#435 Pet Shop Boys, 'Actually' (1987)

New Entry

This is an incredible run of new entries. Next up, is British synth-pop duo, Pet Shop Boys’ second album. Pop music with a conscience. The album was recorded in anticipation of Margaret Thatcher’s re-election and comments heavily on Thatcherism and beyond. Lead single ‘It’s A Sin,’ talks about Neil Tennant’s time at Catholic School and how he felt that everything he had done or was going to do was a sin. Second single, ‘What Have I Done To Deserve This,’ featuring label mate, Dusty Springfield, focuses specifically on financial gain during the Thatcher and Regan years.

The album was a massive success, spawning four UK Top 10 singles, including one #1. It sold in excess if 4 million albums worldwide and influenced a generation of socially aware popstars in the mid-late ‘80s.

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