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Yesterday, When I Was Mad

"Yesterday, When I Was Mad"
Single by Pet Shop Boys
from the album Very
B-side
Released29 August 1994 (1994-08-29)[1]
Genre
Length3:55
LabelParlophone
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys singles chronology
"Absolutely Fabulous"
(1994) 		"Yesterday, When I Was Mad"
(1994) 		"Paninaro '95"
(1995)
Alternative cover
Alternate UK single cover
Music video
"Yesterday, When I Was Mad" on YouTube

"Yesterday, When I Was Mad" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released as the fifth and final single from their fifth studio album, Very (1993), on 29 August 1994 by Parlophone. The single, both written and produced by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart and number four on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. The song was remixed by Jam & Spoon for its single release, among other things removing a compression effect applied to Tennant's voice during the verses. Its music video was directed by Howard Greenhalgh. One of the B-sides is a cover of the Noël Coward song "If Love Were All".

Composition

The song is about the stresses of touring and how being away from loved ones can make musicians unwilling to trust others or carry on with their career, contrasting it with the humour of ironic, pretentious or rude things people say to touring musicians. Tennant has said that many of the lines in the song, such as 'And someone said, "It's fabulous you're still around today—you've both made such a little go a very long way!"' actually happened.[citation needed] Speaking to NME in 1993, Tennant commented that the song was "basically about the strange things that happened to us when we were on the last tour."[4]

"Euroboy"

"Euroboy", a dance track written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe[5] in the Eurodance mould of such bands as Cappella and Livin' Joy, was released as one of the B-sides on "Yesterday, When I Was Mad". It later appeared on the US release of the album Disco 2, the B-side collection Alternative and the 2001 2-disc re-release of Very.

The track includes Chris Lowe in one of his rare lead-vocals performances, singing through a vocoder. The Boys claimed[citation needed] to have been unaware at the time of release that Euroboy was also the name of a softcore gay pornographic magazine.

It was occasionally performed live on the Asian leg of the band's 1994 Discovery tour.

Critical reception

Dave Jennings of Melody Maker named "Yesterday, When I Was Mad" as one of the magazine's "singles of the week", calling it a "magnificent piece of bitchery" with "glorious lyrics". He remarked, "Pet Shop Boys aren't exactly the first band you'd expect to write a brilliant rock 'n' roll on-the-road song; but that's just what they've done here, skewering the sycophants and patronising slimeballs hanging around their tour with malicious delight."[6] Alan Jones from Music Week gave the song three out of five, calling it "a bright tongue-in-cheek romp, but its galloping disco style makes few concessions to melody."[3]

David Quantick from NME commented, "My theory is that they are now entering a period of being completely barking mad. This single bears it out, with its Noël Coward cover and its Broadway hell version of 'Can You Forgive Her?'."[7] Brad Beatnik from the Record Mirror Dance Update noted, "This duo seem to be getting more excited about dance mixes with each single they put out. This one, another idiosyncratic and charming pop song, has about eight mixes."[8] Another Record Mirror editor, James Hamilton, declared it as a "hi-NRG galloper".[2] Jonathan Bernstein from Spin viewed it as "a wry litany of faint praise with which the pair have been damned".[9] Sylvia Patterson from Smash Hits gave it full score of five out of five and named it Best New Single, writing, "All of this we expect, but this one's their campest techno-fevered thunder-stomp with 100% whistleability for ages."[10]

Music video

A music video was produced to promote the single. It was directed by British director of music videos and advertising Howard Greenhalgh, and as with his previous videos for the Very campaign, makes prominent use of computer graphics. Taking the song's theme of "madness" literally (insanity rather than anger), it features a straitjacket-clad Tennant trapped in a surreal psychiatric hospital, all the while being taunted by a tuxedo-wearing version of himself, who represents the critic in the song's lyrics. Saturated colours were added in to give the video a nightmarish, unsettling quality. [11][better source needed]

