| “Go West” | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Single by Village People | ||||
| from the album Go West | ||||
| B-side | “Citizens of the World” | |||
| Released | June 1979 | |||
| Format | 7″, 12″ | |||
| Recorded | 1978 | |||
| Genre | Disco | |||
| Length | 4:10 | |||
| Label | Casablanca | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo, Victor Willis | |||
| Producer(s) | Morali | |||
| Village People singles chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Music video | ||||
| “Go West” on YouTube | ||||
“Go West” is a song by the American disco group Village People. It was an instant hit in the disco scene during the late 1970s. The song found further success when it was covered in 1993 by British synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. Original Village People lead singer Victor Willis, Henri Belolo and Jacques Morali are credited as the song’s writers, although Willis disputes Belolo’s involvement
Pet Shop Boys version
| “Go West” | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Single by Pet Shop Boys | ||||
| from the album Very | ||||
| B-side | “Shameless” | |||
| Released | 6 September, 1993 | |||
| Format | ||||
| Recorded | 1992–1993 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
|
|||
| Label | Parlophone / EMI | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
|
|||
| Producer(s) |
|
|||
| Pet Shop Boys singles chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Music video | ||||
| “Go West” on YouTube | ||||
In 1992, when Pet Shop Boys were asked by Derek Jarman to perform at an AIDS charity event at The Haçiendanightclub in Manchester, Chris Lowe of the duo selected “Go West” as the song they would perform. Though singer Neil Tennant was unable to remember the lyrics during that performance, the two decided to record it as a single.
The original single version of the song, set for an earlier release in 1992 as a non-album single, was never used. However, both its extended dance mix, and its similarly unreleased B-side “Forever in Love” (an edited version was released on Very Relentless in 1993), were eventually released on the 2001 expanded reissue of Very; its 7″ mix also was mistakenly placed on the 2009 compilation Party.[citation needed] Instead, the song was released in a different version in 1993, as the second single from Very, and featuring a different B-side, “Shameless”. This release included remixes by Brothers in Rhythm, Farley & Heller, Kevin Saunderson, and Mark Stent. The single went to number two in the United Kingdom and number one in Germany; in both countries, it was Pet Shop Boys’ biggest hit of the 1990s. The single also reached #1 in Ireland, the last of the duo’s four Irish #1 singles to date.
The new version enhances the basis of the original’s chord progression in Pachelbel’s Canon, bringing the theme to the forefront at the opening of the song. In addition to the Canon elements, it included a new introduction which Lowe later said “does sound surprisingly like the former Soviet anthem“. The song also underwent extensive reworking of its instrumental tracks, with producers Stephen Hague and Mark Stent credited for the mixing, as well as an all-male Broadway choir arranged by Richard Niles (said by Tennant to be inspired by the song “There Is Nothing Like a Dame” from the Broadway musical South Pacific). In addition, Tennant and Lowe wrote a new verse for the song, with the lyrics:
There where the air is free
we’ll be what we want to be
Now if we make a stand
we’ll find our promised land
The music video was directed by Howard Greenhalgh and relies heavily on computer-generated imagery, like all of his videos for the Very singles. It begins with a red Statue of Liberty, and then depicts a grey city where the communist domination is evident on the basis of Soviet imagery (such as red stars and red flags, Yuri Gagarin Monument and Monument to the Conquerors of Space). Troops of identical Soviet men march up a staircase stretching into the clouds, seemingly toward a Western society, with the Statue of Liberty, now appearing as a black diva looming in the distance (played by backing-vocalist Sylvia Mason-James). Tennant and Lowe appear throughout; Tennant carries a blue-and-yellow striped arrow staff, and Lowe travels on a flying surfboard. Occasional live action shots of Soviet iconography appear; in one Tennant and Lowe appear in their costumes, walking across Red Square.
The video was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video in 1995, losing to “Love Is Strong” by The Rolling Stones. The “Go West” costumes were parodied in the video for their later 2006 single, “I’m with Stupid“.)
){kind=link}
Comments