large numbers of British synth-pop acts in
15436-495: The Tenderloin nearby. Cable cars carry riders up steep inclines to the summit of Nob Hill , once the home of the city's business tycoons, and down to the waterfront tourist attractions of Fisherman's Wharf , and Pier 39 , where many restaurants feature Dungeness crab from a still-active fishing industry. Also in this quadrant are Russian Hill , a residential neighborhood with the famously crooked Lombard Street ; North Beach ,
15663-457: The UK Albums Chart . It was produced by Pet Shop Boys and mixed with additional production by Stephen Hague , who had produced their first album and had subsequently produced records by OMD , New Order and Erasure . The other singles from Very , " I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing ", " Liberation " and " Yesterday, When I Was Mad ", continued the theme of CGI videos, peaking with
15890-478: The UK Singles Chart , including four UK number ones: " West End Girls " (also number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 ), " It's a Sin ", a synth-pop version of " Always on My Mind ", and " Heart ". Other hit songs include a cover of " Go West ", and their own " Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) ", and " What Have I Done to Deserve This? " in a duet with Dusty Springfield . With five US top ten singles in
16117-1116: The University of San Francisco , San Francisco State University , the San Francisco Conservatory of Music , the de Young Museum , the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art , the San Francisco Symphony , the San Francisco Ballet , the San Francisco Opera , the SFJAZZ Center , and the California Academy of Sciences . Two major league sports teams, the San Francisco Giants and the Golden State Warriors , play their home games within San Francisco proper. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offers flights to over 125 destinations, while
16344-460: The V Festival 2007), Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Singapore. Pet Shop Boys "played" at the free festival Secondfest , in the online virtual world Second Life , on 30 June. On 8 October 2007, Pet Shop Boys released Disco 4 , the latest in their series of remix albums ;
16571-443: The new wave movement of the late 1970s. Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used practically in a recording studio became available in the mid-1960s, and the mid-1970s saw the rise of electronic art musicians. After the breakthrough of Gary Numan in the UK Singles Chart in 1979, large numbers of artists began to enjoy success with a synthesizer-based sound in the early 1980s. In Japan, Yellow Magic Orchestra introduced
16798-461: The "Liberation" video, which contained almost no real-life elements at all. All these videos were directed by Howard Greenhalgh , who continued to work with Pet Shop Boys well into the next decade. Very was also released in a limited edition including an entirely new album, Relentless , which was composed of six all-new progressive house tracks. In 1994, Pet Shop Boys offered to remix fellow Parlophone act Blur 's single " Girls & Boys ". It
17025-461: The 1910s, a wave of Central American immigrants settled in the Mission and, in the 1950s, immigrants from Mexico began to predominate. In recent years, gentrification has changed the demographics of parts of the Mission from Latino, to twenty-something professionals. Noe Valley to the southwest and Bernal Heights to the south are both increasingly popular among young families with children. East of
17252-453: The 1971 Broadway musical " Follies ". The duo's own demo of this appeared on their " Jealousy " single as a B-side. Tennant worked with Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr on their first album as Electronic , whose first single, " Getting Away with It ", co-written and co-produced by Tennant, was released on 4 December 1989. In 1991, Lowe also contributed to the Electronic project, contributing
17479-409: The 1980s, the introduction of dance beats and more conventional rock instrumentation made the music warmer and catchier and contained within the conventions of three-minute pop. Synthesizers were increasingly used to imitate the conventional and clichéd sound of orchestras and horns. Thin, treble-dominant, synthesized melodies and simple drum programmes gave way to thick, and compressed production, and
17706-477: The 1980s, they are associated with the Second British Invasion . At the 2009 Brit Awards in London, Pet Shop Boys received an award for Outstanding Contribution to Music . In 2016, Billboard newspaper named Pet Shop Boys the number one dance duo/group over the 40 years since the chart's inception in 1976. In 2017, the duo received NME 's Godlike Genius Award , and in 2024, they were awarded
17933-560: The 1990s were Savage Garden , the Rentals and the Moog Cookbook . Electronic music was also explored from the early 1990s by indietronica bands like Stereolab , EMF , the Utah Saints , and Disco Inferno , who mixed a variety of indie and synthesizer sounds. Indietronica began to take off in the new millennium as the new digital technology developed, with acts such as Broadcast from
18160-535: The Bay Area a center for trade. Catering to the needs and tastes of the growing population, Levi Strauss opened a dry goods business and Domingo Ghirardelli began manufacturing chocolate. Chinese immigrants made the city a polyglot culture, drawn to "Old Gold Mountain," creating the city's Chinatown quarter. By 1880, Chinese made up 9.3% of the population. The first cable cars carried San Franciscans up Clay Street in 1873. The city's sea of Victorian houses began to take shape, and civic leaders campaigned for
18387-673: The Birdman of Alcatraz. San Francisco later celebrated its regained grandeur with a World's fair , the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939–40, creating Treasure Island in the middle of the bay to house it. During World War II , the city-owned Sharp Park in Pacifica was used as an internment camp to detain Japanese Americans . Hunters Point Naval Shipyard became a hub of activity, and Fort Mason became
18614-585: The Bravery and the Stills all left their synth-pop sound behind after their debut albums and began to explore classic 1970s rock, but the style was picked up by a large number of performers, particularly female solo artists. Following the breakthrough success of Lady Gaga with her single " Just Dance " (2008), the British and other media proclaimed a new era of female synth-pop stars, citing artists such as Little Boots , La Roux , and Ladyhawke . Male acts that emerged in
18841-517: The British music press of the late 1970s and early 1980s for their German influences and characterised by journalist Mick Farren as the " Adolf Hitler Memorial Space Patrol". In 1983, Morrissey of the Smiths stated that "there was nothing more repellent than the synthesizer". During the decade, objections were raised to the quality of compositions and what was called the limited musicianship of artists. Gary Numan observed "hostility" and what he felt
19068-669: The British producer Trevor Horn , including Grace Jones , ABC , Seal and Frankie Goes to Hollywood . In 2005, Pet Shop Boys were selected as the headline act for the Moscow Live 8 concert , in Red Square , where a crowd of between 60,000 and 80,000 gathered to watch them perform. Also in 2005, Pet Shop Boys were asked to put together the twentieth release in the Back to Mine series, an ongoing anthology showcasing artists' favourite music selections, with an emphasis on afterhours chill-out music . As
19295-549: The Communards . The Communards' major hits were covers of disco classics " Don't Leave Me This Way " (1986) and " Never Can Say Goodbye " (1987). After adding other elements to their sound, and with the help of a gay audience, several synth-pop acts had success on the US dance charts. Among these were American acts Information Society (who had two top 10 singles in 1988), Anything Box , and Red Flag . British band When in Rome scored
19522-710: The Dark (OMD) – to 'throw away their guitars' and become a synth act. Kraftwerk had its first hit UK record later in the year with " Autobahn ", which reached number 11 in the British Singles Chart and number 12 in Canada. The group was described by the BBC Four program Synth Britannia as the key to synth-pop's future rise there. In 1977, Giorgio Moroder released the electronic Eurodisco song " I Feel Love " that he had produced for Donna Summer , and its programmed beats would be
19749-570: The Dresdner Sinfoniker orchestra, a whole new soundtrack to accompany the seminal 1925 silent film Battleship Potemkin . There were four further live performances of the work with the Dresdner Sinfoniker in Germany in September 2005. The Battleship Potemkin soundtrack was then released on 5 September 2005. In November 2004, Pet Shop Boys played at the Prince's Trust concert titled "Produced by Trevor Horn" with other artists who had worked with
