9 April 1988
You’d think that after trudging so far through the barren, cynical wastelands of 1988’s cheaply-made teen pop number ones I’d be delighted to find an oasis of Pet Shop Boys. However, I’ve never warmed to ‘Heart’. Yes, I enjoy the soaring, epic Euro-house confection, and the extravagant Nosferatu video starring Sir Ian McKellen is a hoot. It’s just that the song at the centre of it all isn’t particularly strong. Normally if Neil Tennant sings something heartfelt like “I’m in love with you” he tags on a devastating rider like “you pay my rent” or a succinct observation on late-’80s Thatcherite London life, so ‘Heart’ feels like a Pet Shop Boys track with that quintessential second part missing; I listen to the end but the other shoe never drops. Also of dubious note is the first verse, in which Tennant rhymes ‘me’ with ‘me’; this isn’t top-tier PSB merchandise.
Better this than another charmless Bros product or cynical SAW photocopy at number one, of course. Merely outpacing feeble competition while still in second gear, though, feels like an unconvincing victory.
