Bilingual (album)
Encyclopedia
Bilingual is the tenth album
(sixth containing original material) by the English
dance music
group Pet Shop Boys
. It has sold about 1,000,000 albums world-wide.
began making to their music with the album Very. As suggested by the title, the songs on the album have worldwide influences, particularly from Latin America
. After the release of their Very album, Pet Shop Boys toured South America and were influenced by the beats and rhythms associated with Latin American music. Three of the songs have bilingual lyrics, mixing the English language with Spanish
and Portuguese
.
In late 1995, the band had ended their contract with the American branch of EMI
, and signed with Atlantic Records
. A renewed marketing campaign was launched to promote the band in the U.S. via both radio airplay and club play.
The singles lifted from the album were all successful, with three of them—"Before
", "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)" and "A Red Letter Day
"—reaching the UK Top 10. A fourth, the English/Spanish language composition "Single-Bilingual
", peaked within the Top 20.
The single "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)" peaked at number eight in the UK charts in late August 1996, having already gained a great deal of radio airplay, and secured the band their first appearance on UK music show Top of the Pops in three years. The song soon became the summer party anthem of the year for those people who were not advocates of the UK's ever-growing club culture of the late 1980s and the 1990s, helped by its Portuguese/Brazilian feel, Latino influences and a popular video shot by Bruce Weber
set mainly in a water park located in south Florida. "Se a vida é" would spend eight weeks in the Top 40 before eventually dropping out in early November. Numerous dance remixes were also made which helped the track become one of the biggest club hits of the second half of the 1990s. It was eventually released in the US in as a double A-side single with "To Step Aside". To promote the package, thirteen mixes of "To Step Aside" were commissioned, most of them released promotionally only.
Earlier in 1996, prior to the album's release, Tennant's vocals were featured on two live recordings by the British group Suede
, which were released as B-sides to their single "Filmstar". One track was a cover of the Pet Shop Boys track "Rent
", while the second was a duet with Suede singer Brett Anderson
on the Suede song 'Saturday Night'. In addition, the Pet Shop Boys collaborated with David Bowie
on the song "Hallo Spaceboy", which reached #15 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1996. In late 1996 The song "Up Against It" became a radio-hit in Sweden and some other countries but it never had a release as a cd-single.
Bilingual was recorded at Bunk Junk & Genius, Sarm West and Sarm Hook End, Axis (New York), Bass Hit (New York) and the State House of Broadcasting and Sound Recording (Moscow).
In 1997, Pet Shop Boys decided to perform a series of concerts at the Savoy Theatre
in London
. To promote the concerts they decided to release a cover version of "Somewhere
" from West Side Story and to call the concerts "Pet Shop Boys Somewhere". The single reached the UK top 10, and Bilingual was re-released as a "Special Edition" including the new single and a bonus CD of remixes and B-sides.
In 2001, Pet Shop Boys re-issued their first six studio albums, and Bilingual was re-released as Bilingual/Further Listening 1995–1997. The re-released version was not only digitally remastered but came with a second disc of B-side
s and previously unreleased material from around the time of the album's original release.
Yet another re-release followed on 9 February 2009, under the title of Bilingual: Remastered. This version contains only the 12 tracks on the original.
Guest musicians
Guests on Further Listening
The first single to be released from Bilingual was "Before" on April 22, 1996. It was co-produced with Danny Tenaglia and featured Barbara Tucker
, Carole Sylvan and Karen Bernod
on backing vocals. The B-sides were "Hit and Miss" and "The Truck Driver and His Mate".
In the U.S., Atlantic's gay marketing
division launched the single with a series of parties at gay nightclubs
in cities where the band had previous commercial success. Several hundred clubs received import promotional 12" singles, and the subsequent domestic 12" and CD maxi-single releases were focused entirely on remixes. Promotion was also targeted at Top 40, alternative
, and college
radio formats.