19976-607: The Four Seasons , was released as a double- A-sided single with a remix of the album track " How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously? " by Brothers in Rhythm . This was followed by the duo's first world tour. Named Performance , the tour kicked off in Tokyo, on 11 March 1991. The tour also visited the United States, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Italy, Spain,
20203-546: The Human League along with a new producer and a more commercial sound led to the album Dare (1981), which produced a series of hit singles. These included " Don't You Want Me ", which reached number one in the UK at the end of 1981. Synth-pop reached its commercial peak in the UK in the winter of 1981–2, with bands such as OMD , Japan , Ultravox , Soft Cell , Depeche Mode, Yazoo and even Kraftwerk , enjoying top ten hits. The Human League's and Soft Cell's UK number one singles "Don't You Want Me" and " Tainted Love " became
20430-512: The Mission is the Potrero Hill neighborhood, a mostly residential neighborhood that features sweeping views of downtown San Francisco. West of the Mission, the area historically known as Eureka Valley , now popularly called the Castro , was once a working-class Scandinavian and Irish area. It has become North America's first gay village , and is now the center of gay life in the city. Located near
20657-542: The Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The shows were designed by David Alden and David Fielding, who had designed several sets for the Royal Opera House . Before taking a break in 1992, in 1991 Pet Shop Boys released an 18-track compilation called Discography , which included all of their single releases up until then and two new singles—" DJ Culture " and " Was It Worth It? "—omitting only "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?" (although it did appear on
20884-701: The Outer Richmond and Outer Sunset can refer to the more western portions of their respective district and the Inner Richmond and Inner Sunset can refer to the more eastern portions. Many piers remained derelict for years until the demolition of the Embarcadero Freeway reopened the downtown waterfront, allowing for redevelopment. The centerpiece of the port, the Ferry Building , while still receiving commuter ferry traffic, has been restored and redeveloped as
21111-594: The Pop Pioneers award at the MTV Europe Music Awards . Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe met in a hi-fi shop, Chelsea Record Centre, on 203 King's Road, in Chelsea, London on 19 August 1981. Tennant needed a connector for a Korg MS-10 synthesizer he had purchased, which sparked a conversation with Lowe. Discovering that they had a mutual interest in disco and electronic music, they became friends. In particular,
21338-521: The Presidio garrison, commanded by Mariano Vallejo , relocated to the Presidio of Sonoma , which was regarded as needing a greater military presence due the proximity of the Russian settlement at Fort Ross . Only a small detachment remained at the Presidio of San Francisco. Mission Dolores sold most of its property in 1836, retaining only the church and related structures. In 1833, Juana Briones de Miranda
21565-688: The San Francisco Peninsula just north of San Bruno Mountain . Everything south of the line became the new San Mateo County while everything north of the line became the new consolidated City and County of San Francisco. The California Gold Rush triggered a wave of entrepreneurial activity as individuals sought to capitalize on the newfound wealth. The discovery of silver deposits, notably the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859, further fueled rapid population growth and economic expansion. San Francisco, as
21792-453: The San Francisco economy. Large numbers of entrepreneurs and computer application developers moved into the city, followed by marketing, design, and sales professionals, changing the social landscape as once poorer neighborhoods became increasingly gentrified . Demand for new housing and office space ignited a second wave of high-rise development, this time in the South of Market district. By 2000,
22019-450: The Spanish ship San Carlos , commanded by Juan Manuel de Ayala , became the first ship to anchor in the bay. Soon after, on March 28, 1776, Anza established the Presidio of San Francisco . On October 9, Mission San Francisco de Asís , also known as Mission Dolores, was founded by Padre Francisco Palóu . In 1794, the Presidio established the Castillo de San Joaquín , a fortification on
22246-497: The Top 10 hit " You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk ", "Closer to Heaven"—which would later become the title of Pet Shop Boys' musical—as well as a duet with Kylie Minogue , " In Denial ", about a father coming out to his daughter. Minogue later performed the track live, during her 2005 Showgirl tour, singing to a pre-recorded Neil Tennant. This is not the first time that Pet Shop Boys have worked with Minogue: in 1994, they wrote
22473-463: The U.S., Canada, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, then another series of dates in the UK again, Switzerland and onto Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and then a first-ever date in Thailand as the final show, at the large Bangkok Impact Arena . A third single, "London", was released in Germany at the request of EMI Germany . It was never planned for release in the UK, although
22700-454: The UK and the Pet Shop Boys remix included new backing vocals performed by Tennant. Madonna subsequently used the Pet Shop Boys remix, including Tennant's vocals, on her 2006 Confessions Tour . In April, Pet Shop Boys released a new single that reached number eight in the UK, " I'm with Stupid ", a commentary on the relationship between George W. Bush and Tony Blair . The promo video featured Matt Lucas and David Walliams , better known as
22927-586: The UK and top 40 in the US. and Thompson Twins , whose popularity peaked in 1984 with the album Into the Gap , which reached No.1 in the UK and the US top ten and spawned several top ten singles. In 1984, Frankie Goes to Hollywood released their debut album Welcome to the Pleasuredome (produced by Trevor Horn of the Buggles), with their first three singles, " Relax ", " Two Tribes " and " The Power of Love ", topping
23154-404: The UK chart. The music journalist Paul Lester reflected, "no band has dominated a 12-month period like Frankie ruled 1984". In January 1985, Tears for Fears' single " Shout ", written by Roland Orzabal in his "front room on just a small synthesizer and a drum machine", became their fourth top 5 UK hit; it would later top the charts in multiple countries including the US. Initially dismissed in
23381-415: The UK charts in the summer of 1979. The discovery that synthesizers could be employed in a different manner from that used in progressive rock or disco, prompted Numan to go solo. On his futuristic album The Pleasure Principle (1979), he played only synths, but retained a bass guitarist and a drummer for the rhythm section. A single from the album, " Cars " topped the charts. Numan's main influence at
23608-690: The UK, Justice from France, Lali Puna from Germany, and Ratatat and the Postal Service from the US, mixing a variety of indie sounds with electronic music, largely produced on small independent labels. Similarly, the electroclash subgenre began in New York at the end of the 1990s, combining synth-pop, techno, punk and performance art. It was pioneered by I-F with their track "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass" (1998), and pursued by artists including Felix da Housecat , Peaches , Chicks on Speed , and Fischerspooner . It gained international attention at
23835-518: The UK, with another computer-generated music video, this time inspired by the Soviet Union , with shots of the duo filmed in Moscow . The tune was adopted as a football chant at Arsenal Football Club , which Chris Lowe supports, and it became a widespread and iconic stadium anthem . The duo's fifth studio album, Very , followed on 27 September and is the only Pet Shop Boys album to reach number one on
24062-501: The US (unlike the UK), where synth-pop is sometimes considered a "subgenre" of "new wave" and was described as "technopop" or "electropop" by the press at the time, the genre became popular due to the cable music channel MTV , which reached the media capitals of New York City and Los Angeles in 1982. It made heavy use of style-conscious New Romantic synth-pop acts, with " I Ran (So Far Away) " (1982) by A Flock of Seagulls generally considered
24289-490: The US during the Second British Invasion . The term "techno-pop" was coined by Yuzuru Agi in his critique of Kraftwerk's The Man-Machine in 1978 and is considered a case of multiple discovery of naming. Hence, the term can be used interchangeably with "synth-pop", but is more frequently used to describe the scene of Japan. The term "techno-pop" became also popular in Europe, where it started: German band Kraftwerk's 1986 album
