Pet Shop Boys, Literally [Paperback]

Chris Heath (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1992

The Pet Shop Boys are one of the most successful pop groups of the 1980's. They are frequently seen as obsessively reserved and secretive. "Pet Shops Boys Literally", written with their co-operation, shadows them around Hong Kong, Japan and Britain on their 1989 tour, showing two pop stars in unusally intimate detail as they work, relax, gossip, argue and, every now and then, try to make sense of what they do. "Pet Shops Boys Literally" describes the inspirations, the rows, the frustrations, the confrontations with obsessive fans and the earning and expenditure of vast sums of money. In this book Chris Heath presents more than the document of a tour. He traces the Pet Shop Boys' wider history and tells the extraordinary story of what it is to be a pop star today.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Pr (September 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306804948
• ISBN-13: 978-0306804946
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #539,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars They're Shameless, February 16, 2002

By 

Westley (Stuck in my head) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Pet Shop Boys, Literally (Paperback)

"Literally" was written by Chris Heath, a long-time PSB collaborator, who also pens their fan letter of the same name. I'm a huge PSB fan, and reading this book was an excellent way to learn a little bit more about the boys. I greatly enjoyed "Literally" and think that other PSB fans will also.

First, the book is terribly funny. PSB act like spoiled rock stars at times and then seem like the most normal chaps you could hope to meet. This schism is appropriate for a group that writes and performs such complex music. We also learn a great deal about their creative process. For example, I had always assumed that Chris wrote the music and Neil wrote the lyrics, which apparently is not the case; instead, they seem to have equal say in developing songs. The boys also seem surprisingly principled and unwilling to bend their artistic choices for the sake of popularity and record company approval.

"Literally" covers their tour during for "Introspective" CD ("It's Alright" was released as a single in Britain during this time). The PSB were in their self-proclaimed "imperial period" - when everything they did went to #1 in the UK and top 10 in the US. However, times were clearly changing, especially with the proliferation of English boy bands during the 1990s. Neil and Chris riff on a number of British and American pop stars, and the fun is not diminished by the fact that many of these acts, such as Bros, are fairly unknown in the US. If anything, the fading of these untalented bands and the continuing (European) success of PSB documents that substance can win over style.

Although the book is a bit dated, it?s a terrific read. Most highly recommended for PSB fans.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 2 Pop Stars+ 40-odd road crew+ Tons of fans=PSB, Literally!, July 23, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Pet Shop Boys, Literally (Paperback)

What happens when you put two Englishmen, who just happen to be international pop stars, on a tour bus with forty-odd tech people, in a tour featuring movies, dancers, and a $200,000 wardrobe? You get the Pet Shop Boys, and their 1989 tour of Japan, Hong Kong, and Great Britain.

Sure, concerts are performed to rave reviews, parties are had, the artists are congratulated and much champagne is drunk. But below the surface, you've got squabbling roadies, the censors breathing down your backs, screaming fans at every turn, and two dancers who won't share a hotel room with one another because they each complain that the other one smells. Welcome to the life a pop star.

Heath's writing is excellent, as are the insights made into the lives of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, the two Pet Shop Boys themselves. Witty, funny, and fascinating the whole way through. A captivating read from beginning to end! YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Secret Life of Pop Stars Comes to Life, December 9, 1998

By 

Todd Bartholomew (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Pet Shop Boys, Literally (Paperback)

As an obsessive Pet Shop Boys fan I had to have this book and found it to be a great gossipy read. Even for non-fans it's quite the page-turner and gives great insight into what successful musicians have to go through whilst touring. It's amazing the PSBs let someone enter their midst and catch them in such unguarded moments without knowing whether the book would be complimentary or condeming. Heath side-steps such touchy issues as Chris and Neil's sexual orientation, their opinion of other pop stars and celebrities. Some of the stories had me screaming with laughter they were so funny. Yes, Neil does come off a being a bit bossy and a bit of a control queen and Chris does sound a bit demanding, but then again you have to be to be successful on your own terms. Chris Heath's writting is very witty, engaging and crisp, very British and a refreshing blast of fresh air when compared with other pop star bios.