The second single from Bilingual was "Se a Vida É (That's the Way Life Is)". It was co-produced with Chris Porter
and featured drums by Glasgow
group She-Boom. Remixes were done by Mark Picchiotti
, Deep Dish
and Pink Noise
. The b-sides were "Betrayed" and "How I Learned to Hate Rock 'n' Roll".
The third single to be released was "Single" and was renamed "Single-Bilingual" because Everything but the Girl
had released a different single also called "Single" around the same time. Produced by Pet Shop Boys with drums by She-Boom. The single also included remixes of "Single-Bilingual" and a new mix of "Discoteca". The B-sides were "Confidential (Demo for Tina
)" and "The Calm Before the Storm".
Released as a double A-side in the USA
, this single featured exclusive remixes of "To Step Aside" that were unreleased in the UK. The single was also nominated for a Grammy
award for best dance single.
A new version of "A Red Letter Day" with additional production by Motiv-8
was released as the fourth single from Bilingual. It features Barbara Tucker, Carole Sylvan and Karen Bernod on backing vocals along with the Choral Academy of Moscow. The B-sides were "The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On" and "Delusions of Grandeur".
Released to promote their residency at the Savoy Theatre in London and to promote a repackage of Bilingual. In the USA, it was released as a double A-side with "A Red Letter Day". For the UK release, the B-sides were "Disco Potential" and "The View from Your Balcony".
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
(sixth containing original material) by the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
group Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
. It has sold about 1,000,000 albums world-wide.
Overview
Bilingual continues the heavily instrumented arrangements and backing vocals Pet Shop BoysPet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
began making to their music with the album Very. As suggested by the title, the songs on the album have worldwide influences, particularly from Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. After the release of their Very album, Pet Shop Boys toured South America and were influenced by the beats and rhythms associated with Latin American music. Three of the songs have bilingual lyrics, mixing the English language with Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
.
In late 1995, the band had ended their contract with the American branch of EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, and signed with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
. A renewed marketing campaign was launched to promote the band in the U.S. via both radio airplay and club play.
The singles lifted from the album were all successful, with three of them—"Before
Before (song)
"Before" is a single by UK electronic music group Pet Shop Boys released as the first single from the group's 1996 album Bilingual. The single, upon its release, peaked at #7 on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it reached #1 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play and reached #7 on the US Bubbling Under...
", "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)" and "A Red Letter Day
A Red Letter Day
"A Red Letter Day" is a single by British electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. It was released the fourth single from their 1996 album Bilingual on March 17, 1997. The single peaked at high #9 on the UK Singles Chart, making it another top 10 single for the group. However it then fell straight out...
"—reaching the UK Top 10. A fourth, the English/Spanish language composition "Single-Bilingual
Single-Bilingual
"Single-Bilingual" is a single by the British electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. It was released as the third single from their 1996 album Bilingual. The single peaked at #14 on the UK Singles Chart....
", peaked within the Top 20.
The single "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)" peaked at number eight in the UK charts in late August 1996, having already gained a great deal of radio airplay, and secured the band their first appearance on UK music show Top of the Pops in three years. The song soon became the summer party anthem of the year for those people who were not advocates of the UK's ever-growing club culture of the late 1980s and the 1990s, helped by its Portuguese/Brazilian feel, Latino influences and a popular video shot by Bruce Weber
Bruce Weber (photographer)
Bruce Weber is an American fashion photographer and occasional filmmaker. He is most widely known for his ad campaigns for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Pirelli, Abercrombie & Fitch, Revlon, and Gianni Versace, as well as his work for Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Elle, Life, Interview, and Rolling Stone...
set mainly in a water park located in south Florida. "Se a vida é" would spend eight weeks in the Top 40 before eventually dropping out in early November. Numerous dance remixes were also made which helped the track become one of the biggest club hits of the second half of the 1990s. It was eventually released in the US in as a double A-side single with "To Step Aside". To promote the package, thirteen mixes of "To Step Aside" were commissioned, most of them released promotionally only.