24516-408: The US the following year. The success of synth-pop and other British acts would be seen as a Second British Invasion . In his early 1980s columns for The Village Voice , music critic Robert Christgau frequently referred to British synth-pop as "Anglodisco", suggesting a parallel to the contemporary genres of Eurodisco and Italo disco , both highly popular outside the US. Indeed, synth-pop
24743-550: The Vietnam War , and other factors led to the Summer of Love and the gay rights movement, cementing San Francisco as a center of liberal activism in the United States . San Francisco and the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area are a global center of economic activity and the arts and sciences, spurred by leading universities , high-tech , healthcare, finance, insurance, real estate, and professional services sectors. As of 2020 ,
24970-459: The album Game , which led to a renewed interest in technopop within mainstream Japanese pop music. Other Japanese female technopop artists soon followed, including Aira Mitsuki , immi , Mizca , SAWA , Saori Rinne and Sweet Vacation . Model-singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu also shared the same success as Perfume's under Nakata 's production with the album Pamyu Pamyu Revolution in 2012, which topped electronic charts on iTunes as well as
25197-458: The area. Further development is taking place just to the south in Mission Bay area, a former railroad yard, which now has a second campus of the University of California, San Francisco and Chase Center , which opened in 2019 as the new home of the Golden State Warriors . West of downtown, across Van Ness Avenue , lies the large Western Addition neighborhood, which became established with
25424-421: The arrival of indie rock bands, particularly the Smiths , has been seen as marking the end of synth-driven pop and the beginning of the guitar-based music that would dominate rock into the 1990s. By 1991, in the United States synth-pop was losing its commercial viability as alternative radio stations were responding to the popularity of grunge . Exceptions that continued to pursue forms of synth-pop or rock in
25651-488: The band switched managers again as Carrington resigned and was succeeded by Mitch Clark, who had previously worked for EMI International as Head of Promotion. During this time, Pet Shop Boys began to work with playwright Jonathan Harvey on a stage musical project. In 1999, many of the tracks recorded ended up on the duo's seventh studio album, Nightlife , which included the Top 20 singles " I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More " and " New York City Boy ",
25878-582: The beginning of the assimilation of the Ramaytush people, and the decline of their language and culture. The Spanish Empire claimed San Francisco as part of Las Californias , a province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain . The Spanish first arrived in what is now San Francisco on November 2, 1769, when the Portolá expedition led by Don Gaspar de Portolá and Juan Crespí arrived at San Francisco Bay . Having noted
26105-414: The beginning of the new millennium and spread to scenes in London and Berlin, but rapidly faded as a recognizable genre as acts began to experiment with a variety of forms of music. In the new millennium, renewed interest in electronic music and nostalgia for the 1980s led to the beginnings of a synth-pop revival, with acts including Adult and Fischerspooner . Between 2003 and 2004, it began to move into
26332-610: The best selling singles in the UK in 1981. In early 1982 synthesizers were so dominant that the Musicians' Union attempted to limit their use. By the end of 1982, these acts had been joined in the charts by synth-based singles from Thomas Dolby , Blancmange , and Tears for Fears . Bands such as Simple Minds also adopted synth-pop into their music on their 1982 album New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84) . ABC and Heaven 17 had commercial success mixing synth-pop with influences from funk and soul music . Dutch entertainer Taco , who has
26559-528: The boundaries of the genre, blending it with shoegaze and ambient music to create a complex, layered sound in their album Digital Shades Vol. 2 . The genre's adaptability and nostalgic appeal have contributed to its enduring presence and continued evolution in the music industry. Synth-pop has received considerable criticism and even prompted hostility among musicians and in the press. It has been described as "anaemic" and "soulless". Synth-pop's early steps, and Gary Numan in particular, were also disparaged in
26786-426: The capture, U.S. forces appointed both José de Jesús Noé and Washington Allon Bartlett to serve as co- alcaldes (mayors), while the conquest continued on in the rest of California. On January 30, 1847, Mayor Bartlett ordained that the city should officially change its name from "Yerba Buena" to "San Francisco", as the former name was only locally recognized and the latter name was in use on international maps. There
27013-483: The chord sequence to "The Patience of a Saint" on their 1991 album. In 1992, Tennant sang lead vocals on the non-album single " Disappointed ", which was featured on the soundtrack to the film Cool World . Pet Shop Boys set up the Spaghetti Records label in 1991. Their most successful release was the soundtrack to the 1992 film The Crying Game , which featured Boy George performing the title song . The song
27240-466: The city and burned out of control for several days. With water mains out of service, the Presidio Artillery Corps attempted to contain the inferno by dynamiting blocks of buildings to create firebreaks. More than three-quarters of the city lay in ruins, including almost all of the downtown core. Contemporary accounts reported that 498 people died, though modern estimates put the number in
27467-516: The city as a whole, asserting that the issues of concern are restricted primarily to the urban core of San Francisco. As of March 2024, Union Square was in "sorry shape" and had lost its traditional position as the Bay Area's regional shopping hub to Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose. The Ferry Station Post Office Building , Armour & Co. Building , Atherton House , and YMCA Hotel are historic buildings among dozens of historical landmarks in
27694-414: The city is still home to numerous companies inside and outside of technology, including Salesforce , Uber , Airbnb , X , Levi's , Gap , Dropbox , and Lyft . In 2022, San Francisco had more than 1.7 million international visitors – the fifth-most visited city from abroad in the United States after New York City, Miami , Orlando , and Los Angeles – and approximately 20 million domestic visitors for
27921-618: The city proper. In 1856, San Francisco became a consolidated city-county . After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire , it was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama–Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II , it was a major port of embarkation for naval service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater . In 1945, the United Nations Charter
28148-541: The city's Little Italy and the former center of the Beat Generation ; and Telegraph Hill , which features Coit Tower . Abutting Russian Hill and North Beach is San Francisco's Chinatown , the oldest Chinatown in North America. The South of Market , which was once San Francisco's industrial core, has seen significant redevelopment following the construction of Oracle Park and an infusion of startup companies . New skyscrapers, live-work lofts, and condominiums dot
28375-479: The city's alcalde , renamed it from Yerba Buena (Spanish for "Good Herb"), which had been the name of the first civilian pueblo in San Francisco, as well as the name of Yerba Buena Cove , which the pueblo was on the shore of. Earlier in San Francisco's history, the uninhabited area on the northeastern side of San Francisco was called El Paraje de Yerba Buena , after the herb that was growing abundantly there. The name Yerba Buena continues to be used in locations in
28602-417: The city's population reached new highs, surpassing the previous record set in 1950. When the bubble burst in 2001 and again in 2023, many of these companies folded and their employees were laid off. Yet high technology and entrepreneurship remain mainstays of the San Francisco economy. By the mid-2000s (decade), the social media boom had begun, with San Francisco becoming a popular location for tech offices and
28829-560: The city's southern border, the Excelsior District is one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in San Francisco. The Bayview-Hunters Point in the far southeast corner of the city is one of the poorest neighborhoods, though the area has been the focus of several revitalizing and urban renewal projects. The construction of the Twin Peaks Tunnel in 1918 connected southwest neighborhoods to downtown via streetcar, hastening
