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| Actually | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 7 September 1987[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1986–1987 | |||
| Studio | Sarm West and Advision (London) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 47:52 | |||
| Label | Parlophone | |||
| Producer |
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| Pet Shop Boys chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Actually | ||||
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Actually (stylised as Pet Shop Boys, actually.) is the second studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 7 September 1987 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom and by EMI Manhattan in North America. According to Neil Tennant[2][3][4] and music historian Wayne Studer,[5] Actually loosely critiques Thatcherism,[2][5] the political zeitgeist of the 1980s, and was recorded in anticipation of Margaret Thatcher's re-election.[6]
- ^ "Index". Record Mirror. 5 September 1987. p. 2. ISSN 0144-5804.
- ^ a b Tennant, Neil. "Between the lines – Actually". Pet Shop Boys at Dead of Night (Interview). Interviewed by Tomas Mosler. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
When this album came out many people, including ourselves, took the whole album to be loosely about Thatcherism
- ^ Tennant, Neil. "Explication". Pet Shop Boys Catalogue (Interview). Retrieved 14 January 2017.
The first line sets up the song. It's an angry song about Thatcherism. Mrs Thatcher came in on the promise of firm government and I'm interpreting 'the smack of firm government' literally as hitting someone.
- ^ Studer, Wayne. "King's Cross". Retrieved 29 April 2017.
As Neil has described it, the song is 'a hymn to the people getting left out of Thatcherism' (the economic policies of the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher).
- ^ a b Studer, Wayne. "Twenty-something". Retrieved 2 May 2017.
Thematically, this song could have sat comfortably alongside "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" from the dawn of their career, or had a place on their subsequent classic Thatcherism-critiquing album Actually.
- ^ "I'm with stupid". Absolutely Pet Shop Boys. 2 April 2006. p. 4. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
Just like we were terrified Margaret Thatcher was going to lose the 1987 election just before Actually came out, ruining our album about Thatcherism, even while voting Labour.