Earlier in 1996, prior to the album's release, Tennant's vocals were featured on two live recordings by the British group Suede
Suede (band)
Suede are an English alternative rock band from London, formed in 1989. The group's most prominent early line-up featured singer Brett Anderson, guitarist Bernard Butler, bass player Mat Osman and drummer Simon Gilbert. By 1992, Suede were hailed as "The Best New Band in Britain", and attracted...
, which were released as B-sides to their single "Filmstar". One track was a cover of the Pet Shop Boys track "Rent
Rent (song)
"Rent" is a 1987 single by the Pet Shop Boys. It was released in the UK by Parlophone on 12 October 1987. The lyrics deal with a financially one-sided relationship, i.e...
", while the second was a duet with Suede singer Brett Anderson
Brett Anderson
Brett Lewis Anderson is an English singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Suede. After Suede disbanded in 2003, he briefly fronted The Tears, and has released four solo albums...
on the Suede song 'Saturday Night'. In addition, the Pet Shop Boys collaborated with David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
on the song "Hallo Spaceboy", which reached #15 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1996. In late 1996 The song "Up Against It" became a radio-hit in Sweden and some other countries but it never had a release as a cd-single.
Bilingual was recorded at Bunk Junk & Genius, Sarm West and Sarm Hook End, Axis (New York), Bass Hit (New York) and the State House of Broadcasting and Sound Recording (Moscow).
In 1997, Pet Shop Boys decided to perform a series of concerts at the Savoy Theatre
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre opened on 10 October 1881 and was built by Richard D'Oyly Carte on the site of the old Savoy Palace as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan,...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. To promote the concerts they decided to release a cover version of "Somewhere
Somewhere (song)
"Somewhere" is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story which was made into a film in 1961. The music is composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and takes a phrase from the slow movement of Beethoven's 'Emperor' Piano Concerto, which forms the start of the...
" from West Side Story and to call the concerts "Pet Shop Boys Somewhere". The single reached the UK top 10, and Bilingual was re-released as a "Special Edition" including the new single and a bonus CD of remixes and B-sides.
In 2001, Pet Shop Boys re-issued their first six studio albums, and Bilingual was re-released as Bilingual/Further Listening 1995–1997. The re-released version was not only digitally remastered but came with a second disc of B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
s and previously unreleased material from around the time of the album's original release.
Yet another re-release followed on 9 February 2009, under the title of Bilingual: Remastered. This version contains only the 12 tracks on the original.
Bilingual
- "Discoteca" – 4:37
- "Single" – 3:48
- "Metamorphosis" – 4:03
- "Electricity" – 4:58
- "Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)" – 4:00
- "It Always Comes as a Surprise" – 6:05
- "A Red Letter Day" – 5:10
- "Up Against It" – 4:16
- "The Survivors" – 4:30
- "Before" – 4:32
- "To Step Aside" – 3:48
- "Saturday Night Forever" – 3:59
- Photographers: Chris Heath, José Cea and Andy Earl
- Sleeve design: Mark Farrow Design and Pet Shop Boys
Bilingual Special Edition Bonus CD (1997)
- "Somewhere" (Extended mix) – 10:53
- "A Red Letter Day" (Trouser EnthusiastsTrouser EnthusiastsTrouser Enthusiasts was an electronic dance music production group, active during the 1990s, formed by Belfast-born Ian Masterson and David Green. The group was best known as producers of pop and dance remixes, having worked for, most prominently, Pet Shop Boys, Dannii Minogue, and Saint Etienne...
Autoerotic Decapitation mix) – 9:59 - "To Step Aside" (Brutal Bill mix) – 7:30
- "Before" (Love to InfinityLove to InfinityLove to Infinity is a platinum selling UK based remix, production and songwriting team, Andy, Pete and Dave Lee.Formed in 1992, Grammy nominated Love to Infinity has remixed a wealth of dance and pop artists including Madonna, Michael Jackson, Cher, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Gloria Estefan, Ace...
Classic Paradise mix) – 7:56 - "The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On" (Danny TenagliaDanny TenagliaDanny Tenaglia is a New York-based DJ and Grammy nominated record producer.-Early life:At the age of ten, Tenaglia first started to collect records. In 1979 he began going to nightclub Paradise Garage, where DJ Larry Levan's genre-less blend of music appealed to him...