29056-628: The city, according to the National Register of Historic Places listings in San Francisco . San Francisco is located on the West Coast of the United States , at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula and includes significant stretches of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay within its boundaries. Several picturesque islands — Alcatraz , Treasure Island and the adjacent Yerba Buena Island , and small portions of Alameda Island , Red Rock Island , and Angel Island —are part of
29283-839: The city, such as on Yerba Buena Island and in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Yerba Buena Gardens . While people residing outside the San Francisco Bay Area use nicknames including "Frisco" and "San Fran", local residents in the Bay Area sometimes refer to San Francisco as "the City" or "SF". The choice of nickname a person uses is a common way for locals to distinguish long-time residents from tourists and recent arrivals. "San Fran" and "Frisco" are sometimes considered controversial as nicknames among San Francisco residents. The earliest archeological evidence of human habitation of
29510-432: The city. Also included are the uninhabited Farallon Islands , 27 miles (43 km) offshore in the Pacific Ocean. The mainland within the city limits roughly forms a "seven-by-seven-mile square," a common local colloquialism referring to the city's shape, though its total area, including water, is nearly 232 square miles (600 km ). There are more than 50 hills within the city limits. Some neighborhoods are named after
29737-471: The commercial charts. "This is a finger, this is another... now write a song" —This quote is a take on the punk manifesto This is a chord, this is another, this is a third...now start a band celebrating the virtues of amateur musicianship first appeared in a fanzine in December 1976. British punk-influenced band Tubeway Army , intended their debut album to be guitar driven. In late 1978, Gary Numan ,
29964-523: The complete Mermaid Theatre concert, with the BBC Concert Orchestra , featuring guests Rufus Wainwright , Frances Barber , and Robbie Williams , and Trevor Horn as the musical director. A 90-minute "director's cut" of the concert aired on BBC 6 Music , on 28 August 2006. On 7 December 2006, Pet Shop Boys were nominated for two 2007 Grammy Awards : Best Dance Recording for "I'm with Stupid", and Best Electronic/Dance Album for Fundamental . During
30191-507: The country at the time. His financial empire, however, collapsed in 1875 as a result of the Panic of 1873 , triggering a major economic crisis in San Francisco. Development of the Port of San Francisco and the establishment in 1869 of overland access to the eastern U.S. rail system via the newly completed Pacific Railroad (the construction of which the city only reluctantly helped support ) helped make
30418-678: The development of West Portal , and nearby affluent Forest Hill and St. Francis Wood . Further west, stretching all the way to the Pacific Ocean and north to Golden Gate Park lies the vast Sunset District , a large middle-class area with a predominantly Asian population. The northwestern quadrant of the city contains the Richmond , a mostly middle-class neighborhood north of Golden Gate Park, home to immigrants from other parts of Asia as well as many Russian and Ukrainian immigrants. Together, these areas are known as The Avenues . These two districts are each sometimes further divided into two regions:
30645-590: The duo, titled "In My House". September 1987 saw the release of the duo's second studio album, Actually , followed by the single " Rent " in October, which reached number 8 in the UK. The final song on the album, " King's Cross " accidentally anticipated the King's Cross fire at the London Underground section of the station in November of that year (part of the lyrics read: "Dead and wounded on either side/You know it's only
30872-560: The early " dominatrix " image of the Eurythmics' Annie Lennox . In the U.S. this led to British synth-pop artists being characterised as "English haircut bands" or "art fag " music, though many British synth-pop artists were highly popular on both American radio and MTV . Although some audiences were overtly hostile to synth-pop, it achieved an appeal among those alienated from the dominant heterosexuality of mainstream rock culture, particularly among gay, female and introverted audiences. By
31099-500: The emergence of The Castro as an urban gay village , the election of Harvey Milk to the Board of Supervisors , and his assassination , along with that of Mayor George Moscone , in 1978. Bank of America , now based in Charlotte , North Carolina , was founded in San Francisco; the bank completed 555 California Street in 1969. The Transamerica Pyramid was completed in 1972, igniting
31326-408: The end of that year, she travelled to London to record "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" with them. It was the first track to be recorded for the duo's second album. Pet Shop Boys had been told that Springfield was difficult to work with and even that she could no longer sing; however, her performance on the track put any such concerns to rest and they began a collaboration with her, which lasted until
31553-495: The end of the decade. Included on their second album Actually , the song became a worldwide hit and resurrected Springfield's career, leading to her 1990 album, Reputation , on which Pet Shop Boys were major contributing writers and producers . This duet was also the start of a series of collaborations with high-profile musicians, going on throughout the band's career. Also in August 1987, Pet Shop Boys appeared on Love Me Tender ,
31780-748: The excavation of the Yerba Buena Tunnel through Yerba Buena Island during the construction of the Bay Bridge. Such land tends to be unstable during earthquakes. The resulting soil liquefaction causes extensive damage to property built upon it, as was evidenced in the Marina district during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake . A few natural lakes and creeks ( Lake Merced , Mountain Lake , Pine Lake , Lobos Creek , El Polin Spring ) are within parks and remain protected in what
32007-520: The fact that there were no churches to be found, prompted missionaries like William Taylor to come to San Francisco where he began preaching in the streets, using an upright barrel as his pulpit. Taylor was able to garner enough generous donations from successful gold miners with which he used to build a church. One of the most influential figures of this era was William Chapman Ralston . A shrewd banker and investor, Ralston amassed considerable wealth and influence in San Francisco. He gained control over
32234-489: The famous " Painted Ladies ," standing alongside Alamo Square . To the south, near the geographic center of the city is Haight-Ashbury , famously associated with 1960s hippie culture. The Haight is now home to some expensive boutiques and a few controversial chain stores, although it still retains some bohemian character. North of the Western Addition is Pacific Heights , an affluent neighborhood that features
32461-568: The film Scandal about the Profumo political scandal in Britain) and " In Private ". The duo later went on to produce half of the tracks on her 1990 solo Reputation album. Pet Shop Boys were also asked to write and produce an album for Liza Minnelli , in 1989. The album, Results , generated four singles, including the hit " Losing My Mind ", a cover version of the Stephen Sondheim song from
32688-435: The first band of the movement to have a hit single as the synth-driven " To Cut a Long Story Short " reached number 5 on the UK Singles Chart in December 1980. Visage's " Fade to Grey ", characteristic of synth-pop and a major influence on the genre, reached the top ten a few weeks later. Duran Duran have been credited with incorporating dance beats into synth-pop to produce a catchier and warmer sound, which provided them with
32915-630: The first hit by a British act to enter the Billboard top ten as a result of exposure through video. The switch to a " new music " format in US radio stations was also significant in the success of British bands. Reaching No. 2 in the UK in March 1983 and No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 six months later, Rolling Stone called Eurythmics' single " Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) " "a synth-pop masterpiece". Bananarama 's 1983 synth-pop song " Cruel Summer " became an instant UK hit before having similar success in
33142-469: The first land grant in Yerba Buena: to William Richardson , a naturalized Mexican citizen of English birth. Richardson had arrived in San Francisco aboard a whaling ship in 1822. In 1825, he married Maria Antonia Martinez, eldest daughter of the Californio Ygnacio Martínez . Yerba Buena began to attract American and European settlers; an 1842 census listed 21 residents (11%) born in the United States or Europe, as well as one Filipino merchant. Following
33369-450: The follow-up to their 1986 remix album Disco , in the form of Disco 2 . The album featured club remixes of the singles released from Very and Behaviour , in a continuous megamix by Danny Rampling . Then, in October, Pet Shop Boys began their Discovery tour, which would see them visit areas that they had never performed in before: Singapore, Australia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. The following year,
