Rent was the third single from the Pet Shop Boys second album Actually, released in1987. UK indie punk duo Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine always recorded cover songs for the B-sides of their single releases (a selection of which are collected together on the album This is the Sound of an Eclectic Guitar). Their cover of Rent backed their third single Rubbish in 1990 and is probably the only song ever recorded to feature a reading of the application for Housing Benefit. Many of the soundbites used on their version are taken from the Monkees film Head, with the duo later covering the Monkees track Randy Scouse Git (released by the Monkees in the UK as Alternate Title) on the B-side to their fourth single Anytime Anyplace Anywhere.
Tag Archives: Pet Shop Boys
West End Girls – GWAR
GWAR’s cover of The Pet Shop Boys’ West End Girls featured on their limited edition Black Friday Picture Disc, released in 2016.
West End Girls was the debut single from British synth duo The Pet Shop Boys. Initially released in 1984 it failed to make an impact, however after re-recording the song it was released again in 1985 and became a worldwide hit.
Formed in 1984, the same year as the Pet Shop Boys, by Canadian art school graduate Dave Brockie, GWAR were originally conceived of as a ‘fake’ support band for Death Piggy, Brockie’s ‘real’ band of that time. Death Piggy would dress in costume and perform two or three songs as a band called Gwaaarrrgghhlllgh and then headline as Death Piggy. However they noticed that far more people were coming to see Gwaaarrrgghhlllgh than Death Piggy and so the latter group was disbanded and the GWAR concept was developed. Although no original members remain in the group following Brockie’s death in 2014, GWAR continue to record and perform and are composed of a rotating line up of musicians, artists and filmmakers collectively known as Slave Pit Inc.
Cover to Cover 