International Club mix) – 6:06 - "Se a vida é" (Pink NoiseRichard MorelRichard Morel is an American singer-songwriter, DJ, remixer and record producer from the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. He has worked extensively with Washington D.C.-based duo Deep Dish, co-writing, co-producing, performing and singing on many of their tracks, most notably on their albums Junk...
mix) – 5:37 - "Discoteca" (Trouser EnthusiastsTrouser EnthusiastsTrouser Enthusiasts was an electronic dance music production group, active during the 1990s, formed by Belfast-born Ian Masterson and David Green. The group was best known as producers of pop and dance remixes, having worked for, most prominently, Pet Shop Boys, Dannii Minogue, and Saint Etienne...
Adventure Beyond the Stellar Empire mix) – 9:30
- Photographer: Eric Watson
- Sleeve design: Mark Farrow Design and Pet Shop Boys
Further Listening 1995–1997
- "Paninaro '95Paninaro (song)"Paninaro" is a song by English synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. Originally a B-side to the 1986 single "Suburbia", it was released as a limited-edition single in Italy during the same year; later, in 1995, a re-recording entitled "Paninaro '95" was released to a wider market, to promote the B-side...
" – 4:11 - "In the Night" (1995) – 4:18
- "The Truck-driver and His Mate" – 3:33
- "Hit and Miss" – 4:07
- "How I Learned to Hate Rock 'n' Roll" – 4:38
- "Betrayed" – 5:20
- "Delusions of Grandeur" – 5:04
- "Discoteca" (single version) – 5:14
- "The Calm Before the Storm" – 2:48
- "Discoteca" (new version) – 3:47
- "The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On" – 6:09
- "A Red Letter Day" (expanded single version) – 5:36
- "The View from Your Balcony" – 3:44
- "Disco Potential" – 4:07
- "Somewhere" (extended mix) – 10:55
Chart performance
| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
Total weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 3 | 6 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 15 | 10 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Vl) | 28 | 3 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Wa) | 10 | 5 |
| Canadian Albums Chart | 18 | 6 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 59 | 4 |
| Finland Albums Chart | 14 | 4 |
| French Albums Chart | 45 | 1 |
| German Albums Chart | 7 | 14 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | 25 | 4 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart | 25 | 1 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 4 | 6 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 11 | 9 |
| UK Albums Chart | 4 | 8 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 39 | 6 |
Personnel
- Neil Tennant
- Chris Lowe
Guest musicians
- Pete Gleadall – programming on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12
- SheBoom – drums and percussion on tracks 1 and 2. Additional drums and percussion on track 5
- Robin Jones – percussion on track 6. Additional percussion on track 1
- Davide Giovanni, Joseph De Jesus, Weston Foster and Lino Rocha – additional vocals on track 1
- Sylvia Mason-JamesSylvia Mason-JamesSylvia Mason-James born in 1959 is a British singer who has worked extensively as a backing vocalist and solo artist.She started her career with the disco band Voyage in 1977....
– vocals on track 3 - Ritchie Birkett – keyboards on track 3
- Simon Cotsworth – programming on track 3
- Trevor Henry/The Ignorants – scratching and additional keyboards on track 3
- Kevin Robinson, Bud Beadle and Fayyaz Virji – brass on track 3
- J.J. Belle – guitar on track 5
- Mike Innes, Noel Langley, Richard Sidell and Andy HamiltonAndy Hamilton (pop musician)Andy Hamilton is a British saxophonist who has played with Duran Duran , Wham!, Elton John, Pet Shop Boys, Tina Turner, George Michael, Paul McCartney, Radiohead, Bon Jovi and David Bowie....