33596-534: The fourth in the set differed in that it was largely made up of remixes, completed by Pet Shop Boys, of other artists' work over the past decade. These include The Killers , David Bowie , Yoko Ono , Madonna , Atomizer and Rammstein . Only two tracks by Pet Shop Boys, remixed versions of Fundamental tracks " Integral " and " I'm with Stupid ", were included. The Fundamental tour ended in Bucharest , Romania, in November 2007. Synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop ; also called techno-pop )
33823-479: The future. Their third album, Introspective , was released on 10 October 1988. Unusually, this was a six-track album of previously unheard remixes and new tracks in extended form. It was followed by the Trevor Horn –produced top-five single " Left to My Own Devices ", and a cover version of the Sterling Void single " It's Alright ", in 1989. 1989 also saw the start of Pet Shop Boys' first tour , which they performed in Hong Kong, Japan, and Britain. The tour followed
34050-456: The gateway to the goldfields, experienced a surge in population and commercial activity. However, the influx of fortune seekers also brought challenges. Lawlessness was rampant, and the Barbary Coast district became synonymous with vice, attracting criminals, prostitutes, and illicit activities, including but not limited to prostitution, bootlegging , and gambling. The rapidly growing population, with its lawlessness, gambling and other vices, and
34277-431: The genre as diverse but "characterised by a broad set of values that eschewed rock playing styles, rhythms and structures", which were replaced by "synthetic textures" and "robotic rigidity", often defined by the limitations of the new technology, including monophonic synthesizers (only able to play one note at a time). Many synth-pop musicians had limited musical skills, relying on the technology to produce or reproduce
34504-448: The genre. San Francisco San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco , is a commercial, financial , and cultural center within Northern California . With a population of 808,988 residents as of 2023, San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in the U.S. state of California behind Los Angeles , San Diego , and San Jose . It covers a land area of 46.9 square miles (121 square kilometers) at
34731-405: The hill on which they are situated, including Nob Hill , Potrero Hill , and Russian Hill . Near the geographic center of the city, southwest of the downtown area, are a series of less densely populated hills. Twin Peaks , a pair of hills forming one of the city's highest points, forms an overlook spot. San Francisco's tallest hill, Mount Davidson , is 928 feet (283 m) high and is capped with
34958-447: The homes built by wealthy San Franciscans in the wake of the 1906 earthquake. Directly north of Pacific Heights facing the waterfront is the Marina , a neighborhood popular with young professionals that was largely built on reclaimed land from the Bay. In the southeast quadrant of the city is the Mission District —populated in the 19th century by Californios and working-class immigrants from Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Scandinavia. In
35185-424: The ideas of the extravaganza that could not have been afforded earlier in their careers. Derek Jarman returned to direct the performance and he provided several films that were projected during the shows. The September 1990 single, " So Hard " reached number four in the UK and was followed by their fourth studio album, Behaviour (1990), which was recorded in Munich with producer Harold Faltermeyer . The album
35412-483: The larger Port of Oakland . The city began to lose industrial jobs and turned to tourism as the most important segment of its economy. The suburbs experienced rapid growth, and San Francisco underwent significant demographic change, as large segments of the white population left the city, supplanted by an increasing wave of immigration from Asia and Latin America. From 1950 to 1980, the city lost over 10 percent of its population. Over this period, San Francisco became
35639-486: The latter part of 2006 and early 2007, Neil Tennant served as executive producer on Rufus Wainwright's album, Release the Stars , recorded in Berlin. He sang backing vocals on a number of tracks, including "Do I Disappoint You", and "Tiergarten". Pet Shop Boys continued their world tour, albeit with a slightly different production and set list, on 14 March 2007, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, then played concerts in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand and Australia (as co-headliners of
35866-406: The lyrics of " What Is Love? " – "Does anybody love anybody anyway?") and Nik Kershaw , whose "well-crafted synth-pop" incorporated guitars and other more traditional pop influences that particularly appealed to a teen audience. Pursuing a more dance-orientated sound were Bronski Beat whose album The Age of Consent (1984), dealing with issues of homophobia and alienation, reached the top 20 in
36093-420: The mainstream with Ladytron , the Postal Service , Cut Copy , the Bravery and the Killers all producing records that incorporated vintage synthesizer sounds and styles that contrasted with the dominant genres of post-grunge and nu metal . In particular, the Killers enjoyed considerable airplay and exposure and their debut album Hot Fuss (2004) reached the top ten of the Billboard 200 . The Killers,
36320-781: The mainstream, with jazz musician Stan Free , under the pseudonym Hot Butter , having a top 10 hit in the United States and United Kingdom in 1972, with a cover of the 1969 Gershon Kingsley song " Popcorn " using a Moog synthesizer, which is recognised as a forerunner to synth-pop and disco . The mid-1970s saw the rise of electronic art musicians such as Jean Michel Jarre , Vangelis , and Tomita . Tomita's album Electric Samurai: Switched on Rock (1972) featured electronic renditions of contemporary rock and pop songs, while utilizing speech synthesis and analog music sequencers . In 1975, Kraftwerk played their first British show and inspired concert attendees Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys – who would later found Orchestral Manoeuvres in
36547-443: The media as "the Lennon–McCartney of synth-pop". Giorgio Moroder collaborated with the band Sparks on their album No. 1 In Heaven (1979). That same year in Japan, the synth-pop band P-Model made its debut with the album In a Model Room . Other Japanese synth-pop groups emerging around the same time included the Plastics and Hikashu . This zeitgeist of revolution in electronic music performance and recording/production
36774-468: The metropolitan area, with 4.5 million residents, ranked 5th by GDP ($ 874 billion) and 2nd by GDP per capita ($ 131,082) across the OECD countries, ahead of global cities like Paris , London , and Singapore . It is the fourth-largest by aggregate income and economic output, with a GDP of $ 729 billion in 2022 . The wider San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland Combined Statistical Area is the nation's fifth-most populous, with around nine million residents, and
37001-609: The mid-1980s, synth-pop had helped establish the synthesizer as a primary instrument in mainstream pop music. It also influenced the sound of many mainstream rock acts, such as Bruce Springsteen , ZZ Top and Van Halen . It was a major influence on house music , which grew out of the post-disco dance club culture of the early 1980s as some DJs attempted to make the less pop-oriented music that also incorporated influences from Latin soul , dub , rap music , and jazz . American musicians such as Juan Atkins , using names including Model 500, Infinity and as part of Cybotron , developed
37228-419: The missions were made to divest themselves of their extensive landholdings and emancipate the indigenous people under their control. As part of the process of secularization, Governor José Figueroa opened up San Francisco to civilian settlement. Prior to secularization, the only settlements in San Francisco had been the military settlement at the Presidio and the religious settlement at Mission Dolores. In 1835,
37455-481: The monochrome blacks and greys of punk/new wave, synthpop was promoted by a youth media interested in people who wanted to be pop stars, such as Boy George and Adam Ant ". The New Romantic scene had developed in the London nightclubs Billy's and the Blitz and was associated with bands such as Duran Duran, Visage , and Spandau Ballet . They adopted an elaborate visual style that combined elements of glam rock , science fiction and romanticism . Spandau Ballet were
37682-450: The music press as a "teeny bop sensation" were Norwegian band a-ha , whose use of guitars and real drums produced an accessible form of synth-pop, which, along with an MTV friendly video, took their 1985 single " Take On Me " to number two in the UK and number one in the US. Synth-pop continued into the late 1980s, with a format that moved closer to dance music, including the work of acts such as British duos Pet Shop Boys , Erasure and
