Released on 7 September 1987, Pet Shop Boys’ Actually is a slick, subversive portrait of Britain in the late ’80s. With chart-busting singles, pristine production, and lyrics dripping in dry wit and despair, it’s the duo at their most crystalline and cutting. Here are five lesser-known facts that lift the veil on an album where every sigh and synth stab meant something more.
1. “It’s a Sin” Was Written as a Camp Joke, and the Church Took the Bait
Penned in 15 minutes, “It’s a Sin” was Neil Tennant’s theatrical exorcism of Catholic guilt. Inspired by Chris Lowe’s hymn-like chords, it turned teenage shame into a thunderous, melodramatic dance anthem. The song wasn’t meant to spark outrage—but it did. A Newcastle priest preached about it from the pulpit, while Tennant casually recited the Confiteor in Latin over booming synths and a NASA countdown. The moral panic only made it climb faster.
2. “Shopping” Is a Banger About Thatcher-Era Privatisation
While it pulses like a neon-lit mall anthem, “Shopping” came from something grimmer—Britain’s great sell-off under Thatcher. The lyrics trace the rise of consumer capitalism, with nods to British Gas and the “Tell Sid” campaign. Under the sparkling synths is a cool dissection of a country selling off its soul one share at a time. Neil Tennant’s dry delivery lands like a smirk from behind designer shades.
3. “It Couldn’t Happen Here” Has Ennio Morricone in the Credits
Pet Shop Boys reached out to Morricone for a string arrangement, and instead received an Italian song. They borrowed the chorus melody and wrote their own verse. Angelo Badalamenti helped with the arrangement, but the orchestration was done entirely on a Fairlight. The result is a cinematic ballad haunted by loss, with lyrics that reflect on the AIDS crisis and the illusion that Britain was untouched. Tennant wrote the song while mourning his friend Christopher Dowell.
4. “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” Took Years and Dusty Springfield
Originally penned in 1984 with Allee Willis, the song waited for the right voice. EMI pushed for Barbra Streisand or Tina Turner, but Tennant held firm for Dusty. She said no at first—then changed her mind. Springfield arrived in London in leather boots, lyric sheet in hand. Her voice on “Since you went away…” hit the control room like a spell. It led to a career resurgence and new collaborations. It also gave Actually one of the decade’s most iconic duets.
5. “Rent” Began as Hi-NRG and Ended as a Kept-Woman Tragedy
“Rent” started as an Italo disco-inspired jam with Bobby Orlando, but by the time it made the album, it had slowed to half-speed elegance. It tells the story of a hidden relationship with the coolness of a velvet curtain. Tennant imagined a New York mistress kept by a powerful man. The title was chosen to provoke, with deliberate ambiguity. Behind the synths is a love song laced with secrecy and class tension.
Actually remains a high-gloss, low-heat reflection of a changing Britain—one eye on the charts, the other on Westminster. The Pet Shop Boys captured it all: desire, disillusion, and dance floors that glimmer while the lights dim on the world outside.