– brass on track 5 - Chris Cameron – additional keyboards on track 6 and 9. String arrangement and conduction on track 9
- Hugh Burns – guitar on track 6
- Andy HamiltonAndy Hamilton (pop musician)Andy Hamilton is a British saxophonist who has played with Duran Duran , Wham!, Elton John, Pet Shop Boys, Tina Turner, George Michael, Paul McCartney, Radiohead, Bon Jovi and David Bowie....
– saxophone on tracks 6 and 9 - Katie KissoonMac and Katie KissoonMac and Katie Kissoon is a male / female vocal duo, consisting of brother and sister Mac Kissoon and Katie Kissoon...
– additional vocals on tracks 6 and 9 - Alyosha Zolotukhin – choir arrangement on track 7
- Graeme Perkins – choir co-ordinator on track 7
- Victor Popov – choir director on track 7
- The Choral Academy of Moscow – choir on track 7
- Barbara TuckerBarbara TuckerBarbara Tucker , is an African American house, R&B and soul singer, songwriter and choreographer. Her impact on the mainstream music scene has been felt more in Europe, than in her home country....
, Karen BernodKaren BernodKaren Bernod is an American born R&B vocalist, songwriter, and producer.Karen is best known for her unique vocal harmonies as a background singer for Chaka Khan, Erykah Badu, C&C Music Factory and D'Angelo.-Biography:...
and Carole Sylvan – additional vocals on tracks 7 and 10 - Johnny MarrJohnny MarrJohnny Marr is an English musician and songwriter. Marr rose to fame in the 1980s as the guitarist in The Smiths, with whom he formed a prolific songwriting partnership with Morrissey. Marr has been a member of Electronic, The The, and Modest Mouse...
– guitar and additional vocals on track 8 - Greg Bone – guitar on track 9
- Andy Duncan – drums and percussion on track 9
- Danny Tenaglia and Louie 'Balo' Guzman – drum programming on track 10
- Pete Dao – keyboards on track 10
- Phil Pagano – programming on track 10
- Eddie Montilla – additional keyboards on track 12
Guests on Further Listening
- Pete Gleadall – programming on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15
- Oli Savill and Lilliana Chacian – percussion on track 1
- Sylvia Mason-James – additional vocals on track 2 and 3
- Sheboom – drums and percussion on track 8
- Robin Jones – additional percussion on track 8
- Katie, Kisson, Davide Giovanni, Joseph De Jesus, Weston Foster and Lino Rocha – additional vocals on track 8 and 10
- Danny Tenaglia and Louie 'Balo' Guzman – drum programming on track 11
- Pete Dao – keyboards on track 11
- Vanessa Ichak – Banji girl vocals on track 11
- Steva Rodway/Motiv8 – additional production on track 12
- Alyosha Zolotukhin – choir arrangement on track 12
- Graeme Perkins – choir co-ordinator on track 12
- Victor Popov – choir director on track 12
- The Choral Academy of Moscow – choir on track 13
- Throusers Enthusiasts – additional production on track 15
- Richard Niles – orchestra arrangement and conduction on track 15
Bilingual
| Region | Date |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
| United States |
Bilingual Special Edition Bonus CD (1997)
| Region | Date |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom |
"Before"
- UK release: 22 April 1996, #7
- US release: 28 June 1996, #1 (Dance)
The first single to be released from Bilingual was "Before" on April 22, 1996. It was co-produced with Danny Tenaglia and featured Barbara Tucker
Barbara Tucker
Barbara Tucker , is an African American house, R&B and soul singer, songwriter and choreographer. Her impact on the mainstream music scene has been felt more in Europe, than in her home country....
, Carole Sylvan and Karen Bernod
Karen Bernod
Karen Bernod is an American born R&B vocalist, songwriter, and producer.Karen is best known for her unique vocal harmonies as a background singer for Chaka Khan, Erykah Badu, C&C Music Factory and D'Angelo.-Biography:...
on backing vocals. The B-sides were "Hit and Miss" and "The Truck Driver and His Mate".