37909-461: The music. The result was often minimalist, with grooves that were "typically woven together from simple repeated riffs often with no harmonic 'progression' to speak of". Early synth-pop has been described as "eerie, sterile, and vaguely menacing", using droning electronics with little change in inflection. Common lyrical themes of synth-pop songs were isolation, urban anomie , and feelings of being emotionally cold and hollow. In its second phase in
38136-457: The pair drew inspiration from two synth-pop records: " Souvenir " by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD); and " Bedsitter " by Soft Cell , which reflected their lifestyles at the time. According to Tennant, he and Lowe would listen to "pioneers of electronic music", including OMD, Soft Cell, Kraftwerk , the Human League , and Depeche Mode . The duo began to work together on material, first in Tennant's flat in Chelsea , then, from 1982, in
38363-513: The period 1976–77 was initially hostile to the "inauthentic" sound of the synthesizer, but many new wave and post-punk bands that emerged from the movement began to adopt it as a major part of their sound. British punk and new wave clubs were open to what was then considered an "alternative" sound. The do it yourself attitude of punk broke down the progressive rock era's norm of needing years of experience before getting up on stage to play synthesizers. The American duo Suicide , who arose from
38590-405: The period of Mexican rule , although it was not until 1833 that the missions would be secularized. Agricultural land became largely privatized as ranchos , as was occurring in other parts of California. Coastal trade increased, including a half-dozen barques from various Atlantic ports which regularly sailed in California waters. With the enactment of the Mexican Secularization Act of 1833 ,
38817-426: The position of deputy editor—and in July, a new single, " Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) ", was released, reaching number 116 in the UK. The B-side to this single, "In the Night", later resurfaced, in a longer remixed version, as the opening track to the duo's first remix album , Disco , in 1986. This version was also used as the theme for the UK television series The Clothes Show . They returned to
39044-417: The post-punk scene in New York, utilised drum machines and synthesizers in a hybrid between electronics and post-punk on their eponymous 1977 album . Around this time, Ultravox member Warren Cann purchased a Roland TR-77 drum machine , which was first featured in their October 1977 single release " Hiroshima Mon Amour ". Be-Bop Deluxe released Drastic Plastic in February 1978, leading off with
39271-406: The primary port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater of Operations . The explosion of jobs drew many people, especially African Americans from the South , to the area. After the end of the war, many military personnel returning from service abroad and civilians who had originally come to work decided to stay. The United Nations Charter creating the United Nations
39498-461: The pyramid stage on Saturday 24 June as the sun was setting, before Travis headlined. Cerys Matthews (of band Catatonia ) took the part of Dusty Springfield for the duet on " What Have I Done to Deserve This? ". The performance was heralded as one of the weekend's most triumphant. The musical Closer to Heaven premiered in London in May 2001 to mixed reviews. The run was originally extended to February 2002, but it closed in October 2001 along with
39725-547: The quality of housing after the earthquake. The earthquake hastened development of western neighborhoods that survived the fire, including Pacific Heights , where many of the city's wealthy rebuilt their homes. In turn, the destroyed mansions of Nob Hill became grand hotels. City Hall rose again in the Beaux Arts style, and the city celebrated its rebirth at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in 1915. During this period, San Francisco built some of its most important infrastructure. Civil Engineer Michael O'Shaughnessy
39952-482: The recently formed rap rock group Beastie Boys . In August 1983, Tennant, who was an assistant editor at Smash Hits , went to New York to interview Sting . While there, he arranged to meet hi-NRG producer Bobby Orlando and gave him a demo tape containing " It's a Sin " and " Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money) ". From 1983 to 1984, Orlando recorded 11 tracks with Tennant and Lowe, including " West End Girls ", "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)", "It's
40179-472: The release of UK band the Human League 's debut single " Being Boiled " and The Normal 's " Warm Leatherette ", which both are regarded as seminal works in early synth-pop. Sheffield band Cabaret Voltaire are also regarded as pioneers of the late 1970s that influenced the emerging synth-pop in Britain. In America, post-punk band Devo began moving towards a more electronic sound. At this point synth-pop gained some critical attention, but made little impact on
40406-571: The same period include Calvin Harris , Empire of the Sun , Frankmusik , Hurts , Ou Est Le Swimming Pool , Kaskade , LMFAO , and Owl City , whose single " Fireflies " (2009) topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2009, an underground subgenre with direct stylistic origins to synth-pop became popular, chillwave . Other 2010s synth-pop acts include the Naked and Famous , Chvrches , M83 , and Shiny Toy Guns . American singer Kesha has also been described as an electropop artist, with her electropop debut single " Tik Tok " topping
40633-420: The several thousands. More than half of the city's population of 400,000 was left homeless. Refugees settled temporarily in makeshift tent villages in Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, on the beaches, and elsewhere. Many fled permanently to the East Bay . Jack London is remembered for having famously eulogized the earthquake: "Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco
40860-464: The single "Electrical Language" with Bill Nelson on guitar synthesizer and Andy Clark on synthesizers. Japanese band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) with their self-titled album (1978) and Solid State Survivor (1979), developed a "fun-loving and breezy" sound, with a strong emphasis on melody . They introduced the TR-808 rhythm machine to popular music , and the band would be a major influence on early British synth-pop acts. 1978 also saw
41087-421: The single most significant event in melodic music since Mersey-beat ". By the 1980s synthesizers had become much cheaper and easier to use. After the definition of MIDI in 1982 and the development of digital audio , the creation of purely electronic sounds and their manipulation became much simpler. Synthesizers came to dominate the pop music of the early 1980s, particularly through their adoption by bands of
41314-411: The single reached number two on the UK Singles Chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Although the duo had wanted to release this track on their debut album, Springfield had not agreed, and they were reluctant to record it with any other female singer, despite their record company's suggestions. Springfield's manager finally contacted them in 1986, following the release of Please , and towards
41541-441: The song " Somewhere " from West Side Story to be the centrepiece of the performance and a new single. The production featured an interactive film by Sam Taylor-Wood showing a party scene, which Tennant and Lowe appeared to leave and enter from the stage. The show lost money, and the duo offset their losses in part by playing music festivals including the Roskilde Festival in 1997 and Creamfields in 1999. The majority of 1998
41768-416: The song at the 1996 Brit Awards ceremony, as well as an appearance on the Top of the Pops television program. In April, Pet Shop Boys released the single " Before " which reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart . That month, Tina Turner also released her Wildest Dreams album, which featured the Pet Shop Boys-produced track "Confidential". In August, Pet Shop Boys released a follow-up single, " Se
41995-435: The song was a personal commentary on the AIDS epidemic. The music video was directed by filmmaker Bruce Weber . By this time, the duo had also parted ways with manager Tom Watkins, replacing him with Jill Carrington, who had previously been marketing director at Polydor . In March 1991, a cover of U2 's " Where the Streets Have No Name " as a medley with " Can't Take My Eyes Off You ", the 1960s pop song by Frankie Valli /
42222-495: The songs mattered hugely, but the way they were presented was going to matter hugely as well; and that we were never going to give up on that." Pet Shop Boys supported the publication of the book with signings in London, New York City, Los Angeles and Berlin. To coincide with the publication of Catalogue , a small exhibition of portraits of Pet Shop Boys opened in the Bookshop Gallery of London's National Portrait Gallery on 30 October 2006 and ran to 4 March 2007. Also on 16 October,
