Aug 9
Listen: Pet Shop Boys Singer Neil Tennant Featured on Remix of Bronski Beat's Anthem 'Why?'
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Neil Tennant, one half of the hugely influential queer band Pet Shop Boys, is lending his talents to a new remix of the classic song "Why?" by another queer band, Bronski Beat, Stereogum reported.
Bronski Beat may be best remembered for their hit "Small Town Boy," which resonated with gay men in the 1980s as well as with a larger pop music audience. The song has remained popular through the years, and, Stereogum noted, was even the focus of a recent TikTok challenge.
Two of the band's three members have died, but, Stereogum said, "Bronski Beat have a legacy to maintain, and it's an important one, since they were an openly queer act that sang about queer issues and still found pop success in a hostile time."
To that end, a new edition of Bronski Beat's first album, "The Age of Consent," is being prepared to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the title's release. Enter Neil Tennant, who will provide the vocals for the remix of "Why?" that recording artist Superchumbo – the stage name of Tom Stephan – has created.
DJ Mag described the new remix as "a shorter, faster version of the original 1984 anthem from the queer synth-pop group that incorporates Tennant chanting some of the original lyrics: 'Name me an illness, call me a sin. Never feel guilty. Never give in. Tell me why.'"
Tennant isn't the only major contemporary star revisiting the classic album. The new edition of "The Age of Consent" will also include "'Smalltown Boy' remixes from Planningtorock and ABSOLUTE," Stereogum noted.
Surviving band member Jimmy Somerville expressed his excitement for having Tennant's voice on the remix.
"I was fucking whooping like a banshee round my kitchen when Tom told me Neil would like to contribute!" Somerville commented in a press release on the project.
"To speak the lyrics of 'Why?' and to hear Tom's musical reworking of the track is fucking mind-blowing," Somerville went on to add, before saying that Tennant's vocal work on the remix "brings it into the here and now and also retains its history with my original vocal."
"I genuinely felt moved."
Superchumbo recalled in the press release, "I had recently watched a Pet Shop Boys documentary where Neil Tennant read some of his lyrics, which moved me to tears. I imagined Neil speaking these lyrics, creating a powerful contrast."
"I left Neil a voicemail on my way to a gig abroad," Superchumbo added, "and by the time I reached Heathrow I had his vocals on my phone, added them to the track on my flight, and played it that night!"
The "Why?" remix is up on YouTube now. Give it a listen below.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
