If that is a singing technique here is evidence that it doesn’t always work, with glorious results. There’s something about that whole story and its result that I love. She said she had taken this on board but, listening to the track, there are a few occasions when she sings “Mind-t” ending in a t and it sounds like it ends with a “t”. I remember Liza heavily promoting the single at the time and on (I think) an episode of “Wogan” she explained how she, the showbiz trouper, had learnt singing tips from Neil and that to get the proper ending to the word “Mind” she should sing it as if it ended with a “t” and it would sound as if it ended with a “d”. It is also gloriously kitsch, probably one of the kitsch pop lover’s finest moments, probably until KLF got Tammy Wynette to sing “I’m justified and I’m ancient and I drive an ice cream van”. A Stephen Sondheim song from “Follies” would feel like familiar ground for Liza but Pet Shop Boys magic turns it alongside “Always On My Mind” (of which it has a slight feel) and “Go West” as one of their great covers. “Losing My Mind” is the hit single from the album, reaching number 6 in the UK charts. The song is bold and dramatic and it sets out what is going to follow superbly. There is, however, an epic orchestral sweep which accompanies Liza’s sterling performance. Opening track “I Want You Now” is one of the new Tennant and Lowe compositions and from the introduction you can tell we are in Pet Shop Boys territory with a strong electro feel. The album produced by Julian Mendelsohn and Pet Shop Boys contains ten tracks- three covers of songs associated with other artists, two tracks which had been previously released by the duo and five originals that Neil and Chris wrote especially for Liza. It is an album which is technically accomplished, superbly produced and can have you up and dancing and can both bring a smile at moments of kitsch as well as be genuinely touching and affecting in places. The whole project appealed to the British sense of camp and to be honest, still sounds very good over twenty-seven years on. In the US the mixture of showbiz glitz meets electro left them cold and it was considered to be a flop. In the UK we got it, Liza did a lot of television to promote the album and received a gold album and her highest ever chart placing. The whole concept seems very British- a pairing of the Queen of Cheese with the Kings Of Cool, the emotional Yank with the detached Brits. With the exception of the last album, chart-wise she had performed better in the UK, so perhaps a collaboration with a top UK band would seem a shrewd move. Her highest placed studio album in the US was 1973’s “The Singer” (which reached #38, #45 in the UK). The soundtrack to the movie had made it to number 25 in her homeland (#13-UK) and a recording of her television special “Liza With A Z” which had also gone a long way to cement her into public consciousness had reached US#19, UK#9). Recording-wise she had never been as successful as one might think. Superb in her 1972 Oscar winning performance “Cabaret”, she became an unstoppable force, huge Broadway star and a household name somewhat outside of the commercial pop mainstream. Liza Minnelli was born a showbusiness legend. Neil Tennant, a huge Minnelli fan, straight away began writing songs that would be suitable for a woman in her 40’s keen to re-enter the youthful pop market and “Results” was the fabulous result. Minnelli was a big fan of their song “Rent” and so the deal was struck. This came to the attention of the duo’s manager Tom Watkins. In 1989 showbiz legend Liza Minnelli was telling her record company that she wanted to move away from the live Broadway -style albums and standards that had been her lifeblood and record something more contemporary. The experience had left them open to consider new collaborations. The whole Dusty project had been a fascinating one for Neil and Chris, from the painstaking way she liked to record to their bringing to a new generation one of the greatest British voices of all time. Significantly, they had also revitalised the career of 60’s singing legend Dusty Springfield with their UK & US number 2 collaboration “What Have I Done To Deserve This?” In 1989 Dusty was riding high again with their “Nothing Has Been Proved” a song about the very British sex and politics Profumo scandal which was taken from the movie “Scandal”. During this time they had scored three UK and one US number 1 singles, three big selling studio albums and one remix album. By 1989 Pet Shop Boys had been at the top of their game for four years.
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