Saturday Deluxe / 15 July 2017

This Saturday: T. Rex, Pet Shop Boys and David Bowie…

One of the more hotly debated releases this week was Demon’s triple vinyl set of T. Rex remixes. These are remixes created by modern-day remixers. Plenty of you were of the opinion that Marc Bolan would be turning in his grave at such treatment, although I’m not so sure myself. Even Tony Visconti said Marc was always trying to make ‘one more for the kids’ so who’s to say he wouldn’t have given the thumbs up to this album if he was still with us, to show the ‘kids’ of today how cool he once was?

Any reservations about the audio didn’t stop the 500 limited edition 3LP red vinyl from selling out in less than 10 hours! Incidentally, you can now preview snippets of the audio via this iTunes link and even pre-order the set digitally for just £4.99, although no self-respecting SDE reader would do that :)

Read more about the T. Rex Remixes compilation

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The Pet Shop Boys reissues are out in a couple of weeks and I’ve been working behind-the-scenes trying to secure an interview with Neil Tennant and/or Chris Lowe for some time. Not only have I been a very big fan since the beginning, but as any regular SDE reader will be aware we’ve been following the trials and tribulations of the reissue ‘narrative’ since February 2015.

I’m sad to report for everyone who enjoys this blog that the band have ‘respectfully declined’ to discuss the reissues with SDE. No reason was given, but they did do an interview with the BBC entertainment website, which was published the other day.

I appreciate whatever I say here might smack of sour grapes, but in my opinion, there is still a bit of an old-school mentality in the music industry with regards to PR, where perhaps with limited time available, bands and their management just go for the easy win, the ‘big’ audiences. They go home satisfied and can boast of having ‘reached’ X amount of people. But, in reality, how many people who read the entertainment section of the BBC website regularly are gearing up to actually buy the Pet Shop Boys reissues? It’s likely to be a tiny, tiny fraction. Where the knowledgeable audience at SDE you’re are engaging with the passionate fans, the influencers, the ones who rave (or otherwise) about a product in the comment section here, and other online forums.

They’ve been working on these reissues for at least two and a half years, and when the time comes to promote them they inexplicably ignore the specialist blog that discusses reissues in-depth, day-in and day-out. Also, while SDE might be perceived as ‘niche’, to give you an idea, this blog enjoys more than twice the readers of Mojo magazine in any given month.

It’s disappointing, because these are the first PSB reissues in SDE’s history and Neil is clearly very articulate when discussing pop music – I was sure he’d be up for a chat. Let’s hope they aren’t holding a grudge over PopKidsGate, when I inadvertently announced bogus details about their April 2016 single!

I’d be interested in your views. Tell me to stop moaning or let me know if you think I have a point, in the comments section.

And finally for today, who is up for a Bowie poll?!

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