42449-466: The songs. Synth-pop music has established a place for the synthesizer as a major element of pop and rock music , directly influencing subsequent genres (including house music and Detroit techno ) and has indirectly influenced many other genres, as well as individual recordings. Synth-pop is defined by its primary use of synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers , sometimes using them to replace all other instruments. Borthwick and Moy have described
42676-419: The southern side of the Golden Gate , which later came to be known as Fort Point. In 1804, the province of Alta California was created, which included San Francisco. At its peak in 1810–1820, the average population at the Mission Dolores settlement was about 1,100 people. In 1821, the Californias were ceded to Mexico by Spain. The extensive California mission system gradually lost its influence during
42903-445: The strategic benefits of the area due to its large natural harbor, the Spanish dispatched Pedro Fages in 1770 to find a more direct route to the San Francisco Peninsula from Monterey , which would become part of the El Camino Real route. By 1774, Juan Bautista de Anza had arrived to the area to select the sites for a mission and presidio . The first European maritime presence in San Francisco Bay occurred on August 5, 1775, when
43130-432: The studio in August to re-record "West End Girls" with producer Stephen Hague . Released in October 1985 it rose slowly in the British charts to become number one in January 1986. It subsequently replicated this success in the United States, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand and Norway and sold an estimated 1.5 million copies worldwide. After the success of "West End Girls", Pet Shop Boys released
43357-407: The team behind Little Britain . Lucas and Walliams portray Lowe and Tennant, parodying two of the duo's previous videos, " Go West ", and " Can You Forgive Her? ". The ninth Pet Shop Boys studio album, Fundamental , followed in May, reaching number five in the UK. The album was produced by Trevor Horn , who Pet Shop Boys had previously worked with on " Left to My Own Devices ", in 1988. The album
43584-437: The territory of San Francisco dates to 3000 BCE. The Yelamu group of the Ramaytush people resided in a few small villages when an overland Spanish exploration party arrived on November 2, 1769, the first documented European visit to San Francisco Bay . The Ohlone name for San Francisco was Ahwaste , meaning, "place at the bay." The arrival of Spanish colonists, and the implementation of their Mission system, marked
43811-406: The third single from Fundamental , " Numb ", was released, following its appearance at the end of the BBC's coverage of England at the World Cup . It was written by Diane Warren and is the only song on the album not written by Tennant and Lowe. "Numb" became only the second Pet Shop Boys single to that point to miss the Top 20. On 23 October 2006, Concrete was released. It is a double CD of
44038-409: The third-largest by economic output, with a GDP of $ 1.32 trillion in 2022 . In the same year, San Francisco proper had a GDP of $ 252.2 billion, and a GDP per capita of $ 312,000. San Francisco was ranked fifth in the world and second in the United States on the Global Financial Centres Index as of September 2023 . Despite a continuing exodus of businesses from the downtown area of San Francisco,
44265-408: The time was the John Foxx -led new wave band Ultravox who released the album Systems of Romance in 1978. Foxx left Ultravox the following year and scored a synth-pop hit with the single " Underpass " from his first solo album Metamatic in early 1980. In 1979, OMD released their debut single " Electricity ", which has been viewed as integral to the rise of synth-pop. This was followed by
44492-427: The tracks were produced by the duo themselves and many featured Johnny Marr on guitar. The first single, " Home and Dry ", featured a very peculiar music video, directed by Wolfgang Tillmans , mostly consisting of raw camcorder footage of mice filmed in the London Underground . The follow-up single " I Get Along " had a video filmed by Bruce Weber . Pet Shop Boys embarked on another world tour, although this time it
44719-402: The underwater lot. By 1851, the harbor was extended out into the bay by wharves while buildings were erected on piles among the ships. By 1870, Yerba Buena Cove had been filled to create new land. Buried ships are occasionally exposed when foundations are dug for new buildings. California was quickly granted statehood in 1850, and the U.S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate and
44946-402: The upper end of the San Francisco Peninsula , making it the second-most densely populated major U.S. city behind New York City and the fifth-most densely populated U.S. county , behind four of New York City's boroughs . Among the 92 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income and sixth by aggregate income as of 2022. San Francisco anchors
45173-415: The video companion Videography ). While "DJ Culture" had some success, "Was It Worth It?" became the duo's first single to miss the UK top 20 since their two Bobby O debut singles. During this period, Pet Shop Boys continued to collaborate with many high-profile musicians. They worked again with Dusty Springfield , on the singles " Nothing Has Been Proved " (which was a song written for their soundtrack for
45400-434: The video to the single in Paris with Don Cameron. The single was the first of theirs to be playlisted by London's biggest radio station, Capital Radio , in a decade. Pet Shop Boys began a worldwide tour in support of Fundamental in June 2006 in Norway. The show was designed and directed by Es Devlin , a British theatre designer, and choreographed by Hakeem Onibudo. Between 15 June and 10 September 2006, Pet Shop Boys played
45627-402: Was "ignorance" regarding synth-pop, such as his belief that people "thought machines did it". OMD frontman Andy McCluskey recalled a great many people "who thought that the equipment wrote the song for you", and asserted: "Believe me, if there was a button on a synth or a drum machine that said 'hit single', I would have pressed it as often as anybody else would have – but there isn't . It
45854-415: Was Atomizer 's "Hooked on Radiation", followed by Pete Burns ' "Jack and Jill Party" in 2004. The only Lucky Kunst release to date is the Kiki Kokova 's version of " Love to Love You Baby ". They also remixed Yoko Ono 's " Walking on Thin Ice " in 2003 and Rammstein 's " Mein Teil " in 2004. Another new manager, David Dorrell, was brought on board to replace Clark. In November 2003, Pet Shop Boys released
46081-418: Was a club hit throughout Europe and started a sporadic trend for Pet Shop Boys to remix other artists' music. Also in 1994, Pet Shop Boys released the Comic Relief single, "Absolutely Fabulous". The idea started when Tennant and Lowe were playing around with samples from the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous in the studio. They approached lead actors Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley and suggested it as
46308-415: Was a major city known for its flamboyant style, stately hotels, ostentatious mansions on Nob Hill , and a thriving arts scene. The first North American plague epidemic was the San Francisco plague of 1900–1904 . At 5:12 am on April 18, 1906, a major earthquake struck San Francisco and northern California. As buildings collapsed from the shaking, ruptured gas lines ignited fires that spread across
46535-440: Was a minor dance hit in Belgium and France, but was only available in the United Kingdom as a 12" import. In March 1985, after long negotiations, Pet Shop Boys cut their contractual ties with Bobby O, with a settlement giving Bobby O significant royalties for future sales. Hiring manager Tom Watkins , they signed with the London-based Parlophone label . In April, Tennant left Smash Hits magazine—where he had progressed to
46762-555: Was a stripped back affair, with no dancers, backing singers, costumes or lavish sets. They used two extra guitarists, Bic Hayes and Mark Refoy , percussionist Dawne Adams, and regular programmer Pete Gleadall, alongside Lowe on keyboards and Tennant on guitar and vocals. They started with a tour of universities around the UK, performing at Bristol University , Keele University , University of East Anglia in Norwich , University of Teesside , Middlesbrough and De Montfort University , Leicester . Subsequent dates took them to Germany,
46989-507: Was all written by real human beings". According to Simon Reynolds, in some quarters synthesizers were seen as instruments for "effete poseurs", in contrast to the phallic guitar. The association of synth-pop with an alternative sexuality was reinforced by the images projected by synth-pop stars, who were seen as gender bending , including Phil Oakey 's asymmetric hair and use of eyeliner, Marc Almond 's "pervy" leather jacket, skirt wearing by figures including Martin Gore of Depeche Mode and