Track listings

Charts

Weekly chart performance for "Yesterday, When I Was Mad"
Chart (1994–1995) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[21] 13
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[22] 25
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100 Singles)[23] 39
Europe (European Dance Radio)[24] 1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[25] 4
Germany (GfK)[26] 72
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[27] 35
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[28] 28
Scotland (OCC)[29] 20
UK Singles (OCC)[30] 13
UK Dance (OCC)[31] 16
UK Dance (Music Week)[32] 16
UK Club Chart (Music Week)[33] 41
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[34] 4
US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[35] 27

References

  1. ^ "Yesterday, when I was mad". petshopboys.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b Hamilton, James (3 September 1994). "Dj directory" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 11. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b Jones, Alan (3 September 1994). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Singles" (PDF). Music Week. p. 18. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  4. ^ Staunton, Terry (29 May 1993). "'The Smiths You Can Dunce To'". New Musical Express. pp. 28–30.
  5. ^ "Euroboy". ASCAP. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  6. ^ Jennings, Dave (3 September 1994). "Singles". Melody Maker. p. 44.
  7. ^ Quantick, David (10 September 1994). "Singles". NME. p. 42. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  8. ^ Beatnik, Brad (20 August 1994). "Hot Vinyl" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 8. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  9. ^ Bernstein, Jonathan (November 1993). "Spins". Spin. p. 130. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  10. ^ Patterson, Sylvia (31 August 1994). "New Singles: Best New Single". Smash Hits. p. 47. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  11. ^ "Pet Shop Boys: Yesterday, When I Was Mad". IMDb. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  12. ^ Yesterday, When I Was Mad (UK CD1 disc notes). Pet Shop Boys. Parlophone. 1994. CDRS 6386, 7243 8 81569 2 9.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  13. ^ Yesterday, When I Was Mad (UK CD2 disc notes). Pet Shop Boys. Parlophone. 1994. CDR 6386, 7243 8 81570 2 5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ Yesterday, When I Was Mad (UK 12-inch single vinyl disc). Pet Shop Boys. Parlophone. 1994. 12R 6386, 7243 8 81569 6 7.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ^ Yesterday, When I Was Mad (UK cassette single sleeve). Pet Shop Boys. Parlophone. 1994. TCR 6386, 7243 8 81569 4 3.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ^ Yesterday, When I Was Mad (European CD single disc notes). Pet Shop Boys. Parlophone. 1994. 7243 8 81633 2 3.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  17. ^ Yesterday, When I Was Mad (US maxi-CD single disc notes). Pet Shop Boys. EMI Records USA. 1994. E2-58319, 7243-8-58319-2-8.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ^ Yesterday, When I Was Mad (US 2×12-inch single vinyl disc). Pet Shop Boys. EMI Records USA. 1994. VV-58319.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  19. ^ Yesterday, When I Was Mad (Australian CD single liner notes). Pet Shop Boys. Parlophone. 1994. 8816732.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ^ Yesterday, When I Was Mad (Australian cassette single sleeve). Pet Shop Boys. Parlophone. 1994. 8816734.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. ^ "Pet Shop Boys – Yesterday, When I Was Mad". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  22. ^ "Pet Shop Boys – Yesterday, When I Was Mad" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  23. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11, no. 38. 17 September 1994. p. 13. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  24. ^ "European Dance Radio Top 25" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11, no. 41. 8 October 1994. p. 21. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  25. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 233. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  26. ^ "Pet Shop Boys – Yesterday, When I Was Mad" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  27. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Pet Shop Boys" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  28. ^ "Pet Shop Boys – Yesterday, When I Was Mad" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  29. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  30. ^ "Pet Shop Boys: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  31. ^ "Official Dance Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  32. ^ "Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 10 September 1994. p. 30. ISSN 0265-1548 – via World Radio History.
  33. ^ "The RM Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). 3 September 1994. p. 6. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  34. ^ "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  35. ^ "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
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