In the U.S., Atlantic's gay marketing
Gay marketing
LGBT marketing is the act of marketing to LGBT customers, either with dedicated ads or general ads, or through sponsorships of LGBT organizations and events, or through the targeted use of any other element of the marketing mix.The LGBT market comprises a group of customers who buy goods and...
division launched the single with a series of parties at gay nightclubs
Gay bar
A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender clientele; the term gay is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT and queer communities...
in cities where the band had previous commercial success. Several hundred clubs received import promotional 12" singles, and the subsequent domestic 12" and CD maxi-single releases were focused entirely on remixes. Promotion was also targeted at Top 40, alternative
Adult album alternative
Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats....
, and college
Campus radio
Campus radio is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively by students, or may include programmers from the wider community in which the radio station is based...
radio formats.
"Se a vida é (That's the Way Life Is)"
- UK release: 12 August 1996, #8
- US release: see below
The second single from Bilingual was "Se a Vida É (That's the Way Life Is)". It was co-produced with Chris Porter
Chris Porter
Chris Porter is an American professional basketball player currently playing for the Powerade Tigers of the Philippine Basketball Association. He is a former star forward for the Auburn University men's basketball team that made it to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 1998-1999, Porter's junior season...
and featured drums by Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
group She-Boom. Remixes were done by Mark Picchiotti
Mark Picchiotti
Mark Picchiotti is a club DJ, producer and songwriter based out of Chicago, Illinois.Picchiotti has been active in the dance music scene for over 20 years, establishing his reputation as a house, electronica and pop music DJ at Chicago clubs such as Shelter and Crobar. He has remixed songs by a...
, Deep Dish
Deep Dish
Deep Dish is a duo of DJs and house-music producers consisting of Iranian-American members Ali "Dubfire" Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi. Based in Washington, D.C., Shirazinia and Tayebi are well known for providing house or dance remixes of tracks of famous stars such as Madonna, Cher and Gabrielle,...
and Pink Noise
Richard Morel
Richard Morel is an American singer-songwriter, DJ, remixer and record producer from the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. He has worked extensively with Washington D.C.-based duo Deep Dish, co-writing, co-producing, performing and singing on many of their tracks, most notably on their albums Junk...
. The b-sides were "Betrayed" and "How I Learned to Hate Rock 'n' Roll".
"Single-Bilingual"
- UK release: 11 November 1996, #14
- US release: not released
The third single to be released was "Single" and was renamed "Single-Bilingual" because Everything but the Girl
Everything but the Girl
Everything but the Girl was a two-person English band, formed in Hull during 1981, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, and singer Ben Watt . They are currently inactive although vocalist Tracey Thorn hinted that they may reform someday...
had released a different single also called "Single" around the same time. Produced by Pet Shop Boys with drums by She-Boom. The single also included remixes of "Single-Bilingual" and a new mix of "Discoteca". The B-sides were "Confidential (Demo for Tina
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
)" and "The Calm Before the Storm".
"To Step Aside"/"Se a Vida É (That's the Way Life Is)"
- UK release: not released
- US release: 28 February 1997, #1 (dance)
Released as a double A-side in the USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, this single featured exclusive remixes of "To Step Aside" that were unreleased in the UK. The single was also nominated for a Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
award for best dance single.
"A Red Letter Day"
- UK release: 18 March 1997, #9
- US release: see below
A new version of "A Red Letter Day" with additional production by Motiv-8
Steve Rodway
Steve Rodway , also known under the alias Motiv 8 or Motiv8, is an Electronic dance music record producer, songwriter, remixer and sound engineer....
was released as the fourth single from Bilingual. It features Barbara Tucker, Carole Sylvan and Karen Bernod on backing vocals along with the Choral Academy of Moscow. The B-sides were "The Boy Who Couldn't Keep His Clothes On" and "Delusions of Grandeur".
"Somewhere"
- UK release: 23 June 1997, #9
- US release: 28 October 1997, #19 (dance)
Released to promote their residency at the Savoy Theatre in London and to promote a repackage of Bilingual. In the USA, it was released as a double A-side with "A Red Letter Day". For the UK release, the B-sides were "Disco Potential" and "The View from Your Balcony".