47216-434: Was also concern that a new town being planned by General Vallejo on the Carquinez Strait was to be called "Francisca", after the first name of his wife. After the name change to "San Francisco", the name of Vallejo's town was changed to Benicia , after his wife's middle name. Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, Alta California was ceded from Mexico to the United States . Despite its attractive location as
47443-425: Was also released with a limited edition remix album called Fundamentalism , which included a version of " In Private " as a duet with Elton John and " Fugitive ", a new track produced by Richard X . The week that Fundamental was released, a documentary, titled Pet Shop Boys – A Life in Pop , was broadcast on Channel 4 , directed by George Scott and produced by Nick de Grunwald. The original broadcast
47670-469: Was at the height of the Great Depression that San Francisco undertook two great civil engineering projects, simultaneously constructing the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge , completing them in 1936 and 1937, respectively. It was in this period that the island of Alcatraz , a former military stockade, began its service as a federal maximum security prison, housing notorious inmates such as Al Capone , and Robert Franklin Stroud ,
47897-412: Was centered on a plaza that is now Portsmouth Square . A land survey of Yerba Buena was made by the Swiss immigrant Jean Jacques Vioget as prelude to the city plan. Francisco de Haro , a non- Californio Mexican native, became the first alcalde of Yerba Buena. The second alcalde José Joaquín Estudillo was a Californio from a prominent Monterey family. In 1835, while in office, he approved
48124-536: Was drafted and signed in San Francisco in 1945 and, in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers . Urban planning projects in the 1950s and 1960s involved widespread destruction and redevelopment of west-side neighborhoods and the construction of new freeways , of which only a series of short segments were built before being halted by citizen-led opposition . The onset of containerization made San Francisco's small piers obsolete, and cargo activity moved to
48351-461: Was encapsulated by then would-be record producer Trevor Horn of the Buggles in the single " Video Killed the Radio Star "; the song topped the UK charts in October 1979 and it also became an international hit; two years later it was the first song aired on MTV. Geoff Downes , keyboardist for the Buggles, states, "When we did a rerecorded version for Top of the Pops , the Musicians’ Union bloke said, "If I think you’re making strings sounds out of
48578-437: Was granted a small rancho at El Polín Spring , near the Presidio, founding the first non-indigenous civilian household in San Francisco. In 1834, the pueblo of Yerba Buena was founded. Yerba Buena Cove (named after a native herb ) was already a favored anchorage spot and the new settlement and trading post was founded by its shores. Yerba Buena was located in what is now the city's Chinatown and Financial District and
48805-415: Was highly praised by some critics and musicians (including Patti Smith and Lester Bangs ), the album met with poor commercial reception. The album has been considered revolutionary in its use of synthesizers, while others described Wilson's extensive use of the Moog synthesizer as a "loopy funhouse ambience" and an early example of synth-pop. Early guitar-based punk rock that came to prominence in
49032-465: Was hired by San Francisco Mayor James Rolph as chief engineer for the city in September 1912 to supervise the construction of the Twin Peaks Reservoir, the Stockton Street Tunnel , the Twin Peaks Tunnel , the San Francisco Municipal Railway , the Auxiliary Water Supply System , and new sewers. San Francisco's streetcar system, of which the J , K , L , M , and N lines survive today, was pushed to completion by O'Shaughnessy between 1915 and 1927. It
49259-405: Was less than an hour in duration; a 140-minute version was released on DVD in October 2006. Contributors to the programme included Robbie Williams , Brandon Flowers , Tim Rice-Oxley , Jake Shears and Bruce Weber . The DVD also contained promo videos that had been made since the release of PopArt . The second single to be taken from the album was the UK top twenty " Minimal ". The duo filmed
49486-408: Was not intended to reflect a dramatic change in mood from their earlier albums; however, it is noticeably subdued. It included the fan favourite " Being Boring ", the second single from the album, which only reached number 20 on the UK Singles Chart, their lowest placing at the time. Tennant was inspired by a quote by Zelda Fitzgerald : "...she refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn't boring", and
49713-454: Was produced by Pet Shop Boys and featured Tennant on backing vocals. Other artists on the label included Scottish singer Cicero , the Ignorants, and Masterboy . In 1992, they were the subjects of a South Bank Show documentary on ITV with contributions from Liza Minnelli, Eric Watson (photographer and video director), Simon Frith (music critic), David Alden and David Fielding. In June 1993, Pet Shop Boys re-invented their image and made
49940-464: Was published by Thames & Hudson , a 336-page hardcover book written by Philip Hoare and Chris Heath , detailing their entire visual output, including photography as well as the design of albums, music videos, concert tours, books and fan club magazines from 1984 to 2004. Neil Tennant comments in the book: "In the beginning we made a decision – and it was in our EMI contract – that that we would have control over how everything worked; that obviously
50167-456: Was released in 1988 to mixed reviews. Footage from the film was also used for the music video to "Always on My Mind", released as a single on 30 November; it became both the duo's third number one single in the UK and the Christmas number one single for 1987, beating " Fairytale of New York " by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl . In November 2004, The Daily Telegraph newspaper placed Pet Shop Boys' version of "Always on My Mind" at number two in
50394-446: Was signed in San Francisco, establishing the United Nations and in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers . After the war, the confluence of returning servicemen, significant immigration , liberalizing attitudes, the rise of the beatnik and hippie countercultures, the sexual revolution , the peace movement growing from opposition to United States involvement in
50621-581: Was spent with a series of live dates and minor releases, including a charity album of Noël Coward songs, called Twentieth Century Blues . The album included Pet Shop Boys' version of "Sail Away", along with songs performed by Elton John , Texas , Marianne Faithfull , The Divine Comedy , Suede , Damon Albarn , Vic Reeves and Robbie Williams . Tennant also co-produced the Williams track and provided backing vocals for Elton John. Tennant provided backing vocals on Robbie Williams' " No Regrets " single, along with Neil Hannon from The Divine Comedy. Meanwhile,
50848-457: Was taken up across the world alongside the continuing presence of disco , with international hits for German synth-pop as well as Eurodisco acts including Peter Schilling , Sandra , Modern Talking , Propaganda , and Alphaville . Other non-British groups scoring synth-pop hits were Men Without Hats and Trans-X from Canada, Telex from Belgium, Yello from Switzerland, and Azul y Negro from Spain. The synth-pop scene of Yugoslavia spawned
51075-410: Was the O'Shaughnessy Dam , Hetch Hetchy Reservoir , and Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct that would have the largest effect on San Francisco. An abundant water supply enabled San Francisco to develop into the city it has become today. In ensuing years, the city solidified its standing as a financial capital; in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash , not a single San Francisco-based bank failed. Indeed, it
51302-413: Was titled Techno Pop ; English band the Buggles has a song named "Technopop" and Spanish band Mecano described their style as tecno-pop. "Synth-pop" is sometimes used interchangeably with " electropop ", but "electropop" may also denote a variant of synth-pop that places more emphasis on a harder, more electronic sound. In the mid to late 1980s, duos such as Erasure and Pet Shop Boys adopted
51529-438: Was widely adopted by progressive rock musicians such as Richard Wright of Pink Floyd and Rick Wakeman of Yes . Instrumental prog rock was particularly significant in continental Europe, allowing bands like Kraftwerk , Tangerine Dream , Can and Faust to circumvent the language barrier. Their synthesizer-heavy " Kraut rock ", along with the work of Brian Eno (for a time the keyboard player with Roxy Music ), would be
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